Deliveroo will create 250 more jobs at its London headquarters, as the food delivery firm strives to eliminate its powerful local rivals. The company, which has endured a topsy-turvy year including flirtations with Softbank’s megafund and highly-publicized employment suit, will add to its 1,100-strong workforce to build “the technology that motors Deliveroo,” CEO and co-founder Will Shu told the Financial Times.
The news will please those demanding that Deliveroo, founded in 2012 and funded to the tune of almost $900m, diverge its market strategy to beat off competition from Just Eat and UberEats. It has shelved previous plans to expand across the US and Asia, turning its main sights instead on Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
Last April Deliveroo announced it would be creating its own kitchens for use as distribution points – an attempt to widen food offerings for customers. At the same time a storm began to brew over Deliveroo’s designation of its delivery riders – or “Roos” – as independent contractors, in a two-wheeled echo of Uber’s driver employment issues.
Nonetheless the firm has been on a firm upward trajectory of late, and this latest wave of jobs should boost its performance against other delivery brands. The last time Deliveroo made revenue public, in 2016, it had risen seven times to £128 million ($180m). The company has said that revenue has grown faster since.