On November 16, 2021, we held the first meeting of the Deliveroo Rider Forum in the offices of Deliveroo Belgium, near the Place Sainte-Catherine, in Brussels. The day started at 10:30 am with a gourmet breakfast.
Not all of the 18 elected riders were present and some were unable to travel to Brussels that day and participate in this first online meeting. The Deliveroo team had the chance to meet Tigran (Sint-Truiden), Etienne (Liège), Soufiane (Brussels), Hassan (Leuven) and Emmanuel (Hasselt). More than 700 riders voted to elect their representatives. Some of the elected riders explained that they asked other riders in their city to vote for them. Others preferred to win votes without "campaigning" and let the riders in their city vote according to their profile posted on the Deliveroo website.
The Deliveroo team began by asking what expectations the representatives had of the Deliveroo Rider Forum who attended this meeting. Generally speaking, the expectations of the riders centered around safety on the road, the rider kit, and being able to be the liaison between other riders in their city and the Deliveroo team.
The Deliveroo team began by introducing the day's proceedings and the main objectives of the Deliveroo Rider Forum, which were:
- To listen to the ideas and feedback of the riders as representatives of the other riders in Belgium,
- To explain the inner workings of the Deliveroo team that works every day to improve the experience of riders on the road.
- Give an overview of Deliveroo's projects and news.
- Share the progress that came out of the Deliveroo Rider Forum with the rest of the riders in Belgium.
The Operations team then introduced themselves. This is the team in charge of follow-up, support, communication, events, contests, and onboarding of riders in Belgium. This team is composed of 10 people.
To close this morning rich in information, the Deliveroo Belgium spokesperson explained the latest news about Deliveroo:
- The difference in status in Belgium was explained and Deliveroo presented the breakdowns by categories: P2P (85% of riders), or independent (10% of riders), and student-independent (5% of riders).
- More explanations were given about the lawsuit that Deliveroo Belgium is facing, and more specifically the issue of freelancers and their need for flexibility that the riders tell us they highly appreciate (choosing where and when to ride according to their desires and being able to work with several platforms).
- An explanation was given about the political discussions that aim to regulate the work related to collaborative platforms such as Deliveroo. Deliveroo presented the website Platformwork.be which is the consultation platform created by the government to collect testimonies.
- Finally, more details were given about the protection and security offered by Deliveroo such as insurance for riders, free training such as the European First Aid Certificate, birth bonuses or sick leave, etc.
The riders and the Deliveroo team then enjoyed a delicious Asian meal from Yaki restaurant.
After this moment of relaxation, the representatives attended the presentation of the different Deliveroo Belgium teams:
- The manager of the Strategy team introduced herself. Her team is in charge of making decisions every day based on advanced data analysis, but also of launching new projects such as the opening of new cities in Belgium.
- The different managers of the Operations team we talked about earlier in the day detailed their work (Performance & Rider Supply and Community).
- The manager of the Commercial team presented the work of his team. This team is largely responsible for relations and follow-up with the restaurants.
- The Marketing team manager also presented her work, her actions, and her marketing campaigns in Belgium.
- The manager of the Deliveroo for Work team, previously called Deliveroo for Business, also explained to the representatives that there was a department at Deliveroo specifically created for corporate meals.
Since safety on the road is the priority of Deliveroo and the riders, the Deliveroo team obviously presented the actions related to safety on the road that were proposed in the previous years, such as the VIAS road safety workshops, the workshops to maintain and repair one's bike, as well as those that will take place in 2022, such as the training with the Red Cross, the change of the kits, the Deliveroo road safety campaigns, etc.
To end the day on a high note, representatives had time during a Q&A session to ask specific questions, which often came from other riders in the representative's city. The questions concerned the bags used by the competition, improvements to the waiting time, the lack of courtesy of certain restaurants or customers, Deliveroo's checks on the respect of the signed agreement by the couriers, the possibility of extending certain zones, etc. The aim of this Deliveroo Rider Forum is not only to provide answers, but above all to be able to act on the ideas and remarks of the representatives.
Here is what was decided following the exchanges with the representatives:
- Creation of a Whatsapp group by city to facilitate communication between riders and with the Deliveroo team.
- Frequently remind restaurants of the importance of kindness and respect towards riders.
- From a communication point of view, the representatives mentioned that they and all the other riders were not aware of all the benefits that Deliveroo offers to riders, such as parental leave and sick leave for freelancers. These benefits will therefore be highlighted more clearly so that all riders are clearly informed of these points.
- In relation to road safety, the representatives present made a specific request: to improve the means of communication with Deliveroo when there is an emergency situation, such as a road accident. The representatives asked that an emergency communication channel be set up, and this is a suggestion that the Deliveroo team will analyze.
- Also regarding road safety, the representatives asked that the functioning of the Flare app be more clearly explained as it is not clear to them.
- Sending additional information in relation to the consultation platform organized by the government.
These actions will be put in place as we go along.
The riders present were informed that the second meeting of the Deliveroo Rider Forum would be held in January and that the page of the website dedicated to the Forum would be updated shortly with the minutes of this first meeting.
Thank you to the representatives for their active participation during this first meeting! The Deliveroo Rider Forum could not have started better!