Deliveroo arrives in Al Ain as part of UAE expansion

After making 15% of staff redundant during lockdown, Deliveroo has rebounded to pre-Covid levels

The onset of the virus saw customers concerned about the health and safety of food deliveries.

Deliveroo has expanded its footprint across the UAE with the launch in Al Ain as the company continues to recover from the economic impacts of Covid-19.

The food delivery platform already operates in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, working with over 4,000 restaurants, having first been introduced to the country five years ago. It is also the fifth launch in the GCC, having previously opened up in Kuwait in 2019.

Anis Harb, GM, Deliveroo GCC said: “The UAE has proven to be a very exciting market for Deliveroo, with a diverse range of partners and customers across markets. Al-Ain has a thriving community with a lot of demand and many of our current partners have a strong existing presence in the city. We look forward to working with our current and new restaurant partners to expand their businesses.”

Harb told Arabian Business that the company, in line with moves at a global level, was forced to make around 15 percent of staff in the UAE redundant as a result of the lockdown measures and movement restrictions enforced to curb the spread of coronavirus.

“The first phase of Covid hit us pretty badly so we had to take the measures,” he said.

Rapid growth

He described how the onset of the virus saw customers concerned about the health and safety of food deliveries, while with people forced to work from home, their corporate clientele was reduced “significantly”.

However, Harb said the business is currently enjoying a period of “rapid growth”.

“There was a significant decline and then recovery and now rapid growth once again after we had that little dip,” he said. “We rebounded to pre-Covid levels and we’ve been growing since, so we’re actually ahead of pre-Covid levels.”

This, coupled with the expansion into Al Ain, has meant that the company has had to go out into the market to hire more staff.

“We have multiple roles posted online. We’re definitely back in hiring mode. We’ve hired over 50 riders for our launch and we’re geared up for this next phase of expansion,” said Harb.

To celebrate its Al-Ain launch, Deliveroo is offering free delivery to all customers across the city from a selection of nearly 100 restaurants, which include: Starbucks, Shake Shack, PF Changs, Pizza Express, Chili’s, Nandos, Jones The Grocer, VOX Cinemas, Biryani Pot, Arabica, and Brooklyn Creamery amongst others.

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