Full-time contracts and electric bikes are measures mooted by food delivery bosses to make roads safer and improve working conditions for drivers.
With growing competition in the industry, local companies are looking at new ways of lowering operating costs that will also be beneficial to riders.
An international leader of the food delivery model is Just East Takeaway.com.
Its founder and chief executive, Dutch billionaire Jitse Groen, recently said it was “incredibly difficult” to make a profit on food logistics, as intense competition kept charges low.
You will never see our drivers waiting around for a call to come in so they can work
To cut costs, many companies use delivery fleet operators rather than directly employing riders.
Ian Ohan, chief executive of Krush Brands and Freedom Pizza, said adopting change would revolutionise the industry.
“We employ our drivers directly rather than use an agency,” he said.
“So we do not incentivise our delivery riders to make as many drops as possible.
“Other riders are not always provided with adequate training, safety gear or insurance when delivery companies offset these costs to a third party," Mr Ohan said.
“You will never see our drivers waiting around for a call to come in so they can work.”
As staff are full-time, when they are not out on deliveries the 125 trained riders work elsewhere in the business.
Road safety initiatives for riders
The UAE’s largest food delivery fleet is talabat.
In March, it introduced bi-monthly salary payments to help riders with cash flow and a tipping feature allows customers to top up a driver’s fee.
The company has just launched a new road safety initiative for riders, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Police.
Safety patrols will monitor riders to check they are complying with rules and regulations and offer advice and care when needed. The scheme is due to be rolled out across the Emirates.
All riders will have delivery boxes fitted to bikes by the end of 2021, rather than carry cheaper, cumbersome "back-pack boxes" that risk instability.
"At talabat, we care immensely about our amazing riders and have great respect for them and what they do," said Jeremy Doutte, UAE managing director.
“It is thanks to them that we are able to continue supporting our customers and people across the UAE – they are a part of our family and their wellbeing and safety is our top priority.”
In January, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) introduced a set of standards for the licensing of delivery services, in line with the steady growth of the industry.
It received 43 per cent more applications for licences in 2019 than the year before.
Stipulations covered the level of licence, delivery means, delivery staff training, standards of delivery boxes and driver uniform.
Dubai's first electric delivery bikes
British businessman Adam Ridgway, founder of OneMoto in Dubai's Sustainable City, is developing electric delivery motorcycles in the UAE that could reduce overheads for riders and fleet operators.
Mr Ridgway said switching to OneMoto’s Byka electric motorcycle could reduce operational costs by up to 74 per cent.
Charging the e-bikes takes around an hour, but battery banks could enable a quick swap to a fully-charged unit to get riders back on the road immediately.
OneMoto has the potential to make up to 10,000 bikes a month in China.
The bike's LG batteries have been extensively tested in the extremes of the UAE summer.
A report by renewable energy company Masdar, titled Technologies for Future Smart City Transit, said declining battery costs would help the UAE hit a target of electric vehicles making up 20 per cent of road users by 2030.
Between 2010 and 2017, the cost of batteries fell by 81 per cent.
While a switch towards electric vehicles would boost UAE sustainability targets, Mr Ridgway said better training is required to tackle poor road skills that contribute to collisions.
He recently spent a week as a delivery rider on one of his electric bikes to test working conditions.
“The road awareness of the riders was shocking,” said Mr Ridgway.
“I’ve been riding for 20 years and I could see a worrying lack of road knowledge.
“More awareness is needed from drivers, but the riders need to also understand the road better themselves.
"That would be easier if the pressure on them was removed and reducing their costs would help.”
The Noodle House, owned by Sarood Hospitality – a subsidiary of Dubai Retail, a Dubai Holding company – is set to launch five of the electric delivery motorbikes from its restaurants this week.
The 10 contracted delivery riders for the company cover about 500,000 kilometres a year, with the switch to electric set to save up to Dh60,000 ($16,334), according to Sarood Hospitality operations director Steven Holloway.
“We have always been forward-thinking about sustainability and how to decrease our carbon footprint,” he said.
“The fleet was due to be upgraded soon, so this was a good opportunity.
“Aside from tyres and brake pads, there are very few other moving parts that need replacing.
“We hold quarterly health and safety meetings with our riders and analyse any near misses to see what lessons can be learned," Mr Holloway said.
“There is not a huge emphasis on turnaround time, but we try to deliver within 45 minutes even if that means we reduce the amount of deliveries.
“Our riders have not been in an accident for two years, which we are very proud of.”
UAE's first female delivery driver – in pictures
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
More coverage from the Future Forum
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Company%20Profile
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 1
Kane (50')
Newcastle United 0
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
