Rapid grocery delivery firm Getir has allegedly left some of its UK suppliers with huge unpaid bills after scrambling to exit its international markets over the past month, City A.M. understands.
The Turkish delivery firm, which once commanded an $11.8bn valuation during a pandemic-induced boom for the industry, announced last month it would be pulling out of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and the US after a drop-off in international demand.
In a statement announcing the exit, Getir said it made just seven per cent of its cash from foreign markets and would focus its investment on Turkey.
However, some of its UK suppliers have allegedly been left unpaid after its hurried retreat.
Complete Assets, which Getir hired prior to its exit to help offload assets and recover cash, claims it has been left “in a six figure deficit of over £150,000” by the exit, adding that Getir staff have ignored all of its calls and emails.
“We’ve now treated part of this debt as a fraudulent claim,” a spokesperson for Complete Assets told City A.M.
Complete Assets’ warehouses have been left stacked with Getir equipment, including parts from the firm’s flashy purple and yellow mopeds after staff stopped replying to emails, the spokesperson said.
While the scale of Getir’s unpaid bills is unclear, the Complete Assets spokesperson said they were aware of £500,000 of unpaid bills among at least four other suppliers.
City A.M. understands that the exit could also have also left a hefty tab for other suppliers, including The Arch Company, which owns commercial space under railway lines where many of Getir’s so-called ‘dark stores’ were housed.
The firm reported rocketing demand for its properties from fast delivery companies through 2020 and 2021 on the back of the livery boom.
“We’ve seen a marked increase in demand from these food delivery businesses over the past year, largely driven by changing consumer habits during the coronavirus pandemic,” John Hickson, national lettings director at The Arch Company, told the Grocer in 2021. “More than 10 per cent of the new lettings we’ve agreed with tenants over the past year have been with last-mile delivery firms.”
The Arch Company declined to comment. Getir did not respond to requests for comment.
Getir’s mass retreat has put 1500 jobs at risk in the UK and underscores the sharp fall to earth for the industry, which has been hammered by a cost of living crunch and the opening back up of the economy after Covid lockdowns. Rising labour and fuel costs have also strained the companies’ business models and forced them to hike costs.
The market exploded via cut price deals for customers through the pandemic, fuelled by a wave of venture capital. However, investment has dried up and losses have widened at many of the big players.
Getir’s one-time $11.8bn valuation made it more valuable on paper than supermarket Morrisons despite never making a profit. However, it was forced to rein that in and raise cash at a $2.5bn valuation last year.
The wider sector has also been through a wave of consolidation, with Getir acquiring its German rival Gorillas in 2022.