Mobility exchange platform Karhoo has appointed former Just Eat director Edmund Read as chief operating officer.
Read joins after seven years at the takeaway marketplace, where he was group operations director. He supported the company’s growth from a start-up to a FTSE 100 firm making £1 billion in revenue.
Prior to Just Eat, Read held leadership roles at Skype before its eventual acquisition by Microsoft, as well as time at Sony Ericsson and other start-ups.
Karhoo said Read will be tasked with leading the company’s supply and operations teams to build a scalable operation that capitalises on its capabilities and spurs growth in 2020.
Read’s appointment follows the news that former Booking.com MD Vanessa Heydorff has joined as chief commercial officer. His role also completes the senior management team at Karhoo alongside co-CEOs Boris Pilichowski and Nicolas Andine, CTO and CIO Bill Wilkins, group finance director Gary Ambrose and global general counsel and company secretary Winston Green.
Commenting on his new role, Read said: “Karhoo represents an excitingly complex operating challenge – bringing together brands, networks and fleets to deliver exceptional mobility experiences to customers at a global scale.
“Great technology and talent have built the foundation. 2020 is the year to capitalise on that and go for growth.”
Pilichowski added: “2020 promises to be a very exciting year at Karhoo as we bring our healthy list of demand partners to live operations. In this accelerating growth phase, our operations are also scaling up. Managing them efficiently on a global basis is crucial to support our growth and reduce our execution risks.
“Edmund is joining with a wealth of experience from his years at Just Eat, which faced similar challenges in its early years of development. We are absolutely delighted to welcome Edmund to the Karhoo family. He was the perfect candidate for the role and he will be key in helping us make Karhoo the leading open mobility marketplace.”
karhoo.com