Eight in ten workers at sandwich chain Pret a Manger are foreign born, fuelling concerns it is failing young Britons.
Details of the recruitment policy were revealed today as the group announced that profits soared by 17 per cent last year.
The company, founded by two British entrepreneurs, is owned by a private equity firm as part of a portfolio of investments ranging from care homes to engineering.
Pret’s decision to hire young foreigners at a time of record British youth unemployment was criticised two years ago by the employment minister Chris Grayling as ‘unacceptable’.
At this Pret a Manger in the City of London there are eight workers of five different nationalities-and that's just one shift
Pret a Manger say that without European workers,many businesses across London would not be able to survive. Sandwich chain Pret A Manger is to create 550 jobs in the UK as it steps up its expansion plans
The major of London, Boris Johnson, has also lamented the fact that Pret’s management have overlooked young Britons.
The company claims to be tackling the issue, however the proportion of its workforce that was born in Britain has only risen from 17per cent to 20per cent in a year.
The reliance on foreigners is particularly odd given that a number of those manning the Pret tills struggle to speak English fluently.
The sales and profits at the company, which has some 323 outlets and more than 7,500 staff, suggest this is no barrier to success.
Sales of its trademark tuna baguettes, club sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, coffee and cakes rose 17per cent in 2012 to reach £443m, boosting profits by the same percentage to £61.1m.
Despite its French name, the sandwich chain was opened by British college friends, Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, in 1986.
It has always traded on the policy of being an ethical food company, using only natural ingredients that are put together in the kitchens of each store.
Pret a Manger trainees learn the ropes at the tills of one of the sandwich shops
At one time, the business was part-owned by McDonald’s, however it was sold to private equity fund Bridgepoint in 2008, in a deal that saw the two founders collect some £50m each.
Today, the group has 256 outlets in the UK employing around 5,900 people, plus 67 overseas, including the USA, Hong Kong and Paris, where weekly sales are higher than any other outlets.
It will be opening 50 new stores this year, creating another 1,000 jobs, with around half of these in the UK.
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The company has responded to concerns over the foreign bias of its workforce by launching a school leavers programme.
However, just nine have been hired so far, while the company only managed to increase its proportion of British born workers from 17per cent to 20per cent between 2011 and 2012.
Pret’s chief executive, Clive Schlee, said: ‘We are pleased that we have seen some encouraging signs and that the number of British workers at Pret has increased.
‘But this is not a Pret issue, this is an industry-wide issue and there is no quick fix.
‘We are expanding our school-leavers programme this coming year and will continue to do all that we can to attract more British applicants.
‘We will always employ the very best people at Pret and we celebrate the rich diversity of our workforce and the atmosphere that brings to our shops.’
BEHIND THE COUNTER: PRET A MANGER PERFORMANCE REVEALED
Banana is best-selling item – 75,000 a week.
Its bananas come from the top tier of the bunch or hand.
Fruit salad pots showing fastest rate of growth.
Tuna baguette is most popular sandwich, overtaking the Club in 2012.
Ban on artificial ingredients means ham is pale, not bright pink.
£7.50 an hour is starting salary in London, which equates to £15,600 a year plus bonus.
28 days holiday, including Bank Holidays.
£27,000 a year salary for assistant manager, linked to sales.
Staff required to have a ‘presence,’ eg quirky sense of fun.
Mystery shoppers used to ensure employees exhibit ‘positive emotional state’.
Asked about the foreign domination, he told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’ve responded to a lot of criticism like that.
‘It depends on what market you’re talking about. Outside London Pret is predominantly British.
‘Inside London it’s a much more cosmopolitan economy and our staff reflect the nature of the people in London.’
Despite its corporate connections, Pret maintains its philosophy as an ethical business, which includes supporting the homeless.
Its outlets distributed approximately 2.5 million sandwiches and other products to the homeless in 2012 and made grants to 34 homeless charities.
It also offers jobs to the homeless and has taken on 84 apprentices.
Concerns about Pret’s recruitment policy was first raised by the employment minister, Mr Grayling, in a TV interview in the autumn of 2011.
Asked about the high level of foreign staff, he said: ‘It is certainly a situation that I find unacceptable. Of course, this country has benefited from people coming in from other countries to work.
‘But I want to see more young people in positions in this country and I want … to see them getting jobs that become vacant, rather than people coming into the UK.’
The figures released by Pret yesterday suggests the progress has been painfully slow.
In January last year, Boris Johnson, suggested Pret viewed foreign workers as more dedicated and motivated.
‘Look at Pret a Manger. If you’ve been to one recently, how many native Londoners served you? What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘London is a fantastic creator of jobs — but many of these jobs are going to people who don’t originate in this country.
‘They are hard-working, good people, and we need to learn from them and understand what it is that they have got that makes them able to get those jobs that young Londoners don’t have.’