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Fortune
Fortune
Orianna Rosa Royle

From $3 an hour at 16 years old to a $5 million CEO at 45, Pret boss is a taxi driver's son who says hard work and putting your head down create good luck

Pano Christou Pret Fortune McDonald Pret A Manger
Pret CEO Pano Christou (Credit: Courtesy of Headland Consultancy)

Pano Christou was 16 years old when he when he started working the shop floor at McDonald's. 

It’s there that he “fell in love with hospitality,” he tells Fortune. But at the time, he had no idea his love affair with the industry would propel him from taking Happy Meal orders to leading one of Britain’s biggest sandwich chains, Pret A Manger. 

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