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Wed 14th Feb 2024 - Update: Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just East delivery drivers set to strike today |
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Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just East delivery drivers set to strike today: Takeaway delivery drivers are planning to strike today (Wednesday, 14 February) to demand better pay and improved working conditions. The Valentine’s Day action, impacting four food apps including Deliveroo and Uber Eats, is thought to involve as many as 3,000 drivers and riders today between 5pm and 10pm. One cyclist taking part told the BBC their pay was “absolutely ridiculous”. Deliveroo said its rider retention rate was “high” and it reviewed pay yearly. The action, organised by a grassroots group of couriers, is intended to draw attention to what has been described as poor pay and working conditions many riders face while delivering food and groceries in cities across the UK. “Sacrificing a few hours for our rights is essential, instead of continuing to work incessantly for insufficient wages,” the group Delivery Job UK said on its Instagram page. “Our request is simple: we want fair compensation for the work we do. We are tired of being exploited and risking our lives every day... It’s time for our voices to be heard.” Just Eat and Stuart.com will also be affected, with couriers who normally compete across multiple apps for delivery planning to refuse to take orders. Delivery Job UK claimed its delivery riders were braving the “cold, rain and absurd distances” for deliveries paying “ridiculous values”, ranging from £2.80 to £3.15. A spokesman for the group told the BBC striking Deliveroo riders wanted an increase to a minimum of £5. The other companies use different pricing structures. “They [Deliveroo] have lowered their fees. There’s no incentive anymore. On a Friday night you could make £100 over 4-5 hours, now that’s gone,” the spokesman said. He also claimed couriers were exposed to “a lot of violence on the streets”, especially in the evenings. One courier who plans who plans to strike said the work was “incredibly isolating” and attracted a lot of migrant workers who were unable to challenge the conditions. “Conditions are shocking,” he told the BBC. “The pricing of fees is aggressive. It’s hard to overstate how sophisticated these algorithms have become. The fees are absolutely ridiculous.” Callum Cant, who has written about the gig economy and is a lecturer at Essex University, said changes to fees meant couriers had seen a 40% drop in wages in real terms since 2018. “With a minimum fee of £2.80, most might only be making three orders an hour, and then they have to subtract their costs too. Some are making £7 an hour, which in London is barely liveable,” he said. While delivery drivers are not formally unionised the GMB has an agreement with Deliveroo which, the union has said, is the first of its kind in the food delivery sector. It includes access to education courses and a pay floor for fees, negotiated each April. In a statement, Deliveroo said it offered its riders self-employed, flexible work, alongside protections. “Rider retention rates are high and the overwhelming majority of riders tell us that they are satisfied working with us”, a spokesperson said. “We are pleased to also be able to offer riders free insurance, sickness cover, financial support when riders become new parents and a range of training opportunities.” Uber Eats told the BBC it offered a “flexible way” for couriers to earn by using its app “when and where they choose”. It added: “We know that the vast majority of couriers are satisfied with their experience on the app, and we regularly engage with couriers to look at how we can improve their experience.” Just Eat said it provided “a highly competitive base rate to self-employed couriers and also offer regular incentives to help them maximise their earnings”. It added: “We continue to review our pay structure regularly and welcome any feedback from couriers.” Stuart.com said it also was “committed to providing competitive earnings opportunities for courier partners”.
Premium Club members to receive Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference videos and next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality on Friday: Premium Club members are to receive all the videos from this year’s Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference on Friday (16 February), at 9am. Members will be sent 26 separate video presentations, featuring more than 60 speakers. They include: Thom and James Elliot, co-founders of Pizza Pilgrims, giving a behind the scenes look at the mini-series, Pilgrimage II, where the brothers returned to Italy to retrace their journey through the country that led them on the path to create this iconic brand. Ryan Warren, client success manager at Trison, discusses with Siobhan Lloyd, head of marketing at 200 Degrees Coffee; Julius Wiesenhutter, co-founder and chief executive at GetViola; and Megan Burton-Brown, marketing director at Tortilla; about how operators are becoming more omnichannel in their approach. Also on Friday, at midday, Premium Club members will receive the next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality, which features more than 230,000 words of content. Another 31 companies have been added to the database, which now features 863 companies. This month’s edition will also include 71 updated entries. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the New Openings Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. Propel has evolved its Premium subscription offer by launching Premium Club. All circa 4,000 existing subscribers automatically became members. Premium Club comes with even more benefits. All subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to four Propel paid-for events – The Excellence in Pub Retailing Conference (14 May), Social Media for Profit (18 July), the Talent and Training Conference (1 October) and Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025). Operators will also be able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Propel Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
UK inflation remains at 4%: UK inflation remained at 4% in January, according to Office for National Statistics figures released this morning. Forecasters had expected a slight rise to 4.2% but it remained at the same rate as in December. The Bank of England’s target is 2% but the government met its pledge to halve inflation in 2023 after it hit a peak of 11.1% in October 2022. Core inflation has stayed at 5.1% in January. This number excludes the price of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco so it is a closer indicator of how fast prices are rising in goods and service, reports the BBC. Last June and July, core inflation reached the highest level since 1992, 6.9%. The BBC also reported that prices in the UK are no longer rising as fast as wages. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “The continuation of inflation at 4% in January will do nothing to alleviate the significant pressure on the beer and pub sector that long ago ran out of room to absorb cost increases while also staying in business. Despite this, brewers and pubs have done everything in their power in the last 18 months to keep their prices down and keep a pint at your local affordable. The government must take the opportunity of next month’s Budget to make the vital cuts to beer duty, long term reforms to business rates, and reduction in hospitality VAT to alleviate this pressure. This will allow pubs and breweries to start to recover from this period of cost rises and return to bringing prosperity and social value to their local communities.” German Doner Kebab secures Bristol site: German Doner Kebab (GDK), owned by Hero Brands, has secured a site for a new restaurant in Bristol. Landlord Hammerson has struck a deal for the business to open on Glasswalk within the city’s Cabot Circus destination. GDK launched its first motorway services site and first breakfast menu in December. It opened at Unit 9 in the Baldock Services on the A1, in Hertfordshire, creating 30 jobs. The opening coincided with GDK’s launch of the UK’s first doner breakfast menu, featuring a doner egg brioche and a big breakfast wrap. The breakfast menu is being trialled at Baldock Services as well as at its restaurant in Southampton Row, in London’s Holborn. Costa Coffee named nation’s favourite coffee shop for the 14th year in a row: Costa Coffee has been named the nation’s favourite coffee shop for the 14th year in a row. In an annual Allegra World Coffee Portal survey of more than 5,000 UK coffee shop consumers, over half (51.6%) named Costa Coffee as their favourite chain. Last Summer, Costa became the first major UK coffee chain to introduce a range of bubble drinks, and a plant-based ready-to-drink oat latte. It also introduced a new reward proposition on its Costa Club app and launched touchscreen and table ordering at several revamped stores. Nick Orrin, managing director of UK&I at Costa Coffee, said: “This achievement is a testament not only to our valued consumers, but also to our talented baristas and the continued support of our partners, suppliers and franchisees. 2023 was an extraordinary year for Costa Coffee, marked by significant investments in our UK business across our stores, Costa Express machines, and business-to-business propositions. We look forward to another year of crafting new experiences for our customers.”
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