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One of the insurers embroiled in a battle with the City watchdog about the payment of claims from coronavirus-hit businesses has begun lining up a successor to its veteran chairman.
Sky News has learnt that RSA Insurance Group is working with headhunters on a search to replace Martin Scicluna, who also chairs the supermarket chain J Sainsbury.

Mr Scicluna, who has chaired RSA since 2012, is expected to step down next year, according to sources.
City insiders said that one of the contenders to replace him was Baroness Fairhead, the former trade minister, who was recently named chair of the listed industrial group Electrocomponents.
The search process is at a relatively early stage, with an announcement thought to be unlikely until next year.

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Other candidates are in the frame for the job as well as Baroness Fairhead, whose other previous roles include chairing the BBC Trust and HSBC Holdings’ North American business.

RSA has had a challenging year, cancelling its dividend in April following discussions with the Prudential Regulation Authority as the COVID-19 crisis escalated.

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The company has also been part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s pursuit of the insurance industry over its decision not to pay out thousands of claims from small businesses which saw their operations halted as a result of the pandemic.
The case is now expected to be resolved at the Supreme Court early next year.
RSA declined to comment on Sunday.

There is a less than 50% chance of the UK striking a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, a senior Cabinet minister has told Sky News.
Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told the bloc’s chief negotiator Michael Barnier that “the ball is in his court” as to whether negotiations resume in the coming days.

He blamed a possible collapse in talks on “the position that’s been taken in the last couple of weeks” by EU leaders.

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PM’s no-deal Brexit warning

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday claimed Brussels had “abandoned the idea of a free trade deal”.
And the UK’s chief negotiator, Lord Frost, told Mr Barnier not to bother travelling to London on Monday – as he had intended – as there was “no basis” on which to continue negotiations.

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However, the pair are expected to hold virtual talks on Monday after which a decision will be made regarding the rest of the week.

The dramatic bust-up between both sides follows Thursday’s European Council summit, at which the EU’s national leaders were accused of watering down a commitment to “intensify” trade talks.

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They also called on the UK to “make the necessary moves” for a post-Brexit deal – which Lord Frost interpreted as a demand for him to make all future moves in an effort to reach an agreement.

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Sophy Ridge On Sunday highlights

Earlier this month, Mr Gove claimed there was around a 66% chance of EU-UK negotiations succeeding.
But he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday show that there was now a lesser chance of a deal and, asked if it was now less that 50%, he replied: “Well, I think it’s less.
“I can’t be precise but one of the reasons why it’s less is the position that’s been taken in the last couple of weeks by EU leaders.
“What we have seen and what our negotiators have found is that the EU side have not been willing to produce the detailed legal text, they have not been willing to intensify the talks in a way that would indicate that they were acting seriously about reaching an agreement.
“They have also insisted both that we accept a level of control over our autonomy that an independent country can’t really accept.
“And, at the same time, they are saying we should continue to have exactly the same access to, for example, our fishing waters and our fishing stocks as before.
“So that seems to me to be the behaviour of an organisation and an institution that is not serious about looking at compromises necessary to secure a deal.
“But I still hope we will get a deal through.”

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Asked if future negotiations with Mr Barnier would still take place, Mr Gove said: “Well, the ball is in his court.
“We’ve made clear that we need to see a change in approach from the EU. I know that he will be calling David Frost over the course of the next few days.
“Let’s see if the EU appreciates the importance of reaching a deal and the importance of moving ground.”
The UK officially left the EU on 31 January and entered the Brexit transition period, which will end on 31 December.
If there is no agreement on a future EU-UK relationship prior to that date, the two sides are likely to have to trade on World Trade Organisation rules with tariffs imposed in both directions.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said a post-Brexit trade deal was needed “in the national interest”.
“I think it is very important that the remaining issues are negotiated, and we get an agreement, he told the BBC’s Politics Wales show.
“We need to, the clock is ticking. We need this agreement in the national interest.
“The prime minister said he had an oven-ready deal. He should get on and deliver that.”

Around two-and-a-half million coins celebrating the contributions ethnic minority communities have made to the UK will enter circulation on Monday.
The coins will feature the words “Diversity built Britain”, along with a geodome representing connection and strength.

