Online grocery delivery is an expensive business, so much so that former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy used to take time out of his schedule to deliver orders himself.

Sir Terry Leahy

He told the MetaPack Delivery Conference last week that he often had to find out-of-the-way addresses in deepest darkest Devon. But rather than save Tesco money it may have upped costs. He acknowledged: “My time was pretty expensive.”