Last week, Texas-founded sandwich chain Which Wich announced that it had signed its first multi-unit franchise agreement in UK. It marks a major moment for the brand, which has been teasing its ambition to roll out since first arriving in London back in 2018. Under the deal with Breaking Brands Management, Which Wich will open its first regional UK location in Cardiff. Further openings across other major cities are expected to follow.
Alongside this, Which Wich is also about to open its second London site, a company-owned outpost on Fleet Street that will operate alongside its London debut in Covent Garden’s Central St Giles development.
It goes without saying that Brits love a sandwich and yet, with one obvious exception, US sandwich chains, which invariably major in American-style subs, have found the UK market tough to crack. So why is that; and what can Which Wich learn from the other operators as it looks to secure its own foothold across the UK?
The success story
Subway
Founded: 1965 (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Operated in UK: 1996 – present
Number of UK sites: 2,100
Even when compared to industry giants like McDonald’s and KFC, Subway’s success in the UK is striking. Indeed, it was the largest fast-food chain in the UK for several years until it was recently usurped by bakery brand Greggs. The US sandwich giant chose the seaside town of Brighton to put down its flag on UK soil in 1996 and its successful franchise model saw it expand rapidly across the UK in the years since, with Subway often choosing small sites and opening multiple venues in towns and cities – in Brighton, for example, it now has 10 locations. While expansion has been a key part of the brand’s model, in more recent years it has also turned its attention to its operations to ensure its continued appeal. In May 2023 it announced its biggest ever menu shake up with the introduction of a menu of sandwiches with set fillings that runs alongside its existing fully customisable offer, and later that year it confirmed it was introducing self-order kiosks into UK sites for the first time. More recently, it has sought to diversify its offer with the launch of a jacket potato range – humorously nicknamed Spudway – that is currently being trialled at Subway outlets across the UK. The Spudway range features jacket potatoes with a variety of toppings, including cheese and baked beans; tuna mayo and cheese; and taco beef and cheese. The initiative has exceeded performance expectations, according to the group, and contributed to increased same-store sales and guest traffic.
Cautionary tales
Quiznos
Founded: 1981 (Denver, Colorado)
Operated in UK: 2001 – present
Number of UK sites: 1
Many people will likely be surprised to discover not only that Colorado-born sub sandwich brand Quiznos has a presence in the UK, operating a single site within The Glades shopping centre in Bromley, but that it has actually been here since 2001. While there appears to be some debate over where it made its debut – both Brighton and Peterborough are cited as the brand’s first location – there’s no doubt that Quiznos did enjoy some early success. A British Baker article in 2006 quotes it as having 27 sites and plotting to double its estate. However, by 2011 it was reporting financial difficulties and seeking a new master franchisee. Fast forward to 2020 and its estate was reduced to just three locations, including the Bromley outlet. Quiznos’s UK website lists the now-dissolved QSR (International Franchising) Ltd as its owner, and it is understood that a former director of that business continues to own the brand’s UK franchise.
Potbelly
Founded: 1977 (Chicago, Illinois)
Operated in UK: 2015 – 2017
Westfield in London’s Stratford can provide the perfect platform for a new US brand looking to launch in the UK, just look at the success of fried chicken chain Popeyes, which opened its first UK site there in 2021 and now has close to 100 locations nationally. Sadly, such luck was not afforded to Potbelly, which arrived on The Street at Westfield Stratford in July 2015 with a menu of hot, toasted sandwiches, but was gone just a couple of years later. While it’s hard to pinpoint why Potbelly didn’t succeed in the UK, there were murmurings at the time of struggles with the format. More notable, though, is that the chain’s CEO at the time, Alwyn Lewis, admitted not long after its Westfield debut that he had tried to warn franchise partners against opening here in the first place. “There will not be a Potbelly on every single high street in the UK,” he told MCA in late 2015; how true that prediction turned out to be.
Jon Smith Subs
Founded: 1988 (Palm Beach County, Florida)
Operated in UK: 2019 – 2022
Not to be confused with the similarly named though alternatively spelled British ale, Florida-based brand Jon Smtih Subs arrived in London in January 2019 with a site in Hammersmith. At the time, the group’s UK master franchisor had plans to open as many as 15 sites in the following few years. However, by October 2019 the Hammersmith location was listed as closed having failed to make an impact with diners. The brand’s UK master franchisor, which also owned the Bournemouth franchise of Pepe’s Piri Piri, made another attempt to get Jon Smith Subs off the ground in 2021 with a site in the Dorset town. Unfortunately, struggles persisted, and that restaurant subsequently closed at some point in the second half of 2022.
The future player
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Founded: 1956 (Point Pleasant, New Jersey)
The latest US sandwich slinger looking to take a bite out of the UK market is Jersey Mike’s Subs, which revealed earlier this year that it was looking to expand to the UK, as well as other markets in Europe, as part of its international expansion ambitions. Restaurant Business Magazine reported back in April that Jersey Mike’s has its eyes on the UK following a strong performance in Canada, where the company is on pace to average $3m in sales per location. “Canada is really going well,” said CEO Peter Cancro. “We think Europe, it’s time for that.” The brand, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone, operates some 3,000 locations and generated more than $3.7bn in system sales last year in the US, making it the second-largest sub sandwich chain in the country, behind Subway.
What does Which Wich need to do to be a success in the UK?
You’ve got to admire the tenacity of Rami Awada. The UK master franchisee of Which Wich has been teasing plans to roll out the US-founded sandwich chain since opening his first site under the brand in London’s Covent Garden in 2018. At the time, Which Wich was putting together plans to launch a brace of City locations as part of an aim to reach 10 sites in the capital in quick order. However, the pandemic led to an adjustment in those aims. Speaking to Restaurant in 2020 , Awada said he was still ‘very confident’ of expanding Which Wich across the country and that the delay to its growth was down to the brand needing to be tuned for the UK market.
Fast forward five years, and it would appear Awada believes Which Wich is now very much ready to fulfil those growth ambitions with the signing of its first UK multi-unit franchise agreement teeing up its first regional openings. Awada himself is also preparing to add a second London location to the group’s estate.
When launching its sub franchising programme back in 2023 , the group set out a target of 30 sites operational by the end of 2026. “We’re only just warming up,” Awada said recently when announcing the new franchise deal. “This is the first of many exciting announcements we’ll be sharing.”
How big Which Wich can grow in the long term remains to be seen. There’s certainly a notable hunger for Americana in the UK right now and sub-style sandwiches play right into that – just look at the cult following earned by London-based operations like Dom’s Subs and Gerry's Hot Subs. Being able to harness this on a national scale through a QSR model could pay huge dividends.
Which Wich describes the flexibility of its concept, which allows customers to either choose from a set menu or customise their sandwiches by ticking off the toppings they would like using one of its build-your-own sandwich bags, as being a ‘key strength’. There’s certainly an element of premiumisation here that sets the brand apart from Subway, its nearest and most obvious rival. This includes a broader and more diverse range of hot sandwich options including a beef and mushroom melt; loaded BBQ pork; and a shrimp po’boy. There’s also an extended range of sides, such as fries, coleslaw and, perhaps more unusually for UK diners, sautéed mushrooms.
Exploiting these key points of difference will be fundamental to Which Wich as it looks to grow. It’s certainly a tried and tested strategy. Popeyes and Wendy’s, two other recent US imports, have both successfully expanded in the past few years by finding gaps at the premium end of their respective markets that allowed them to set themselves apart from the bigger players in the space. With no other brand currently vying to take on Subway at a national level, Which Wich could find itself with plenty of white space to play with.