Articles tagged “uk”

Flybe lives to fight another day, but at what cost? The UK government is effectively giving a helping hand to some very rich companies, without providing any of the details. This deal stinks.

With one of the biggest names in UK travel exiting the market, there's space for other travel firms to pick up some of the travel demand. It's not going to be easy with plenty of Brexit uncertainty in the market as well as lots of competition.

Understandably, CEO Clare Gilmartin didn't want to play up moves into other travel areas too much at such an early stage, but we'll be keeping a close eye on how the company evolves over the next few years as it looks to diversify away from rail tickets and make more money in other areas.

Given Fosun's desire to help keep Thomas Cook afloat, the news shouldn't come as a surprise, especially since the Chinese company's Foliday ecosystem features the storied brand name.

Even though Thomas Cook Group is no longer around, parts of the company live on. The Nordic business was pretty profitable, crucially has strong local brands, and isn't weighed down by an extensive store network. It's easy to see how it can be a success in the future.

It was the appearance everyone was waiting for. The two former Thomas Cook CEOs had very, very different ideas about how to run a travel company. The problem is that the business is no longer around, meaning they are both somewhat tarnished by failure.

While most economic forecasts think that leaving the European Union will be bad for the United Kingdom, uncertainty over how, when, or even if, Brexit occurs is doing plenty of damage at the moment.

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.

What will happen with Brexit is still anyone's guess. But the end of the "freedom of movement" — which is the most likely outcome in the event of any Brexit deal or no deal — will present existential hiring challenges for the tourism sector's labor force.

Given the state of the traditional retail industry, on the surface this appears to be a risky deal. But Hays Travel is a profitable, growing business and will probably have secured the assets at a knockdown price. The company knows better than most how to make shops work.