Pret comes crawling back

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

We can’t lie, at Tribune towers we are PRET-ty excited about today’s story. Seven years ago, hundreds of Sheffielders queued out of the door as the massive sandwich chain Pret a Manger opened its first branch in Sheffield city centre on Fargate. But it didn't last long. Since that shop closed during the pandemic, Sheffield has been an outlier among major cities in being Pret-less. But now that’s all about to change. Does this return signal we really are “a city on the up”, or were we managing just fine without posh cheddar and pickle baguettes and avocado and herb wraps? That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have an amazing new artwork on the Sheffield-Tinsley canal, a “love letter” to Sheffield by one of our new MPs, and catch Jodie Comer in Prima Facie at the Showroom.

Catch up

For our weekend read, Victoria returned to the Yorkshire Natural History Museum in Malin Bridge. When we covered the museum in June, we were “entirely won over” by the charm and ambition of its young founder James Hogg. However, after being tipped off that it wasn’t quite what it seemed, we returned to find a story about bad management, unpaid wages — and a dead camel.

Last week, we sent two great newsletters out to our 2,280 paying members. In the first, Dan spoke to Matt Drapper, a man who joined a Sheffield church only to be abused and ostracised because of his sexuality. And in the second, we travelled to Ecclesall Road, once known as Sheffield’s ‘Golden Mile’, to find an area struggling after Covid and the cost of living crisis, and divided over what can be done to address its decline. An extract from that piece is below.

It’s a sign of the times that the former Aga store is now the home of the Sheffield Cat Shelter charity shop. Where once the Golden Mile was full of high-end stores, the shop assistant says the Ecclesall Road of 2024 is very different: barbers, nail bars, phone and vape shops, takeaways and charity shops are everywhere. And what was a place where independent shops flourished is now being taken over by big chains. There is even, shock horror, a McDonald’s planned for the former Amaro Lounge at 519. “It’s changed so much,” the shop assistant adds, clearly upset about the decline of the once mighty shopping street. Amid the maelstrom taking place around them, he’s proud that Robinson’s have managed to hold on, but for how long?

Editor’s note: We hope you liked our weekend long read about the Yorkshire Natural History Museum. Sheffield used to have lots of that kind of journalism, but now The Tribune is the only outlet covering stories like that in such depth. But pieces like that are only possible because of our paying members. They fund all our journalism, but are crucial to the big investigations we do. Only by having the backing of a team of paying members can we put the time and effort needed into stories that can take weeks or even months to complete. If you think Sheffield needs — and deserves — that kind of journalism, please consider joining The Tribune today.

The big picture: In the loop ➰

A new artwork by sculptor Alex Chinneck has been installed on the Sheffield Tinsley canal. The Looping Boat is a steel narrowboat which has been twisted in Chinneck’s signature style, and will be permanently moored in Tinsley. More photos can be found on Alex Chinneck’s Instagram page and click here for more information about how it was designed, built and floated into place.

The big story: Pret comes crawling back 🥪

Top line: We’ve been hearing for some time that Sheffield is a city “on the up”. Well now it’s incontrovertible. It’s been confirmed that we will be getting a Pret a Manger.

Rumours confirmed: In June, The Star found a (hastily deleted) page on the company’s website that one was being planned for a recently refurbished unit in the new Heart of the City development on Cambridge Street. At the time, the firm said this was a “website error” (quite an unusual error to have — the creation of phantom Prets) but The Tribune has learned that an announcement is imminent.

Déjà food: Yes, we’ve been here before. Pret opened their last outlet back in 2017 at the junction of Fargate and High Street. On the opening day there were queues out the door. But for whatever reason, the initial infatuation between Sheffield and the ubiquitous maroon brand didn’t last, and the Covid pandemic signalled the death knell. Many assumed that once bitten, the sandwich giant would be twice shy about returning to South Yorkshire.

Back of the queue: Sheffield definitely lags when it comes to Pret presence. Central Manchester currently has nine Prets, while Leeds city centre has six and Liverpool city centre has three. Sheffield does have one Pret but you have to travel to Meadowhall to eat there.

Eating Greggs’ lunch? The development reintroduces a turf war between the two heavyweights of lunchtime takeaways: Pret and Greggs. Recent studies found evidence of a north-south divide in lunch choices, with southerners favouring sandwiches and salads and northerners preferring pasties and pies. A study by Sheffield Hallam University last year found that Greggs begin to outnumber Prets around Watford Gap services, long established as the boundary between north and south. A second analysis, based on Waitrose and Morrisons supermarkets, came to a similar conclusion.

• Sheffield city centre has an astonishing five Greggs, arranged in a line from the two on The Moor to Pinstone Street, Fargate and Castle Square. Some suggest this “Great Wall of Greggs” could even be the basis of a “Gregg’s crawl” in Sheffield. Could it be extended to the Wicker or London Road next?
• “The food we eat is a very good indicator of whether someone is northern or southern”, said Dr Robin Smith from Sheffield Hallam University. “Northerners do seem to prefer a steak bake.” Whether Pret can tempt Sheffielders away with their avocado and herb wraps and salad bowls remains to be seen.