The Treasury says that the new coins show the intent of the Royal Mint and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to feature a wider range of people on coins and notes in the future.

Image: Dominique Evans used her personal experiences as inspiration when designing the coin. Pic: The Royal Mint
Dominique Evans previously designed coins marking VE Day and the sapphire anniversary of the Queen’s coronation, and came up with the new 50p using her experiences of growing up as a mixed-race woman as inspiration.
She said: “When designing this coin, I began by thinking about the people who inspire me and what diversity has meant in my life. I believe that no matter where you are born, we all belong under the same sky and this was the starting point of the design.

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“The background of the coin features a geodome with a series of interconnecting lines and triangles that form a network. Each part is equal, and symbolises a community of connection and strength.”

The coin was commissioned by Mr Sunak after discussions with the We Too Built Britain campaign, which supports fair representation of the contributions of ethnic minority communities.

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He said: “I have seen first-hand the contribution made by ethnic minority communities to Britain’s history.
“This coin, and the rest of the series, will act as a fitting tribute to the very profound impact ethnic minority communities have made on Britain, and I am grateful to the Royal Mint for turning this around at record speed.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Ms Evans, saying: “Her design is the first in a series of coins the Mint will be producing, celebrating those who have helped shape our national history and culture.”
The government plans to consult with We Too Built Britain and other groups representing ethnic minority communities on the themes of future coins in the series.
The Royal Mint and the West India Committee will also be sending education packs to primary schools in England and Wales following the release of the coins.
Zehra Zaidi, a campaigner who recently attended a roundtable event held by Mr Sunak, said: “Ethnic minority people, as well as all under-represented groups, need to see themselves represented in British institutions.
“It is a part of an invisible social contract and it can build cohesion, promote a sense of belonging, inspire young people and unite us as a nation, showing that we all have an equal stake in society.
“We are a diverse, modern and global Britain – let’s show that. This coin helps bridge our nation’s past, its diverse present and its future, looking outward, positively, together.”

A shareholder in Flybe when it collapsed this year with the loss of thousands of jobs is in talks with its administrators about a potentially controversial bid to resuscitate the regional airline.
Sky News has learnt that Cyrus Capital, a hedge fund with offices in Mayfair, is behind a plot to reacquire some of Flybe’s assets, despite the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Britain’s aviation industry.

Cyrus Capital, which is run in Europe by Lucien Farrell, is understood to be in discussions with EY – which was appointed to handle the company’s insolvency in March – about a deal.
It is said to want to relaunch a smaller version of Flybe next year, although the precise timetable would be subject to a recovery in passenger demand and the removal of coronavirus-related quarantine measures.
Flybe was Europe’s largest regional airline, carrying around 9m passengers annually and accounting for 40% of domestic UK flights.

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It served more than 80 airports across Britain and Europe, including locations such as Belfast, Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester and Southampton.

It fought a frantic battle to survive, securing a rescue deal involving Cyrus Capital, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Stobart Group, the owner of Southend Airport, early last year.

