ANOTHER high street coffee chain is employing bouncers to guard their food and drink amid a shoplifting epidemic.
Pret A Manger has become the latest high street chain forced to bring in security officers, following in the footsteps of Costa, Greggs and McDonald’s.
Pictures captured in West Hampstead, London, show a security worker on high alert as he stands at the entrance to one of the coffee chain’s stores.
The guard has seemingly been brought in to protect the staff and products in the sandwich shop.
It comes after a wave of shoplifting thefts ravaged the British high street with food and drink lifted from shelves in broad daylight by brazen thieves.
Pret A Manger is understood to employ third party security in locations where it is felt appropriate by the company.
Pret said it regularly reviewed the use of security officers and offered additional support when and where it was needed.
Earlier this year Costa – Britain’s biggest coffee chain – confirmed it had hired “additional support” to ensure stores are safe for its staff and customers.
It followed on the heels of a slew of thefts at Greggs, revealed by The Sun last year, thought to be costing the bakery millions of pounds a year.
Elsewhere, staff at M&S were issued with body-worn cameras amid the snowballing shoplifting crisis.
Separate measures were introduced at Sainsbury’s with the chain of stores using checkout cameras that records would-be thieves who fail to scan items before playing the footage back to them.
And, in 2024 it was revealed that staff members in London based Pret A Manger stores were issued with body-worn cameras.
Video footage from the cameras, which would only be turned on under specific circumstances, would be shared with Pret’s security team.
The personal cameras were set to be trialled at six of the sandwich shop’s London locations.
The introduction of the technology came as companies reported increasing cases of shoplifting and aggressive behaviour towards staff.
Now, the chain appears to have hired security officers to patrol some of its stores in the capital.
Government figures reveal there were 519,381 shop thefts across England and Wales in the year to September 2025, up five per cent from 492,660 in 2024.
However, some chains have stopped reporting incidents, with just 46,000 prosecutions last year.
Lucy Whing of the British Retail Consortium, previously told The Sun: “Retailers have invested over £5billion in the last five years to tackle theft and crime.
“Ultimately such theft is not a victimless crime, pushing up the price for honest shoppers.”
In the wake of the rise in retail related crime stores are now splashing cash on security cameras, personnel, CCTV and bodyworn cameras the British Retail Consortium said.
A Pret spokesperson said: “For several years Pret has used security personnel in some of its shops to ensure the safety and wellbeing of team members and customers.
“We regularly review this, introducing additional support where it may be appropriate.”
£2.2bn theft epidemic
SHOPLIFTERS are striking an average of three times a minute, costing retailers around £2.2billion a year.
Some have installed anti-theft cages while regularly targeted items are placed in security boxes, including £2.60 bars of Dairy Milk.
Last week Leah Harding, 37, was jailed for 41 weeks after swiping 64 boxes of Cadbury Creme Eggs in Peterborough, and £300 of spirits later the same day.
Also last week, Stuart Westwood, 38, got 22 months for threatening Southampton Asda staff with needles and a bottle.
Waitrose recently sacked worker Walker Smith for tackling a thief at its store in South West London.
