Addison Lee, the largest private hire minicab company in London, recently appointed Nick Constantinou as its new head of marketing and product innovation. Constantinou, who has previously held roles at McCann Erickson, AKQA overseeing product innovation for Nike and Microsoft, will be leading a marketing team of 10, with responsibilities including brand, product innovation, digital, social media, experiential, PR, delivering the marketing strategy and taking the business forward in the UK and overseas.
Constantinou, who has previously held roles at McCann Erickson, AKQA overseeing product innovation for Nike and Microsoft, will be leading a marketing team of 10
Constantinou will be reporting to chief commercial officer Peter Boucher, the previous commercial marketing director at Vodafone who joined the company last September. This is just the latest hire for the taxi company, as it hopes to move into international markets with its smartphone app, which is available free for all major operating systems. Other recent hires include head of data science Nick Kotsis, and chief operating officer Catherine Faiers, who formerly served as corporate development director for thetrainline.com.
Other recent hires at Addison Lee include head of data science Nick Kotsis, and chief operating officer Catherine Faiers
Of his appointment, Constantinou says he is “Very excited to be joining Addison Lee at a time when it’s broadening its market position, not only in its London home, but across Europe and the rest of the world.” He adds that the company is renowned for offering “The highest quality services in what is becoming an ever-more competitive market,” and that he is 100% committed to driving the “Exceptional team” at Addison Lee forward. The competitive market he references no doubt refers to smartphone apps such as “Hailo” and “Uber,” which have been grabbing both column inches and customers recently. The Addison Lee remains the most popular private hire minicab service in London, however, boasting 10 million passengers per year compared to Hailo's 1 million globally.
Constantinou is “Very excited to be joining Addison Lee at a time when it’s broadening its market position, not only in its London home but across Europe and the rest of the world.”
Boucher says the company plans to stay on top by making innovation a priority. He references his rivals by admitting that "Uber and Hailo have achieved plenty of media coverage,” but claiming Addison Lee remain top of the food chain because they are “The only player in the sector which controls the end-to-end experience.” He believes they are placed to differentiate themselves from the competition through their “Best in class service”, but admits that they'll only stay ahead if they remain focused “On creating and delivering leading products and services that continue to improve people’s lives."
Benjamin Hiorns if a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who probably couldn't afford an Addison Lee minicab, but might just give it a go next time he's in London because he is far too delicate for the tube.
