Subway gives jobseekers news to chew on with expansion plans

SANDWICH chain Subway is set to create hundreds of jobs across Derbyshire after announcing plans to open a number of stores.

The firm has said it will open outlets in Derby, Swadlincote, Ashbourne, Heanor, Matlock, Bakewell, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Bolsover, Chesterfield and Glossop.

The American company is looking to open 35 stores across Derbyshire and South Yorkshire over the next five years.

It would bring the number of Subway stores across both counties to 69.

Subway's development agents for the area, Kiran and Rachana Pancholi, said they would look to create a total of 525 jobs, with around half of these in Derbyshire.

The husband and wife team will also be looking to recruit between 10 and 15 new franchisees to operate the stores.

Mrs Pancholi said: "The planned expansion across the region will not only provide a significant boost to the local employment market but also give entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish their own small business in the area."

Mr Pancholi said: "I've been running my own business for 20 years and Rachana has been a successful Subway franchisee for nearly eight years, winning the brand's Franchisee of the Year Award twice, so we're both very familiar with the challenges and rewards of operating a small business."

The expansion follows an announcement earlier this year by Subway's co-founder Fred DeLuca, who said that he wanted to increase the number of UK stores to 2,000, creating 6,000 jobs.

There are currently 1,432 Subway outlets in the UK – almost a fivefold increase since 2004. It also has 99 stores in Ireland.

It now claims to have more outlets than any other fast food brand in the world, and is on track to become the largest in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire by the end of this year.

In Derby, Subway has city centre outlets in Westfield Derby Shopping Centre, Victoria Street, The Spot and Normanton Road.

It also has stores on Pride Park, Burton Road, Littleover, Nottingham Road, Chaddesden and Osmaston Road.

As well as having a number of stores in Derby, Subway has another link with the city.

Pride Park-based IT firm PXtech supplies Subway's franchisees with software, which is used by 35,000 of its stores across the world.

Its PX portal system gives online access to real-time data from tills.

Last year, PXtech, which employs 25 people, signed a long-term global deal with Subway. The company expects to double its turnover within three years as a result of the deal.

PXtech managing director Richard Dorf said: "This latest announcement by Subway is excellent news for us and the economy."

Subway said that growth of the business had been fuelled by consumer demand.

The company said the popularity of its low fat subs and salads had contributed to this growth.