A new app aimed at streamlining deliveries for businesses and drivers could create hundreds of jobs for gig economy workers in Ayrshire.
A cross between Amazon Prime and Uber, Driverly has ambitions of eradicating a number of troublesome issues businesses face in getting drivers and the problems those making the deliveries also encounter.
A collaborative effort from Kilmarnock trio Ross Gilmour, Kevin Borland and Holly Neilson, the app was born out of the various frustrations associated with takeaway deliveries in the town.
Ross, who co-owns burger chain Meat in the Middle with Kevin, explained: "Being in the takeaway and restaurant business, we see the daily challenges faced by getting good drivers.
"You either have too many on, meaning they don’t make good money or not enough and your customers are waiting. Or drivers let you down last minute.
"Driverly opens up a whole new way of working. Single parents who can only get a babysitter for a few hours can now drive because they are in control of turning themselves online or offline. It’s going to help low income families earn money when they want without hassle."
The new business allows drivers to deliver for multiple shops or food outlets with the earning potential 'uncapped'.
Ambition isn't in short supply with the first stage of the business seeing the app rolled out in Ayrshire biggest towns initially before going national and eventually UK-wide and in Ireland.
Ross added: "We’re in the process of signing up taxi fleets which allows taxi drivers to do more work during the day, but we also expect over 1,000 freelance drivers across Ayrshire to sign up to our platform within the first few months.
"With Christmas coming up this is a great way for people to earn more income with no commitment to shift patterns. We will run our trial phase across Ayrshire first targeting Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr before starting our national rollout plan across Scotland and then the rest of the UK and Ireland."
The business hopes to build on Amazon's famed Prime business model where items are delivered in ultra quick fashion with ambitions of linking up with big retailers.
But instead of one-day delivery, items could be delivered locally within an hour under the radical plans.
"The roadmap we have starts with targeting the food industry," Ross explains.
"This app literally puts drivers at the click of a button for businesses.
"But it doesn’t stop there, once we’ve proved the concept then it’s on to the big retailers.
"Imagine a world where you're going on a night out, you see an outfit or a dress from a high street retailer and the option is there for same day delivery. Driverly goes and picks it up and delivers to the customer within an hour."
The new venture is now up and running and the Driverly app is available on both Apple and Android devices with anyone in Ayrshire able to sign up, providing they have a driver's licence and their car is appropriately insured.
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