Eat (styled as EAT.) was a chain of

sandwich shop A sandwich bar is a restaurant or take-away food shop that primarily sells sandwiches. Some sandwich bars also offer other types of fare, such as soups, grilled foods. and meals. Notable sandwich bars include Subway and Arby's Arby's is an ...

s that was founded in 1996 by Niall and Faith MacArthur and later owned by

Pret a Manger Pret a Manger (; French for "ready to eat") is a British multinational sandwich shop chain founded in London, England, in 1983. It is popularly referred to simply as Pret. As of January 2025, Pret had over 700 locations across 19 countries and ...

. It had 95 branches in the United Kingdom, 75 of which were in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It announced the closure of its UK stores in March 2020.

Foundation

The first shop was opened in October 1996 in Villiers Street, London, next to

Charing Cross railway station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...

. Founded and run by couple Niall and Faith MacArthur, the company was similar to

insofar as all the produce was freshly made, although it operated from a centralised production facility. The style of Eat outlets was designed by David Collins, who also designed the look of

Café Rouge Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain, with 8 sites across the United Kingdom, 5 of which are within Center Parcs resorts. Café Rouge is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by The Big Table. History Café Rouge was founded ...

Ownership history

The business, then owned by Penta Capital, which had bought a stake in the firm in August 2005, was bought by private equity firm Lyceum Capital (later re-branded Horizon Capital) in March 2011. Annual sales were £68 million in 2008 and approximately £100 million in 2012. The 2012 profit was £2.7 million. In November 2012, the company opened a £1 million flagship outlet in the

Strand, London The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading "The", but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End Theatre, West End theatreland, runs just over from Tra ...

. Eat expanded with operations in France and Spain through franchise agreements. In May 2019, having struggled in an increasingly competitive market and having made a loss of £17m the previous year, Eat was acquired by Pret a Manger. Pret a Manger suggested that it might use the chain's locations to expand its Veggie Pret format to cater for a growing trend towards

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

food. On 23 March 2020, it was announced that the remaining 90 UK Eat branded restaurants were to close permanently.

Philanthropy

Eat said that it donated unsold food items to charities and hostels.

Footnotes

External links

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EatApp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eat 1996 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 2020 British companies established in 1996 Fast-food chains of the United Kingdom Defunct fast-food chains Restaurants disestablished in 2020 Restaurants established in 1996 Restaurants in London

Foundation

Ownership history

Philanthropy

See also

Footnotes

External links