Partner Article

Travel firm to cut 500 jobs

TRAVEL group Thomas Cook - a firm which employs hundreds of staff in the region - has revealed plans to cut more than 500 UK jobs.

The company reportedly expected to generate up to £50 million of savings by reducing the number of managerial and support staff in the UK, as well as renegotiating supplier costs and upgrading IT.

Good early-summer weather in the UK, the closure of European airspace in April and the weak pound all contributed to a 34% fall in UK adjusted operating profits to £107.5 million in the year to September 30.

Thomas Cook said growth in central Europe and Germany slightly offset the decline in Britain, with group revenues dropping 5% to £8.9 billion in the year, while adjusted, underlying pre-tax profits dropped 6% to £277 million.

Thomas Cook undertook a review of its UK workforce, which stands at around 13,000 to 15,000, to help combat uncertain economic conditions in the wake of public spending cuts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .