Pret A Manger, the sandwich and takeaway food chain, has launched its latest apprenticeship recruitment drive, with plans to hire 70 apprentices in the New Year from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The campaign will the feature the chain’s stores in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester taking part in the three-month project.
The latest scheme follows on one this year through which the firm aimed to hire 25 apprentices to mark its silver anniversary, but ended up recruiting 57.
The Pret apprenticeship scheme was launched in 2008 and has an 88% success rate.
Nicki Fisher, head of sustainability at Pret A Manger, said: “So far, our apprenticeship effort has been mainly focused on London but we want to expand the scheme across some of our other major cities. We hope this initiative will give new hope to dozens of people who have been written off by society and who may have even written themselves off.
“This is about getting the homeless off the streets and giving ex-offenders a second chance. All the recruits start with a clean slate and are given every chance to rebuild their lives.”
