Pret A Manger has opened a shop at Roadchef’s Tibshelf Northbound Services on the M1, the eighth Pret in the motorway operator’s network and the sixth to open this year. The opening creates 10 jobs, and three more Roadchef sites are due to follow this winter, according to trade reports on 29 October.
Roadchef runs motorway services across the UK, with the shops sitting inside its service areas on routes such as the M1, M5 and M25, and Pret A Manger trades in them as a partner brand rather than from a high street or city-centre unit. Hospitality & Catering News describes the arrangement as a franchise partnership, and Pret’s head of franchise, Sam Otterburn, is the company’s named spokesperson on the opening of the travel-hub format now used across the coffee franchises in the UK. Pret has previously opened shops at Roadchef’s Taunton Deane Southbound on the M5 and Clacket Lane Westbound on the M25.
The shop at Tibshelf
The Tibshelf Northbound shop trades daily from 7am to 7pm and has an on-site kitchen where the food range is prepared through the day. The menu includes sandwiches, salads, hot food, bakery products and barista-made drinks, and the Club Pret subscription is available there. Across the Roadchef network, the rollout has created more than 50 jobs, according to Hospitality & Catering News. The two companies have not published a turnover forecast or an investment figure for the Tibshelf shop, and neither report gives one. Named products on the opening menu include the All-Butter Croissant, the Chicken Caesar Bacon Baguette and the Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette, alongside coffees, teas and iced drinks prepared by Pret’s baristas.
What each side said
Otterburn said Tibshelf is the eighth Pret within the Roadchef network and that the company was delighted to partner with Roadchef. Tim Gittins, chief executive of Roadchef, described the opening as an important step in a growing partnership and part of a commitment to giving drivers greater choice and better quality food and drink. Propel reported Gittins as saying the wider ambition is to keep investing across the UK motorway network, and that Roadchef is also investing in infrastructure, including its partnership with BP pulse to speed up the rollout of ultra-fast EV charging across its estate. Hospitality & Catering News adds that Roadchef has been introducing established hospitality brands across its motorway services portfolio, and quotes Gittins describing the Tibshelf shop as a reflection of continued investment in improving the overall roadside experience for drivers.
Pret and franchising in the UK
Pret A Manger franchises in the UK to regional territory partners rather than to individuals, and publishes an institutional entry bar. Neither report says whether the Roadchef shops are run by Pret, by Roadchef or by a third party, so the operating model at Tibshelf is not established.
Motorway sites and the next openings
The next three Pret shops in the Roadchef network are planned for Sandbach Northbound, Norton Canes and Watford Gap Northbound this winter, according to both reports. That would take the Roadchef network to 11 Pret shops if all open as planned. Hospitality & Catering News notes that Pret is expanding beyond its traditional high street and city-centre estate, with motorway services now part of that growth, a route taken by several fast food franchises in the UK.
