Deliveroo-ed to your door… by the boss
Founder tells how he takes to the road as BBC goes behind the scenes
TELEVISION cameras have been allowed inside Deliveroo’s London headquarters for the first time as the company prepares for the outcome of a legal battle over the job status of thousands of moped and bike riders.
The food delivery firm let the BBC film at its Shoreditch offices to show the logistics and computer algorithms linking restaurants to hungry Londoners.
It will feature on technology show Invented In London — presented by Suzi Perry — tomorrow, less than 72 hours before the final day of a tribunal case brought by Deliveroo riders in Camden and Kentish Town.
They want to be classified as workers with rights to holiday pay, national minimum wage and collective bargaining through a union. Deliveroo says they are independent contractors.
In the BBC programme, Will Shu, who co-founded the business five years ago, reveals that he spends time on the road to keep in tune with those working for him. “I’ve done thousands of deliveries and customers never want to talk to you because they’re hungry. They just want their food,” he says.
“So, in the beginning I’d say ‘Hey, I’m Will from Deliveroo’ — then people would just shut the door in my face.
“I didn’t take it personally, I would do the same thing.” He also explains how computer science problems are solved to ensure “the right driver goes to the right restaurant” and delivers as fast as possible, which “maximises the earnings that a rider makes”.
The show also features Deliveroo’s new Editions project, or “dark kitchens”, which are not restaurants but cooking hubs — including a pizzeria in a car park — that prepare delivery-only food to increase capacity.
Mr Shu said: “What this allows restaurants to do is go to areas that they might otherwise never dream of opening a restaurant, and they’ll reach a lot more people.” Deliveroo works with 20,000 UK restaurants and employs more than 30,000 contract riders.
The fourth and final day of the tribunal case will be heard by the Central Arbitration Committee on Monday. The judgment could take up to six weeks. Invented In London is on BBC 1 tomorrow at 7.30pm.