Karhoo appoints Edmund Read as new Chief Operating Officer

Karhoo, a global booking platform for taxi and private hire fleets, has announced the appointment of Edmund Read as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Edmund joins after seven years at takeaway marketplace Just Eat Plc. As Group Operations Director he supported the company’s growth from series C £60million revenue start-up to FTSE 100 £1billion revenue world leader described by Jefferies Equity Research in January 2018 as “the gold-standard of execution”.

Previously he spent time in leadership roles at Skype – preparing the company for its eventual Microsoft acquisition – as well as at Sony Ericsson and a number of award winning startups.

Edmund 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."

He will lead the Karhoo Supply and Operations teams, and is tasked with building a scalable operation that capitalises on Karhoo’s capabilities and supercharges growth in 2020.

Karhoo Co-Chief Executive Officer Boris Pilichowski, said: "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.”

The new COO follows the recent appointment of new Chief Commercial Officer Vanessa Heydorff and completes the executive management team alongside Co-CEOs Boris Pilichowski and Nicolas Andine, CTO & CIO Bill Wilkins, Group Finance Director Gary Ambrose and Global General Counsel and Company Secretary Winston Green.

Karhoo is supported by Groupe Renault as part of its Mobility-as-an-industry initiative and has built a network of over 2 million vehicles worldwide.

Last week, Karhoo announced its partnership with holiday transfers comparison site Hoppa to extend its geographical reach and choice.