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Pret a Manger has reached an agreement to buy rival the cafe chain EAT.

Pret - with 400 UK stores - said it's planning to change as many as possible into vegetarian branches in what looks like the end of the EAT brand on the high street.

Pret chief executive Clive Schlee said: “We have been developing the Veggie Pret concept for over two years and we now have four hugely successful shops across London and Manchester.

"The acquisition of the EAT estate is a wonderful opportunity to turbo charge the development of Veggie Pret and put significant resources behind it.”

The first Veggie Pret opened in September 2016 - since then three more permanent locations have had been added to the brand in London and Manchester.

(Image: iStock Unreleased)

EAT - which has 94 branches across the country - was put up for sale by its owners Horizon Capital in February.

The chain reported a pre-tax loss of £17.2million in the year to end of June 2018. It added that things have been going better since - with 11 consecutive months of growth.

Most of EAT’s branches in London, but it also has sites in Birmingham, Manchester and airport stores in Bristol, Edinburgh and Heathrow.

EAT chief executive Andrew Walker said: “EAT’s passionate and talented team are what make the business; their commitment to providing our customers with great food and excellent service is at the heart of the company’s outstanding recent performance.

I am delighted that their efforts have been recognized through this transaction.

"It has been a privilege to lead EAT for the past 3 years, and I believe this acquisition creates new opportunities for employees and customers alike.”