Subway set to extend high street fast food dominance

Fast food sandwich chain Subway is planning ways to extend its dominance of the UK high street with a major expansion in the coming three years.

Already the chain as more than 2,500 stores in the UK and bosses announced today it is planning to open another 500 by 2020.

That would mean it has more than double the number of stores of its nearest fast food rival Greggs, which has less than 1,700 outlets according to the BBC.

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Subway is actually the largest fast food chain in the world having overtaken McDonald's six years ago. In the UK Subway will have around two-and-a-half times the current 1,200 UK restaurant count of its rival.

But Subway's UK director Peter Dowding said it was looking beyond its traditional fast food rivals. "It's everyone. It's a very competitive world out there," he said.

In addition to the restaurant openings - all of which will be franchises - the brand is looking to update the look and feel of its stores in the UK and to update parts of its menu.

In particular it is looking at new options for evenings and for breakfast, where it offers a number of traditional "sub" options but wants to broaden its range.

Dowding said: "We already have a breakfast menu, but it's a part of the day we need to work on."

So far he said the chain has seen no impact of the UK's decision to leave the European Union, which perhaps only makes sense considering it is a budget option for eating out and so less impacted by rising inflation, say.

"It's business as usual. Like any other business we're waiting to see what the government does and will tackle it from there," Dowding added.