Ride the Storm: Navigating Through Unstable Periods / Katerina Rudko (Belka G...
Article about Mos in "Subway Bites"
1. Volume 2
ISSUE 4
January
2005
Happy New Year! May
May’s edition of the newsletter announced the new members of the UK and
® Ireland SFAFT board, as well as reporting news of the massive increase in
400 SUBWAY stores open in the UK and Ireland! property enquiries received after an advert appeared in the property
What a fantastic start to the New Year! – we kick publication, Estates Gazette.
off with the news that there are now over 400
stores open in the UK and Ireland! I’m sure you
June
will agree that this is a great springboard to Northern and Southern Ireland hit 50 SUBWAY® stores open in June. The growing
even greater success in 2005! obesity problem in the UK and Ireland was also a hot issue. This followed a
Commons Health Select Committee report into the problem and a Radio Four
In addition to passing yet another milestone Today Programme interview with the then Health Minister, John Reid.
along the way to 2,010 stores by 2010, the
SUBWAY® chain has also been named the "No.1 July
FRANCHISE" by Entrepreneur magazine for an In July, Fred DeLuca undertook a highly
amazing 13th time in the past 17 years. successful media tour, which had an
immediate impact on the profile of the
In this month’s issue we take a look at the highs SUBWAY® chain in the UK and Ireland. Interest
of 2004 along with some record-breaking news in the chain shot through the roof after the
from the UK and Ireland. The franchisee section highlights the efforts of Mos coverage appeared both in the print media
Somji and his team as well as bringing you news of the forthcoming and on TV. During his visit, Fred announced
Manchester European Regional Meeting which is being held in March. that the 300th store had opened, in Greater
Manchester – what great timing!
The TUKI rallying call for 2005 and beyond will be: “We want
Fred’s magic does the trick again!
CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE!”
August
Neil Black, DA Chairman
The first anniversary of the TUKI newsletter was celebrated in this issue, which
also reviewed another successful SUBWAY® International Field Meeting, held in
Highlights of 2004 Los Angeles.
September
January In September, the newsletter re-launched with a new and improved version
The SUBWAY® chain is yet again awarded the number one franchise opportunity which included two further pages of news and information for franchisees.
by Entrepreneur Magazine in its 25th annual Franchise 500 rankings.
October
In the month of October, the growing impact of the SUBWAY® chain on the fast
February food/healthy eating arena was further acknowledged. Two key national
February saw the SUBWAY® newspapers carried stories on Fred DeLuca and Neil Black was asked to
chain announce that it had participate in a debate on healthy food choices on a Radio Five Live programme.
overtaken McDonald’s in
Northern Ireland with the November/December
opening of its 27th store.
Wales celebrated the opening of its tenth SUBWAY® store in November and the
This month also ended with the
British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) Retail Showcase, held in
highly successful European Field
Manchester, resulted in excellent property leads.
Meeting, held in Amsterdam.
We finished off the year with a major reorganisation of TUKI. This was
The TUKI team unite
communicated in the special TUKI Alert newsletter.
March
Mid-March saw the first TV advertising campaign kick off in the Granada,
Yorkshire, Tyne Tees, Midlands and Central areas. The adverts had a massive It was another really busy year for the SUBWAY® chain in the UK and Ireland.
impact on sales and during the advert airing, website hits increased from In 2004, the SUBWAY® chain made its presence felt – in a BIG way! This was
14,000 to 105,000 per day. reflected in the media viewing the chain as the most exciting emerging player
in the fast food arena.
April
The UK and Ireland's governments are concerned with obesity and the SUBWAY®
In April, the SUBWAY® chain received positive coverage in the leading food chain is in a unique position to maximise fully its growth with its healthy
industry trade publication, The Grocer, which highlighted the positive impact of
credentials. This was highlighted when the SUBWAY® chain was awarded the
the SUBWAY® chain in the growing c-store sector.
tender for the Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals in London.
1
2. SUBWAY® Mini-Bites! – So you thought you knew…
news in brief from TUKI Jitendra (Jit) Patel and Hitesh (Tesh) Patel – Development
Agents for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire,
Buckinghamshire and Berkshire
The standing record of five store openings on the same day was
broken in December. On December 1st, Hamed Al Naqeeb, Deirdre Anderson, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far
Paul Heyes, Hemina Patel, Josh Thompson, Stacey Moore and Cheryl Hensley more than our abilities." Dumbledore - extract from Harry
all had new stores open in their respective territories. Seven is now the number Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
to beat!
