5 Takeaways From the UK’s Thomas Cook Inquiry
Photo Credit: Peter Fankhauser, former Thomas Cook CEO, appearing at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Select Committee hearing. UK MPs grilled executives from the company. Parliament TV
Skift Take
Inquiries like these are often pretty brutal on company executives. Former CEO Peter Fankhauser shoulders a lot of responsibility for what went down at Thomas Cook, but he's not the only one at fault. The actions of his predecessors, as well as the UK government itself, are likely to also come under scrutiny.
Thomas Cook's rescue plan would have probably made it the "best-funded travel company in Europe," but the UK government's failure to offer a last-minute financial guarantee effectively brought about its collapse, according to testimony at an inquiry into the firm's insolvency.
The UK government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee listened on Tuesday to evidence from former CEO Peter Fankhauser and former Chairman Frank Meysman on the first day of hearings that will explore the stewardship of the company in the years, months, and days before its bankruptcy.
As always when politicians and executives meet in the wake of a high-profile business failure, there was plenty of posturing from the former and grim-faced contrition from the latter. But amid this, there were some useful nuggets of information that help to better understand what happened. Here are five takeaways.
The Final Few Days
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