UPDATE 1-UK's Waitrose expands rapid home deliveries with Deliveroo

(Adds detail)

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - British supermarket Waitrose
will expand its Deliveroo service by 110 shops to 150 by
the end of the summer, giving more customers access to rapid
home delivery, it said on Tuesday.

Waitrose, which is part of the employee-owned John Lewis
Partnership, said it had agreed a two-year deal with
the app and delivery service following a successful trial.

Waitrose's long partnership with online grocery specialist
Ocado came to an end last September.

It said the deal would take the number of people who are
able to enjoy Waitrose food on Deliveroo to around 13 million.
The upmarket food chain has around 330 stores in total across
the United Kingdom.

Deliveroo customers will be able to order from an increased
range of between 750 to 1,000 products and have shopping
delivered in as little as 20 minutes from Waitrose stores across
the country.

Up to 400 new jobs will be created in Waitrose stores to
fulfil orders for delivery by Deliveroo.

The service will complement the supermarket group's own
full-service deliveries.

"Our partnership with Deliveroo has already proved extremely
popular with the vast majority of customers returning week on
week, helping to create a healthy balance of loyalty and
attracting new and younger customers," said Nina Bhatia, the
John Lewis Partnership's executive director for strategy and
commercial development.

Other partners on Deliveroo's grocery platform include
Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Aldi.

Earlier this month Deliveroo said a more-than doubling in
first quarter orders during coronavirus lockdowns was an initial
step in proving itself following the debacle of its March
flotation.
(Reporting by James Davey. Editing by Kate Holton and Mark
Potter)