With final plans underway to open branches of the UK's fastest-growing franchise outlet in Pollokshields inGlasgow and in Renfrew town centre in December, Knight Frank will have met its planned target of creating 35 stores with a £3 million fit-out budget. The over-riding success of the sandwich retailer's presence in the West of Scotland this year has prompted a demand in the market and plans are already in place to expand further next year by similar numbers.
Knight Frank was awarded the contract last year to build a string of Subway stores in key town and city centres across the West of Scotland. The contract involved advising on planning applications, building warrants, design, managing fit-outs and budgets and construction programmes.
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The successful programme of shop openings has been in partnership with the Subway development agents, Shahid and Wahid Sadiq and design sub-consultants, ATCO and Cameron and Ross. McClure Naismith have been the legal advisors, with Alan McNeil at Griffin Webster providing advice on site selection. Knight Frank has been working with five approved contractors on the fit-outs of the new stores: IA Contracts, Interact Interiors, Insite Contracts, Elite Interiors and GHI Contracts.
John Gallagher, Partner at Knight Frank, who heads up the Building Consultancy team, said: "The success of Subway in Scotland is down to the brand and its product. The shops provide fresh, healthy sandwiches in clean, bright stores and customers in Scotland are choosing Subway over other food outlets.
"It was a tall order at the start of the year but to have reached the number of units we aspired to is a great accomplishment of the building consultancy team. We are delighted to have got there and we’re looking forward to working on a similar number of openings in 2008. There have been some minor complications on the planning and construction phases such as planning for listed buildings, structural and fabric repairs, timber rot and getting three phase electricity supplies, but over 90 per cent of the time we have completed on-site operations in five weeks, irrespective of unit size."
Shahid Sadiq, Development Manager for the West of Scotland franchise of Subway, said: "The addition of the 35 stores in 2007 on top of what was already open has resulted in 1,000 people employed within Subway in the West of Scotland and helps boost the local economy. The recent expansion would hot have been achievable without close partnership with Knight Frank and we are looking forward to continual store openings in 2008."
(JM)
