Starship robots boost restaurant spend in Milton Keynes by staggering £10m a year, report reveals

A ground-breaking report has shown the huge benefits that Starship robots bring to Milton Keynes.

The research from Oxford Analytica shows the friendly machines increase the city’s restaurant spend by a whopping £10 million per year.

They also save the average household 72 minutes per week and reduce annual emissions by 8%.

The report has been released today (Thursday) by Starship Technologies as they call for new legislation to regulate the technology nationwide.

The company says it proves a national Starship rollout could deliver wider benefits throughout the United Kingdom.

Research shows legislation enabling autonomous robots to operate country-wide could reap huge benefits to the UK, including £50 million of annual investment, 1,200 new STEM jobs, and a 25% growth in restaurant revenue across cities and towns.

The future of this regulation has been under consideration for a number of years via a future Transport Bill but due to successive government changes, it hasn’t made progress.

Now Rishi Sunak has an opportunity to finally give the sector the assurance they need, deliver on his commitment to make the UK an innovation superpower and unlock the many benefits, say Starship bosses.

Starship co-founder, and founder of Skype, Ahti Heinla, wants on the Government to introduce the tech nationally, and warns that the lack of regulation means the UK is witnessing a decline in its world-leading tech sector and losing out on investment, innovation, and high-value STEM jobs.

The report comes after the news yesterday that Starship signed a new partnership with Bolt, the first European mobility super-app.

The study found that new regulation for the technology could nationally lead to:

• 1,200 well-paid STEM jobs by 2030
• Average annual investment of £50 million in robot delivery related infrastructure and support
• 25% growth in restaurant revenue across UK cities
• An additional week and a half of free time saved every year for consumers
• 46,000,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions reduced by 2030

Ahti Heinla, founder and Chief Technology Officer at Starship said that regulation in the UK is not keeping up with the pace of the growth in the autonomous delivery sector, noting that many other countries have surpassed the UK:

“Half of all US states have introduced state-wide laws, while countries like Japan, Finland and Estonia have developed regulations to permit autonomous robot delivery nationally”.

Milton Keynes MP Ben Everitt is Chair of the APPG for self-driving vehicles. He said “Trailblazing innovation has been in the UK’s DNA for decades. But in an increasingly competitive world, we can only stay ahead with dynamism and flexibility.

"Companies like Starship provide a roadmap for tech-sector growth around the country, and we need to signal that we remain an attractive place to start, grow and scale exciting tech businesses that economic and social benefits to the communities in which they operate”.

UK-based Vice President Henry Harris-Burland at Starship said “It is clearly a critical moment for our industry. Starship wants to invest and grow operations in the UK, but we’re constrained by outdated regulation.

"Doing so would help decarbonise deliveries, boost the UK tech sector, and lead to significant inward investment and bring the UK back in line with much of Europe, Asia and North America”.