I’ll just buy more robots, they don’t work from home: tycoon Itsu warns that the Labor Party is making hiring too expensive

There’s something Willy Wonka about Julian Metcalfe, who changed the way Brits eat lunch not once, but twice.

First, when he co-founded Pret A Manger in 1986, making office workers realize that sandwiches didn’t have to be stale, cardboard-like morsels, before selling the business to private equity house Bridgepoint for £364. million in 2008.

It was then sold to the German conglomerate behind Krispy Kreme donuts for £1.5bn a decade later.

And the next one? There was no Maldives beach holiday to celebrate a fat bank account: he went straight to work at Itsu, which popularized healthy Japanese lunches when it launched in 1997.

“Of course, I arrived early that day,” he says. ‘What would I do with a day off?

“I could never retire. No, no, no! How boring.’

I sit with Metcalfe, 64, in new hot pink chairs on the second day of trading at Itsu’s newest branch, number 86, on London’s Oxford Street.

His eyes shine with his passion for Itsu like Wonka opening the doors to his factory. “You only achieve something if you work hard,” he says.

“If we can succeed here,” he says, waving his arms, “on Oxford Street, where rates and rents are among the highest in the world, we can do it anywhere.”

‘I like risk. I like the fact that my ambition – that we can be bigger than McDonald’s – is absurd. Because we give people affordable, nutritious food for less than a tenner, and that matters. That’s the goal, the joy, that’s the fun.

‘It’s cheaper to eat rubbish than good food. There is more and it is easier to prepare. It’s certainly easier to sell.

Metcalfe excitedly puts on a hairnet to tour Itsu’s kitchen. ‘Look at this: there are so many ingredients and processes that you may think, “God, what a hassle!” Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to serve food on Oxford Street for £5.

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

‘I am driven by the ambition to sell nutritious food at a price that everyone can afford. This will not happen in large companies; “It takes brave, crazy people to do it.”

As the billionaire 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 been in touch at some point.

“No, those people don’t care what I think,” Metcalfe says. ‘I’ve never met Starmer. The only good thing I can say about what the Government is doing to us is that we’re all in the same boat. When they screw some of us with their strange policies, they screw us all.’

The mogul points to a bank of screens in the corner, where travelers and shoppers type in their orders for dumplings and sushi.

“The screens are there because we were very afraid that the government would continually increase taxes (on employment),” he says.

I think very soon we will be paying staff £16 an hour. That’s a good thing for our staff. But we want our food to be affordable, so where you can have an order-taking machine, you have to have it.

‘We have three Japanese robots in each Itsu kitchen, making nguri, folding maki and pressing rice. One robot can do the work of three people. They cost £100,000 but they don’t go on holiday or work from home.’

Itsu’s turnover grew 17 per cent to £187m this year, of which £120m came from restaurants and the rest from Itsu Grocery, which sells snacks and meals in 107,000 stores across Europe.

“The food sector will generate £100m by 2025 and grow 31 per cent a year,” Metcalfe says.

‘In ten years we will have 500 Itsus, one day: thousands. We will bring sushi to Japan and China with the right partner.

‘We need more long-term thinking in this country, like Bournville did with its chocolate. Now the business is very short-term; “We have to reverse that situation.”

Metcalfe, an old Harrovian whose grandfather Edward was godfather to the recently abdicated Edward VIII at his 1937 marriage to Wallis Simpson, believes government policy lacks this foresight.

‘Now in many places the prices are higher than the rent, it is a crime. The rates are incredibly expensive,” he says, affecting “small businesses across the country.”

“Plus,” he adds, “there’s the cost of part-time employees.”

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

‘This harms many fathers and mothers who care for their children and can only work 20 hours a week.

‘They will cost business owners almost double. So what’s going to happen? You can’t use them. So many stupid decisions.

Metcalfe is certainly a man of details. His eyes repeatedly wander to the upper screens on the counter; It bothers you that the chicken soup options have the wrong font size. Rearrange sushi boxes to perfect presentation and take notes for the manager.

This is partly why Metcalfe has just rehired Clive Schlee, his Pret CEO of 16 years, for the same role at Itsu. Schlee was previously president of Itsu. He left his day job running Pret in 2019.

“I realized he was ready for the last big job of his life,” Metcalfe reports. We are very lucky to have him. Clive is a very unusual leader: he focuses exclusively on people and culture.’

Metcalfe now intends to focus on the grocery business, which he says is creative and innovative.

Shades of Wonka perfecting an eternal gobstopper emerge as he describes the change he made yesterday.

‘I was making noodles all day in our office, trying different weights with different levels of water compared to the broth. Making sure he’s okay.’

Last month, he flew to Asia to visit noodle factories in Thailand and Vietnam, and broth kitchens in Japan. “It was the most incredible eight days I’ve ever had.”

He is not a fan of conspicuous consumption. He has a watch. ‘He’s 15 years old and why would he want another one?’

He doesn’t like cars – “and I can’t drive mine anyway” – his license was revoked for using a mobile phone while driving in September. He struggles to pin down his salary at Itsu, eventually saying it’s £250,000 “but I don’t do it for the money”.

His pride comes rather from the fact that three of his seven children work with him: his son Misha works in the grocery store.

His daughter Celeste, whom Metcalfe met only 15 years ago, when she was a teenager, through an explosive phone call from an ex-girlfriend, is on Itsu’s board of directors.

Meanwhile, artist son Billy created the packaging for Itsu’s Zen drinks. Will any of them take over? “Hopefully, but we’ll see if they want it.”

Metcalfe is more certain that Itsu will “definitely” surpass Pret as his most famous legacy, especially internationally.

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

“Most countries don’t eat refrigerated brown bread sandwiches, but everyone eats brown rice, noodles and broth,” he says. ‘Itsu has a much more international menu. “It will be huge.”

Metcalfe still owns a 60 per cent stake, along with Bridgepoint. He clearly feels a responsibility toward his 1,300 employees, whose makeup has changed since the pandemic.

‘In 1990, when the European borders opened, all the staff were Spanish, Italian and French, which was incredible, because they had so much love for food and service.

‘Since Covid, it has returned to English. Our store in Bath is staffed by 100 per cent UK staff. Years ago, there used to be 50 applicants for every Pret job, but that makes you (the employer) spoiled and lazy. Now it’s probably five.

‘We have to take more care of people, teach them more, invest more in them. It’s a good thing. “If you want good food, you should prepare it with pride and joy.”