Skift Take
If by back, she means back of beyond, then yes.
Harriet Green arrived at Thomas Cook with the business in turmoil and suggestions it might go bust. She tells Andrew Cave how she is turning the firm around.
'I’m a little hyper,” confesses Harriet Green, which is probably not a bad quality for the chief executive of the troubled travel group, Thomas Cook.
The world’s oldest travel brand was in deep trouble when the former head of electrical distribution group Premier Farnell took the helm last July.
It had fired its chief executive, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, after three profit warnings and had to be bailed out by its banks.
After Green energetically outlined her new strategy last week, however, the storm clouds seemed to lift. The shares jumped 52pc, pushing the company’s market capitalisation beyond £1bn. When we meet at her home in Oxford, she’s been for a run and is pumping with energy.
“Thomas Cook is back,” she declares. “When I took the role, pretty much everyone said 'You’re crazy’. But one lovely person said to me: 'You have to go some to destroy such an amazing brand’.
“This is an unbelievably strong brand. Even in the year people were a little bit worried it might go bust, there were not fewer travellers with Thomas Cook.”
Investors and staff were more than slightly concerned. Thomas Cook, which dates back to 1841, lost £485m last year and was haemorrhaging cash. The medicine has been painful, with 2,500 job losses and the closure of 195 travel agency branches announced this month.
The new strategy sees another £50m of cost savings identified, on top of £160m already mapped out, a reduction of travel brands from 27 to nine and sale plans for brands reported to include ski tour operator Neilson. The market is also awaiting news
