I’ll just buy more bots – not WFH: Itsu tycoon warns that labor costs are too high

There’s also something Willy Wonka-ish about Julian Metcalfe, who changed the British food scene not once, but twice.

First, when he co-founded Pret A Manger in 1986, to ensure office workers that the sandwiches were not cooked to perfection, before selling the business to a private equity firm Bridgepoint for £364million in 2008.

It was then sold to the German company behind the Krispy Kreme franchise for £1.5 billion a decade later.

Later? No Maldivian beach break to celebrate a bloated bank account: he went straight to work on Itsu, which celebrated Japanese health lunches when it launched in 1997.

‘Well, I was early that day,’ he said. ‘What do I do on my day off?

‘I can’t retire. No, no, no! How boring.’

I sat next to Metcalfe, 64, on the new pink chairs on the second day of sales at Itsu’s latest, with branch 86, on London’s Oxford Street.

His eyes flashed at his passion for Itsu like Wonka opening the doors to his factory. ‘You only achieve something by taking a deep dive,’ he said.

‘If we can succeed here,’ he said, clasping his hands, ‘in Oxford Street, where the rates and rent are among the highest in the world, we can where are we?

‘I like risk. I like that my dream – that we will be bigger than McDonald’s – is delusional. Because we’re giving you a good meal, at an affordable price for less than ten pounds, that’s a big deal. That’s the goal, that’s the fun, that’s the fun.

‘Junk food is cheaper than good food. There are more things around and it’s easier to organize. It’s easier to sell.’

Metcalfe is excited to pull on a hairnet for a visit to Itsu’s kitchen. ‘Look at this – there are so many ingredients and processes, you might be thinking, “Christ, that’s a lot of trouble!” Don’t underestimate the difficulty of getting a meal on Oxford Street for £5.

‘In January we will be launching mini brown rice bowls for £4. £4! Whole brown rice. Of course, white rice will make more money, but that’s not the point. Junk food is killing us all.

‘Because of the desire to buy healthy food at a price that everyone can afford. This doesn’t come from big companies, it takes brave, crazy people to do it.’

As a multi-millionaire who is the founder of two major street food brands that together employ more than 10,000 people in the UK, you’d think the Government would have touched it at some point.

‘No, that lot doesn’t matter to me,’ said Metcalfe. ‘I never met Starmer. The best thing I can say about what the Government is doing to us is that we are all in the same boat. They’ll make some of us mad with their weird policies and drive us all crazy.’

The shopkeeper pointed to a plastic bag in the corner, and shoppers and customers tapped into their dumpling and sushi orders.

“The screens are there because we were very afraid of the Government continuing to increase (employment) taxes,” he said.

‘Soon we’ll be paying workers £16 an hour, I think. That’s a good thing for our employees. But we want our food to be affordable – so where you can get a machine to take orders, you should.

‘We have three Japanese robots in each Itsu kitchen, making guri, wrapping maki and pressing rice. One robot can do the work of three people. It costs £100,000, but they don’t go on holiday and they don’t work at home.’

Turnover rose 17 per cent to £187 million this year, with £120million from restaurants and the rest from Itsu Grocery, which sells snacks and meals in 107,000 stores across Europe.

‘The market will be worth £100million by 2025, growing at 31 per cent a year,’ says Metcalfe.

‘In ten years, there will be 500 Itsus, one day: thousand. Take sushi to Japan and China, with the right partner.

‘We need more long-term thinking in this country, like Bournville and his chocolate. The business is too short now – we need to change.’

Metcalfe, an Old Harrovian whose grandfather Edward was best man to the recently annulled Edward VIII when he married Wallis Simpson in 1937, believes this government policy is wrong.

‘Rates are higher in many places now, it’s a crime. The rates are very expensive,’ he said, affecting ‘small businesses across the country’.

‘So,’ he added, ‘there’s the cost of part-time workers.’

The hospitality sector has warned of a 73 per cent increase in the tax bill for employing a part-time worker after the Government cut National Insurance thresholds.

‘That hurts a lot of dads and mums looking after children, who can only work 20 hours a week.

‘It will almost double the costs for employers. So what happens? You cannot use them. A lot of stupid decisions.’

Metcalfe was a detail-oriented man. His eyes wandered to the screens above the counter – he was upset that the chicken soup font was the wrong size. He adjusts the sushi boxes for presentation and takes notes for the manager.

In part, this is why Metcalfe has re-hired Clive Schlee, its Pret CEO for 16 years, to work at Itsu. Schlee was formerly Itsu’s chairman. He left his day job managing Pret in 2019.

‘I can tell he’s ready for one last big job in his life,’ Metcalfe said. ‘We are very lucky to have him. Clive is a real master: he looks at people and culture.’

Now Metcalfe plans to focus on the retail business, which he says is creative and innovative.

Shadows of Wonka completing the robbery forever appear as he describes the move he made yesterday.

‘I made noodles all day in our office, experimenting with different weights and different levels of water and broth. Make sure it’s right.’

Last month he flew to Asia to visit noodle factories in Thailand and Vietnam, and soup kitchens in Japan. ‘It’s been the most amazing eight days I’ve ever had.’

This is not a fan of obvious collecting. He has one watch. ’15 years old, why would I want anyone else?’

He doesn’t like cars – ‘and I can’t drive my car’ – and had his license revoked for using a mobile phone in September. He struggles to justify his Itsu salary, ending up saying it’s £250,000 ‘but I don’t do it for the money’.

Instead, his pride comes from the fact that three of his seven children work with him: son Misha works as a salesman.

Daughter Celeste, whom Metcalfe learned about 15 years ago, as a teenager, through a bombshell phone call from an ex-girlfriend, is on Itsu’s board.

Artist son Billy designed the packaging for Itsu’s Zen drinks. Will one of them win? ‘Hopefully, but we’ll see if they want it.’

Metcalfe has a clear understanding of Itsu’s ‘real’ take on Pret’s most famous legacy, especially internationally.

Pret has around 700 stores worldwide. Itsu’s only international stores are in France and Belgium, with one opening in the Netherlands.

‘Most countries don’t eat frozen sandwiches, but they all eat brown rice, noodles, and soup,’ he says. ‘Itsu’s budget is bigger than the world. Enough.’

Metcalfe still owns a 60 percent stake, along with Bridgepoint. He is well aware of his responsibility to his 1,300 employees, whose situation has changed since the pandemic.

‘In 1990, when they opened the borders of Europe, all the Spanish, Italian, French workers were amazing, because they had a lot of love for food and work.

‘Since Covid, it’s back to English. Our shop in Bath is 100 per cent UK staffed. Years ago, there were 50 applicants for each Pret job, but that’s because you (the employer) are spoiled and lazy. Now it’s about five.

‘We need to protect people more, educate them more and invest more in them. It’s a good thing. If you want to eat a lot, do it with pride and joy.’