Subway creating 250 jobs with 17 new stores in Shropshire

The firm has announced plans to almost treble its number of stores in the county over the next three years from nine to 26.

Over the next three months, Subway branches will be opening in Oswestry and Ludlow, while deals have almost been completed for extra shops in Telford and Shrewsbury.

Additional shops are also being planned in Newport and Whitchurch.

Developers are looking to recruit at least 11 franchisees to run their restaurants around Shropshire.

Development agent James Fleck said: "The planned expansion in Shropshire will not only provide a significant boost to the local employment market but also give entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish their own small business."

It is intended that 255 jobs will be created by the expansion programme for the next three years.

In the next few months, the company will be opening at the Mile End petrol filling station on the outskirts of Oswestry and within the Spar convenience shop in Ludlow.

The company is also close to securing deals to open new outlets at retail parks in Shrewsbury and Telford.

Subway currently has outlets in Shrewsbury, Telford town centre, Wellington, Newport, Albrighton and Oswestry.

Mr Fleck, who is the development agent for the company's Shropshire, Staffordshire, Hereford & Worcester and Warwickshire operations, said Subway is looking to extend its reach in Shropshire.

"I have been doing this job since 2000 and in the early days we didn't have that much development going on in Shropshire," he said.

"The population is a little bit lower than the other areas I cover. Development was a bit on the slow side. To some degree, we are catching up with the other counties.

"There is some really good untapped markets out there."

There are currently 1,684 Subway branches in the UK, almost five times as many as in 2004.

Plans have been announced by the company to open 2,000 outlets in the country by 2015.

Did you know:

• Subway was launched in 1965 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA in 1965 when17-year-old Fred DeLuca was looking for a way to make money to pay for his university tuition and a family friend, Dr Peter Buck, suggested he open a submarine sandwich shop.

• With a $1,000 loan from Dr Buck, the partnership was formed and Pete's Super Submarines opened in August 1965. The name was later shortened to Subway and the familiar bright yellow logo was introduced.

• The first Subway store was opened in the Republic of Ireland in 1994 by David Morrissey

• In 1996, the first UK Subway store was opened in Brighton by Murray and Maria Speirs

• In 2002, the Subway brand opened its 100th store in the UK and Ireland

• In May 2005 Jared Fogle, who famously lost 17.5 stones eating nothing but Subs for a year, embarked upon a week-long media tour of the UK and Ireland

• By mid-2005, the Subway brand hit the 500-store mark with the opening of a store at Bristol International Airport

• By July 2008, there were over 1,250 stores open in the UK and Ireland

• In January 2012 Fred DeLuca visited the UK and announced plans to increase the number of Subway stores in the UK and Ireland to 2,000 by 2015, creating around 6,000 new jobs