We discuss recent developments in the antenna subtraction scheme which help to simplify the construction of subtraction terms at NNLO and improve the efficiency of the resulting numerical implementation. In particular, we detail how to algorithmically generate subtraction terms at arbitrary multiplicity, and then focus on the specific case of four-jet production at electron-positron colliders. Here we compute the four-jet production rate at NNLO and compare with LEP data, finding improved agreement with respect to the next-to-leading order calculation. In the region where perturbative predictions are most reliable, we observe a significant reduction of theory uncertainties, which now fall below the experimental ones