Pret A Manger Names Chief Customer & Growth Officer

In the UK, sandwich shop franchise Pret A Manger has hired Dan Burdett as Chief Customer & Growth Officer, responsible for setting the group's global direction across food innovation, coffee and packaging, brand and insight, sustainability, technical, quality and commercial growth.

Pret says its mission is to sell freshly made food and organic coffee, while also trying to 'do the right thing', by donating millions of items of unsold food to those in need each day. The firm operates almost 600 shops in eleven countries across three continents. Burdett (pictured) joins from ticket booking platform Tigets, where he served as CMO, tasked with building a full-service marketing function and consumer-facing brand platform. Prior to this he worked for eBay as Head of Consumer & Growth marketing in Europe; for Mars as Global Chief Brand Officer for the Snickers brand; and The Branded Sport Group as Managing Partner. Earlier, he held senior branding roles at Unilever in London and Japan; having begun his career at L'Oréal in London and Paris.

In his new role as a member of Pret's Executive Team, reporting to CEO Pano Christou, Burdett's main focus will be on growing the group's online D2C and CPG businesses; and optimising new end-to-end customer journeys for initiatives including subscriptions, click and collect and home delivery. He is also charged with growing Pret's share of the food-to-go market by better understanding how the company is positioned to meet future demand.

Burdett comments: 'I've been a Pret customer for as long as I can remember so it's a real honour to be joining the team. I believe that Pret's core proposition of good for you food, on the go, remains as relevant today as it's ever been, so helping deliver this experience, in a uniquely Pret way, across new channels, is the challenge I'll take on in 2021'.

Owned by JAB Holdings, Pret is online at www.pret.com .