Pret A Manger is reopening 10 stores close to hospitals
Pret a Manger is looking to support healthcare workers by reopening 10 stores situated near London hospitals tomorrow.
“Our 50% NHS discount is back, and we’ll be making 7,000 extra meals a week to help the homeless. A huge thank you to our teams who have volunteered to run these shops,” it tweeted today.
The stores will be available for takeaway and delivery only and have been selected according to their proximity to the likes of St Thomas’, Royal Brompton, University College Hospital, St George’s, St John & St Elizabeth and Moorfields Eye Hospital. Further details here.
They will open from 8am to 2pm and will be run by 160 staff who will operate under new safety standards with two metre social distancing imposed at the back and front of house.
“Our number one priority is to look after our teams throughout this pandemic,” Pret tweeted. “We are carefully following the guidance issued by Public Health England, and we have implemented a range of new standards and processes in our shops to protect our teams.”
Social success
Recent rsearch by Wunderman Thompson UK highlighted how major UK brands were faring on social media in light of their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said that it examined tens of millions of posts during March across sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Mumsnet.
Prior to its closure, Pret A Manger’s offer of free drinks to NHS workers saw its mentions on social media immediately jump by 3,574%, and its daily mentions had consistently remained 350% higher ever since. 99.1% of those were positive, up from 77% before the crisis.
By comparison, Wetherspoon also saw its mentions soar by more than 3,000% following the CEO’s announcement that he didn’t think pubs should close. However, the sentiment in these went from 61% positive to 80% negative.
Tesco was the brand most referred to in relation to the coronavirus in the UK, with almost 24,000 mentions over the past month, followed by Amazon, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. Next came Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
