Subway Vs McDonalds

Subway have overtaken McDonalds to become the largest restaurant chain in the world, the group has 33,749 outlets compared to McDonalds who currently have 33,737.

They state they have achieved this by having a solid franchise model that means opening a Subway is cheaper for the Franchisee than any of their rivals and the business' focus is on cost control, marketing and advertising together with a very low cost running model.

All is not lost for the guys with the Golden Arches however, they still retain the biggest revenues by some margin, £14.8 billion over the last financial year compared to Subways £9.4 billion.

Subway are currently operating in 95 countries, started in 1965 with a $1000 loan from a friend by Fred de Luca, he was 17 at the time and trying to pay back college money, that was in 1965, fast forward 45 years and he has been listed 242 in the Forbes rich list in the US, with a net worth of $1.5billion.

In comparison, McDonalds have the upper hand, with restaurants in 117 countries, started in 1940 and named not after a joyful clown, but after the brothers who founded the company (the clown appeared 27 years later)