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Thomas Cook to close 195 stores
Holiday firm Thomas Cook is cutting 2,500 jobs and closing 195 of its high street travel agencies, it has been announced.
The travel company, has stores in Church Road, Burgess Hill and in The Orchards in Haywards Heath, announced the decision to cut jobs today (Wednesday March 6).
Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook UK & Ireland’s CEO, 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. 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.
“It is essential that we operate with the right number of people as we move forward into the next era for our company, allowing us to meet the future needs of our customers more effectively.
“These proposals will mean a stronger Thomas Cook that continues to be a major employer in the UK dedicated to providing excellent holiday experiences to our 23 million customers.
“We are in consultation with our Unions and employee representative bodies to minimise the impact of these changes and I am speaking personally to all employees today to provide information and support through this period of consultation.”
The company has entered a 90-day consultation process with its UK employees. It is too early for the company to say which stores are affected.
In a statement is said that the consultation will:
* Close 195 high street stores, whilst retaining 874 outlets on British high streets. We are also proposing a number of changes to the management of core stores and certain roles within the large store network.
* Place a number of administrative and managerial roles at risk, at Head Offices in Peterborough and Preston, whilst proposing the closure of its Accrington office
* Change some terms and conditions in order to make further efficiencies, thereby safeguarding additional roles
* Thomas Cook currently employees 15,500 people in the UK and it is anticipated that approximately 2,500 full-time roles will go if the proposed changes go ahead.
The company currently has 1,069 stores.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
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