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High UK Interest Rates Not the ‘End of the World,’ Says Pret A Manger Founder
Pret A Manger founder and Itsu CEO Julian Metcalfe tells In the City that the economy isn’t an obstacle to building a successful fast-food chain.
Julian Metcalfe says the current UK economy isn’t an obstacle to building up his Itsu fast-food chain.
Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
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When Julian Metcalfe helped launch the sandwich and coffee-chain Pret A Manger in 1986, interest rates were in the double digits and staffing was difficult, in part because full freedom of movement within the European Union was still a few years away. These days, the UK is out of the EU, the interest rate is 5%—though the Bank of England is expected to raise it.