With British exports to Kuwait reaching £2.3 billion, Mohammed Al Nusif’s role at One PM Holding highlights the Kuwaiti leadership helping British businesses establish a lasting presence in the Gulf.
Four years after Pret A Manger opened its first Kuwait shop, the partnership behind its arrival has developed into a wider regional business. Mohammed Al Nusif, vice chairman of One PM Holding, is among the Kuwaiti business leaders supporting that expansion, with his guidance publicly acknowledged as the British chain adds new locations.
The significance extends beyond the opening of individual cafés. Pret’s development through One PM demonstrates how collaboration between Britain and Kuwait takes shape through sustained commercial relationships: a British brand, a Kuwaiti operating partner and an expanding network reaching neighbouring markets.
For Al Nusif, that contribution has received direct recognition from within the business. Announcing Pret’s third Riyadh branch at King Abdullah Financial District, One PM executive Nabil Al-Ghoul thanked chairman Hamad M. Al Sayer and vice chairman Mohammad N. Al Nusif for their continued guidance and support. His acknowledgement places Al Nusif within the leadership supporting a partnership that has continued well beyond its original Kuwait launch.
Kuwaiti leadership behind a British brand’s expansion
In his announcement of the Riyadh opening, Al-Ghoul also recognised the teams working across markets and functions. Together, those acknowledgements describe the combination behind the expansion: operational delivery supported by senior leadership.
That is the context in which Al Nusif’s contribution matters. As vice chairman, he is part of the Kuwaiti leadership backing an ongoing commercial relationship with one of Britain’s recognisable food and coffee brands.
The partnership began publicly in November 2021, when Pret announced One PM Franchising as a new franchise partner. Its initial focus was Kuwait, with the possibility of entering other regional markets. Pret chief executive Pano Christou welcomed Hamad Al-Sayer and the One PM team as partners in the company’s international development.
That announcement established a clear division of contributions. Pret brought its brand and operating concept; One PM brought a regional business platform through which the partnership could develop. The subsequent openings give that original agreement a tangible record of delivery.
From a Kuwait opening to local integration
Pret’s first Kuwait shop opened at Al Hamra Business Tower in October 2022, placing the British chain in the centre of Kuwait City through its partnership with One PM.
The opening translated an international franchise agreement into a locally operated business. Food was prepared in an on-site kitchen, with ingredients sourced locally where possible. These arrangements connected the brand’s operating standards with the practical requirements of serving the Kuwaiti market.
The launch also included a partnership with Kuwait’s refood to donate unsold food daily. It was a specific example of a British business model being connected to a Kuwaiti community organisation, extending the relationship beyond the shop itself.
This is an important part of commercial integration. An international brand’s presence becomes more substantial when it develops relationships with local operators, suppliers and organisations. Those connections give a bilateral business partnership continuity between announcements and openings.
One PM’s subsequent expansion provides further evidence of that continuity. The original Kuwait agreement became the starting point for a broader relationship involving other Gulf markets, while Al Nusif remained part of the leadership publicly recognised for supporting its development.
A commercial relationship measured in billions
The wider figures explain why such partnerships matter. According to the UK Department for Business and Trade’s September 2026 Kuwait factsheet, British exports to Kuwait reached £2.3 billion in the four quarters ending March 2026, increasing by 4.7%, or £104 million, compared with the preceding year.
Services were particularly significant. UK services exports to Kuwait reached £1.8 billion, rising by 11.1% and accounting for 77.5% of total British exports to the country.
Those national figures describe a much broader relationship than any individual company. They nevertheless provide useful context for Pret’s development: British commercial engagement with Kuwait encompasses brands, services and continuing business relationships as well as physical goods.
Kuwaiti businesses are active participants in that exchange. They provide the local operating structures through which international companies establish themselves, while also investing and developing commercial relationships overseas.
For readers in Kuwait, the Pret story makes that relationship visible. The partnership connects a British business with Kuwaiti leadership and local operations, giving practical form to a relationship often discussed through national trade statistics.
Extending the partnership across the Gulf
The regional progression became clearer in 2023. One PM granted Al Mana Holding sub-franchising rights for Qatar in February, and Pret’s first Qatar shop opened at City Center Doha by December.
That sequence demonstrates the wider role of the Kuwaiti partner. One PM participated in introducing a British brand to Kuwait and subsequently helped organise its entry into another Gulf market through a Qatari business partner. The Riyadh expansion added another dimension to the same regional relationship.
This commercial activity sits alongside continuing cooperation between the two governments. At the 22nd UK–Kuwait Joint Steering Group in October 2025, ministers agreed actions to increase collaboration in trade and investment, alongside other areas of the bilateral relationship.
The agenda continued into 2026. In a July conversation between the British prime minister and Kuwait’s Amir, the leaders discussed the recently signed UK–Gulf Cooperation Council free trade agreement and the contribution of Kuwaiti investment to growth and employment in Britain.
The relationship therefore runs in both directions: British businesses developing their presence in Kuwait, and Kuwaiti investment contributing to the British economy.
Al Nusif’s place in this story is through the business he helps lead. One PM’s progression from the Kuwait agreement to openings in Qatar and Saudi Arabia shows how a bilateral commercial partnership can develop regional reach. Four years after Pret’s Kuwait debut, that continuing expansion gives a concrete measure of the partnership’s development and of the Kuwaiti leadership supporting it.
