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Uber looks to play catch-up with Deliveroo in the UK as it aggressively expands its food delivery business
REUTERS/Neil Hall
Uber is expanding its food delivery business, UberEats, to 40 more towns and cities across the UK as it looks to try and catch up with London rival Deliveroo.
The expansion will be complete by the end of 2017, Uber said.
UberEats launched in the UK last year, beginning operations in London, before expanding to Birmingham and Manchester.
Jambu Palaniappan, regional general manager of UberEats EMEA business saidin a statement: "In less than a year over a million people have downloaded the UberEats app in the UK. It's clear from the response we've seen in London, Manchester and Birmingham that there's huge appetite from people to order food at the touch of a button from their favourite local restaurants.
"We're really excited about the future of the business which is why we’re investing heavily in an ambitious plan to launch the app in at least 40 towns and cities in the UK by the end of the year."
New UK cities that UberEats will be expanding to include Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Liverpool, according to The Financial Times. The service is also available in other countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.
In the UK, UberEats has partnered with over 2,000 restaurants including Chilango, Patty & Bun, Leon, PAUL, Ping Pong, Itsu, and Tossed.
Deliveroo, the biggest rival to UberEats in the UK, has been operating in the country since 2013.
Dan Warne, managing director for UK & Ireland at Deliveroo, told Business Insider last May that Deliveroo was in 38 towns and cities, adding that the company would expand to 30-40 more towns and cities by the end of 2016.
Deliveroo is now in 110 towns and cities across the UK, according to a Deliveroo spokesperson, who added that Deliveroo works with over 8,000 restaurants in the UK.
There's little between UberEats, Deliveroo, and Amazon's food delivery option, Amazon Restaurants. They all allow you to order food from restaurants that don't typically deliver, meaning it's often slightly higher quality than your average takeaway.
In a bid to build up a loyal user base, Deliveroo launched a premium option earlier this year called Deliveroo Plus. It costs £89 a year and essentially allows people to get food delivered for free.
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