NEWS made redundant by Thomas Cook’s collapse. Travel Weekly reporters round up recruitment news TAILOR MADE EYES STORES


Tailor Made Travel has plans to open up to 10 agencies in South Wales in former Thomas Cook premises. Chief executive Simon Morgan


has already recruited six former Thomas Cook staff to join his existing retail network of 18 stores. Morgan has started an analysis


of the potential profitability of the Cook stores and said “successful and motivated” staff who worked there were “almost guaranteed” jobs if he brought them back to life. “Our financial team is putting


together a strategy of potentially [taking over] 10 existing Thomas Cook stores. We are running an analysis now into the profitability of each of those towns. The proposal is looking at 10 Thomas Cook stores in towns where Tailor Made doesn’t exist. These would be launched on an escalated basis. “We will look at all the Thomas


Cook staff. Tailor Made is about recruiting the best of the best, but I would say successful and motivated staff are almost guaranteed work.”


Ex-Cook staff protest at Tory conference


Dozens of former Tomas Cook staff joined a protest outside the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday demanding financial support from the government. Some wore their cabin crew uniforms as the out-of-work protesters waved


placards saying ‘Bankers bailed out, Tomas Cook kicked out’. Greater Manchester’s Labour mayor Andy Burnham joined the protesters


at the Manchester Central Convention Complex to show his support. Te Unite union has started a petition, calling on business secretary


Former Thomas Cook


cabin crew protest outside the Conservative Party Conference venue in


Manchester on Monday


Paula Barker Not Just Travel has offered employment to the entire staff team at the former Thomas Cook store in Poole, Dorset, with the


first recruit, Paula Barker, starting this week. Barker had worked for Thomas Cook for 22


years and held roles as store manager and customer manager. She is joining Not Just Travel’s staff team at the head office. Barker said: “Our team [at Cook] was so


close-knit. I’ve got a mortgage and bills to pay, so to be lucky enough to immediately step into new employment with Not Just Travel is amazing.”


Cook customers queue at the Stoke ‘pop-up’ on Monday


Andrea Leadsom to instruct the official receiver to pay Tomas Cook workers the wages they are owed. More than 1,000 former Tomas Cook staff also plan to sue the travel giant,


claiming the company acted unlawfully by not offering a Protective Award – a form of compensation given to staff of larger companies who are made redundant without being properly informed or consulted.


STOKE STAFF STEP UP


Agents from a Thomas Cook branch in Stoke-on-Trent hosted a ‘pop-up’ advice session for clients – despite having lost their jobs. Donna Jones said she and her colleagues Kirsten Mirams, Lisa


Colclough, Tara Griffin and Eryl Mogbo at the Thomas Cook Longton store were “absolutely devastated” by the collapse of the travel giant but still wanted to help their clients with Atol claims. She said more than 100 customers turned up at their temporary base in the Longton Exchange shopping centre on Monday. “It was amazing. We were totally overwhelmed by the amount


of people that turned up,” she said. “It was emotional not only for the staff but for the customers too.” Cook staff in Telford and Walsall set up similar advice centres in cafes and pubs.


travelweekly.co.uk


3 OCTOBER 2019


7


PICTURES: Donna Jones; Peter Byrne/PA Wire/PA Images

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