I’ve been a regular at Pret for roughly…
I’ve been a regular at Pret for roughly twenty-four years, starting with the Notting Hill branch when it was half the size it is now, and continuing across London ever since. That kind of long relationship gives you a good sense of what is structural and what is accidental in a company. What has kept me coming back is not only the consistency of the coffee and food, but the people. At the Notting Hill branch in particular, the current team — Geru, Dhruvil, Sapta, Sunil, JB, Rewan, and Beni — exemplify what Pret does well at its best: professionalism, warmth, and attentiveness without intrusion. I should also mention Meron, formerly of Notting Hill and now at the Kennington High Street branch, and Leo, a former manager at Notting Hill who later worked at Ladbroke Grove and Hammersmith, whose calm competence and kindness left a lasting impression. Of course, these names also stand in for many others over the years whose names I no longer remember, but whose care and competence shaped the experience just as much. That continuity matters. At some point recently I caught myself doing a very rough mental calculation of how many coffees this adds up to over the years and decided it was better not to be too exact. Reliability, care, and consistency over decades are not small achievements. Pret has earned my loyalty quietly, through daily practice rather than slogans.