The Patel brothers have made some great choices over the last few years. They
became franchisees with the SUBWAY® chain in 2000, and in May 2004 took on
Non-traditional news – congratulations to Wahid and Shahid Sadiq on
the challenge of becoming development agents.
impressive opening numbers for their new non-traditional SUBWAY® store located
in Braehead Shopping Mall, Glasgow, Scotland. Takings in the first week topped There are three Patel brothers, Jit, Tesh and Dipak. Dipak has responsibility for
£17,000 in only 80 hours of trading! running the five outlets that the brothers opened as franchisees in the Nottingham
area, whilst Tesh and Jit concentrate on developing the DA territory.
Tesh comments: "Jit and I put our names in the hat to become DAs for the patch
New Store Openings and thought no more of it – in fact I was about to go on a three week holiday with
my wife to climb Mount Kilimanjaro when we were told we had made the shortlist.
It’s great to hear from you with details and pictures (in JPEG format please) of We had a month to put together our presentation. On the eve of our holiday, I had
your new store openings, please keep them coming! Detailed below are just a to cancel it – I knew the mountain would still be there in three months’ time, this
selection of the new stores around the UK and Ireland… opportunity wouldn’t be!"
Oakwood, Leeds, England In fact it was the brothers’ enthusiasm, knowledge of the market and belief in the
SUBWAY® brand and systems that saw the Patels’ second store in Nottingham
Congratulations to become the
Harinder Chohan, highest volume
franchisee of the 40th SUBWAY® outlet in
store in the territory of the UK and Ireland.
Greater Manchester It came as no
and West Yorkshire. surprise when, in
May of 2004, Jit
and Tesh were
Good luck to Harinder successful in their
and his team at the bid to become
SUBWAY® store in development
Roundhay Road agents for
Left to right: Dipak, Jit and Tesh Patel
Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.
Rubery, Birmingham,
England The three brothers all come from different backgrounds and bring their own areas
of expertise into the mix. Tesh Patel comes from a retail background; he joined
Franchisee Ranjit Singh Uppal, opened Asda as part of the company’s graduate programme and spent time working as a
the doors of the new SUBWAY® store in buyer. He also took over the family newsagents business and transformed it into a
New Road to the hungry residents of convenience store, which is now managed by staff.
Rubery!
Spoilt for choice! Customers Jit was a senior manager at Dairy Crest and has a strong knowledge of food
choose their fillings in the Rubery hygiene standards. Coming from an engineering/project management background,
SUBWAY® store he concentrates on store builds and maintenance. Tesh comments: "When the first
store opened, the build took six-eight weeks, now with the contacts that Jit has
primed, a store can be opened in 10-15 days!"
Aldershot, Hampshire, Dipak comes from a strong sales background. His most recent record boasts the
England top sales person for four of the highest volume Dixons electrical stores in the
Yorkshire region over a two-year period. He now manages the people for all five
Congratulations to John O'Shea and Peter SUBWAY® stores on a day-to-day basis and focuses on customer service – he has
Rouse on their new SUBWAY® store which an equal stake in the business with his brothers.
opened on December 8th. The long queues
were entertained by Peter, with the aid of The brothers deal with the challenges of being DA’s by being organised and
constant trays of cookies to sample. structured in their approach. They also regularly chat with their old development
agent, Harj Hullait. Says Jit: "Harj has helped us to recognise that we always need
The first to keep an eye on the bigger picture. He has become a good friend, and we can
customer to always pick up the phone and bounce ideas off him and discuss any issues – which
be served has been a big help."
was a jolly Harj comments: "The great results that the Patels have achieved are a reflection of
gentleman – the quality of the SUBWAY® franchise and the brothers’ hard work, passion and
and what commitment. They knew they would be very successful with the SUBWAY® chain.
did he have? Turkey, of course! and so did I."
Even Santa is a fan!
