Subway has opened its first store as part of its new partnership with Irish independent forecourt retailer Applegreen.

The Republic of Ireland-based outlet, located in a service station in Gorey, County Wexford, opened last Friday (15 March), with another site due to open in Uckfield, East Sussex, in April as part of the Applegreen deal.

The number-three BB75 bakery retailer said 300 of these outlets, which are either open or in development, are based in non-traditional locations such as forecourts or within convenience stores.

Trevor Haynes, area development manager for Subway UK and Ireland, said: “Since announcing the brand’s partnership with Applegreen earlier this year, we have been hard at work developing the site in Gorey ready for the store opening today. This is a very exciting time for Subway, with a great deal of demand for stores on forecourts and within convenience stores. The Gorey opening with Applegreen is the first of many in the pipeline.”

Adrian Grimes, head of food, Applegreen, said: “The opening of the store in our Gorey service station location today is the beginning of Applegreen’s partnership with the Subway brand and we are very excited to see our planning come to fruition. Our food team is constantly looking for innovative solutions to help our busy customers through their day. Therefore, with its convenient, fresh approach, a Subway store is a natural complement to our existing forecourt offer.”

British Baker revealed last month, as part of its BB75 league table - the annual authoritative tracker of bakery retailers ranking firms on the number of stores it operates in the UK - that Subway had increased its estate by 59 outlets year-on-year to 1,483.