Redundancy opens doors for Martin

A LANCASHIRE man has used a redundancy payout to open a Subway sandwich shop.

Martin Gibson was made redundant from his job as a quality manager with Sappi Fine Paper in Blackburn after 23 years. The company’s South African owners closed its Lancashire operations with the loss of 100 jobs.

He used the cash to secure a £44,000 loan from NatWest under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme where the government guarantees 75% of the loan.

Mr Gibson, who has bought the Subway franchise in Cleveleys, said: “It is easy to become disillusioned when you are made redundant however I was determined not to let that happen. I looked at it as an opportunity to move on to the next stage of my career and took some time to evaluate what I wanted to do next. 

“Acquiring a Subway franchise is an exciting prospect as it allows me to run my own business whilst benefiting from the infrastructure and support of a strong brand name.”    

The Subway sandwich empire was founded by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck in the US in 1965. The chain has expanded rapidly and has over 30,000 stores operating in 91 countries.

David Turnbull of NatWest said: “Being made redundant can sometimes act as a catalyst as it pushes people into changes that they may not have previously made. In Martin’s case it has had a positive effect and allowed him to launch his own business.”