Pret 'reaching out' to UK workers amid Brexit job fears

Sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger is "reaching out" to British job applicants as it looks to plug a looming recruitment gap caused by Brexit, its boss said.

Chief (Taiwan OTC: 3345.TWO - news) executive Clive Schlee revealed that the business - most of whose workers come from the continent - was turning to social media and UK job centres to tap into the UK labour market.

Pret (Shenzhen: 002324.SZ - news) employs 20,000 people in the UK, around 65% coming from EU countries other than Britain.

The future status of EU workers under a Brexit deal has yet to be agreed.

Pret revealed last month that just one in 50 of its job applicants was British and has now revealed a how it is dealing with a possible recruitment crisis - as it published record full-year results.

Mr Schlee said: "We used to wait for people to come to us, but we're reaching out to more British labour applicants through social media and job centres."

Pret, which last year created 839 full-time jobs, recently revealed it was launching a programme this summer to offer 500 week-long paid work experience placements to UK school students.

"We're very encouraged by the response," said Mr Schlee.

"So we feel that we will be able to maintain our diverse, our tolerant and our very competitive culture, but with a higher British percentage over time."

Mr Schlee also welcomed proposals to head off recruitment problems for the hospitality industry with so-called "barista visas".

These could allow young EU citizens to carry on coming to the UK to work in coffee shops and pubs, without being eligible for benefits.

Pret reported an 11% rise in operating profit to £93m for the year to 29 December 2016, with revenues up to £776m as like-for-like sales rose 4.8%.

The company said trading so far this year had followed a similar pattern, and that it was yet to see a slowdown - days after Costa Coffee owner Whitbread (Frankfurt: WHF4.F - news) warned of a tougher consumer environment.

Pret said the plunge in sterling since the referendum had been a double-edged sword.

The currency fall has made imported ingredients more expensive but also encouraged foreign tourism, boosting the number of visitors passing through airports, railway stations and Tube stations where Pret has many branches.

Pret has 444 shops including 329 in the UK. It opened 31 in the UK over last year.