NEWS


COLLAPSE


THOMAS COOK


It’s easy to blame Tomas Cook managers for what has emerged over the past few years. And yes,


Mike Greenacre FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE CO-OPERATIVE TRAVEL


Despite Cook’s collapse, merger was right decision for Co-op


some key strategic decisions were wrong. But the Tomas Cook board must share a large part of the blame for its failure to provide effective governance and its fast-growing debt. Tere is also the fact that the pace of change in the industry did not help Cook’s position because of how it responded to those challenges. When the Co-op Group was considering whether


to sell or change the footprint of the business, along came Tomas Cook to discuss ‘merging’. I sat down with my good friend Ian Derbyshire,


who is sadly no longer with us, to explore what might be possible. Our own Co-operative mergers, concluded in 2007, had made good progress yet still had some way to go to drive all the benefits. We were, of course, aware of the ever-growing


negative impact of online business on our retail shops and, to a lesser extent, call centres. With Cook’s approach, we gave serious thought


to the fact we would have to close more branches to remain profitable, expand our online offering and continue to grow Future and Freedom Travel. Cook recognised the Co-op Travel brand was not


unique, but was a national business with a national brand built around providing exceptional service to local communities. Whether you believe me or not, the proposed deal presented me with a real personal dilemma: I really loved our business but was unsure what the future might hold for it. Tere was a clear message: Cook would retain


the Co-op brand, which it recognised offered a different proposition to Cook by specialising in local, personal service. Tat became the main driver


of our decision to sell. Even now, unless travel agencies create a point of difference, it will continue to get harder to remain profitable. Tis is true not just for the travel sector.


Cook never understood Co-op Agreement was reached and the merger got the nod. Te rest is history. As Manny [Fontenla- Novoa, former Cook chief executive] departed with many of his team, the new regime showed litle interest in developing the Co-op Travel brand. In December 2016, they decided to drop it, and it


began to disappear from the high street. I don’t think they ever understood what our brand stood for. And I will never understand why you would pay more than £80 million for a business to close it down. Despite the real emotional challenges, it remains


clear the merger was the right decision for Co-op. And while I felt the brand, and many jobs, would be retained, the cessation of the brand, as well as the demise of Tomas Cook, is tragic – most notably for the thousands of colleagues who lost their jobs. For the experienced consultants who have


specialisms, I would implore you to look at homeworking. You effectively run your own business and I’m sure many of the ex-Co-op staff who made that leap have no regrets. I don’t think there would be much I would have


changed with hindsight. Financially, it was a good deal for the Co-op Group. It’s all very sad and you can’t but wonder still if we will ever see Tomas Cook as a brand back in the travel sector again.


Read more articles by our columnists: go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment


18


10 OCTOBER 2019


travelweekly.co.uk


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