In the past few years, a new character has appeared on the streets of Britain’s cities. He – it’s usually a he – appears at dusk. He speeds along quietly. The box on his bike bears the distinctive turquoise-and-white logo of a kangaroo. Somewhere along the road, a door opens and city-dwellers get a glimpse into a lamplit, middle-class home before the customer takes his dinner and shuts the door.
Deliveroo, a service that delivers food from its users’ favourite restaurants, is the latest manifestation of the app-based economy. Just pop in your postcode and feast on the choices. But Deliveroo’s real recipe for success is a network of more than 3,000 bike riders and scooter drivers.
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