Deliveroo is a British online food delivery company founded by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in 2013 in London, England.

[15][16] On 16 November 2016, it became known that the brewing company Heineken International had closed a deal for Deliveroo to deliver the latter's beers and ciders, initially across 15 sites in London, Bath and Cardiff.

[18] In January 2017, Deliveroo announced plans to create 300 tech jobs in the UK when it opened its new head office in London later in 2017.

In March 2020, Deliveroo launched its on demand grocery service and has since partnered with retail chains M&S, Aldi, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and others.

The service promises delivery to customers “in as little as 10 minutes” with the first Deliveroo Hop dark store launched in central London, serving residents in Vauxhall and Battersea.

The Deliveroo HOP on New Oxford Street offers grocery items from Morrisons ‘Ready to Eat’ and ‘The Best’ ranges to store cupboard staples, snacks and dinner ingredients.

[27] In October 2023, Deliveroo reported a 7% year-on-year (YoY) rise in revenue in the UK and Ireland alongside robust growth in gross transaction value (GTV) in its home region.

[3] In December 2017, a study by macroeconomic consultancy Capital Economics stated that Deliveroo had helped create 7,200 jobs across the restaurant sector since it launched in 2013.

The report also found that Deliveroo had helped add £372 million in value to the UK economy in the same 12-month period, a figure which Capital Economics projected to rise to £1.5 billion in the year to June 2019.

As a result of that goal, it ended its operations in the Netherlands on 30 November 2022, citing that "it would require a disproportionate level of investment, with uncertain returns, to reach and sustain a top-tier market position".

[35] In Feb 2023, Deliveroo made 9% of the workforce redundant, with CEO Will Shu saying the reason was having “in recent years we grew our headcount very quickly.

"[36] On 7 September 2016, the Deliveroo website and application crashed in the British city of Chelmsford, reportedly due to a high demand on the first night of launching its service there.

[37] On Tuesday 1 November 2016, at around 8 pm (GMT), technical problems caused the Deliveroo system in the UK to go offline for around an hour.

[50] In anticipation of the listing then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak stated that ‘Deliveroo has created thousands of jobs and is a true British tech success story,’ and added that ‘it is great news that the next stage of their growth will be on the public markets in the U.K.[51] It was listed on 31 March at 390 pence per share, but closed 14% lower at 284p by the end of the first day of trading.

[53] The company opened its initial public offering to customers, making £50 million worth of shares by registering interest through the Deliveroo app.

[54] In October 2016, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a review of employment practices in the modern economy,[55] chaired by Chief Executive of the RSA Matthew Taylor.

The review was criticised, accusing the probe of being biased as it was revealed by the Financial Times that one of its members was an early backer of Deliveroo, a fact that was not disclosed to the public.

[58] Deliveroo argued that current employment legislation meant that companies in the on-demand economy were forced to choose between offering riders flexible work or benefits.

Deliveroo suggested that the Government either allow companies to offer entitlements to self-employed people, or create a new category of employment in which benefits are calculated on the services they deliver instead of how many hours they work.

[59] In response to the attacks on moped drivers over the summer of 2017, Deliveroo announced a series of measures to help keep riders safe.

The announcement came days after acquiring Scottish startup Cultivate, and three months after raising £450 million in a funding round led by Amazon.

[69] Despite not having the status of employees, Deliveroo and several courier services in Taiwan were cautioned by the labor ministry in 2019 that the Occupational Safety and Health Act [zh] applied to contractors.

This followed the Spanish government's decision in March to introduce a law giving gig economy workers employee rights, rather than those of a self-employed contractor.

David Cobb, lead partner for the awards programme, described Deliveroo as the fastest-growing technology company in the history of the competition, with a record four-year revenue growth of 107,117% making them a UK "unicorn".

[85] Maurice Blackburn announced that test cases against Deliveroo, as well as against Foodora, were being prepared wherein they were "accused of under-paying their delivery riders and failing to meet minimum employment conditions".

[96] On 8 November 2016, news headlines covered the demand by a small group of UK Deliveroo drivers for union recognition by the company.

[104] In March 2021, local press reported on complaints that Deliveroo riders in Manchester were spotted "allegedly using bushes as ‘public toilets’ while waiting to collect orders.

It has been argued that the need to race against the clock is another reason for couriers' potentially risky cycling behaviour, and that bikes should be checked for safety.

[112] In March 2024 35-year old delivery rider Jenniffer Rocha, attacked customer Stephen Jenkinson in December 2022, near his home in Aldershot, Hampshire, when she bit off his thumb, following a brief argument over a pizza order.

[117] In June 2021, Deliveroo announced a partnership with Neighbourhood Watch (United Kingdom) giving couriers the option to train to help spot the signs of crimes ranging from sexual harassment to domestic abuse and drug dealing.