Basement client gets teeth into new apprenticeship with sandwich chain Pret A Manger!

A Basement client has been getting her teeth into a brand new apprenticeship with gourmet sandwich chain Pret A Manger.

Jay Price prepares food at Pret – before preparing our clients for their interview

The 31-year-old from Wavertree, who was previously homeless and unemployed, beat off stiff competition from several Basement clients to win the much-sought-after position.

Thomas Nichol, Sustainability Projects Co-ordinator for Pret A Manger, got in touch with The Basement as he was keen to extend the company’s apprenticeship scheme to people living in Liverpool. The three-month apprenticeship was open only to those who had previously been homeless and who were in recovery from substance misuse.

Jay Price, from the Basement Learning and Development team, did half a shift at a local Pret A Manager store to experience how food is prepared while also getting a feel for what it would be like to work there.

Having thoroughly enjoyed his time at Pret, Jay was able to feed back his experience to the five clients who had been selected for an interview with store manager Ryan, and Thomas.

The successful candidate, who recently began her apprenticeship, loves working at Pret A Manger. As she explained: “After being unemployed for many years, this apprenticeship has given me the chance to live independently, to get some work experience and to gain some great new skills for the future.”

Pret A Manger are passionate about good, natural food, and all their sandwiches are freshly made every day in store – to find out more visit www.pret-a-manger.co.uk/