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However, it ran into fresh financial turbulence in January, with mounting losses prompting it to approach the government to seek emergency financial support.
Despite premature public comments from cabinet ministers including the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, that a deal had been struck to keep Flybe aloft, weeks of talks about a £100m state loan foundered.
Opponents of a government funding package were led by Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair boss, who called it “a billionaires’ bailout” in reference to Sir Richard Branson’s involvement in the ownership of Flybe.
The company eventually called in administrators in early March, causing more than 2300 job losses, with Virgin Atlantic’s refusal to inject new funding the eventual catalyst for its collapse.
Virgin Atlantic was forced to seek its own bailout this year following the slump in international air travel.
More than a dozen of Flybe’s routes have been taken on by Loganair, another regional carrier, although many remain unfilled.
Further details of Cyrus Capital’s plans to revive Flybe, including whether it would seek to use the defunct airline’s name, were unclear this weekend.
A number of former Flybe executives are understood to be involved in the proposed relaunch.
The hedge fund held a 40% stake in Connect Airways, Flybe’s parent company, before its insolvency.
According to an administrator’s report, it was also the largest secured creditor, with £53m of loans outstanding when EY was appointed.
Cyrus Capital and EY declined to comment.
As well as Virgin Atlantic’s privately funded rescue deal, International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways and Aer Lingus, has tapped shareholders for more than £2bn of additional equity since the COVID-19 crisis began.
Sky News revealed earlier this month that easyJet had warned the government that it might require further state support beyond its access to the Bank of England’s coronavirus funding programme
Further evidence of the continuing crisis in the aviation sector was provided this weekend as the UK’s biggest airport entered into a new phase of consultation with employees, heightening the possibility of substantial job losses.
Heathrow Airport has been consulting with unions since early last month about revised pay deals for thousands of staff, but the statutory 45-day period expired on Friday with no deal in place.
That will involve individual consultations with up to 4700 affected employees, although the number of any eventual job losses will be significantly lower than that.
Kathryn Leahy, Heathrow’s director of operations, said: “In order to ensure our business recovers from this crisis and is sustainable and competitive in the future, changes need to happen.
“For the past 45 days we have been in formal talks with our unions, but we have been unable to reach an agreement.
“Whilst we will continue to talk, we now need to move on to the next stage of this process with our colleagues.”
She added that Heathrow, which has seen passenger numbers plummet this year, had “a new future ahead of it and in order to be competitive, we need to create cost efficiencies across the business”.
Ms Leahy insisted that the company’s pay offer meant there was “a job for everyone who wants one”.
Heathrow’s plan involves equalising pay, with a ‘buy down’ offer – for those whose salaries will be decreased – involving the difference being paid in a lump sum or in monthly instalments over a two-year period.
The airport has told unions that while no further pay deals will be considered until the beginning of 2023, that would be reviewed if passenger numbers return to at least 80% of 2019 levels across three consecutive months compared with the same three-month period in 2019.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Rishi Sunak that “now is not yet the time to balance the books”.
In an interview with Sky News, Kristalina Georgieva said the UK must stand ready to spend more to support businesses and households through the second surge of the pandemic.

Her comments come as the chancellor faces criticism for providing less generous fiscal support for the economy as Downing Street imposes further restrictions.

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Ms Georgieva, who succeeded Christine Lagarde as managing director of the IMF last year, said while the UK had “done very well” with its economic stimulus plans in the early months of the pandemic, “now is not yet the time to balance the books”.
She said: “Of course, now is a good time to think about balancing the books down the road. But it is more important to make sure that firms and workers are supported while we are still wrestling with the pandemic.”

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The message is particularly striking since it comes less than a fortnight after the chancellor’s first party conference speech, in which he pledged: “This Conservative government will always balance the books. If instead we argue there is no limit on what we can spend… what is the point in us?”

Ms Georgieva’s comments come at the end of the IMF’s annual meetings, during which the Fund urged countries around the world to spend as necessary if they need to impose further lockdowns.

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Ms Georgieva said that the chancellor was right not to extend support to households universally, as it did with the initial furlough scheme.
“We cannot provide support to everyone forever, knowing that the post pandemic economy will be different from the one we had before,” she said.

Image: The IMF head has issued a warning to Chancellor Rishi Sunak
Talking about governments more generally, she added: “It is paramount for governments not to withdraw (economic) support prematurely. Because if it is done, we risk massive bankruptcies and unemployment.
“We have low interest rates everywhere and governments can afford to borrow.”
The shift is significant, since the IMF is often seen as the world’s fiscal watchdog, keen to keep spending and borrowing under control.
Ms Georgieva said she was hopeful that Boris Johnson and EU leaders could seal a Brexit deal, even though the prime minister has signalled that the talks are now over.
“We need to aim for the best possible outcome,” she said.

Image: Kristalina Georgieva says she is hopeful a Brexit deal can be made
“The analysis both by others and ourselves does point to the fact that there are significant consequences if there is no agreement. These are the last few weeks of negotiations – there is still a possibility to continue to work towards that agreement.
“The clock is ticking but it’s not yet midnight.”
A Treasury spokesperson said: “There’s no disagreement on this. We’ve been clear that the immediate priority is to protect jobs and get the NHS the funds it needs to beat the virus.
“We’ve spent over £200bn this year and will continue to provide the support that’s needed. So we agree with the IMF.
“We also agree with them that in the longer term sustainable public finances are essential and it’s important to be honest about that.”

