This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/06/thomas-cook-uk-jobs-travel-agencies

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Thomas Cook cuts 2,500 UK jobs and shuts 195 high street travel agencies Thomas Cook cuts 2,500 UK jobs and shuts 195 high street travel agencies
(about 4 hours later)
Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, is cutting 2,500 British jobs and closing 195 of its high street travel agencies.Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, is cutting 2,500 British jobs and closing 195 of its high street travel agencies.
Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's Europe and UK chief executive, said it was "never easy" to make job cuts but insisted the company had to make sure its administrative costs were "as low as possible".Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's Europe and UK chief executive, said it was "never easy" to make job cuts but insisted the company had to make sure its administrative costs were "as low as possible".
The company said most of the job cuts would be in back-office functions, but warned some stores would be closed as part of a major restructuring of the business. The company has more than 800 stores and employs 15,500 people in the UK and Ireland. The company, which has already cut more than 1,100 jobs over the past year, said up to 1,600 jobs will cut from its high street shops the rest of the job losses will be in administrative functions.
Jobs at its head offices in Peterborough and Preston are most at risk, while its Accrington office, also in the north west, will be shut.
The new jobs cuts represent more than 15% of Thomas Cook's 15,500 staff. Having recently shut 149 stores, Thomas Cook will be left with 874 travel agencies across the UK and Northern Ireland.
Many of the stores being closed are Co-operative Travel stores, which Thomas Cook's previous boss Manny Fontenla-Novoa bought just two year ago.
"It is never easy to make decisions that impact directly on our people, but we also owe it to our customers to shape the business effectively and ensure that, when they book their holiday with us, our administrative costs are as low as possible," Fankhauser said."It is never easy to make decisions that impact directly on our people, but we also owe it to our customers to shape the business effectively and ensure that, when they book their holiday with us, our administrative costs are as low as possible," Fankhauser said.
"As we improve and develop our online capabilities, maintaining a strong presence on the high street is an important part of our omni-channel strategy. Even after these changes, we will still have one of the largest retail networks in UK travel." He said the cuts will make the company "better" and "more profitable".
The news comes on a bad day for the high street. More than 400 jobs are to go at the bed company Dreams, which has been bought out of administration by the private equity group Sun Capital Partners but is closing 93 stores. Thomas Cook, which has been struggling since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa put off holidaymakers, lost £590m in the year to the end of September 2012.
About 300 staff have lost their jobs at Axminster Carpets after the company, which supplied Brighton Pavilion and Clarence House, fell into administration on Tuesday. The company, which was founded by cabinet maker Thomas Cook in 1841, has debts of more than £1.5bn.
The failed 250-year-old family-run business collapsed after a sharp increase in the cost of raw materials and a fall in sales. The latter was mainly because of householders turning to wooden flooring instead of carpets. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association, which represents employees, said it was "shocked and angry" at the scale of the job losses.
General secretary Manuel Cortes said: "This constant policy of slash and burn, with the axing of one in four stores and the loss of jobs, is simply self-defeating.
"The company needs new products if it to come to come to terms with the age of the internet and prosper in the 21st century.
"That is the only way to stop this spiral of decline which repeated bad management decisions over the past five years has led them."
Thomas Cook takes 23 million people from across Europe on holiday every year.