By Mark Hookham and Abul Taher and Brendan Carlin
22:15 02 Dec 2023, updated 02:13 03 Dec 2023
Channel migrants living in taxpayer-funded hotels are earning up to £1,500 a month working illegally for fast food delivery firms like Deliveroo – despite a Minister demanding the practice be stamped out.
A Mail on Sunday investigation today exposes how couriers working for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats are secretly subcontracting out their deliveries to migrants who are banned from working, in exchange for a weekly fee of up to £100.
They are able to do so as the tech giants behind the UK’s £13 billion food delivery business allow low-paid ‘substitute’ riders – who they have not vetted – to work for them.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick last night branded the practice ‘completely unacceptable’ and warned it is encouraging further illegal migration.
He last month demanded the food delivery giants ‘end the use’ of unverified riders to ‘prevent the scourge of illegal working’.
Last night, after the MoS presented evidence of its investigation, Deliveroo said it would change its policy and introduce checks for substitute riders next year.
Our exposé reveals a booming black economy – with one migrant admitting that he and more than 100 fellow asylum seekers living at a Home Office-funded hotel are working illegally, many of them as takeaway couriers. The revelations come days after Home Office officials admitted they do not know the whereabouts of 17,000 asylum seekers whose claims have been withdrawn.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice said: ‘Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have been turning a blind eye to illegal working by asylum seekers on a massive scale in the UK. They should be ashamed of themselves and they should immediately stop all substitution accounts. The Government must pass urgent legislation with heavy fines on these delivery companies if they transgress.’
The hotels aren’t busy in the day… everyone’s at work
Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats allow their couriers to rent out their jobs, telling them they are responsible for checking that their ‘substitutes’ are allowed to work in the UK and have no unspent criminal convictions. But many couriers fail to carry out any checks and let migrants work illegally, in exchange for a weekly fee.
The MoS has discovered that hundreds of delivery accounts are available to rent on Facebook Marketplace, with riders willing to provide work to illegal migrants.
Posing as a Bangladeshi migrant, our undercover reporter last week responded to an advert from a Mo Russel, who said he lives in Kent. Mr Russel said he had at least nine food delivery accounts, eight of which were already rented out.
He agreed to rent out his last Just Eat account for £70 a week and told the reporter to send a £35 deposit in exchange for his log-in details.
When the reporter said he was not legally allowed to work, Russel replied on WhatsApp: ‘Don’t worry, [the] majority of the riders have the same issue. But if you even get stopped don’t say you [are] doing delivery. Also, if you get a chance then delete the app. Police are not bothered if you have immigration issue, but better be safe.’
Russel later claimed he was ‘testing’ our reporter and did not intend to share his account details.
We also contacted a Turkish man in Leicester who gave his name as Mehmet. He boasted about renting out seven food delivery accounts, including three Deliveroo accounts.
Our reporter offered to pay £70 per week to rent one of the accounts – but stressed he had newly arrived in the UK and had no National Insurance number. Mehmet replied: ‘You don’t need documents, that’s why you pay the rent.’
Meanwhile, a whistleblower working at the Midland Hotel in Derby, which houses around 200 migrants, revealed that many of those staying there are working illegally in food delivery jobs. ‘The hotel isn’t very busy in the daytime because they are all out at work,’ the source said. ‘They are renting accounts from other people who have a right to work in the UK and paying to use their account.’
The Grade-II listed Midland Hotel shut to the public in 2020 and began housing more than 200 migrants in its well-furnished rooms. Sudanese migrant Omer Muhammad, who has lived there for more than a year after crossing the Channel on a small boat, said around half those staying at the hotel are working illegally.
Last month, the MoS watched as a migrant walked out of a car park at the hotel, where he met another man who handed him a mountain bike and Just Eat delivery bag. After strapping on the bag, the man then cycled off towards the city centre. The MoS later spoke to an Ethiopian asylum seeker at the nearby Derbion shopping centre as he waited for a delivery order. Delil, in his mid-20s, said: ‘I stay at the Midland. I work for Deliveroo like a lot of my friends. I want to work, that’s why I came to the UK.’
Migrants staying at the Rowton Hotel in Birmingham are also working illegally as food couriers.
When the MoS visited last week, we saw Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats delivery bags stored in a gated area outside the hotel, along with dozens of bicycles. On Wednesday, one migrant walked out of the hotel wearing a Deliveroo jacket and collected a green Uber Eats bag and bike. Approached by a reporter, he said: ‘I have no time’ before riding off.
Fifteen minutes later another migrant wearing a Deliveroo bag arrived, storing his bag in the gated area, before entering the hotel. Mr Jenrick last night said the MoS investigation showed why Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats ‘must end the practice of unchecked account sharing and implement stricter controls urgently.’
He added: ‘This completely unacceptable practice puts the British public at risk and encourages illegal migration by acting as a ‘pull factor’ for those hoping to come to the UK to work.’
Earlier this year, researchers at Nottingham Trent and Heriot-Watt universities found migrants working as food couriers earn between £900 and £1,500 a month.
Deliveroo said: ‘We have introduced facial recognition technology which will help to counter any abuse on the platform and… we plan to strengthen this further with a registration process and right to work checks for substitutes.’
Just Eat said: ‘Self-employed independent couriers have the legal right to use a substitute. Under the UK’s employment laws, the account-holder is responsible for ensuring their substitute meets the necessary standards to deliver on our network.’
Uber Eats said: ‘All couriers must pass a criminal background check, be over the age of 18 and hold a valid right to work in the UK.’
Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo all said they were ‘working closely’ with the Government, and that any courier found to not meet their criteria would immediately be removed from their network.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
