A wide rollout of autonomous robots used to deliver food, groceries and medicine could add £1.3bn to the UK economy in the next decade, a new report has claimed.
The report, from policy and regulatory consultancy Prysm Global, claimed expanding the fleet of personal delivery devices (PDDs) available in the UK could create hundreds of new jobs, worth £11m in cumulative wages and drastically boost grocery spending.
Prysm Global suggested the increased available of autonomous grocery delivery bots would increase spending on groceries by £125m, with the biggest uplift to be seen in food deserts – areas without convenient access to sources of fresh food.
It also claimed the practice would realise a productivity gain of 300,000 working hours saved.
One area of the UK that has seen a robust trial of delivery robots is Milton Keynes, where Robotics firm Starship Technologies has been operating for years.
Milton Keynes North MP Chris Curtis, who is chair of the Labour Growth Group, said: “In Milton Keynes the robots are a much loved part of daily life. They also bring economic and societal benefits – increased productivity, investment in skilled tech jobs, improving access to delivery to those who struggle with mobility.
“Our tech sector is thriving under Labour and it’s great to see the level of ambition the government has around tech.”
Curtis said with a “small change in law”, the UK could “properly regulate” the sector, resulting in major economic gains.
“The government is right to focus on growing the tech sector, but it’s not all about data centres and generative AI,” said Starship Technologies co-founder and chief executive Ahti Heinla.
Heinla, who previously helped create Skype, said: “There’s a world of potential in embodied AI for both the economy and society – that’s what this report shows.
“We would love to make our robots in the UK. We’ll help with the growth mission, but we need to see the right regulatory approach and a desire to move quickly.
“Starship has been making deliveries in the UK since 2018, there has been no change during that time.”
