Pret A Manger currently operates more than 650 stores across 18 markets | Photo credit: Pret A Manger

Pret A Manger has appointed JAB Partner Konrad Meyer as its new Chairman with immediate effect in a move intended accelerate the brand’s international expansion. 
 

The UK coffee and food-to-go chain currently operates more than 650 stores across 18 markets and has significantly scaled its international presence since being acquired by German food and beverage conglomerate JAB Holding Company in May 2018.

Meyer is credited with leading JAB’s acquisition of Pret and has served on the coffee chain’s Board since then. He was also Pret’s Interim Chief Financial Officer between March and October 2020. 

He succeeds Olivier Goudet, who has served as Pret’s Chairman since 2018 and also recently stepped down as CEO of JAB Holding Company in November 2023.  
 

“I would like to thank Olivier for his strategic vision and leadership throughout the turbulent pandemic, and for tripling the number of Pret’s international markets. Olivier is handing over Pret as it returns to its pre-pandemic strength, now with much enhanced international and digital footprints,” Meyer said. 

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working closely with Konrad over the past six years. Our priority now is to build on the foundations that are in place for substantial further growth around the world,” added Pano Christou, CEO, Pret A Manger.   

Former Pret Chairman Larry Billett has also rejoined the business as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, with Pret co-founder Sinclair Beecham stepping back into the fold as an advisor to support the opening of up to 150 international stores in 2024. 

“With Larry’s return to the Board, and Sinclair’s continued support, we are bringing together the brilliance of Pret’s past with the promise of Pret’s future, as we support CEO Pano Christou and the Pret management team,” Meyer added. 

Alongside approximately 470 stores in the UK, Pret A Manger operates across a further nine European markets and also has a growing footprint in the Middle East, the US and India. 

Pret A Manger, which is expected to open its first store in South Africa this quarter, plans to reach 1,000-1,500 international outlets ‘in the coming years’.