Deliveroo has written to customers saying it is considering becoming a publicly listed company, meaning investors will be able to trade shares in the company on the London Stock Exchange for the first time.

If the initial public offering (IPO) goes ahead, existing customers will have the chance to apply for shares. The ‘community offer’ will also be open to restaurants, grocers, and riders.

At this stage, people are being invited to register their interest through an individual link emailed to them. Investors will then be able to apply for Deliveroo shares, once the company has published its prospectus through its partner PrimaryBid.

To be eligible to apply for a PrimaryBid account, you need a Deliveroo account and to have placed at least one order. To participate, you need to be located and resident in the UK, and provide your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

When the time comes to buy shares you can apply for £250, £500, £750 or £1,000 of shares.

Deliveroo is expecting this to be a popular offer and so, while everyone who registers their interest will have the chance to apply, it is possible that not everyone who applies will be allocated shares or will get the amount of shares they have applied for.

Will Shu, Deliveroo founder and chief executive, said: “Far too often, normal people are locked out of IPOs, and the only participants are the institutional investors.

“I wanted to give as many customers as possible the chance to become shareholders, which is why we’re making £50m of shares available to them, alongside our restaurant partners and riders.”

Deliveroo will have £50m of shares to allocate and says if it is oversubscribed it will prioritise its most loyal customers first, while still trying to make sure new customers are able to benefit.

If the Deliveroo floatation goes ahead it will be the biggest market debut in the UK for three years with a valuation of about £7.5bn.

Deliveroo said it would also recognise the role played by its delivery riders in its success. If the IPO goes ahead, cash rewards from £200 to £10,000 will be available to riders based on the number of orders they have delivered.