You live and you learn: Julian Metcalfe, co-founder of Pret a Manger and Itsu.

I love food and Pret A Manger was born because of that.

Eating in London was very grim in 1986. There were lots of Italian sandwich bars. Italian food is amazing, but it was like the worst Italian chefs came here.

Sinclair Beecham (co-founder) and I spent 20 years working incredibly hard to build Pret. No amount of time will ever undo that relationship Since we sold most of the business in 2008, I'm still working like a maniac at Itsu. He spends more time enjoying the countryside.

All the food sold in Pret is fresh. From our very first shop, we decided to deliver leftover sandwiches to people. Now we do it for hundreds of shops. By mistake, the gesture has …