Press Releases
Free WiFi at Pret - delivered by the Cloud
15th December 2008
Leading food retailer Pret A Manger (Pret) announces plans to deliver free WiFi access to 130 of its UK shops
London, UK - Pret, a leading UK premium quality food restaurant, has today announced its intentions to offer all Pret customers free WiFi access through its service partner, The Cloud - the UK’s leading WiFi service provider.
The free WiFi service will enable any Pret customer to access the Internet using any type of WiFi enabled device, during their time in Pret stores.
60 stores have already been activated with the free service with all 130 stores expected to be complete by mid-December.
Commenting on the introduction of free WiFi into Pret stores, Simon Kerry, Head of IT for Pret said: “We are delighted to be able to offer WiFi as a free service to our customers. Everything we do at Pret is about delighting our customers; whether it’s freshly made sandwiches, ‘Just Roasted’ coffee, or great customer service. The Cloud perfectly complements these standards, offering an efficient and high quality connectivity experience no matter what type of mobile device our customers wish to use. By offering it free we’re giving our customers that little bit extra”. He continued: “The benefit to Pret is that our customers are happier and that they stay with us for longer.”
Pret chose The Cloud as its partner after a six-month trial in a cross section of its premium UK stores, including Guildford, Reading and Berkeley Square. The trial started in April 2008, almost immediately demonstrating strong customer demand with increased customer dwell time culminating in customers spending more money in Pret.
Steve Nicholson, CEO at The Cloud commented: “It’s great to see a quality retail brand like Pret make the step to introduce free WiFi services to its customers – we strongly suspect the decision will directly impact the number of customers using Pret improving perceived customer service, loyalty and not least the spend of each customer each visit.”
About The Cloud
The Cloud was launched in 2003 and is privately owned. It has established itself as the European independent market leader in wireless broadband services.
The company provides fast food chains, many hundreds of hotels, retail outlets, major transport hubs, city councils and regional authorities with state of the art WiFi solutions that offer mobile customers a fast, simple and cost effective means to connect to the Internet over laptops, mobile phones and mobile entertainment devices.
The Cloud is based in the UK with European offices in Munich (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark). It has network coverage in over 11,000 European locations spanning 12 European countries with plans for further expansion as WiFi becomes the preferred option for mobile connectivity to the Internet.
PR contacts:
Sarah Douglas
Account manager
Bite Communications
+44 208 834 34329
sarah.douglas@bitepr.com
Amanda-Jane Lewin
Head of Strategic Communications
The Cloud
aj@thecloud.net
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