Aldershot is a garrison town and judging by All three brothers have young families – and understanding wives - and any spare
the size of the queues – the army loves the SUBWAY® chain! time they do have is spent with them. Comments Tesh: "We don’t really get the
chance to go out and play any sports at the moment – it’s limited to watching it on
Bedford, Bedfordshire, TV. Jit is a Manchester United supporter – but the less said about that the better!"
England It is partly the brothers’ positive attitude and approach to life that makes them so
successful and has helped them get to the top – let’s hope it also stands them in
The franchisee of this new SUBWAY®
good stead when they get round to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro!
store is Mohammed Saleem. This is
Bedford’s second SUBWAY® outlet. January saw over 1,000 leads come through to the TUKI sales office.
Properties leased: 16
Bedford welcomes its second
SUBWAY® outlet! Franchises sold: 294 Stores open: 410
Congratulations to Josh Thompson for completing lease number
2 144 with SUBWAY® Realty Limited!
3. The secret of my "Another initiative we have introduced is a low-price breakfast, which works
particularly well with those customers for whom price is paramount. It also
educates customers that we do offer a breakfast option."
success… Mos explains: "In addition to the breakfast roll and drink option priced at
£1.49, we also offer a 99p breakfast roll where a drink is not compulsory. As
This month, franchisee of the Chertsey Road you can imagine, we don’t make a great profit from this, but it drives new
SUBWAY® store in Woking, Mos Somji, talks to customers in and, more importantly, raises the brand and product awareness
SUBWAY® Bites. and loyalty needed for repeat business.
When Mos Somji and "We also offer a daily special – a different sub sandwich each day, priced at
his wife Mumtaz £1.79, which tempts those die-hard customers who always order the same sub,
became the new to try something different. It is, after all, as much about choice, as the quality
franchisees of the and freshness of the product that will keep customers coming back for more"
SUBWAY® store in
Woking, Surrey, they Hemina Patel comments: "Mos, his wife Mumtaz, and their team at the store in
used their respective Woking, have demonstrated a real determination to succeed by focusing on
accountancy and retail what their customers really want. Mos will shortly become a multi-unit owner,
backgrounds to turn and he truly embraces the vision of being part of building the SUBWAY® chain’s
the store into the market. With their sound organisation skills and methodical planning, the future
success story it is is looking bright for the Somji family."
today.
Mos’s team at the SUBWAY® store in Woking, pictured left to right: Mos’s multi-unit ownership status will start with the three further SUBWAY®
Olga, Vasee, Mos, Amir, Suzan, Abdul and Mumtaz stores he currently has under negotiation. Looking ahead to 2005, Mos’s target
is to have seven outlets open by the end of the year – no doubt this is a
Mos initially saw the SUBWAY® franchise opportunity as a vehicle for his wife franchisee that we will hear more about!
to return to work after having children – offering her the flexibility and strict
control systems she needed with the demands of a young family to care for.
Mos reflects: "It quickly became evident from talking to Kevin Graham during
European Regional
the period prior to the transfer of the store that, in order to make the store as
successful as we envisaged and to be part of the rapid growth that SUBWAY® Field Meeting
was about to experience, I would also need to work on the project in a full
The TUKI field meeting takes place from 11th - 14th March 2005 at
time capacity.
The Radisson Hotel in Manchester. This is an essential date for your diary!
The SUBWAY® franchisee and DA staff community will converge on the city to
"I gave up my professional career and committed myself fully to our SUBWAY®
be part of the first major TUKI event of this kind. There will be franchisee
store. Neither of us has looked back since!"
training all day on Friday 11th, followed by a Trade Show that evening (to which
the whole SUBWAY® family is invited), and Field Consultancy training all day on
It is this owner involvement and family-run image which has been the key to
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th March.
