A RIVAL food delivery app will be launching exclusively in Dunfermline and West Fife.

The people behind ‘Dunfermline Eats’ say they will be helping local businesses to save money by charging lower commission rates than other national competitors.

Anyone with a KY11/KY12 postcode will be able to use the app although some partners will offer to deliver to households further afield, such as KY4.

Dunfermline Eats is being launched by business partners Michael McDade and Bilal Shahid who saw an opportunity for the app during lockdown.

Bilal told the Press: “We are local to the area and although the premise isn’t new –as JustEat, Deliveroo and UberEats show great growth and success – we want to do things differently.

“These national companies are charging bigger rates but we want to save the local businesses commission.

“Because it’s local, people will get better offers through us and we’ll be running competitions and giveaways.”

He said they will not just help takeaways save money but will also bring some West Fife restaurants to the delivery market for the first time – supporting them through restrictions on business hours.

The app is being described as a market place where not just takeaways will be on board, as it could also include deliveries from local shops such as newsagents and vape shops.

Dunfermline Eats will operate at a flat rate of 7.5 percent commission and will put at least 50 per cent of profits back into local marketing in partnership with restaurants.

Bilal and Michael, who own the Vodafone store in Dunfermline High Street, know exactly what it’s like to struggle running a business in the current climate and felt compelled to help others in the area.

Bilal explained: “The lockdown severely impacted our business at Vodafone and we saw that there was a big demand for the food delivery market, but it’s dominated by big companies.

“Some of them can charge up to 40 percent commission and that’s not leaving much profit for local businesses.

“This concept benefits the local area rather than the national companies making all the money.

“Now that restaurants are operating on reduced hours because of restrictions they need the help to get delivering because they are being so badly affected.

“We hope that we can keep growing over the coming months and helping local businesses out.

“Some of them have told us that they could be potentially saving thousands of pounds every year with reduced rates.

“We’ve been gearing up to our launch so it’s been a busy time but the plan is to give back to the community too by sponsoring the likes of teams, clubs and charities too. It’s been great to see such a positive reaction on social media about the launch over the last few days.”

For more info visit www.dun fermlineeats.co.uk