The Art of Slot Grabbing
The perfect system
When I was working for Stuart at Ocado Zoom in South Acton, getting shifts was practically a job in itself.
We used a platform called Staffomatic to book our shifts. There was a particular time when new shifts became available, and you had to be ready to grab them before everyone else did.
At first, it was just a case of logging in and hoping for the best. But I started to figure out how the system worked.
The shift releases were originally on Thursdays at around 2pm, before changing to around 10:30am. I discovered that you could use the arrows to switch between weeks and refresh the available shifts. It gave me a way to refresh Staffomatic faster and improve my chances of grabbing a shift.
It sounds like a small thing, but when you're competing against other couriers for the same hours, little advantages matter.
I had my wired internet connection, my mouse, and the kind of experience you develop from playing competitive games. I was ready to go.
Nobody stood a chance.
The competition begins
There was a lot of competition for shifts. If you wanted to work, you needed to be organised and ready when the hours became available.
The more shifts you could secure, the more money you could make. But getting the hours wasn't always straightforward, and the system meant that you were competing with other couriers who wanted exactly the same thing.
Some people were incredibly committed to getting as many hours as possible. I knew a friend who worked 80 hours in a week, and I remember thinking he was fucking crazy.
I worked a lot myself, but I didn't want to work as much as he did.
There was one other way to get all of the shifts you wanted though. You had to keep a good “CPS Score”, by taking orders throughout the week, being in the delivery zone, and delivering to client satisfaction. This system existed separately to the Ocado Zoom booking system though, which was also on Staffomatic, but it was not affected by the CPS score or priority system.
So, for the first year I worked for Stuart, I was working remotely around Kensington, Earl's Court and Fulham. The zone was called “South Kensington”, and it stretched all the way from South Kensington to Hammersmith.
When Just Eat signed a deal with Stuart, new zones started opening up all over the UK. I was suddenly able to branch out from central London and work around the areas where I grew up, went to uni, and so on.
The priority system
Eventually, Stuart introduced a new priority system, exclusively for Ocado riders (not every Stuart rider could work at Ocado). The requirements were based on the number of deliveries you completed. From what I remember, bicycle couriers had to complete 60 orders a week, while moped riders had to complete 100.
I'm not certain what the requirement was for car drivers.
I only managed to hit the 60-order target once. The system made it harder for bicycle couriers to get access to shifts, particularly if they couldn't consistently complete enough orders. We didn’t receive as many orders as the other vehicle types due to load limitations.
It changed the nature of the competition. It wasn't just about being quick enough to book the hours anymore. You also had to meet the requirements to keep getting access to them.
Why were so many people there?
I remember wondering why some couriers were travelling such long distances to get to South Acton for early shifts.
Stuart had identified its top-performing couriers, and there were people who were prepared to put a huge amount of time into the work. Some of the moped riders were doing extraordinary hours.
I also remember seeing protests discussed on Twitter, including posts from riders I recognised. I can't say for certain whether those protests were responsible for changes in the arrangement between Stuart and Ocado, or whether other factors were involved.
What I do know is that the work and the system changed over time.
Eventually, I was no longer working for Stuart, and Ocado Zoom suddenly signed a partnership with Uber Eats. I would later find myself picking up Uber Eats orders from Ocado myself, I mean I had the app, so if I was close by, why not?
The platforms changed, but the basic problem remained familiar: if you wanted to make money doing courier work, you needed access to work in the first place.
Staffomatic was where that battle started.
Seventy Hours on a Bicycle
The money was good
One of the reasons I was so keen to get shifts at Stuart was the money I could make.
I usually worked around 40 to 50 hours a week, although I remember one week when I worked 70 hours. I used to think my friend was crazy for working 80 hours, and I never wanted to work quite as much as he did.
I remember doing early shifts, starting at 7am, and working into the evening. I have a memory of working from 7am until 9pm on some days. The money was worth it at the time.
The work could involve heavy loads, but I learned how to carry them and secure them properly. Having a bicycle with a rack and a backpack made a difference, and I became comfortable handling deliveries that might have seemed awkward at first.
I wasn't learning a completely new job every day. I knew what I was doing, and that meant I could get on with it without having to think too hard about every little thing.
There was something appealing about that. I could spend the day cycling, completing deliveries and earning money.
It wasn't always exciting, but it was straightforward.
The car park
There were times when I'd be waiting around in the car park between shifts.
I'd bring my Nintendo 3DS or Switch and play games. On one occasion, I even had my laptop with me so I could finish a video-editing commission while I was there.