Star Trek star William Shatner has threatened to stop selling merchandise from his online store to the UK because of costly red tape.
The Canadian actor, best known for playing Captain James T Kirk in the blockbusting sci-fi franchise, issued the warning on Twitter and apologised to fans.

He claimed the British government was seeking to make overseas sellers collect VAT on orders being sent to the UK from the New Year.

to absorb or we would have to raise prices considerably. Unfortunately unless something happens to change that we will suspend accepting orders from the UK at https://t.co/RXigeY1iOJ starting January 1st. I’m sorry.??‍♂️
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 15, 2020

Shatner said he had asked his staff to investigate and they found it would cost £1,000 a year just to deal with the paperwork.
He wrote: “That’s too much for a small store to absorb or we would have to raise prices considerably.

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“Unfortunately unless something happens to change that we will suspend accepting orders from the UK at ShatnerStore.com starting January 1st. I’m sorry.”
The William Shatner Store sells merchandise from TV shows he has starred in, including Star Trek, TJ Hooker and Boston Legal.

The world’s biggest mining companies are gradually turning their backs on thermal coal.
Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining company, has already pulled out of the market while BHP, the world’s biggest player, confirmed in August that it would be seeking to sell or spin off its thermal coal operations within the next two years.

Image: Glencore says when its existing reserves have been depleted, they will not be replaced
And Anglo American, another of the world’s biggest mining companies, said in May this year that it would be looking to spin off its thermal coal assets in South Africa during the next two to three years.
That left Glencore as the last of the eight big mining companies in the FTSE 100 – Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Polymetal and Evraz have no exposure to coal – not to have explicitly said it was getting out of thermal coal.
It said as recently as February this year that it had no intention of selling or demerging its thermal coal assets.

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But today brought at least a partial shift in its approach.

Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive and architect of Glencore’s extraordinary rise during the last two decades, said that, when the company’s existing thermal coal reserves had been depleted, they would not be replaced.

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He told the Financial Times Commodities Mining Summit in Johannesburg: “We are looking at how the market looks.
“We are reviewing all our coal operations. (But) I don’t see how spinning off coal mines will help us reduce Scope 3 emissions.”
Mr Glasenberg previously said in February that the company was seeking to reduce its so-called “Scope 3” emissions – those emissions created by its customers using its products – by 30% by 2035.
He said the company would give a further update on how it achieves that in December.
All of the big global mining companies have pledged to cut their emissions to one degree or another.

Image: Ivan Glasenberg’s comments came as the price of thermal coal is rising strongly
BHP said last month it hoped to reduce its “Scope 1 and 2” emissions – its own emissions and those caused by the suppliers that power its mines – by 30% by 2030 but has not been more specific on “Scope 3”.
Its targets are, nonetheless, seen as more ambitious than those of Rio Tinto – which has said it will reduce its operational emissions to 15% below their levels two years ago by 2030.
All of the big miners are under increasingly pressure to divest thermal coal operations as global fund managers, in response to pressure from their clients and those whose money they manage, threaten to offload the stock of companies involved in the activity.
Norway’s $1.1trn (£0.85trn) Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world’s largest funds, has recently introduced tough new rules barring it from investing in companies that obtain more than 30% of their income from thermal coal or which produce more than 20 million tons of thermal coal annually.
Glencore, which produces more than six times that amount, is one of the companies affected.
And Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager, announced plans in January this year to divest from companies that make at least a quarter of their revenue from thermal coal.

