Chamber Patrons
Big Mac on move with Doug’s delivery deal
By Dan Harrison
McDonald’s franchisee Doug Wright is bringing a new level of convenience to his customers – with the introduction of a home delivery service. The McDelivery service, in
In the swing: Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands who attended the launch, and Nick Stace, chief executive of Prince’s Trust, enjoying the new facilities at the refurbished Prince’s Trust centre
Major investment puts SCC in swing
Europe’s largest independent IT services business has been heavily investing in the Birmingham region. SCC, owned by the Rigby Group,
has backed charity partner The Prince’s Trust, creating a new hub in the city. The Rigby Foundation Charitable Trust supports causes relating to lifelong learning, health and education, and has more than £1.5m invested in active projects. Corporate partnerships manager
at The Prince’s Trust Birmingham Centre, Cath Taylor said: “SCC and the Rigby Foundation have been a great supporter of the Prince’s Trust, especially here in Birmingham. “They have been pivotal in us
being able to open our brand new Birmingham centre, which will help us to help thousands of young people across Birmingham, the Black Country and the wider Midlands area in the upcoming years.” The technology services
company prides itself on its corporate social responsibility, estimating that 89 per cent of its workforce was engaged in charitable activities last year.
At the end of 2016/17, SCC
donated £138,495 to 70 charities, including local causes such as Autism West Midlands, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice and Zöe’s Place.
‘89 per cent of its workforce was engaged in charitable activities’
James Rigby, chief executive at
SCC, said: “At SCC we are committed to investing in technology, infrastructure, the environment and our people, who are at the core of our business within the region. “SCC’s work with its chosen charities is important to us as we believe in companies having a corporate and social responsibility.” Paul Faulkner, chief executive
officer at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “We’re delighted to see SCC investing further in the region. Continued investment from prominent businesses, such as SCC, creates jobs and promotes Birmingham’s thriving business community.”
partnership with UberEATS, is available to customers within one- and-a-half miles of participating McDonald’s restaurants. Following a successful trial in
Acocks Green last year, McDelivery underwent a ‘soft launch’ at Doug’s restaurants in West Bromwich, Solihull, Kitts Green, Stechford and Sutton Coldfield. The service is available from 12
of his 17 McDonald’s restaurants across Greater Birmingham. Doug, a patron of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, believes the long- awaited move into the home delivery market is McDonald’s’ most significant step since introducing 24/7 opening hours. He said: “Wherever I go, the first
thing people ask me is ‘when are you going to start doing home delivery’? “We have wanted to do this for a
long time. Family lives and routines have changed and so have people’s
work patterns, so we have to adapt to all of these circumstances. “This is our biggest and latest
move in terms of becoming even more customer-centric.” Customers can utilise the
McDelivery service by downloading the UberEATS app on their smart phone or by ordering online at
www.ubereats.com After entering a delivery address
and placing an order, they will receive updates on the preparation and delivery of their food. What’s more, the service also
offers customers the option to add notes to customise their order. Doug is delighted with the way
the service has been received, with the average spend at his restaurants participating in McDelivery already increasing strongly. He added: “We are now able to
offer another level of convenience to all of our customers. “It is different to anything we
have done before so we have to look at things such as packaging, order assembly and safeguarding the quality of our food. “But we believe that in UberEATS
we have got a very strong delivery partner. I’m really excited about being able to offer a delivery service to our customers.”
On the way: Doug Wright adapting to change with UberEATS Tap and ride with contactless bus payments
National Express West Midlands bus passengers can now pay for their journey with just a tap of a bank card. After decades of only accepting
exact change, every one of the bus company’s 1,600 buses will now take contactless payment. Andy Street, mayor of the West
Midlands, said: “One of the things I hear repeatedly from users of public transport is that they want paying for travel to be easier and quicker.
“In addition to the convenience
for passengers, there’s an important impact on congestion. “The new technology speeds up
buses because passengers spend less time buying tickets. They don’t even have to pick up a paper ticket – they just tap their bank card and sit down. “This saves each customer just a
few seconds. But across a long West Midlands bus route with over 100 bus stops, those seconds add up.
“So by introducing contactless,
National Express West Midlands could speed up bus journey times by up to ten per cent.” Tom Stables, managing director
of National Express West Midlands, said: “Now our customers won’t even have to work out what ticket they need. “They can just tap a bank card
on the reader and it will work out the fare for them. The first tap pays for one trip.
"Then, however many more trips
you make that day, you will never be charged more than an adult day ticket. It is that easy – and it’s the same price as the adult cash fares. “We know this is what National
Express West Midlands customers want. Since we rolled it out across the West Midlands, we’ve had about 100,000 transactions. We are now getting about 5,000 contactless journeys every day – that’s one every five seconds.”
July/August 2018 CHAMBERLINK 31
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