“We were very lucky indeed”- Sandwich shop that bucked the trend in covid opens second store in Salford Quays

Food supplier and shop owner Sndwch have opened up a new shop inside Arrive’s Tomorrow building at MediaCity despite the struggles of the pandemic.

Burnley born Alex Markham, started the business making soup on his kitchen table but earned his crust during the pandemic.

He said: “We were very lucky indeed and in the right place at the right time. We were already supplying General Store retail group with soup products, and sadly they lost their sandwich supplier at the beginning of lockdown.

“A chance conversation with owner Mital meant that we started making the sandwiches for the whole of store group. As lockdown started to ease, we expanded our customer base into coffee shops, whole food retailers.”

Even in the face of further adversity in the form of the cost of living crisis, Mr Markham is still confident in his butty-business.

“The cost of everything is going up on an almost daily basis. Bread, fresh produce, energy, and now there’s talk of a scarcity of eggs because of avian flu! Throughout my career, and I think it’s a really important trait in business, I’ve had the ability to adapt and change to the conditions – that’s what we’ve done,” he said.

“We’ve had to pass on some of these costs, but in the main we’ve managed to streamline,” he added.

Mr Markham praised MediaCity and its “people and sense of community.”

The opening of this new sandwich and coffee shop coincides with the launch of their new festive sandwich described as “a celebration of northern produce” by its creator.

Mr Markham said of the festive sandwich’s locally sourced ingredients: “Northern food producers are some of the best in the country – we’re so lucky to have such a wealth of amazing produce on our doorstep.”

To top it all off he added “We’re the only butty shop in MediaCity that makes everything fresh right in front of you.”

You can find out more about Sndwch here.