How to List Your Restaurant on Delivery Platforms in the UK

For most UK restaurant operators, the question is no longer whether to offer delivery. According to Toast's UK Restaurant Industry Predictions 2026 report, 88% of restaurant owners say off-premise dining will be "extremely" or "somewhat important" to their revenue in 2026. When the vast majority of your peers are banking on takeaway and delivery as a meaningful revenue stream, staying off the platforms starts to look less like a philosophical choice and more like a missed opportunity.

This guide walks through the full process, from registration and documentation to menu optimisation, operational readiness, and the longer-term question of building a direct ordering channel.

TL;DR: Getting listed on a delivery platform is straightforward, but making delivery profitable takes planning. This guide covers registration, menu optimisation, commission structures, and how to build a direct ordering channel that protects your margins as you grow. 

Why Delivery Matters More Than Ever for UK Restaurants

The consumer shift towards off-premise dining has been building for years, but the pace has picked up. The UK foodservice delivery market is projected to reach £14.8 billion in 2026, and the platforms have consolidated. As of late 2025, the market is dominated by three global groups, which means the infrastructure for reaching delivery customers is mature, accessible, and competitive.

From the operator side, the signals are clear. In Toast's 2026 Predictions survey of 400 UK restaurant owners, 53.54% said online ordering and delivery platforms would be the most influential technology trend on restaurant operations in 2026. That is more than double the next-closest answer. Meanwhile, 69% of UK restaurateurs plan to increase their technology spending over the next 12 months, according to Toast's Voice of the UK Restaurant Industry 2025 report. Delivery is not a sideshow. For many operators, it is becoming the primary growth channel.

What operators need to pay attention to now is how quickly delivery expectations are changing. Being listed on an app is only the starting point. Diners expect fast delivery, reasonable prices, and food that still looks and tastes right when it arrives.

What Consumers Want from Delivery (and What That Means for Your Listing)

Getting listed on a delivery platform puts your restaurant in front of new customers. Staying visible, earning repeat orders, and protecting your reputation once you are there requires understanding what delivery customers care about.

UK consumers are fairly clear about what they want from delivery. The Toast Consumer Preferences Survey 2025 found that 34% prioritise low delivery fees when deciding where to order from. Another 31.5% focus on speed and accurate arrival times.

The numbers point to a few clear operational priorities. Delivery fees affect ordering decisions more than many restaurants would like to admit, so commission costs need to be part of your pricing strategy from day one. Waiting a few months to work out your margins is how profitable orders turn into break-even ones. 

Speed matters too, especially because delivery platforms reward consistency. Restaurants that regularly hit their quoted prep times tend to get better visibility in-app, which can lead to more orders over time.

How to Get Listed: The Practical Steps

The registration process for most UK delivery platforms follows a broadly similar pattern. You will typically start by submitting an enquiry through the platform's partner sign-up page, after which a representative will get in touch to discuss your goals, pricing structure, and contract terms. Once the terms are agreed and a contract is signed, you will need to upload your menu, restaurant logo, and food photography to the platform. After a review and approval process, your listing goes live, often within a week or so.

There are a few things you will need to have ready before you begin. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) requires all food businesses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to be registered with their local authority. Your food hygiene rating, which is publicly visible, will often appear on your delivery platform listing, so if you have not had a recent inspection or your rating is lower than you would like, it is worth addressing that before you go live. You will also need your business bank details, proof of public liability insurance, and your current menu in a format the platform can work with.

Every delivery platform structures its fees differently. Commission rates, minimum order requirements, and contract terms can vary quite a bit, especially if you switch between using platform drivers and your own team. It is worth reading the small print properly before signing anything. Exclusivity clauses, extra marketing charges, and penalties tied to pausing your listing can become expensive surprises later on.

Optimising Your Menu for Delivery

This is where delivery economics become real for operators. A dine-in menu is built around a controlled environment. The food leaves the kitchen plated properly, arrives at the table quickly, and gets eaten almost immediately. Delivery changes all of that.

Most operators learn fairly quickly which dishes create problems. Crispy food softens, sauces separate, and some meals lose their appeal before they reach the customer. Strong delivery menus are normally shorter and more deliberate because reliability matters more than offering every item on the dine-in menu. Some restaurants adapt recipes or packaging to make certain dishes workable. Others remove them altogether.

Commission pressure forces another set of decisions. A 25% platform fee can wipe out margins if pricing stays unchanged. Many restaurants now adjust delivery pricing to offset part of that cost or steer customers towards items with stronger margins. Customers understand paying slightly more for delivery convenience. They are less forgiving when prices feel inflated without a clear reason.

For operators looking to strengthen their takeaway offering, menu engineering is not a one-and-done exercise. Use your POS data to track which delivery items sell, which get complaints, and which deliver the best margins. Then adjust quarterly.

