Restaurants, cafes and takeaways in the West Midlands are ditching food delivery apps like Deliveroo and JustEat in protest at their high commission fees, and switching to their own low-cost online ordering systems instead, it was claimed today.

Entrepreneur Darren Nelson is leading the delivery apps protest and has been signing up shops in Stafford, Lichfield, Penkridge and Wolverhampton to create their own Ourlocal.uk e-commerce websites.

The backlash from angry owners of independent eateries comes after they faced paying commission charges of up to 37.5% on each order. For some it can mean the difference between breaking even, making a loss, or going under, said Darren.

With business partners Russ James and Andi Elliott, Darren has launched a drive to save our High Streets by helping thousands of shops, pubs, restaurants, takeaways and others get through lockdown and capitalise on the Christmas shopping rush.

They have issued an SOS – Save Our Shops – urging thousands of small businesses to begin trading online to help them survive the impact of the pandemic.

Driven by the desire to make a difference, they have developed Ourlocal.uk with a mission to provide low-cost, e-commerce websites to enable shops to get selling online.
The launch of Ourlocal.uk means those businesses not allowed to open under lockdown legislation can get e-commerce websites within as little as 24 hours, ready to take online orders from customers and arrange deliveries.

Darren said: “These are extremely tough times for everyone operating a shop, but restaurants, cafes and takeaways have the added problem of having to pay high commission on food deliveries to customers.

“We’ve spoken to many business owners and they’re at the point where they’ve just had enough. They can’t afford to pay such a high slice of every order to the likes of Deliveroo and Just Eat and so they’re looking for alternative options.

“That’s why they’ve embraced Ourlocal.uk so readily. They can see that having their own click and collect/delivery system makes sense. Their costs are reduced dramatically and they are in complete control from start to finish.”

He added: “Getting online could be the single best decision these businesses make. It could be the difference between survival and bankruptcy. Now, more than ever, we must support shops, pubs, restaurants and other small firms if we want them to survive. Tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.

“I’m happy to put my money where my mouth is and offer retailers and small business owners an opportunity to become e-retailers overnight. They will pay nothing at all until we are out of lockdown. We’re taking all the risk away so that they can focus on generating income.”

Ourlocal.uk is an innovative new company that designs and delivers e-commerce websites for small businesses – covering the cost of set-up – so they can take online orders from customers and arrange deliveries and collections.

Darren recently sold highway maintenance business Carnell Support Services after leading its growth for 30 years. As majority shareholder, he has invested heavily in the new business and believes it has the potential to help businesses across the UK make it through the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis it has caused.

Try our online calculator to see how much you could save >

Why choose Ourlocal.uk?
• We’ll build your online shop for free.
• We’ll have your new website up and running in days.
• We’ll let you try it free throughout lockdown.
• Then, if you love it, just pay a low, fixed cost monthly subscription.
• There’s no contract, so you can cancel any time.
• We don’t charge any commission.