Thomas Cook

Whitewavemark2
Get into the real world .Look no further than high level of debt and the inability to cope with ONLINE rivals.

I've been aware of TC's wobbly state for a while now thanks to the general press and have given it a miss accordingly. Don't know what my actions might have been as an employee.

All package holidays will be ABTA/ATOL protected,those on flight only if paid for by Credit/Debit card should be able to get their money back through their card provider (see Martin Lewis's website for full details)

I am cross that greedy CEOs didn't curb their bonuses, and consolidate the viable parts of the business.

If they were/are worth their huge salaries, they should have seen the change in people's habits regarding buying holidays and the sort of holidays they now choose.

I also feel sorry for staff at the the resorts and the locals who rely on tourism to pay their bills.

"It comes down to bad management" ... this is apparently what the government is implying - but the statement from the company mentioned several things including Brexit. Not blaming Brexit entirely, just citing it as part of the problem.

Yes, I do feel hugely sorry for all the employees now out of work, as I do anyone made redundant. I was made redundant once and it was not at all nice.

Today I heard on the radio that the government will help with the repatriation bail out. I'm unhappy with this aspect - obviously we shouldn't leave people stranded abroad - but can we claim it back from somewhere? Not all passengers were ABTA protected.

Thomas Cook has been in dire straits for ages for failing to move with the times and not developing its online platform which most other high companies have had to do in order to remain competitive - sad but true.

And as for the Blame Brexit bandwagon - isn't it more accurate to blame Brexit delays caused by Remoaners and insincere politicians who have tried and continue to try to block or overturn Brexit? If we'd left soon after the June 2016 result we would be past any hiccups by now.

A friend's son and daughter in law are a pilot and cabin crew with Thomas Cook and one of my co-grannies is in Las Vegas where she meets her 'Canadian' sister periodically.

It’s the crowing about it and using someone else’s misery to make biased political points on this particular post that sticks in my craw. Decent people don’t crow, in my opinion, of course.

Urmstongran I agree totally about the job losses what a tragic situation for so many people,my DD had wind of this 2 weeks ago when two of her former collegues gave up good paying jobs and went to work for TC in their entertainment team they had their contracts cancelled and where flew back to UK on 9th Sept along with other resort staff,why does every single thing to go wrong have to be caused by Brexit,can the fact it was mismanaged for such a long time be the fault ??? I bet the CEO's have plenty in the bank to get them over this and don't have to go down UC route.

pantglas Blimey if you think that us blaming Brexit is not right when people have lost their jobs you need to give your head a wobble.

If no deal happens, you ain’t seen nothing yet

People have lost their jobs and all some folks think about is scoring points on Brexit? Have some decency please!

This is not meant to be yet another Brexit thread it was about the collapse of Thomas Cook and its aftermath. I too feel for the workers and the loss of heritage - not to mention the Thomas Cook Travellers Cheques I still have .... online and the younger generations change of purchasing habits are destroying everything I hold dear .... but that's progress. Allegedly- oh well it's their world now and largely they are welcome to it.... I’m just glad I won’t have to live in it too many more years!!

It comes down to bad management, not keeping their eye on "cash flow".

CEOs still taking their bonuses.

Sterling has always fluctuated against other currencies, yes it is low at the moment, but greed over customers and staff is at the root of this.

(I will declare that a friends daughter was a senior manager at Tomas Cook and left several weeks ago because they knew this was about to happen)

Why does everything have to be about Brexit?

Perhaps because it is?

Urmstong 'Nah. Not buying it.'

Are you denying that costs have gone up hugely and that Sterling has gone down massively in recent years. Do you believe I am lying when I say the Pound has lost 60% of its value since we moved here- and that we have NO idea what will happen to it over next few weeks and months, making planning impossible. Really? When we came the £ was 2.50 ... it recently came down to 1.17. FACT. Buy it or not.

Nah. Not buying it.

TC has been limping along since the recession. It almost folded in 2011. Billions in debt. Huge bonuses (millions) to CEO’s. Internet competition.

Brexit was only a twinkle in Cameron’s eye back then.

Why does everything have to be about Brexit?

I just felt sorry for the poor sods who have lost their jobs this morning which is why I put the thread up.

I’m out. We have enough Brexit threads already.

More denial from eazybee

I think the company has been hanging on by the skin of their teeth for a while because of so many travel agency shops closing to online bookings, thinking that going online was a safer bet than going into a shop which could be closed down overnight.
When big businesses start folding it does and has had a huge knock-on effect for others who are still struggling against high out-goings as well as the internet.

Brexit isn't helping one bit because of uncertainty with the economy.

TC was founded 178 years ago and like other large companies who've had the same recognition are all but vanishing from high streets and this country. It's the end of an era never to be seen again. Devastating. Sad.

jura2 I have not hesitated in booking for next year, trips planned inside the EU and further afield.

More 'Brexit nonsense' from Whitewave.

More likely to be people planning their own holidays, the hot summer weather, and possibly the large salaries enjoyed by Thomas Cook bosses, £20 million since 2014:

Peter Frankhauser: Swiss CEO: £8.3 million
Bill Scott & Micheal Healy, financial officers: £7 million
Frank Meysman, Belgian chairman: £1.6 million
non-executive directors: £4 million

Thomas Cook's handling of the death of two children in Corfu in 2006 also contributed to their decline, plus increasing competition and a weak pound.

I wonder how myna of us on GN have hesitated about booking hols this year or for next year, or indeed did not book at all - re concerns about exchange rate, health care provision, visas, driving licence validity, etc- and because money is tight too.

Listening to 5 Live this morning, interview with a hapless tory minister about the collapse. He denied that it had anything to do with Brexit. Interviewer read him TC's statement from earlier this year which cited Brexit as one of the causes of the company's problems. Minister very silent...

So let's not have any wriggling over this, please.

How can any export business deal with the massive fall of Sterling value? How can you plan? His first major destination abroad was Switzerland. In the last 10 years, Sterling has gone down steadily, and the Swiss Franc has gone up = the result is a massive 60% change. As a business- it is just not possible to deal with this- increases in cost at the time your currency declines so fast- and knowing it might get worse. For us on an individual basis- it is a disaster. For a business, it is truly the kiss of death.

The massive irony and sadness- is that Thomas Cook was the first ever to organise trips for others, first in the UK then to Europe and beyond. The Travel industry was born in Market Harborough and Leicester- thanks to Thomas. First for his Temperance groups in the 1840s, then to other UK locations- until he gave up his printer's job to concentrate full time on organising travel. The Paris-Bern line he used on his first trip to Switzerland, which had a massive effect on the future of the country- in 1863- still passes by our house several times a day. His first ever office, in Market Harborough is just round the corner from our UK flat- and I always used to admire the Frieze depicting his first major journeys, on his later main office near the Clock Tower in Leicester. Very very sad. 1841-2019

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