Zapp executives co-found communications business

Steve O’Hear and Rachael Brown, executives at the rapid grocery delivery app Zapp, have launched a new communications business. Mr O’Hear will run the freshly launched startup O’Hear & Co (OHC) alongside his role as SVP of strategy at Zapp, while Ms Brown will leave Zapp.

Mr O’Hear is no stranger to startups, having gained invaluable experience at the tech-retail-delivery startup Zapp, gaining a reputation as a leading tech journalist, as well as heading up his own project, Bleepl.

"Alongside founding this new venture together with Rachael, who is an amazing and proven comms operator, I remain SVP of strategy at Zapp and an integral part of the leadership team," Mr O’Hear commented.

"Zapp continues to go from strength to strength as London’s leading 24/7 premium convenience service and I’m as bullish as ever on the company’s future, which, in addition to my continuing at Zapp individually, is also why we’re delighted to have Zapp as a long-term anchor client for OHC and Zapp’s co-founder on our board," he added.

OHC has ambitious growth plans, aiming to double its headcount by the end of 2024.

OHC will advise companies on a range of communication and strategy techniques and approaches, including strategic positioning, corporate communications, internal communications, comms talent acquisition and development, restructuring comms, and crisis prevention. Drawing upon their extensive experience in fast-growing startups, O’Hear and Brown aim to share their expertise with other scale-ups.

"As SVP of strategy at Zapp, a company that scaled faster than any I reported on in my 15 years as a journalist, I’ve been fortunate enough to have the know-how and backing to build an incredibly effective in-house comms team," said O’Hear. "However, for most fast-growing companies it can be challenging to do so.

Instead, scale-ups are left solely relying on traditional PR agencies that lack startup experience and are too far removed from the industries they serve. At OHC, we aim to bridge that gap with our ‘outside-in’ approach to strategic communications and a team that has seen and done it many times before," he added.