Deliveroo chief operating officer Eric French is to leave the business, in a bid to “explore [his] next chapter”.

The move comes after four years at the rapid food delivery brand. French joined in 2021 as Deliveroo’s chief marketing officer, before becoming COO in 2022.

Taking to the social media platform LinkedIn, French praised Deliveroo and thanked his colleagues, including founder and CEO William Shu and chair Claudia Arney.

“When I joined, we were a private company in hyper-investment mode, delivering almost entirely restaurant food in the middle of Covid lockdowns,” French wrote.

“Fast forward to today – we are a free cash flow positive, public company with significantly more process and discipline (still room to go!) delivering everything from burgers to £205 power tools.

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“I’m proud of what the Deliveroo team has delivered over the past 4 years, and it’s been an incredible opportunity to have been a part of it.”

Prior to the delivery company, French spent a 15-year stint at Amazon, from senior financial analyst in 2005, to grocery category leader in 2014, before becoming vice president for US consumables in 2019.

Deliveroo has not confirmed who will be taking over from French, however a spokesperson said the company “wish him all the vest best for the future.”

The spokesperson added: “Eric first raised with Will his desire to move on in autumn last year as part of Eric’s plans to relocate to the US. Eric has worked with the company for over four years, scaling the grocery business and playing a leadership role in helping the company reach key financial milestones.”

The UK company was recently acquired by US rival DoorDash, in a £2.9bn takeover deal aimed at accelerating its growth.

Announced earlier this month, Deliveroo co-founder and CEO Will Shu described the acquisition as “the beginning of a transformative new chapter”.

In April, the business revealed it had delivered a “strong start” to the year, as its gross transaction value (GTV) hit £1.871bn, up 9% year-on-year, while sales rose by 8% to £518m.