Deliveroo: an asset manager refuses to invest for social reasons

British asset management giant Aviva Investors announced on Wednesday that it did not wish to invest in the food delivery platform Deliveroo, which will go public in London, citing the precariousness of its delivery people.

Read also: The undocumented couriers of Uber Eats and Deliveroo, new convicts of meal delivery

"A

lot of employers could be a game-changer for workers' lives if they guaranteed working hours or minimum wages

," David Cumming, an Aviva Investors executive, told BBC 4 radio.

“

We will not invest in Deliveroo for several reasons, but this is one of them,

” he adds.

Aviva Investors, a subsidiary of insurer Aviva, is one of the asset management heavyweights in the UK with assets of £ 365 billion.

Read also: Uber, Deliveroo ... how unions are trying to rebuild their lives with platform workers

Mr. Cumming insists in particular on the fact that Deliveroo delivery men, "

do not necessarily have the basic rights for minimum wage, sick days or holidays

".

He mentioned the investment risk in the event of a change in the legislation which would oblige Deliveroo to reclassify its delivery men as workers.

This is what just happened for the American car booking giant Uber, which was forced to recognize the status of "

worker

" or salaried

worker

in the United Kingdom

for its drivers after a decision by the British Supreme Court.

Delivery people in a precarious situation

Deliveroo is regularly pinned down for the precariousness of its delivery people in Europe.

In the United Kingdom, they are awaiting the decision of the London Court of Appeal which must say whether they can benefit from a collective agreement in order to have better working conditions.

The statements from Aviva Investors come as Deliveroo is set to go public in London.

He is aiming for a market cap of between £ 7.6bn and £ 8.8bn for what is expected to be the largest deal in the London market in nearly a decade.

IPO scheduled for March 31

The IPO should take place from March 31 for a group, which counts among its shareholders Amazon and which is part of one of the rare sectors of the economy to have benefited from the pandemic and the confinements, which have boosted home meal deliveries.

The company, founded in London in 2013, works with 115,000 restaurants in 800 cities around the world and has some 100,000 delivery people, recognizable by the towering green backpacks they wear while cycling the streets.

It employs 2,000 people worldwide and intends to diversify into the delivery of grocery shopping through partnerships with supermarkets.