If you run a restaurant in Leicester and you’ve tried to compare your delivery options, you know the problem: nobody publishes their pricing.
Uber Eats quotes you a rate on a sales call. Deliveroo runs a two-week “special offer” then bumps you to standard rates. Just Eat has three tiers and you have to email to find out which one you’re on.
We think that’s nonsense. Here are the real numbers — both for the big apps, and for a commission-free partner — so Leicester restaurant owners can make an actual decision.
What the apps charge Leicester restaurants in 2026
The numbers below come from active Leicester restaurant contracts in Q1–Q2 2026. Actual rates vary by negotiation, volume, and category — but this is the typical range.
Uber Eats
- Commission: 25–30% on orders using Uber Eats delivery
- Commission (self-delivery): 10–15%
- Monthly marketing fees: often 5–15% on top, for promoted placement
- Customer-facing delivery fee: £1.99–£3.99 (charged to customer, not restaurant)
- Payout terms: weekly, 1–2 week lag
Deliveroo
- Commission: 25–34% on “Delivered by Deliveroo” orders
- Commission (marketplace/self-delivery): 12–14%
- Plus subscription/service fees for analytics + support tools
- Customer-facing delivery fee: £2.49–£3.99
- Payout terms: weekly
Just Eat
- Commission: 14% on orders (classic marketplace model)
- Delivery service fee (if using Just Eat couriers): additional 11–14% on top
- One-off setup fee: £295 (often waived)
- Payout terms: weekly
Net effect for most Leicester restaurants: 30–35% of order value goes to the platform on a “full-service” (they-deliver) contract. On a £25 order, that’s £7.50–£8.75 disappearing before you’ve bought a single onion.
What commission-free delivery actually costs in Leicester
Commission-free partners like MealShift charge a flat per-delivery fee instead of a percentage. In Leicester specifically, our 2026 pricing sits in this range:
- Standard delivery (0–3 km): £3.50
- Standard delivery (3–6 km): £4.50
- Extended delivery (6–10 km): £5.50
- Volume discount: up to 20% off at 30+ deliveries/day
- Zero setup fee, zero monthly minimum, zero commission
Leicester’s compact geography means 80%+ of orders fall inside the 3–6 km tier. Average delivery cost: around £4.20.
Side-by-side: same restaurant, same order
Let’s take a real example — a £30 Leicester order, delivered 4 km away.
| Deliveroo (full service) | Uber Eats (full service) | Just Eat (with delivery) | MealShift | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commission on £30 order | £9.00 (30%) | £9.00 (30%) | £7.50 (14% + ~11% delivery fee = £8.25) | £0 |
| Flat delivery fee | — | — | — | £4.50 |
| Marketing/service fees | ~£1.50 typical | ~£1.00 typical | £0 | £0 |
| Total cost to restaurant | £10.50 | £10.00 | £8.25 | £4.50 |
On this one order, switching from Deliveroo to MealShift saves £6.00 — which goes straight to your margin, not to a platform.
Scale that up to a typical Leicester takeaway doing 40 orders/day, and the math gets dramatic:
- Monthly commission paid to Deliveroo at 30%: ~£10,800
- Monthly MealShift delivery cost at £4.20 avg: ~£5,040
- Net monthly saving: ~£5,760
- Annual saving: ~£69,000
The catch (being honest)
The apps aren’t only charging commission for nothing. You’re paying for:
- Discovery — the apps put your restaurant in front of new customers
- Branding — some customers genuinely trust “Deliveroo” more than a restaurant’s own site
- Payment handling — they take card risk, chargebacks, refund disputes
A commission-free delivery partner doesn’t replace those three things. What it replaces is the commission bill on orders you already earned — your regulars, your repeat customers, your WhatsApp list, anyone who already knows your name.
That’s usually 50–70% of a Leicester restaurant’s order volume. It’s also where nearly all the unnecessary commission spend hides.
What we recommend for Leicester restaurants
Don’t rip out Uber Eats on day one. Do this instead:
- Add a “Order Direct” link on your website and inside every bag you send out.
- Sign up with MealShift (or another commission-free partner) for direct-order deliveries.
- Give direct customers a 10% discount — funded by the commission you’re now not paying.
- Keep the apps for discovery of new customers only.
Within 90 days, most restaurants see 40–60% of orders moving direct. That’s where the savings compound.
Book a pricing call
Want the exact Leicester numbers for your postcode, order value, and volume? We’ll run the calculation on a 15-minute call — no pitch, just the numbers.
[email protected] · 020 7149 8996
FAQ
Is MealShift cheaper than Just Eat’s marketplace (14%) model? On most order values above £25, yes. Below £15 the margins are tighter — we’ll model it on a call.
What if I have a quiet week? You pay nothing if you have no deliveries. There’s no monthly minimum, no standing fee.
How do orders get to MealShift from my website? We integrate directly with most ordering platforms. Orders flow automatically — no manual copy-paste.
New guide: What a real food delivery partner actually does — the 2026 guide for UK restaurants. Covers commission maths, marketplace self-delivery tiers, and how to pick a partner that doesn’t own your customers.