Baguette Express, the rapidly-growing franchised sandwich chain is set to take a huge leap forward, and create hundreds of jobs in the process, with the acquisition of the Greater London Master Franchise to businessman and highly-experienced retailer, Amjid Bashir.

 

Mr Bashir is a former management and software consultant who gave up a professional career to start up on his own account in the retail industry and now has a ten year track record operating a chain of convenience stores. Before becoming a Master Franchisee, he operated a Baguette Express franchise and successfully concluded negotiations earlier this month with the company’s owners, Robin and Billy Stenhouse, to acquire the potentially lucrative Greater London franchise for a six figure sum.

 

Mr Bashir said: “I realised the opportunities opened up by the business after I started my own Baguette Express franchised outlet. I was sure the Baguette Express formula of fresh, healthy fast food at value-for-money prices would appeal to people right across the UK and I have put my faith in that judgement by acquiring the biggest master franchise available.

 

“My aim is to open 50 plus shops in London over the next 3-4 years. I believe that this is the minimum we can achieve; the rate of new openings depends, however, on the numbers of prospective franchisees who come along and decide to get their own operations up and running.”

 

The first two Baguette Express franchises are due to open shortly in the London area: one in Camden High Street and the other in Harlow, Essex, but since the master franchise territory reaches not only within the M25 but also westwards to include Maidenhead, Berkshire on the M4 and south west to include Guildford, Surrey on the M3, there is enormous potential for rapid growth.

 

Mr Bashir is convinced the Baguette Express formula will appeal to anyone wanting to take up a tried and tested franchise opportunity. He said: “I attended the National Franchise Exhibition at the NECC earlier this month and of the 160 enquiries received from those attending, over 40 per cent were interested in a London-based franchise.

 

“I told them that Baguette Express has seen very substantial growth over the last year while other franchises like O’Brien’s and Coffee Republic have been going through a difficult time. There is clearly a recession-proof element to our operation and this is something to which potential franchisees find very attractive. Our variety and highly competitive pricing makes our products easily affordable to our customers placing us in a unique market position.” 

 

Headquartered in Haddington, East Lothian, the enormously successful Baguette Express franchise now employs more than more than 500 people and operates in the same commercial sector as national chains such as Greggs and Subway.

 

Robin Stenhouse, joint-founder, said: “This is a major step forward for the group as it grows into its role as a significant player in the quality food provision sector. Our outlets provide career opportunities for people across a number of disciplines, from management to catering and logistics, and they also tap into the entrepreneurial spirit by giving people the chance to run their own businesses.”