An Aberdeen delivery driver has been forced to give up his job because he can’t afford to pay for fuel to work.
Jordan Hammond had been working for Lows Fish & Chip shop based in Berryden for six months.
However, the 23-year-old has now left his job after being unable to afford the £250 a month in petrol prices.
He claims himself and other drivers approached managing director Alex Walker for a wage increase to help cover fuel costs but it was rejected.
However, Mr Walker has said he believes he did everything he could to help his drivers and admits times are “extremely tough” and his businesses is in a “difficult and competitive” market.
Rapid price of fuel
Drivers for Lows are currently paid £10 an hour with an additional £2 ringfenced for accommodating fuel costs.
Mr Hammond, 23, said: “We have to pay for our own petrol and I just can’t afford to do it so I can’t go back.”
He claimed he and other drivers were prepared to down tools in a dispute with the shop owner but Mr Walker has denied other drivers have walked away from their zero hour shifts.
Mr Hammond said: “It was brought up to Alex that the price of petrol has been exponential and we haven’t had a pay rise.
“We were struggling to pay to work which shouldn’t be the case.
“We proposed raising delivery costs by £1 with drivers keeping it but he claimed it couldn’t be done and he couldn’t afford to give us a wage increase.”
Tough climate for all businesses
Mr Walker said he’d previously increased the delivery charge by £1 but it led to Lows losing 40% of sales due to increasing competition from platforms such as Deliveroo and Just Eat on price.
He said: “In today’s climate everyone is hurting and all businesses in hospitality are seriously struggling.
“Then you have the rise of gas and electric. We have recently had to enter into our overdraft on our business bank account.
“I had one driver approach me saying there has been some chatter and asked if there was anything I could do.
“Something we tried in the past was to increase the delivery fee so I could pass some of that on to the drivers.
“In today’s climate everyone is hurting at the moment and all businesses in hospitality are seriously struggling.”
Alex Walker
“However, one thing we noticed very quickly was that we lost 40% of our sales because you are having to compete with Just Eat and Deliveroo on their really low delivery fees.
“That’s because they are taking a big chunk of the pie from the restaurant so they can afford to give away really cheap delivery.
“It’s a really difficult and competitive market.
“I looked at the costings of fuel per mile and what the drivers were doing and it still worked out at £10 per hour plus fuel allowance.
“Based on all of those factors there wasn’t anything I was able to do.”
Mr Walker also added that all drivers get to keep their own tips and are offered free food and drink during their shifts.