Deliveroo’s highest paid director, understood to be the co-founder Will Shu, received a near 57% increase in basic pay and £8.3m in share options last year, despite widening losses at the food delivery firm.
Shu, a former investment banker who set up Deliveroo from his London flat in 2013, appears to have received £250,000 in 2018, up from £159,532 a year before. The total pay package as the highest paid director also included a share-based award of stock options, convertible into shares or cash on the sale of the business, worth £8.3m. Deliveroo would not confirm it was Shu, but the individual’s pay record matches previously confirmed pay for him.
The options award was part of £20.7m in share-based payments to “key management personnel” listed in Deliveroo’s accounts.
Deliveroo’s share awards were revealed in accounts published at Companies House after Deliveroo reported a loss of £232m last year despite a 72% rise in sales to £476m.
They were made amid rumours of a takeover by the US online firm Amazon. British regulators are investigating whether a large investment by Amazon into Deliveroo could harm consumers.
The company, which in 2018 doubled the number of towns and cities it operates in, now works with 60,000 delivery riders, all of whom are “self-employed contractors” without a guaranteed minimum wage, holiday pay or sick pay.
The Deliveroo rider Greg Howard, who is secretary of the couriers and logistics arm of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, said: “While year-on-year Will Shu continues to give himself inflation-busting pay rises, working conditions and pay for riders have never been worse.”
He said the number of rider strikes was on the rise amid anger about pay and conditions. While Deliveroo claimed riders are paid £10 an hour, IWGB said costs such as equipment and insurance, as well as lower rates outside peak hours, mean riders earn much less.
Deliveroo said that all staff had been handed share options because it “wants all employees to share in the success of the company”. Riders are not included in the share awards because they are “self-employed”.
Deliveroo said: “Deliveroo’s rapid expansion is helping restaurants reach new customers, increase their sales and grow their business.”
