Travel Leaders boss suggested sacking Munro
A Travel Leaders Group boss recommended Barrhead Travel founder Bill Munro should be sacked “one day aſter completion” of its £36 million takeover deal. Senior vice-president Joby
Knapp made former owner Munro redundant months after the deal to buy the agency, which was completed in March 2018. The first day of an employment
tribunal over Munro’s legal claims for unfair dismissal was held as Travel Weekly went to press. The hearing heard that during negotiations
Knapp sent an email about Munro’s future, saying: “F him! I’m happy to acquiesce, but my recommendation is to serve him notice day one after completion.” The pair had been in dispute over
Munro’s role and payment after the takeover, which threatened to derail the deal – the value of which had not been disclosed until Tuesday. Munro’s solicitor, Stephen Miller,
asked Knapp: “Your view was ‘if that’s the way he’s going to be then we’ll just fire him’?” Knapp replied: “Yes, but I didn’t have the managerial
Your view was ‘if that’s the way he’s going to be then we’ll just fire him’?
responsibility to do that.” The tribunal also heard that
the American had little or no knowledge of UK employment law or redundancy process when he suggested Munro be dismissed. He also told the hearing that, as
part of the deal, Barrhead Travel agreed to give up Munro’s salary, which meant the final settlement was significantly higher. However, it was agreed
he would stay on as chairman and be paid £67 an hour. When Munro
began claiming for hours in excess of what was expected, Travel Leaders took issue with what he was claiming for and accused him of “double dipping”.
In an email to solicitors acting for
Munro, Knapp wrote: “Either he’s really dense and didn’t understand while he was nodding along, or he’s trying to take us for a ride.” The tribunal heard Munro was
offered a new position with Travel Leaders UK, but refused because this severed his 42 years’ continuous service with Barrhead. When this was put to Knapp, he said it was a “silly” issue to be concerned about. Miller explained that, under
UK law, workers have no protection if they have less than two years’ service, and asked Knapp if he was aware of that. He replied that he wasn’t. The tribunal
Bill Munro
continues. O Reporting by The Herald
Wowcher buys Super Break brand Juliet Dennis
Deals publisher Wowcher has bought the Super Break brand from administrators KPMG for an undisclosed sum. The company confirmed it had
acquired the short-break specialist’s intellectual property and digital assets. Super Break went into
administration on August 1, along with parent company Malvern Group and sister brand
laterooms.com. Initially the Super Break
domain name will redirect users to Wowcher’s travel offers page on its website, which features city, theatre,
4 14 NOVEMBER 2019
spa, weekend, Harry Potter and Disneyland Paris breaks. Wowcher said it had bought the
name because of the close alignment between the product ranges of the two brands. Paul Constable, general manager
for travel, said: “There was a large synergy in terms of products between Super Break and Wowcher, and we
see this as an opportunity to increase our market share and support our growth plans for travel. We have not finalised our long-term plans.” KPMG last month accepted an
offer for Super Break’s assets, which it valued at £2.1 million, but said the sale had not been completed. Wowcher, which has about
18 million subscribers, made its
site bookable for the first time in April with a new Choose Your Flights feature, instead of requiring customers to contact operators or agents to book. Marketing agency Designate said
the move appeared to provide a “good brand fit” but that it was “hard to see the value” of the brand acquisition itself. Jason Triandafyllou, Designate
executive director, said: “Acquiring the Super Break customer database may well have some value…but given Wowcher’s direction in travel – making their site bookable and being a bigger player in the travel sector – it would seem a better strategic move to invest in their own brand.”
travelweekly.co.uk
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