Restaurants in Cardiff and Swansea lost £38 million to Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo last year

Restaurants in Cardiff and Swansea paid an estimated £38 million to online food delivery marketplaces like Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo last year, according to new analysis by the UK’s independent restaurant consultant, Peter Backman. Across the entire country, the marketplaces captured more than £1bn in annual fees from UK restaurants in a market worth £8.5bn last year.

The UK cities losing the most money to the marketplaces are London (£452 million), Manchester, (£68 million), Birmingham (£53 million), Leeds (£41 million) and Newcastle (£40 million). The marketplaces’ fees are a huge amount of money leaving the area – and local staff’s pocket.

The biggest player in the Cardiff area is Deliveroo with a market share of 40% percent, followed by Uber Eats (30% percent) and Just-Eat (30% percent). Deliveroo also has the monopoly in the Swansea area with a market share of 46% percent, followed by Just-Eat (27% percent) and Uber Eats (27% percent).

A separate poll¹ shows that 55% percent of takeaway customers in Wales are simply unaware of the high fees. When told, 68% percent feel it is unfair that marketplaces demand such high commission and 87% percent believe they should be more transparent online about the hidden fee charged to restaurants.

Conor McCarthy, CEO of Flipdish, comments: “Restaurants in Cardiff and Swansea are serving up an eye-watering amount of money to online food marketplaces. In exchange, the tech companies promise new customers but in reality most takeaway buyers have their trusted favourites. Unknowingly, customers are lining the pockets of executives at the expense of local restaurateurs and staff.

“Giving away a huge chunk of revenues to Big Tech giants is a particularly painful huge blow to restaurateurs who are struggling to get back on their feet after the crippling lockdown. There was a terrific response to the government’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme in but, as the programme ends, the best way to support local businesses is to order direct so more of the cash stays with the restaurant.”

Peter Backman, UK takeaway market analyst, said: “Online food delivery is big business in the UK. The  well-established players in the market have a proven business model: they take up to a third of the order value in commission from partner establishments. It’s clear from the data that the model works well for them. However, there are alternatives and each restaurant owner should be able to find a digital solution that works for them and their customers.”

Notes to editors:

Table: The commission and fees taken by marketplaces across 20 UK cities

¹Online survey polled 1,031 UK consumers who order an online takeaway at least once a month, conducted by Censuswide

Methodology

Peter Backman estimated the value of the marketplaces’ revenue by factoring in over 140 variables, covering 100+ sectors and subsectors for each year from 2001 to 2025.

About Flipdish

Flipdish puts restaurants, cafés, and takeaways of all sizes in control of their business growth with a digital ordering and marketing system that builds brands, grows profits and turns customers into regulars.

With a branded website, app or self-service kiosk, powered by Flipdish’s world-class technology, restaurant owners can directly accept digital orders without having to list on aggregator platforms, at a lower cost and with more control over the customer experience.

Headquartered in Dublin, Flipdish helps thousands of hospitality brands in 12 countries, including brand leaders such as Chopped, Freshii, Romayos, Base Pizza, Café Sol and Bombay Pantry, working in partnership with them to strengthen their businesses.