Celebrates 48 years in business.

The SUBWAY restaurant chain, which has been providing franchising opportunities to entrepreneurs since 1965 and will soon celebrate its 48th year in business, opened its 40,000th location at an AppleGreen petrol station in Ipswich, England.

The milestone opening further illustrates the strength and consistent growth of the SUBWAY brand, which has opened 1,761 new locations around the world since the start of the year.

“This is certainly a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire Subway team, who I often refer to as The Greatest Team in Franchising History,” said President and Co-Founder Fred DeLuca, who opened the brand’s first sandwich shop on Aug. 28, 1965.

“I am proud to be part of a team that provides thousands of jobs for people at our restaurants, field offices, headquarters, and partner offices around the world,” DeLuca continued. “Our franchisees are the best in the business. They are a diverse group of small business owners who take a great deal of pride in serving their customers.”

This latest milestone achievement puts the SUBWAY brand far ahead of its competitors in the Quick Service Restaurant industry, making it more convenient for customers to eat a delicious SUBWAY submarine sandwich or chopped salad. Of the top restaurant chains, the next closest is more than 5,500 locations behind the SUBWAY brand. Beyond that, the next three are between 21,000 and 33,000 behind.

According to Subway Area Development Manager for the UK and Ireland Trevor Haynes, it is the “low startup costs, flexibility, and simple footprint that makes Subway so appealing to entrepreneurs who look to our brand as a way to reach their goal of owning and operating their own business. That is what makes this work. We are thrilled to have this opening in our market.”

The milestone restaurant location highlights the flexibility of the SUBWAY brand. There are more than 9,000 non-traditional locations worldwide and about 4,500 of them are in gas/petrol stations. The SUBWAY chain can open in spaces where other brands may believe to be too small or impractical, such as hospitals, health clubs, movie theaters and train stations. In fact, customers enjoy SUBWAY sandwiches and salads at restaurants on a German riverboat, in a car dealership in California and even in a church in Buffalo, New York.

The UK is the brand’s third largest market, behind the U.S. and Canada, with more than 1,500 locations. In all, there are 14,000 International locations in 102 countries outside the U.S. In addition to celebrating this recent milestone, the European team just opened their 4,000 location. Other milestones include Brazil with 1,200, Mexico with 700 and Argentina and Columbia each with 100 restaurants; and the Eastern European nation of Estonia recently witnessed the opening its first SUBWAY franchise.

“There is still a lot of opportunity in our International markets,” said Chief Development Officer Don Fertman. “The brand has regional and country offices that provide education and support to the franchisees in the field; all working to ensure we are the best brand out there for both our customers as well as entrepreneurs looking to get into the restaurant business.”