PRET a Manger’s survival of the pandemic and takeover of every street corner in the West End was aided by an interesting subscription deal where customers paid £30 a month but got five coffees or other behind the counter drinks every day.

So £15 worth of drinks a day – for just £1 a day! A good deal until yesterday (Thursday) when the otherwise expensive food retailer announced it was stopping all that. Now for £10 a month, customers can get half-price drinks.

They tried to dress it up as a good offer, but perhaps they hadn’t realised it’s not as if they have some golden black roast that everybody is desperate to drink every day.

Pret’s coffee is bang average, but people drank it because it had been made so much cheaper than its rivals.

The same rivals will be breathing sighs of relief, and surely be loving the sound of mass cancellations.