Deliveroo signs up 25 ‘traditional’ eateries in city for its service

FOOD delivery service Deliveroo has added 25 new takeaways to its service in Belfast, the company has announced.

Marketplace+ will mean restaurants who do their own deliveries will now be available on the Deliveroo app and website for the first time. They pay a “signing on” fee of an undisclosed sum to join the service.

Deliveroo said it had signed up over 25 traditional takeaway-style restaurants to the new service, including the Lisburn Road’s Monte Carlo and Stranmillis student favourite, kebab shop the Sphinx.

But it said the new takeaways would be able to continue using their own drivers and would not be under an obligation to use Deliveroo cyclists, known as “riders”.

However, they will have the option of using Deliveroo cyclists if their own delivery staff are not available.

A Deliveroo spokesman said: “There is a small signing on fee like with all restaurants that wish to join Deliveroo.”

Their usual system of paying commission to restaurants for using their service did not apply in full, the spokesman added.

“There is a commission structure but as they use their own riders it is lower than the traditional structure level.”

He said the takeaways would get the added exposure of being on the Deliveroo app, thus garnering a greater customer base.

“From a customer’s perspective, the service expansion in Belfast will work exactly the same as Deliveroo’s core offering with orders being delivered by a rider 30 minutes after the order was placed,” the company said.

Last month the company said it was expanding in the north and south of Belfast, adding the Ormeau and Ardoyne areas to locations served by its cyclists.

A spokeswoman confirmed it has 160 riders in Belfast at the moment but could not say by how much the numbers would increase.

She said: “Deliveroo is constantly expanding and developing in line with customer demand.”

The company delivers food for a number of chain and independent restaurants around the city, including Mexican food chain Boojum, noodle restaurant Wagamama and independent Cafe Fish.

The spokeswoman added that Deliveroo is a part of the growing ‘gig economy’ most drivers are paid per delivery instead of per hour, with the pay working out at an average of £12 per hour.

Earlier this year East Antrim DUP MP Sammy Wilson said even greater expansion was on the cards by Deliveroo, with riders now to deliver in Craigavon, Lisburn and Londonderry.

Deliveroo has become one of the biggest enterprises operating in the so-called ‘gig economy’, which allows individuals to earn money or supplement their income by carrying out services such as food delivery or letting out their properties.

Also this year, fast-food giant McDonald’s announced its new McDelivery scheme, using UberEats — affiliated to taxi app service Uber — as a partner.

McDelivery is available to anyone within one-and-a-half miles of Belfast’s Westwood, Boucher Road, Donegall Place, Shore Road and Connswater McDonald’s restaurants.