Delivery and storytelling

When delivery becomes a source of content creation

In the nearly 30 degrees Celsius heat of London, Bryce Pritchett stopped his electric bicycle in front of the apartment building where he lived. The helmet covered in sweat, but what attracted the most attention was the high-resolution camera attached right in front of his chin. "It's always a topic for people to start a conversation," Pritchett laughed.

For many people, he is an Uber Eats delivery driver. But on YouTube, he is known as London Hustle – a channel recording all the shifts of a deliveryman in the heart of the UK. Pritchett has a total of more than 1.3 million followers on social networking platforms Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X and My Twitch. They not only come to see meals delivered on time, but also to follow unexpected stories happening on each route. "I think many people who haven't seen will not understand, not just simply deliver food," Pritchett shared.

Each video follows him through the crowded streets of London, from coffee delivery, food to bulky orders. Sometimes just a sudden situation on the street is enough to become the subject for the whole video. "London always creates its own stories," he said.

Interestingly, viewers do not turn to those videos because of the drama. They like the feeling of being with Pritchett roaming the city. "Many people say those videos are very relaxing," he shared and added that: "I may be in the rain outside, while they are in the blanket, but still feel like they are walking with me.

The idea of building a video channel came quite by chance. After graduating from university in 2018, Pritchett worked as a deliveryman 7 days a week. His goal at that time was very simple: earn about 40 pounds per day to pay rent and enough for living expenses. There was a time when he had to move into a cheap dormitory, living with 12 other people to save costs.

6 months later, when he received an order to deliver 15 pumpkins to a customer for Halloween, he came up with the idea of recording his daily work. Growing up with YouTube, Pritchett always saw this platform as his own entertainment world. "I thought maybe I could combine both," he recalled.

The first videos were filmed with an old GoPro tied to his chest. Without a wireless microphone, he pasted a wired microphone on his body "looking like a shadowy police officer", then rode his bicycle while commenting on what was happening on the road.

The delivery profession is still the starting point

After many years of persistence, food delivery trips now account for less than 5% of Bryce Pritchett's income. He has an exclusive sponsorship contract with Uber Eats and declined to disclose specific figures, only saying that his current income has reached "5 digits" per month. However, instead of giving up his old job, the 26-year-old still regularly receives orders a few times a week.

One afternoon at the beginning of the week, right after lunch break, Pritchett opened the app and guessed there would be an order in less than 3 minutes. Just 2 minutes later, the old iPhone specializing in receiving orders vibrated with a delivery from Waitrose supermarket worth 3.84 pounds. He did not hide his boredom. "This Waitrose is famous for waiting very long. Everyone in the delivery world knows it," he said.

McDonald's is even more "difficult" because the drinks are very easy to spill. A video titled "MicDonald's full shift of just delivering orders" has attracted nearly half a million views. "People like to watch me suffer," Pritchett laughed. But he also admitted that sensational headlines do not always bring more views than a normal work shift. According to his experience, just filming one or two shifts a week, lasting about 3-4 hours, is just enough to have a video of about 25 minutes with an income of 30-60 pounds in that delivery shift.

What makes the London Hustle channel different is not the orders, but the way Pritchett sees his work. He once challenged himself to receive all orders appearing on the app, including an 18-minute trip just to deliver 32 bottles of 500ml mineral water and 2 5-liter water bottles with a fee of £6.

Hopefully everyone will understand why they shouldn't accept all the orders," he concluded after that challenge.

As the number of viewers increases, the work behind the camera is also more professional. Pritchett currently hires 2 editors to support. In addition to YouTube, Pritchett also sells products under the London Hustle brand. Although YouTube has become the main source of income, Pritchett still does not leave the delivery profession.

In twenty years, perhaps I will no longer be a shipper," Pritchett said. He hopes that after building a loyal viewer community, he can expand to other contents like many YouTubers he admires.

But currently, whenever he has time, he still likes to get in the car and drive through the streets of London because "Sometimes I go out without filming anything. I really like the feeling of freedom when I'm alone on a two-wheeled vehicle.