Image: Some of the world’s big banks have promised to stop financing thermal coal, including Barclays
Meanwhile, some of the world’s big banks begun promising to stop financing thermal coal, including the French lender Societe Generale, the Italian lender UniCredit, the Australian bank Westpac and, in the UK, NatWest and Barclays.
Ironically, Mr Glasenberg’s comments come at a time when the price of thermal coal – the type of coal burned to generate electricity – is rising strongly.
According to Argus Media, an independent provider of data and price information, the price of thermal coal has risen by 50%, to $57.77 (£44.63) per ton, since May.
It has not been this expensive since October last year.
This reflects a rise in natural gas prices that has led some countries in Europe, chiefly Germany, to switch to burning coal.
Mr Glasenberg revealed at the company’s annual general meeting in May, that its thermal coal production costs has fallen to a company average of $42 (£32.45) per ton.
These price moves suggest Mr Glasenberg acted shrewdly when, just over two years ago, he paid £1.2bn for a big coal asset from Rio in Australia in a bet that demand for the commodity would remain robust.
Unusually the recent price surge in Europe, has taken the price of European thermal coal above that of Australian thermal coal, although this also reflects the fact that, earlier this week, China ordered its utilities and steel mills to stop importing both thermal coal and metallurgical or coking coal – the kind used in steel production – from Australia due to a diplomatic dispute.
This could prove problematic, longer term, for the miners.
The mining research team at JP Morgan Securities estimates that China is now 93% self-sufficient in thermal coal and 87% self-sufficient in metallurgical coal.
Should it shift further to local production, away from Australian coal, that could lead to a glut in supplies elsewhere.
That could, in turn, also encourage European power companies to burn more coal in the short term.

The owner of some of Britain’s biggest online auction platforms and the Antiques Trade Gazette is drawing up plans for a bumper London flotation next year amid a spike in demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sky News has learnt that Auction Technology Group (ATG) has begun preparations to be taken public just eight months after it was acquired by TA Associates, an American private equity firm.

Track the UK economy’s recovery from lockdown

City sources said that Numis, the investment bank, had been appointed to handle the flotation.
ATG owns auction platforms including bidspotter.com and the-saleroom.com, which is frequently used to conduct sales on television shows such as the BBC’s Bargain Hunt.
The company, which says it facilitates the sale of 12 million items each year, specialises in areas such as industrial machinery and art, antiques and collectables.

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TA Associates bought ATG from ECI Partners, another buyout firm, at the same time as it acquired Proxibid, a Nebraska-based company, and subsequently merged them.

If it does float ATG in London, it would join a growing number of technology-focused businesses plotting City listings.

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Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy

THG Holdings, owner of the online beauty retailer The Hut Group, recently launched one of the UK’s biggest-ever tech floats.
Among other companies plotting initial public offerings are Darktrace, the cybersecurity company, Deliveroo, the online greeting cards retailer Moonpig Group and Trustpilot, the ratings platform.
TA Associates and Numis declined to comment.

The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator has told his European counterpart not to come to London on Monday to resolve stalled talks, after the prime minister warned it was time to “get ready” to leave without a deal.
David Frost spoke to Michel Barnier after Boris Johnson claimed Brussels had “abandoned” the ambition of a free trade deal but insisted “we always knew there would be changes” next year once the Brexit transition period ends.

“There was accordingly no basis for negotiations in London as of Monday,” a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
However, they added that Lord Frost agreed to talk with Mr Barnier at some point early next week instead.
Speaking from Downing Street after an EU summit which both sides said was the deadline for hammering out a deal, Mr Johnson said it looked like the country was heading for what he called “the Australian solution”.

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He suggested he is not completely walking away from negotiations, adding: “What we’re saying to them is come here, come to us, if there’s some fundamental change of approach.”

The UK left the EU on 31 January this year.

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EU wants deal ‘but not at any cost’

After that the country entered a transition period, following many of the same rules meaning there was no change to trade and tariffs or things like freedom of movement.
Negotiators have since been trying to hammer out a trade deal to come into force when that runs out at the end of December.
But Mr Johnson said in a dramatic intervention that “there doesn’t seem to be any progress coming from Brussels”.
He told businesses and hauliers to “get ready” for there to be no free trade deal.
Instead he said the UK’s relationship with the EU could be more like the one Brussels has with Australia, which will mean tariffs being introduced on goods between the UK and the 27 other EU countries.
Mr Johnson urged people to “embrace” the plan with “high hearts”, vowing the UK will “prosper mightily”.
His spokesman later said official talks were “over” and there was “no point” to discussions scheduled to take place next week actually going ahead.

