The travel industry has come out in force to pay tribute to Thomas Cook after the 178-year-old company collapsed
COLLAPSE
THOMAS COOK
T
housands of industry stalwarts learnt their trade, cut their teeth or gained valuable
experience working for and with industry giant Tomas Cook. Te scale of the impact the firm
had across the travel industry was felt in a huge outpouring of emotion in support of the company and its employees in the wake of its collapse. As news of the company’s failure
broke on Monday, the industry began to mourn its oldest member. Shearings Holidays managing
director Jane Atkins was on Tomas Cook’s flight from Manchester to Preveza at 13.55 on Sunday, one of the company’s last. Atkins, who used to work for
Cook brand Airtours and had many ex-MyTravel and Co-Operative Travel colleagues at Cook, said: “I really feel for the staff who have put their hearts in to trying to see this through. Tey will eventually come out the other
THOMAS COOK TIMELINE:
1841: Former Baptist preacher Thomas Cook organises first excursion on a steam train from Leicester to Loughborough for supporters of the teetotal Temperance Movement
1855: First trips overseas began
1865: Thomas Cook opens first shop, Thomas Cook & Son, at 98 Fleet Street in London, and claims to have booked one million customers
1890s: Thomas and son John Mason Cook both die. Business inherited by John’s three sons: Frank Henry, Ernest Edward and Thomas Albert
1928: Frank and Ernest sell business to Belgian Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et
des Grands Express Européens, which operated the Orient Express
1939-45: During the Second World War, the company’s Paris headquarters are taken over by occupying forces and the business comes close to collapse. Assets later
I’m devastated and
we are all in mourning. To lose such an iconic brand is devastating
side stronger for it, but that will be hard for them to believe right now.” Don Bircham, managing director
of Hays Travel North West, spent eight years at Cook, managing stores in Scotland and as regional manager in north Wales and Merseyside. He said: “I did my travel training at Cook. It is a special organisation and I’m very proud to have worked there. I’ve had a lot of calls from friends in the industry who are totally shell- shocked, and our thoughts are with the staff who have lost their jobs.” Miles Morgan Travel homeworker
Moira Lumsden, who worked for Cook for 33 years, said: “I didn’t
think this could happen, I feel shell- shocked. Te only way I can describe what has happened is that it’s like a bereavement.” She visited Cook’s Dundee branch
on Saturday where customers had brought boxes of chocolates and tins of biscuits for staff. Gary Lewis, chief executive of
Te Travel Network Group, said: “Tomas Cook is the oldest brand in travel, but today we are really thinking of its people and our friends.” Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive
of Te Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “We were deeply saddened to hear Tomas Cook will no longer be part of the industry as it was the pioneer of tour operator travel. Like many others I was up all night watching news feeds. I’m devastated and we are all in mourning. To lose
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26 SEPTEMBER 2019
travelweekly.co.uk
Industry mourns lo
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