theceomagazine.com | 59“I spent my first seven years there,” he
recalls. “My focus then was changing the
business model for McDonald’s, designing
and launching global campaigns and
corporate structuring.” Next Pavel spent
three years at McDonald’s Japan, helping it
turn around the business and re-franchise
most of the 3,700 stores existing at that time.
He then moved to Singapore in 2011, and
has been in the Lion City ever since. “The
task with McDonald’s was very similar to
what I’m doing right now in Subway. I was
working closely with global and regional
leaders of the brand, building a regional team
and formulating regional strategies.”
In the Regional Director post since
September 2016, Pavel has boarded the
Subway train at a very interesting time. Last
year, it announced it would do a complete
redesign of all its restaurants, something it
hasn’t done in almost two decades. “The
modern design is already being rolled out
across the US and Europe, and is very
different from the traditional Subway design,”
he says. “It’s a lot more inviting, modern-
looking and convenient for customers to use.”
The major shortcoming of Subway
restaurants in Asia–Pacific is that they usually
have small square footage, limited seating and
limited ability to cater to customers willing
to spend time at the restaurants and
enjoy their meal. “The new
design is suitable for
consumers to use our
stores for multiple
meal occasions and
find their meal
solutions across
different parts
of the day.”
The restaurant
redesign has gained
real traction with
customers. However,
Pavel insists the move
was made “not just with
hope”. A man of numbers,
he ensured the move came with
a solid business case and evidence to back it.
“I can see the figures from nearly 100 stores
that we have in the rest of the world. The
bump in sales is quite significant. It’s above
the market by a good double-digit number.”
With a presence in 18 countries across
Asia–Pacific, that adds up to a lot of Subway
franchisees. The only difference
Pavel finds when comparing
Subway in Asia–Pacific
to other regions is
that most markets
are still at the very
early stages of
development.
While the
Australian and
New Zealand
markets have
matured and are
on par with the
US, Subway is still
scratching the surface
of its potential in countries
like China, Japan, South Korea
and Thailand.
With this in mind, crucial for Pavel is
making sure the ideas coming from »“The challenge is to
be able to choose the
best ideas out of the
multitude we get on a
regular basis and harness
that creativity.”
Interview | INNOVATE