Fears For Hundreds Of Yorkshire Jobs

13 June 2012, 18:14 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Hundreds of jobs are likely to be lost as Thomas Cook shuts its office in Bradford.

The firm says 537 people work there but that some roles will be relocated to other offices. 

Unions said the move was a scandal and blamed the job losses on former chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa, saying their members "`are going to pay the price of that mismanagement with their jobs''. 

In a statement, