Singing robot waiter supports catering team at Elior site

A singing robot is being used to support staff at a retirement village restaurant run by contract catering company Elior.

BellaBot, a delivery robot supplied by GW Projects, delivers trays of food to tables and assists with clearing the tables, freeing up the Elior team to spend more time interacting with residents. It can serve four 10 kg trays at once – twice the load capacity of manual delivery – delivering up to 400 dishes a day.

The robot can also sing and tell jokes and interact with the residents and their guests. Over the Queen's Jubilee weekend, it entertained visiting grandchildren and great-grandchildren by singing the national anthem and purring when they petted it.

Laura Tighe, managing director of health, care & retirement living for Elior UK, said that BellaBot had been well received by residents and guests.

"The main benefit we have seen is that resident engagement has stepped up as BellaBot's assistance with delivering food has enabled our staff to spend more time chatting with the residents," said Tighe.

"At a time when it is challenging to recruit staff, it is amazing to be able to provide our colleagues – through the adoption of robotic technology - with some additional support so that they can focus on customer service.

Elior is now exploring other opportunities where robotics can be deployed both in the retirement living sector and in other parts of the business, including cleaning services.

The BellaBot is also being used to support staff in a trial at the Bella Italia restaurant at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest.

Boparan Restaurant Group has also begun introducing service robots in its Slim Chickens restaurants in Guildford and London's Cambridge Circus, which are used to carry packaged meals to delivery couriers and dishes to customers' tables.