Uber has appointed former Amazon executive Jamie Heywood as regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe.
He succeeds Jo Bertram, who held the position – the most senior one relating to UK operations – until six months ago when she stepped down from the role.
Heywood was the director of electronics for the UK at Amazon.
He has over a decade of experience in the mobile industry: at Orange in the UK and Thailand; and at Virgin Mobile, where he was responsible for the company’s handset range and relationships with distributors.
He also held a role as chief executive of Virgin Mobile in China, in which he secured the country’s first ever virtual network operator contract.
“His wide range of international experience in both regulated industries and scaling fast-growing businesses will be invaluable for the next phase of Uber’s development,” said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, vice president and regional general manager of Uber in Europe, the Middle East & Africa of Heywood.
“Jamie’s leadership will also be crucial as we implement major changes across Europe including more safety features, improvements for drivers and a new approach to partnering with cities.”
Heywood was educated at Oxford University from where he holds a BA and MA.
Uber is still in dispute with Transport for London over its ability to operate in the capital.
Last year, Transport for London had concluded that Uber is not a “fit and proper” and revoked its licence, but Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote an open letter in response, admitting the company had made mistakes but was committed to change.
More recently, the UK arm of the company teamed up with a charity to offer wheelchair users free rides to voting booths in the local elections.