NEWS 1


Will Waggott says there is ‘no crisis at Cook’


YOU NEED TO KNOW


at a glance


 Thomas Cook issued two profit warnings in late 2018.


 The group reported losses for the three months to December rose by £14 million to £60 million year on year.


 A strategic review of Thomas Cook Group’s pan-European airline was then initiated.


 Chief executive Peter Fankhauser ruled out further shop closures. Cook had 598 as of last month, with 200 having been closed in the previous two years.


Waggott ‘will make the right decisions for Cook’


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


The new chief of tour operating for Thomas Cook says he will “make the right decisions for the business” but admitted that “some could be painful”.


Speaking the day before he


started his new role on Monday, Will Waggott said: “Thomas Cook is arguably the biggest holiday brand in the world. It has some challenges and I am really excited to try and sort them out.” But he insisted Cook’s problems


were solvable and that he was unfazed by the challenge. “It’s not a crisis,” Waggott said.


“When I left Airtours, things were very challenging. I have spent my whole career sorting issues


out, so I have more than 25 years’ experience of this. “You’ve just got to make the right decisions for the business. Some of these will be painful, some will be fun, but they will be the right thing to do for the company. “I suspect the team at Thomas Cook have had a pretty tough few years, so hopefully I can come in and we can work hard to make things better. There will be tough times; it won’t always be fun.” Waggott maintained that “the


whole industry is having a tough time at the moment”, pointing to Tui’s recent profit warning. The operator revised its underlying forecast for the year to September 2019, saying profits would no longer be up on its record 12 months last year.


Commenting on Thomas Cook, 4travelweekly.co.uk14 March 2019


“Hopefully I can come in and we can work to make things better… but it will be tough”


Waggott said: “The debt isn’t ideal. It makes things more difficult.” Asked what the priorities


would be, he said: “I need to spend the first couple of months with everybody and find out what they think we need to do. I need to learn the issues and work out what we can do differently. “I’m not sure they are doing


anything massively wrong. The whole of the UK industry is suffering from overcapacity, which puts pressure on margins. Everyone is struggling.” Waggott confirmed Cook’s


 Waggott, an ex-chief financial officer at Tui Travel, took up the role of chief of tour operating this week.


 Chris Mottershead, who had been interim UK MD, will return full-time to his group-wide role of chief of product and operations.


retail network would be included in his review of the UK business, but when reminded the company had some 600 branches, he said: “Excellent.” He said he would inevitably be


involved in the proposed sale of Thomas Cook Airlines. “As the tour operator, we will need a contract to continue our flying,” he said. Asked if joining two weeks


before the UK is due to leave the EU made things even harder, Waggott said: “We could all do without it. Uncertainty in any business is never great. “But all those stories about


taking a holiday after April are utterly ridiculous. Flights are going to keep going. The travel industry


is going to carry on.” › Brexit update, page 6 › Cook and Collette, page 8


PICTURES: RUDIGER NEHMZOW; SENTIDO MEDITERRANEAN VILLAGE


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