Munro sues company he founded Amie Keeley


Barrhead Travel founder and former owner Bill Munro is suing the agency for unfair dismissal. Munro is understood to


have departed against his wishes aſter Travel Leaders Group bought Barrhead last year. In November 2018, the business


confirmed that Munro had leſt, but he is understood to have departed on July 17 last year. A hearing at Glasgow Tribunals Centre is due to begin on


November 11 and is scheduled to last until November 15. Tere are understood to be


d


three witnesses due to give evidence at the hearing. Munro’s solicitor,


Stephen Miller, partner at Clyde & Co, told Travel Weekly: “Bill strongly believes he has been unfairly dismissed and he is looking


forward to geting a resolution.” Munro set up Barrhead Travel in 1975 and before leaving held a strategic advisory role as chairman. His daughter, Sharon Munro,


leſt her role as chief executive in December last year and was replaced by Jacqueline Dobson, who took over as president in January. Barrhead Travel and Travel Leaders declined to comment.


nD an


Leadsom under fire for ‘lack of interest’ in Cook


Phil Davies


Business secretary Andrea Leadsom and her department have been accused of showing “an extraordinary lack of interest” ahead of the collapse of Tomas Cook. Business, Energy and Industrial


Strategy commitee chairman Rachel Reeves said: “Te failure of Cook has also been notable for the extraordinary lack of interest shown by BEIS and its secretary of state in the days and weeks leading up to the collapse.” Leadsom, in a leter, told


the commitee that government financing for Cook would have been “a poor decision for the taxpayer”.


Te BEIS commitee 4 Rachel Reeves 7 NOVEMBER 2019 COLLAPSE


THOMAS COOK


issued a damning verdict of mismanagement by successive Cook bosses – Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Harriet Green and Peter Fankhauser. Te commitee put forward


a series of recommendations on corporate governance, executive pay and bonuses. Reeves said: “Te piling up


of debt, confused business plans, lack of challenge in the boardroom and by auditors, and aggressive accounting practices all contributed to the failure. “We’ve witnessed


b p


buck-passing and blame-shiſting, but precious litle humility or reflection from those


at the top of the business. “Directors and senior


management pocketed heſty sums in annual salaries and bonuses that Tomas Cook staff could only have dreamt of earning. “Tere was a lack of challenge in


the boardroom as the company piled up debt and management missed opportunities to reduce debt levels and give the business a viable future. Chinese conglomerate Fosun


acquired the Tomas Cook brand for £11 million this week. Assets acquired include domain names, social media accounts and licences relating to Tomas Cook, Casa Cook and Cook’s Club brands. Former rival Tui has added 135


former Cook hotels to its portfolio, 56 of them exclusively for its customers. Te biggest increases are in Turkey, where 19 hotels have been added, and Greece, where Tui has 16 new properties.


Travel Leaders is the largest travel


agency business in the US with more than 7,000 owned, franchised or affiliated travel agencies. It acquired Barrhead Travel for an


undisclosed sum in February 2018. O At WTM this week, the group’s


chief executive Ninan Chacko said it would continue its acquisition strategy in the UK if “the right opportunity” presents itself, but said its immediate focus was on organic growth through Barrhead Travel in the wake of the Cook collapse.


Ex-Cook


Juliet Dennis and Ben Ireland


A glut of ‘fantastic’ ex-Tomas Cook staff is fuelling a wave of high street expansion among independent travel agencies. Miles Morgan Travel is the latest


to announce more stores, with new shops in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and Chippenham, Wiltshire, due to open this month, taking the network to 18. Both will be staffed by former Cook employees. Managing director Miles Morgan,


who has also hired two ex-Cook staff as homeworkers in Newcastle and Belfast, credited the availability of top-notch travel consultants for making it easier to expand. He said: “Te crown jewels of any


shop are its staff. I have now got two fantastic sets of staff from four former Cook shops. Te biggest challenge [when] opening shops is finding the staff. Finding locations is easy; the killer ingredient is the people.” Polka Dot Travel is to open


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