That was one of the strange things about the work. I could be putting in enormous hours, but there were moments when I was just sitting around, playing a game or working on something else.
I wasn't necessarily delivering every minute I was there.
Making over £1,000 in a week
I remember making over £1,000 in a week when I was working those long hours.
I saved approximately £7,000 and invested it. I also borrowed another £7,000 from family, which I repaid through my work at Ocado Zoom.
That money helped me move forward financially. It was one of the reasons I was willing to put in so many hours.
Looking back, I don't think I necessarily loved working 70 hours a week. I liked what the money allowed me to do.
There's a difference between enjoying your job and recognising that the opportunity is worth taking.
Was it worth it?
For me, it was.
I was earning good money, gaining experience and putting myself in a better financial position. I didn't have to spend years learning a complicated new job or worrying about whether I could do the work.
The downside was the time commitment. If you want to make that kind of money, you need to be prepared to spend a lot of time working.
But courier work gave me something I valued: the ability to earn money through cycling, with a degree of freedom that I didn't necessarily associate with a conventional job.
The question I've kept coming back to is how to make a living doing this without allowing the work to take over my entire life.
Getting Fired by Stuart
The mistake
Eventually, my time at Stuart came to an end.
One of the problems was that evening shifts started being extended. The finish time changed from 9:30pm to 10pm, and I wasn't happy about it.
I started turning off my location or mobile data to avoid receiving more orders when I wanted to finish.
Looking back, it was a stupid decision. I was trying to get around a change I didn't like, and I ended up losing the opportunity altogether.
I don't think it was worth it.
At the time, I was focused on getting through the shift and having some control over when I finished. I wasn't thinking enough about the bigger picture.
Moving between platforms
After Stuart, I continued working as a courier through other platforms.
I worked for Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat, among others. I eventually had a 32-hour Just Eat working pattern and delivered around areas including Fulham, Notting Hill, West Central, Kilburn and Swiss Cottage.
I was living near Whitechapel in 2020. After around 16 months with Just Eat, I left London to study IT.
My equipment changed over time, too. I later added a Swytch electric-bike conversion kit to my single-speed bicycle, which helped me cover more ground without having to put in quite as much physical effort.
I went on to work for E-Cargo Bikes, and later returned to app-based delivery work.
What I took with me
One thing I gained from all those years was practical experience.
I learned how to secure loads to a bicycle, how to manage deliveries, how to get around the city and how to make the most of the equipment I had.
Those skills didn't disappear when I left one company and joined another.
My experience with cargo bikes also helped me understand the differences between carrying larger loads and delivering food on my own bicycle. I eventually realised that I preferred riding my single-speed with the Swytch motor. It gave me the feeling of flying through the city while making the physical side of the work more manageable.
I wanted to keep cycling, but I also wanted to have a life outside work.
Where I am now
Amazon Flex is looking promising right now. I've already made £430 in a week through it, simply by turning up for shifts. It took me out of a very sticky situation, when I first joined in January 2026.
My current approach is to take the reliable work when I can get it, particularly early in the week, and use Deliveroo or Uber Eats to fill the gaps. Sometimes Just Eat.
The platforms have changed, the equipment has changed and I've changed too. But the basic question remains the same: how do you make a living doing this work without allowing the work to take over your entire life?
That's something I'm still figuring out. I am finally on a platform that resembles Staffomatic in a lot of ways. The main difference being that the “blocks” are sprinkled onto our offers section throughout the week. It could be at any time, but they say most blocks are released on Friday. The art of slot grabbing returns, in the form of the Amazon Flex Offers tab.
Will Amazon Flex provide enough work consistently for me to make an honest living on an e-bike? Can I genuinely earn worthwhile money as a courier, day after day, while still having time for everything else I enjoy?
I took a bit of a break from courier work recently, to work on projects, my bike, and my computer, avoiding some of the wet season, while living in Birmingham with a friend. Once I return to London, I’m back on the grind.
Can I continue grinding long hours in the ice cold weather, many years after Stuart, at age 36? Can my mind and body “keep pedaling” one more time, to reach my next goals?
How serious will I take courier work? Or London Nosh? I know I’ve come close to giving up being a courier on many occasions. Yet here I am, planning to do big things as a courier. Maybe I can show that the industry can be very much worthwhile, until another company stops paying per hour.. haha.
I hope you all can enjoy my show, and that I can prove that courier work can be a real job. However, your account is volatile. Make sure you follow the rules. All of them. It is not hard for these companies to let you go, so you have to prove that you’re serious.