'People are loving robot deliveries' - Barnsley-based tech boss promises wider South Yorkshire rollout
More robots could be coming to South Yorkshire communities
People in both Sheffield and Barnsley are now getting their takeaways delivered to their doors by robots - and more communities across South Yorkshire may be set to see these six-wheel machines before long.
Trundling along the streets of Barnsley are bright orange Just Eat-branded robots, who began delivering food to 11,000 homes in the town last Wednesday (April 8).
It comes around a month after the Starship Technologies robots were first launched in Sheffield, with homes across the Carlton, Athersley, Monk Bretton and Lundwood area of Barnsley now also benefiting from the so-called ‘last-mile delivery’ service.
And for one of Starship’s leading executives, this latest development hits close to home.
“We've had a great reception in Barnsley,” Starship Technologies' European operations director Danny Pass, who lives in the town, said.
“There's been the odd incident, but people here have already started looking after the robots when they're out and about.
“I've launched robot operations all over Europe so I'm chuffed to have them here at home.”
On social media platforms like Facebook, people have reported seeing the robots vandalised, with one video capturing someone stacking them on top of one another to stop deliveries.
When they launched in Sheffield, the company faced a harsh wave of backlash, as many robots had flags ripped off them, and the words ‘off our street’ scrawled across them in black paint.
However, Starship are nevertheless committed to continuing their delivery across the region, backed by the Government’s announcement in February that Barnsley will become the UK’s first ‘tech town’.
Danny added: "I love that Barnsley has been named a tech town. I would never have thought that would be the case growing up but the reception we've had makes the point.
"I'm looking forward to bringing our service to more communities, in South Yorkshire and all over the UK.
“People are loving robot delivery of their fish and chips."
As a tech town, Barnsley is set to see local schools, businesses and NHS services receive support to integrate tools like AI.
Free training on artificial intelligence at Barnsley College has already been launched, with further work from tech companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe and Google set to provide access to new types of work.
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Nevertheless, people in Sheffield remain conflicted about the push for robots, with Joyce from Nether Edge telling The Star: “I need people, not a robot. I don’t even like my telephone.”
Others described it as ‘some sort of joke’, while Simon Buckley, from Middlewood, said: “I wouldn’t be unhappy about it, but you think sometimes we need to think about how far we need to push technology and how far we can just stick with someone delivering a takeaway.”
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After the vandalism in Sheffield last month, Starship said they would be repairing and redeploying the robots.
A spokesperson said: “It's a shame to see a few people spoiling things for everyone else and damaging a new service for local people.
“We’ve reported the incidents to South Yorkshire police, we take this sort of criminal damage very seriously.”