We hate the term 'support center'. We’re only using it here because everyone understands what we mean by it. We prefer to call the office by the place where it’s located, Bryant Park, which is in the heart of Manhattan, New York.

The people based at Bryant Park are there to support the good work that our shop teams do each and every day. In order for our stores to run smoothly – so Pret can remain profitable but still be a fun place to work – lots has to go on behind the scenes. We have to find great sites for stores, then build them, create winning food ideas, source ingredients that can be delivered daily, communicate to our customers about what we do and why, ensure our computer systems function correctly, make sure everyone gets paid on time… the list goes on and on.

In many companies, the support center seems to be there to interfere and generally make life more complicated for the rest of the business. This mustn’t ever be the case at Pret.