Thomas Cook closes 10 North East stores

Travel firm, Thomas Cook has announced plans to shut 10 stores across the North East and Cumbria, cutting 56 jobs.

The holiday company are set to axe 15% of their UK and Ireland workforce as part of a restructuring plan.

The company cut more than 1,100 jobs in the last year but aims to axe up to 1,600 in its UK high street shops, the rest of the job losses will come from administrative positions.

In the North East, the shops affected by the plans are the company’s Thomas Cook and Co-operative Travel Services.

The travel agencies which look set to close their doors are in Spennymoor, Ashington, Hexham, Low Fell, Gateshead town centre, Carlisle, Northallerton, Harrogate and Middlesbrough Parkway.

A 90-day consultation process with employees is now underway and Thomas Cook insists that it will maintain a ‘strong presence on the high street.’

The 2011 Arab spring uprisings badly affected Thomas Cook’s operations in Egypt and Tunisia and the travel firm has been struggling ever since.

Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel firm, reported pre-tax losses of £485.3m in the year ending September 2012 and reportedly has debts of more than £1.5bn.

Joanna Wild, managing director of the Thomas Cook Co-operative retail network, said: “As a large retailer we regularly review our network to make sure we have the right stores in the right places for our customers, and regrettably there are occasions where we need to close branches.

“Following the announcement of stores that are proposed to close, we are now working with those colleagues potentially affected.

“We’d like to thank both our colleagues and customers for the commitment and understanding during this process.

“Our high street stores are a popular way for customers to book with us and are an essential part of our approach alongside our websites and sales centres.

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