How much? On its website Pret says its mission is to serve “freshly made food and good organic coffee, whilst also trying to do the right thing”. They say the food is handmade in the firm’s shop kitchens throughout the day, and anything they don't sell goes to charity. However, for a premium product, you pay a premium price. A Posh Cheddar and Pickle baguette at Pret costs £5.99, whereas a Gregg’s steak bake will set you back just £2.40.

Away, Pret a Manger! When the rumours first started circulating, we asked our engaged community on Twitter/X to tell us how they were feeling. Most of the comments we got back were negative. “Buy independent, purge the corporations”, was one particularly strident view. But our polling revealed the silent majority think differently, with a very small edge for those looking forward to Pret’s arrival.

But that was then, and we’re all entitled to change our mind — so tell us what you think in the comments.

The weekly Whitworth ✏️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on this week’s big story.

This week’s weather 🌦️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be turning cooler and fresher from the northwest through this week, with plenty of showers in between sunnier spells.

Monday 🌦 Patchy light rain slowly clearing east through the morning, with breezy but brighter skies developing through the afternoon. Highs of 18°C.

Tuesday 🌦 Rain gradually becoming more showery through the morning. Becoming brighter and fresher with a few blustery showers for the afternoon. Highs of 15°C.

Wednesday 🌦 Another cool and windy day from the northwest with further blustery showers in between bright or sunny spells. Highs of 14°C and cold overnight.

Thursday 🌦 Fewer showers generally with more places enjoying longer sunnier periods. Still a cool northwest wind and the risk of rural frost overnight. Highs of 14°C.

Friday 🌥 Mainly dry with the best of the sunshine during the morning hours, hazier later. Lighter winds for all with highs of 15°C.

Outlook: Winds turning more to the southwest, ushering in milder air for the weekend. A lot of dry weather too with bright spells and isolated scattered showers.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Coming up

This week, our paying members will receive two extra editions of The Tribune. In the first, our regular contributor Holly Williams will speak to Amber Keegan, a Sheffield-based long-distance swimmer who got over her disappointment about missing the Olympics by swimming the English Channel. And in the second, Victoria will report on the astonishing and wonderful news that Mr Sheffield, the miniature horse who was stolen from a farm in Grenoside over a year ago, has finally been brought home! If you want to read those, become a full-fledged Tribune subscriber today — it costs just £1.71 a week or a mere 24p a day (about one sip’s worth of a decent coffee) if you pay for 12 months up front.

Our media picks 🔗

Judge hands down longest sentence so far for summer riots 🏛️ Cameras were in court to watch a Rotherham man be handed the longest sentence to stem from the recent riots. Thomas Birley, 27, was jailed for nine years for trying to burn down a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manvers on 4 August. A pre-sentence report said Birley held views which “raised alarm” with the probation officer and there were hints of a “white supremacist mindset”. Our recent piece about the riot is here.

’A rousing love letter to Sheffield’ 🗨️ The new MP for Sheffield Central Abtisam Mohamed has given her maiden speech in Parliament, paying tribute to the “remarkable individuals and organisations who work tirelessly to make our city a better place”. She also spoke about her personal history, describing how her grandfather had come to Sheffield in 1963 and both he and his son, her father, worked for Forgemasters. Our piece on her from before the election is here.

What’s lurking in the Alfred Denny building? 🦴 The latest edition of BBC Radio Sheffield’s Secret South Yorkshire series visited one of the city’s best kept secrets. Named after the University of Sheffield’s first professor of biology, the Alfred Denny Museum was established in 1905 and contains hundreds of specimens including some rare half-taxidermy half-skeleton “double specimens” which are used to show what animals looked like in life. Book a museum tour here.

Home of the week 🏡

This four-bed Georgian semi in Broomhall needs some modernisation but has tonnes of original features and is situated on a lovely tree-lined cobbled square. It is on the market for £380,000.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Comedy 🎤 Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood is a celebration of the music of the late comedy genius and national treasure written and performed by Paulus (from BBC One’s All Together Now). Many of Wood’s best-loved songs are featured including It Would Never Have Worked and the classic Ballad of Barry & Freda (Let’s Do It). The show comes to the Playhouse on Wednesday on a 2024 autumn tour. Tickets are £20-£22 and doors open at 7pm.

History 🔍 View a century of glass art at the University of Sheffield’s Turner Museum of Glass. You will see a glass wedding dress, find wine glasses engraved with secret but sensitive political statements, view a mosaic highlighting the history of glass making, and laugh at a musical joke. The museum is open to visitors for viewing every weekday from 10am-4pm, but as part of Heritage Open Days 2024, four curator tours of the collection will take place on Wednesday.

Theatre 🎭 Jodie Comer’s Olivier Award-winning performance in Suzie Miller’s one-woman play Prima Facie returns to the Showroom on Thursday as part of NT Live. Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister who has worked her way up from working class origins to be at the top of her game when an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge. Tickets are £17 and screenings last until Thursday 19.