Pret A Manger has appointed Clare Clough as UK managing director.

Clough has worked in the food and coffee teams at Pret for the past nine years, having joined the business as head of food and technical and, most recently, holding the title of global food and coffee director.

She led the development of Pret’s new vegan and vegetarian menus and, over the past year, has overseen the introduction of its allergy plan.

“I’m honoured to take on this role and to lead Pret’s outstanding teams across the UK,” Clough said.

“Pret’s team members have been the heartbeat of its success over the last decade and, with the acquisition of Eat, the expansion of Veggie Pret and our plans to grow Pret online, we have a huge opportunity to take Pret to even more customers over the next few years.”

Pret’s incoming CEO Pano Christou said Clough was the “ideal person” to take the UK business forward.

“Clare’s innovation strategy has undoubtedly been behind Pret’s success over the last decade. Thanks to her work and leadership, Pret’s winning recipe of delicious, fresh food continues to appeal to millions of customers every year,” said Christou.

“Importantly, Clare has been instrumental in redesigning our food production processes as part of Pret’s allergy plan. Her knowledge of Pret and deep understanding of our customers makes her the ideal person to take our UK business forward as we enter a new chapter in Pret’s history.”

Last week, Pret unveiled its autumn menu, featuring its first range of toasted focaccias.