LONDON: The head of Uber's northern Europe operations has decided to leave, the US ride-sharing company said Monday as it faces a licensing battle in London.

"I've decided to move on to something new and exciting. I'm leaving Uber with great memories, friendships and many amazing experiences," read an internal email from Jo Bertram, regional general manager for northern Europe.

Uber gave no exact departure date, but said Bertram would continue to work in the coming weeks on "the best possible transition" to her successor.

The company was thrown into disarray ten days ago when Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew Uber's licence to operate in the British capital due to concerns about public safety for passengers and the process of driver registration.

The news on Monday comes one day before Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi is scheduled to visit London to discuss the licensing decision with TfL transport commissioner Mike Brown.

"While I would like to have announced my move in smoother circumstances, I'm proud of the team we've built here and am very confident in their abilities to lead the business into the next chapter," Bertram wrote in her email, which was released to media by the group.

The northern Europe chief is leaving after four years at the company, but a spokesman stressed that her departure was not driven by Uber's current licensing issues.

"Given some of our current challenges, I'm also convinced that now is the right time to have a change of face, and to hand over to someone who will be here for the long haul and take us into the next phase," Bertram said.

Uber, which has about 40,000 drivers and some 3.5 million customers in the British capital, has already stated that it will appeal the TfL ruling.—AFP