Pret a Manger returned to profit for the first time since 2018 last year as the launch of a subscription service helped the coffee and bakery chain bounce back after the Covid crisis. The group, which suffered during the pandemic lockdowns when office workers stayed at home, said the revival had continued into this year with sales jumping 20% to £430m in the six months to the end of June. It relaunched its subscription service – which kicked off in September 2020 – as Club Pret, upping the cost by a fifth to £30 a month but adding a 10% discount on food and snacks alongside up to five hot drinks a day. Pret’s subscription service generated 57.9m redemptions globally in 2022, up two-thirds on a year before. Sales in the UK, where Pret has 446 shops employing about 8,000 people, rose by nearly 16% in the half year, despite the cost of living crisis, which has left households with less spare cash to spend, as well as strike action on trains and at schools putting a dampener on sales. Total sales were also boosted by international expansion. Pret now operates in 15 countries on three continents. It aims to have more than 700 shops overseas by the end of 2023, up from 600 at present. International sales account for 19% of revenue. The first-half sales rise came after sales soared 71% to £790m in the year to the end of December 2022 and the company recorded an annual operating profit of £50.6m – bouncing back from a loss of £168m a year before. Profits rose despite Pret raising wages twice last year as the hospitality industry battles to attract staff. The group is controlled by JAB Holding Company, a Luxembourg investment vehicle for Germany’s billionaire Reimann family. Pret has adapted to the rise of working from home with more outlets outside city centres. More than half (55%) of new Pret shops opened since January 2022 have been outside London and it opens 70% of its shops at weekends, up 85% on 2021, helping increase weekend trade at the group by 271% in the past two years. Pano Christou, the chief executive of Pret, said: “It’s been three years of transformation at Pret, in which we’ve evolved into a truly global, multichannel brand, and emerged as a stronger business than we were in 2019. “We’re focused on continuing to grow, while constantly innovating to bring Pret’s freshly made food and organic coffee to brand new places, from Bishop’s Stortford to Bradford and from Italy to India.”