Tui is to hold a recruitment fair to help Thomas Cook staff who lost their jobs following the company’s collapse.
The event will take place at Tui’s Luton headquarters with details of a date and timings to be released tomorrow (Tuesday, 24 September).
Tui took to Twitter to express its sadness at the failure of its long-time rival, which ceased trading in the early hours of this morning after 178 years in business.
“We are sorry to learn of the Thomas Cook news. We really feel for everyone affected by this announcement – customers on holiday, anyone due to travel and of course their employees,” Tui tweeted.
We are sorry to learn of the Thomas Cook news. We really feel for everyone affected by this announcement - customers on holiday, anyone due to travel with them and of course their employees. We will be holding a recruitment fair at our Luton Office for people who are impacted. pic.twitter.com/77BYC8S0et
— TUI Jobs UK (@TUIJobsUK) September 23, 2019
Tui was among a number of travel firms to pledge their support for Cook staff and offer them to apply for new roles within their businesses.
Travel Counsellors’ UK managing director and chief commercial officer Kirsten Hughes urged the industry to “come together” and “focus on helping those affected”.
“We’re here to offer advice to the Thomas Cook staff who will unfortunately be facing an uncertain future at this time, and would urge these people to get in touch with our careers team to chat about their options by emailing careers@travelcounsellors.com or call 0161 464 5243,” she said.
Homeworking agency Holidaysplease posted on industry Facebook group Travel Gossip about a series of recruitment sessions it would be holding this week in Birmingham to discuss different opportunities with the company.
Also on Travel Gossip, Kosmar Holidays managing director Jhy Worsnop-Hesford wrote about a number of positions he was recruiting for – encouraging former Cook staff to apply (jhy.worsnop-hesford@kosmarholidays.co.uk)
“We are deeply saddened by the demise of such a wonderful and pioneering brand. Without a doubt, Thomas Cook was part of the inspiration that made me crave a career in travel – you could say I caught the travel bug from them,” he said.
For any ex-Cook staff in the Lanarkshire area of Scotland, Love to Travel director Joanne Dooey posted online to say she had “a few vacancies” and would be available to discuss things tomorrow evening (joanne@lovetotravelltd.com).
Independent travel agency ItsSo Travel said it had “both full and part-time roles” at its soon-to-launch Cambridge shop and in its St Ives branch.
Those interested should forward a CV to cambridge@itssotravel.com.
C&M Travel Recruitment said it was “devastated” to hear the news of Cook’s failure this morning and has created a dedicated email helpline (tcstaff@candm.co.uk) or contact its London office on 020 7796 1800, Manchester office on 0161 238 4488 or Reigate base on 01737 309 980.