A further 1,000 high street job cuts were announced on Friday as Edinburgh Woollen Mill axed 600 posts and Pret a Manger cut a further 400 jobs. Edinburgh Woollen Mills – which also owns the Jaeger, Peacocks and Austin Reed chains – confirmed on Friday it would shut 50 stores with the loss of 600 jobs. The chain, which is owned by businessman Philip Day, last week warned its 21,500 staff it was on the brink of collapse and preparing to appoint administrators in an attempt to save the business. The first step of the restructuring process is the closure of 50 shops, mostly Peacocks and Edinburgh Woollen Mill branches. About 600 staff – mainly those who work on the shop floor – have been told they have lost their jobs. Last week EWM said it was “responding to the harsh trading conditions caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a recent reduction in its credit insurance”. The coffee and sandwich shop chain Pret a Manger said it would cut 400 jobs and close six more outlets in London after a slowdown in sales growth since September due to the the coronavirus pandemic. The latest redundancies, all of which are in stores, come on top of nearly 2,900 job cuts and 30 shop closures announced in August. Pret has struggled to deal with the slump in commuter numbers since the pandemic struck, with branches in the City of London particularly hard hit. Pret, which had 389 shops in the UK employing 6,500 people before the latest job cuts, said it would be making a “number of adjustments” within the business to reduce jobs as well as closing the additional outlets. It said its new coffee subscription service and online business via takeaway courier firms such as Just Eat and Deliveroo was performing strongly and sales had grown over the past four months since high streets were allowed to reopen. The group is also opening new motorway service station sites with the operator Moto in Cherwell Valley and Rugby. Clare Clough, the UK managing director of Pret, said: “It’s absolutely right that we take steps to stop the spread of the virus and tackle the new wave of infections. Sadly, the result of the rise in infections and the necessary shift in public health guidance mean that our recovery has slowed. “We’ve said all along that it’s up to Pret to decide our own future and that we must adapt to the new situation we find ourselves in. That’s why we have to make these further changes as we continue to transform our business model and prepare for the six months ahead.”