Currys teams up with Uber for 30-minute deliveries

Electronics retailer Currys has announced that it is teaming up with ride-hailing service Uber to deliver products in as little as 30 minutes.

Under the trial service, customers in 12 London boroughs will be able to order items such as laptops and printer cartridges, with a £5 delivery charge.

The three-month trial begins in the week starting 15 November.

Currys said the 1,800 products on offer all weighed under 7kg and could fit within a courier's bag.

With size dimensions limited to about L46cm x W35cm x D35cm, Currys said the biggest item available for super-fast delivery would be, for example, a coffee machine.

Customers can order through the Currys website or app up to two hours before stores close.

"The world has shifted to a hybrid way of working and more customers are demanding greater convenience and speedier delivery to get their hands on tech," said Currys' chief operating officer, Mark Allsop.

The move echoes the same-day and one-hour delivery options available at the major UK supermarkets and Amazon.

Currys said the venture, which will operate from 15 London stores, was Uber's biggest UK retailer partnership to date.

Eve Henrikson, Uber regional manager, said the company looks "forward to expanding the partnership further", but gave no more details about future plans.

Announcement of the deal was made alongside the release of Currys' latest trading update.

Sales in the six months to the end of October were up 15% on a like-for-like basis on the same period two years ago, before the Covid-19 crisis.

However, the retailer revealed business remains 1% below the same period a year ago, when demand soared as households looked to update their in-home technology whilst stuck inside during the various lockdowns.

There was strong growth in electrical goods, which offset a fall in mobile phone sales.

Currys also played down any concerns over supply chain issues and staff shortages, saying it had "put in place measures to mitigate the well-publicised" disruption across the UK.

The company was confident enough in its prospects that it also announced plans to hand back £75m to shareholders through a share buyback, news that sent the share price rising 5% in early trading.