The Commission Question: Third-Party vs First-Party Ordering

Commission costs feel abstract during the setup phase. They feel very real once weekly payouts start landing. For restaurants operating on tight margins, giving up 20-30% per order can change the economics of delivery quite quickly.

The long-term value comes from turning first-time delivery customers into direct customers. When orders come through your own website or ordering system, you keep more of the revenue and you control the customer relationship yourself. You are not competing for visibility inside someone else’s app every time a customer wants dinner.

Most restaurants are not replacing third-party delivery completely, especially if they are still building local awareness. The stronger strategy is usually a mix of both. Use the platforms for reach, then create small reasons for customers to come back directly. A loyalty offer in the bag, a discount on the next order, or even a simple printed message can make a difference over time.

How Roti King Scaled Delivery Across Five Sites

Roti King, the Malaysian street food brand that grew from a single London location to five sites, ran into exactly this challenge as it scaled. Operations Manager Rami needed a system that could consolidate ordering across multiple channels, dine-in, takeaway, and delivery, without forcing the team to juggle separate platforms and re-key orders between systems. The old setup meant wasted time, increased error risk, and no clear picture of how each channel was performing.

After moving to an all-in-one restaurant platform, the team eliminated the multi-system problem. Hourly reports enabled smarter scheduling, menu management was simplified across all five locations, and handheld devices boosted both sales and table turnover by allowing tableside ordering and payment. For a business managing high-volume delivery alongside a busy dine-in service, the operational clarity made a noticable difference.

What Roti King's experience illustrates is a pattern across the UK restaurant sector. As delivery becomes a bigger share of revenue, the systems you use to manage it matter more. A restaurant running delivery off a separate tablet, with no connection to the POS, the kitchen display, or the reporting suite, is flying blind. The operators who scale delivery successfully are the ones who treat it as a fully integrated channel, not an afterthought bolted onto the side of their dine-in operation.

Getting Your Operations Delivery-Ready

Getting listed on a delivery platform is the easy part. Handling the operational impact day after day is where things become more complicated. Before going live, restaurants need to think carefully about how delivery orders will affect the kitchen, staff workload, and pace of service.

Friday evenings are where problems tend to show up first. A sudden wave of delivery tickets can disrupt timings across the whole restaurant if there is no clear process behind it. Some operators separate delivery prep from dine-in production to keep service flowing more smoothly. Others cap the number of delivery orders they accept during busy periods so the kitchen can stay in control instead of constantly firefighting.

Packaging is worth investing in. It affects food quality on arrival, which directly affects your reviews and repeat order rate. Sustainable, well-designed packaging also signals something about your brand. And with delivery customers increasingly paying attention to how their food arrives, skimping on packaging is a false economy.

Delivery affects staffing just as much as it affects the kitchen. Someone has to take responsibility for checking orders, bagging them correctly, and coordinating rider pickups. In a quieter restaurant, that responsibility may move around naturally between team members. Once order volume increases, vague ownership tends to create delays and confusion.

The technology setup matters for the same reason. Integrated systems keep delivery orders flowing directly into the POS and kitchen display system, which cuts down on manual entry and reduces missed items or ticket errors. Separate tablets may seem manageable at first, but during busy service they often slow teams down and add unnecessary friction.

Where Delivery Fits in Your Bigger Picture

For most restaurants, delivery is no longer a side project. It is one part of a broader multi-channel operation, which means it needs to connect properly with the rest of the business. Listing on a platform helps with visibility, but the real value comes when delivery ties into your POS, kitchen systems, marketing activity, customer data, and reporting.

The challenge is that the trade-off between visibility and margin never fully goes away. Restaurants manage it week by week through pricing decisions, menu adjustments, commission costs, and direct ordering strategies. The tools to do this well already exist. So does consumer demand. The difficult part is building reliable systems around it and staying disciplined when service gets busy.

FAQ

Do I need a food hygiene rating to list on a delivery platform in the UK?

You need to be registered as a food business with your local authority, which is a legal requirement under the Food Standards Agency. Most delivery platforms will display your food hygiene rating on your listing, so a strong score helps build trust with customers before they order.

How much commission do delivery platforms charge UK restaurants?

Commission rates vary by platform and by the service you use. Restaurants handling their own delivery can expect to pay around 14%, while using the platform's riders pushes that closer to 25-30% of the order value.

Can I set different prices on delivery apps compared to my dine-in menu?

Yes, most platforms allow restaurants to set delivery-specific pricing. Many UK operators price delivery menus slightly higher to offset commission costs, and customers generally accept a modest premium for the convenience of home delivery.

How long does it take to get listed on a delivery platform?

The process from initial enquiry to going live typically takes around a week, though this depends on how quickly you can provide your menu, photography, and documentation. Having your FSA registration, insurance, and bank details ready before you start will speed things up.

Should I list on more than one delivery platform?

Listing on multiple platforms increases your reach, but it also adds operational complexity. Many operators start with one platform to get their delivery workflow right, then expand to a second once the kitchen, packaging, and staffing processes are running smoothly.