Overview

• Police and security teams intervened after viral footage showed an Uber Eats and Deliveroo collection point inside the Cedar Court Hotel kitchen.
• The Home Office and Wakefield Council have launched joint investigations to determine if EC4 Hotels breached its asylum accommodation contract by subletting the kitchen to virtual brands Absurd Stacks and Big Boi Burgers.
• Deliveroo and Uber Eats suspended listings for the virtual restaurants while they investigate the relationship between the brands and the hotel management.
• Officials confirmed that asylum seekers housed at Cedar Court were not involved in operating or staffing the takeaway service.
• The incident has intensified scrutiny over the use of taxpayer-funded hotels for commercial ghost kitchen operations and the effectiveness of existing contractual controls.