Pret has announced some big changes to its coffee subscription service, including a price increase.
The high street coffee chain is rebranding the service to ‘Club Pret’, with new perks for customers but also a new monthly fee.
A subscription to Pret, which includes five barista-made drinks per day, will now set you back £30 a month, which current members say is ‘pure greed’.
The service was initially launched at £20, then jumped up to £25 in February last year.
An email sent to subscribers this morning outlined that changes that are coming as part of Club Pret.
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The coffee chain is introducing a members-only discount for the first time with Club Pret, with 10% off food.
They added: “We’ve also listened to your feedback on iced drinks, so today we’re introducing a new, bigger range of iced drink – Pret Coolers, which replace the old range of smoothies and frappes and will no longer be in shops from 5th June.
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“We’ve also installed new ice machines, so you’ll be able to get your iced coffees and Pret Coolers in over 90% of our shops. In July we’ll also be adding even more choice with Pret Shakes.”
The price hike will come into action from 5 June onwards, whenever each customer’s billing cycle falls.
The new benefits are available straight away.
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Explaining the extra £5 per month, Pret said: “No business wants to raise prices, but of the new subscription price, around £1 will cover increasing ingredient prices, £2 will go towards Pret team pay, and around £2 will help with rising energy costs.
“Over the past year, we’ve given a lot of thought to how we can keep giving back to our most loyal customers. These are tough times, and we want to do the right thing for the people who matter most to Pret: you, our customers, and our amazing team members who serve you every day.
“Creating Club Pret is our way of saying thank you to everyone who keeps choosing Pret.”
Fans have been quick to voice their thoughts on social media (as usual).
One person said: “I hate it when brands try to hide a price hike. It’s dishonest. Cancelling my subscription.”
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Another wrote: “It’s gone from £20 to £25 and now to £30 in a matter of months – it’s not worth it.”
Someone else joked: “Pret subscription just went up to £30, not one minute of reprieve from the #cozzielives.”
One user on Twitter said: “Cancelled my subscription this morning. Without much hesitation as quality of Pret drinks and food has gone downhill recently. This hike is pure greed. Better options and more value elsewhere.”
And someone else posted: “£30 pret subscription SEE YA BABE ain’t no way I’m paying that for sh*t coffee. Two price increases in a year? Come off it. This was their reasoning LOL tone deaf.”
Featured image: Pret
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This Manchester hotel has a Bonfire Night ‘escape’ package for pets to help keep them calm
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most luxurious hotels is transforming into the ultimate pet refuge again over the firework season.
Bonfire Night is loved across the UK for the spectacular firework displays and all the festive-themed activities that go along with it, but the November annual event isn’t so fun for our four-legged friends, as fireworks can be frightening to pets due to loud bangs, flashing lights, and the unpleasant strong smell of spent explosives.
With multiple bangs occurring from numerous displays too, pets are rarely able to pinpoint where the booming explosions are coming from, only making it more terrifying for them.
This is why, after becoming a huge success following its launch last year, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in the heart of the city centre has brought back its special ‘Bonfire Night Escape’ escape package, turning the already pet-friendly hotel into a firework-free sanctuary.
The hotel‘s year-round ‘PAWfect Stay’ package includes any dog staying at no extra cost, plus a pet tuckbox, a guide to the best dog-friendly places in the city, and a toy waiting for them in the room, but this fireworks season, pet owners will also get a luxury hamper including Pet Remedy’s ‘Party Season Survival Kit’
The kit comes together with a range of fast-acting products to help immediately in stressful situations such as fireworks, and includes calming spray, a plug diffuser, and some calming wipes too.
On top of that, dog owners can also take advantage of the hotel’s Music Concierge service, which allows guests to request a record player and vinyls to be placed in the room ahead of check in – with lots of classical and relaxing music records available to distract anxious pets from the noise of Bonfire Night celebrations.
The award-winning The Refuge Bar and Restaurant inside the hotel also offers a menu of carefully-curated dog treats throughout the week, as well as doggy Sunday roasts all Sunday.
David Lockhart, who is the General Manager at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, said he likes to think of the hotel as a “home-away-from-home for our guests”.
“Our top priority is making sure everyone is feeling safe and comfortable,” he added. “We can’t wait to welcome our November guests and help them care for their four-legged family members, giving them everything they need.”
The Bonfire Night Escape package at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is available to book from Friday 1 November, subject to availability, and you can request the package via the hotel concierge or by emailing [email protected] to book.
Scissor Sisters confirm reunion after more than a decade ahead of massive Manchester gig
Danny Jones
Still a firm cult favourite from the 2000s, Scissor Sisters are officially back and are bringing a special reunion tour to Manchester and the UK and Ireland at large.
The American outfit were one of the biggest and most well-known pop groups on this side of the Atlantic during their heyday, notching three BRIT Awards and two number-one albums.
Starting out in New York, like many bands in an oversaturated music market, they ended up proving to be much more popular here in Britain than they ever did in the US, not to mention becoming real icons among the LGBTQ+ community.
And now, over a decade later, the Scissor Sisters are set to repay the likes of Manchester, Leeds, London and more with a series of comeback shows, including one at Co-op Live arena – a gig which the venue has already teased earlier this week.
Confirming the reunion on social media on Thursday, 10 October, the band said: “Exciting news, for the first time in over a decade, we will come together again, live next May across the UK and Ireland.
“And for the first time ever, our debut album Scissor Sisters will be performed in full in celebration of its 20th anniversary – alongside all the other Scissor hits from along the way… See you very soon. Jake, Babydaddy, Del.”
Long-time fans were quick to notice that there was no mention of fellow founding member Ana Matronic nor former drummer Randy Real; the band themselves told BBC that the current lineup following their indefinite hiatus is by no means a way of replacing anyone but does give them a chance “to get some people on stage and ask some friends to do fun things.”
Frontman Shears’ 2023 Cabaret co-star, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, was also teased with a possible appearance on the Scissor Sisters reunion tour. Either way, they’ve promised a “little bit of chaos, anarchy” and an “‘anything can happen’ energy again.”
It’s been 12 whole years since we last saw them out on the road, so it’s only fitting that they give us a dozen UK/IE dates, starting at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena before bringing the comeback party down the home stretch in Dublin.
Scissor Sisters are set to stun the Manchester crowd with their Co-op Live debut on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, with special guest support from Alison Goldfrapp of the iconic electronic music duo, and we truly really can’t wait to roll back the years with them.
Pre-sale goes live on Wednesday, 6 November at 10am which you can access via their website and general admission tickets will be available from the same time the following Friday, 8 November.
We can’t wait to hear all the favourites – ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’, ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin”, ‘Take Your Mama’ and more – but, until then, the announcements coming out of Manchester’s biggest new music venue just don’t stop…