Just Eat and Starship Technologies tie up brings food delivery robots to streets of Barnsley

Starship Technologies has partnered with Just Eat to roll-out a pilot scheme involving self-driving delivery robots in North East Barnsley. The launch will initially see a small number of the orange, talking robots serving thousands of residents, delivering food from restaurants to customers’ doors within minutes.

The service starts today in Carlton, Athersley, Monk Bretton and Lundwood.

Mert Öztekin, Chief Technology Officer at Just Eat, says: “Our ground robotics trials are all about innovating to improve the customer experience. We’ve teamed up with a diverse range of local independent restaurants to trial the Starship robots and we’ll be listening to their feedback closely, as well as that of our customers.”

Ahti Heinla, Founder and Chief Executive of Starship Technologies, says: "Our little robots have been providing a much loved service to communities across the UK since 2018, and we're excited to launch in Barnsley with Just Eat today.”

“Barnsley is exactly the kind of community we built Starship for - where technology serves people ethically and respectfully. We’re confident locals will enjoy the quick convenience our robots bring, making life a little easier for people. They’re polite and friendly, and they can’t wait to make new friends!”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Autonomous delivery will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.