Over 30 leading UK restaurants and supermarkets with over 3000 sites across the UK have written to the Home Secretary calling for greater protections for delivery drivers in the upcoming Crime & Policing Bill. The joint letter forms part of Deliveroo’s ‘Right to Ride Safely’ campaign, which launched in November 2024 and is backed by GMB, one of the UK’s largest unions, and the British Retail Consortium.
The Government has committed to creating a standalone offence of assaulting or threatening a retail worker when they’re at their place of work in the upcoming Crime & Policing Bill.
But Pizza Express, Morrisons, Wingstop, Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Dishoom, and the other signatories say this stops short of protecting delivery riders when they are on a delivery.
The group is calling on the Government to protect delivery riders for the entire duration of their delivery – from accepting the order, travelling to collect it, all the way through to dropping it off at the customer’s house.
The signatories combined operate over 3,000 restaurants and supermarket sites across all four corners of the UK. In the letter calling for change, the group told the Home Secretary that “delivery riders are an essential lifeline for our industry, connecting our businesses to homes, workplaces and communities nationwide. They help us keep the UK’s hospitality and retail sectors thriving and play a vital role in boosting high streets and local economies.”
Deliveroo’s ‘Right to Ride Safely’ campaign was launched after figures revealed there had been a 28% increase in the total number of abusive incidents towards riders when compared to the six months prior. This includes verbal abuse, reports of racism and sexism and illegal activity such as theft of an order, a rider’s vehicle, or their delivery equipment.*
Appealing to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to take action, the group wrote: “There are real people behind these numbers – people who face physical and verbal assault, racism, sexism and theft. It’s time for the Government to act and send a clear message: abuse against delivery riders will not be tolerated.”
Concluding the letter, the businesses outlined the importance of delivery riders to their sector: “The UK hospitality and retail industries play a vital role in the UK’s economy and delivery riders are integral to that. Protecting them must be a priority for us all.”