Image: Ms von der Leyen said EU negotiators would come to London next week as planned
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, said she would continue to work for a deal – “but not at any price”.
“As planned, our negotiation team will go to London next week to intensify these negotiations,” she added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also echoed a similar sentiment, saying: “As far as the EU is concerned, and as far as I am concerned, we should continue to negotiate.”
And Charles Michel, head of the EU Council, said fisheries remains a “very important topic” in talks and insisted the UK should implement the divorce deal “in total”, after Mr Johnson threatened to override it.
At home, Nicola Sturgeon said she felt “deeply frustrated and depressed” by the prospect of a no-trade deal end to the transition while the UK is still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
And Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael tweeted: “To go from ‘oven-ready’ to ‘no-deal’ in less than nine months suggests utter incompetence from the PM and his government.”
The pound fell by a cent against the dollar immediately following the prime minister’s statement, but quickly recovered to trade at just under $1.29.
Analysis: EU won’t be encouraged or upset by PM’s interventionBy Adam Parsons, Europe correspondent

Image: The transition period runs out at the end of December 2020
The EU won’t exactly see these comments as encouraging, but nor will they be especially upset.
Mr Johnson has left the way clear for talks to continue, inviting the EU to “come here, come to us”.
And by happy coincidence, Michel Barnier had already offered to continue negotiations in London next week.
As for the commitment to prepare for an Australian-style deal, by which he means just about no deal at all, EU sources have said to me that they think everyone should have been making those preparations anyway, just in case.
Does this turn up the heat? Maybe, although the pressure of the clock is doing that anyway.
The EU does think that slight progress has been made, but nobody is claiming that a deal is around the corner.
The economic damage of COVID-19 is a much bigger problem for many leaders.
Plenty of countries see a Brexit deal as a distraction at a time when they want to spend their time concentrating on how to respond to the resurgent pandemic.
And there is a school of thought among some in Brussels that a period of no-deal might be a good thing, in order to focus minds on a subsequent return to negotiations.
One diplomat said to me: “If we end up with no-deal, and massive queues of lorries on both sides of the Channel, then everyone might negotiate with a bit more purpose.”
The mantra here has been “we want a deal, but not at any cost”. There’s not much sign of anyone embracing a fundamental rethink at this point.

Britain’s high street has been dealt a further blow by the economic fallout of coronavirus with the loss of a thousand shop jobs and more stores closing.
Pret A Manger is to shut six more shops and cut around another 400 staff in the face of the resurgent pandemic.

The recovery of the coffee and sandwich chain has been hampered by recent changes to COVID-19 guidance and rising case numbers.
Live coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world

Image: Edinburgh Woollen Mill had warned of ‘significant cuts and closures’
In August, the company axed 2,800 posts and closed 30 sites due to the economic downturn caused by coronavirus.

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Meanwhile, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM), which also owns Peacocks and Jaeger, has confirmed that 600 jobs are to go and that 50 stores will close.

The group, which employs 24,000 people, last week filed a notice to appoint administrators and warned of “significant cuts and closures”.

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The shops affected are mainly Peacocks and Edinburgh Woollen Mill branches and the staff being made redundant are mostly shop-floor workers.

Image: Edinburgh Woollen Mill also owns Peacocks and Jaeger
A spokesman for EWM said: “Through all of this we are having to make difficult decisions and take urgent action to try to secure the future of our businesses wherever possible.”
Pret said it had seen “consistent sales growth” in the four months since reopening outlets but this had “slowed since the end of September”.
Pret said its recent “setback” in trading was partially driven by difficult conditions in the capital, after workers were advised last month to work from home where possible.
The locations of the affected stores have not been announced but it is understood they are all based in the capital.
It currently has 389 shops in the UK, including 266 stores in London.

Image: Pret currently has 389 shops in the UK, including 266 stores in London
Clare Clough, Pret’s UK managing director, 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.
“We are doing everything we can to support our team members and to prevent further job losses at Pret.”

Where jobs have been lost in the UK

The group has looked to diversify its operations in recent months in a bid to turnaround its fortunes, including a monthly subscription service for customers.
Earlier this week, Pret announced its first service station site in a partnership with Moto, with it due to open in December.