the store’s success. Mos has even managed to charm the children of the
parents eating in the store, dissuading them from the tempting, less healthy, See below the topics that will be covered on each day:
choices also available on the high street. 11th March 9.00am -16.00pm 1 2 t h & 13th March (all day)
Mos and Mumtaz have put together an effective team at their store who work Franchisee Training Field Consultant Training
together to achieve the high profitability they now enjoy. Mos adds: "Every 1. Multi Unit Owner Structure & 1. Site Selection
member of staff, from the new joiner to the longest serving member of staff, Management 2. Site Analysis
enjoy the benefits of our bonus scheme – each person contributes in this store 2. Train the Trainer: Store Operator or 3. Analyzing Store Operations
and is rewarded accordingly." Manager (Customer Service) 4. Thru-Put
3. POS 5. Training the Trainer: Store Operator
With the support of Kevin Graham, Stacey Moore and Hemina Patel, Mos and 4. Thru-Put or Manager (Customer Service)
his wife have introduced impressive marketing initiatives, which have made a 5. Local Store Marketing 6. Local Store Marketing
huge impression on the local customers who frequent the busy Chertsey Road 7. POS
area of the town. 8. Building Unit Strength
"We thoroughly researched our target market during the course of putting our This event will showcase our market and successes, and upwards of 30
business plan together. We are located next door to a McDonald’s outlet, and European DA's will be attending, plus the majority of the Amsterdam office
one of the things we did was work with the SUBWAY® chain’s marketing guys to staff, European company ADM's and Field Consultants, and perhaps scores of
create the first ‘7 under 6’ A-frame poster. We positioned this so it faced every European franchisees also. As you can see, this event is a massive opportunity
customer walking into the McDonald’s store – you wouldn’t believe the amount for all franchisees and it is crucial that as many of you as possible attend - we
of increased footfall this simple idea created!" Mos comments. look forward to seeing you all there!
3
4. Yet another testimonial congratulating Customers for life!
the SUBWAY® chain on its impeccable
Our aim is to attract customers and keep them coming back through our doors
customer service and delicious for life! In a series of regular short articles on how to achieve this aim, we
focus on techniques that can be used by sandwich artists to get to know
sandwiches… regular customers and let them know that their custom is valued.
Miss S Dougall, sent in the following letter after We all know how special it makes us feel when we are remembered in a shop
or restaurant that we visit. It is always nice to be recognised as an individual
visiting the SUBWAY® stores in Wigan rather than just another customer who comes through the door.
I just wanted to pass on my comments on With customers who visit the stores frequently, whether it be in their lunch
hours or with their families during a shopping trip, sandwich artists can start
how great I think the SUBWAY® chain to remember details about them, whether it be children’s names, favourite
sandwich or where they work.
is. I had my first SUBWAY® sandwich
All these small details help to build the customer relationship, which in turn
about a year ago, after my sister came back create loyal, repeat customers – a customer’s recommendation is also one
of the most effective ways to attract new customers to your store!
from America and wouldn’t shut up about
them! Since then I haven’t had another
McDonald’s or KFC.
I feel the reason your food is so good is the
freshness – you can really taste the difference
and the variety of fillings is fantastic.
It’s so nice to finally
have a place to grab a
bite to eat where the food
Serving up the best in customer service
isn’t fried and greasy,
left to stand for hours,
or costs a fortune. And finally…
Thank you – I love the
SUBWAY chain! ®
S Dougall
Franchise Mini-Bites–news
in brief for franchisees
Important news! - please speak with your development agent before
dealing with an organisation called Multimedia – a company that carries out
advertising on tele-screens in post offices across the country. Your DA is Another famous fan! – the US rapper Eminem is a huge fan of the six-inch
also a good port of call should you need any contractual advice with SUBWAY® meatball sandwich, according to the UK teen magazine, Elle Girl.
regards to local store advertising. It is the hip-hoppers food of choice!
Kids Pak focus in Window #1 – stores to distribute Mighty Beanz toys One to remember when Slim Shady is next visiting our shores!
with the SUBWAY® Kids Pak meals during Window #1. See STS newsletter for
more information.
Window #1 will feature the Mediterranean Chicken sandwich, salad We’d like to hear from you for future
and wrap. The Window #1 kit contains a window sign, translate, and ROP editions of this newsletter. Please contact
advert. There will also be a new menu panel for salads and wraps. Matthew McKenna or Tracy Mannion at McKenna Townsend PR:
‘Ask your customers, their opinion counts’ – see STS (19th November) Telephone: 011 44 1425 472330
for more information. A handy three question, mini-survey, which can provide E-mail: matt@mckennatownsendpr.com
you with valuable information about what your customers want from your outlet. or
Coming soon in Window #2! (February 7th- March 27th) – focus on tracy@mckennatownsendpr.com
Hot Subs, particularly the meatball sub.
4 SUBWAY® is a registered trademark of Doctor’s Associates Inc.