Christou will lead the business-led network nationally, spearheading efforts to create employment opportunities for young people aged 16 to 24 who have experienced, or are at risk of, homelessness.
He will also set the strategic direction of NEON UK, lead collaboration and growth across the six local NEONs, and support the development and expansion of the network beyond 2028.
NEON brings together major employers, local businesses and public services to help people at risk of homelessness access stable employment, with the aim of improving job retention and long-term stability.
Through its charitable arm, the Pret Foundation, Pret A Manger has long focused on tackling homelessness by donating surplus food, funding grants, and providing stable employment and housing.
Its Rising Stars Programme, delivered in partnership with Homewards, helps people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, as well as refugees and former offenders, by providing training, financial support for travel and a pathway to permanent jobs in Pret stores.
As a Homewards Activator and founding partner, Pret has committed to expanding the Rising Stars Programme nationally, with the aim of helping at least 500 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness into jobs with the company, including in Homewards’ flagship locations where Pret has a presence. Around 350 people have so far secured employment through the programme, gaining stable work, new skills and greater long-term independence.
As NEON expands, Christou will work with employers across the UK to encourage more businesses to create employment opportunities for people at risk of homelessness, with the aim of making inclusive hiring and homelessness prevention part of everyday business practice.
“We are delighted to welcome a business leader of Pano’s calibre, whose longstanding commitment to tackling unemployment and homelessness makes him ideally placed to lead the NEON network,” says Hazel Detsiny, executive director of homelessness, The Royal Foundation.
“This new chair role will play a vital part in supporting businesses to create and strengthen pathways into employment for people across all six Homewards locations, while helping to scale the initiative nationally.
“As we mark three years of the Homewards programme, Pano’s appointment reflects our ambition to build on the progress achieved so far and take Homewards into its next phase.
“Years four and five will be focused on accelerating our efforts to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.”
Homewards, founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in June 2023, operates across six locations in the UK – Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland and Sheffield – and Christou will oversee the NEON initiative nationally.