UK Eateries Want Deliveroo To Reduce Commissions

While they try to stay on an even keel amid COVID-19, eatery owners throughout Britain are looking for Deliveroo to reduce the commissions on each delivery. The company takes a cut as high as 35 percent in addition to VAT (value-added tax) on select orders, which means many restaurant owners are left with not a lot of funds to handle their expenditures, CNBC reported.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, instructed eateries to shutter last month as part of an initiative to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But eateries were allowed to keep providing takeout, with establishments throughout the nation rushing to turn on Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.

Crust Trust Pizza Owner Mohsen Seify told the news outlet that Deliveroo’s commission comes out to 42 percent per order when VAT is taken into account. “It’s too high,” he said, noting that the company has charged him somewhere between £4,000 and £5,000 with a signup charge of £506.

A representative from Deliveroo said per the outlet, “We are here to deliver for restaurants who want to carry on offering their amazing food to families at home during this difficult time. We are working with restaurants to optimize their operations for delivery, and we are doing everything we can to make sure people still have access to the food they want and need.”

Deliveroo and Uber Eats have reportedly taken away onboarding charges for a time and formed teams to help new restaurants in an effort to aid eateries during the crisis.

In separate news, Deliveroo recently announced it was furloughing 50 employees and laying off 367 staffers as it contends with dropping demand and revenue with the COVID-19 crisis. The layoffs are reportedly occurring throughout multiple European nations.

A representative for the company told one outlet that the reductions are because of the coronavirus crisis as the firm grapples with cutting long-term costs.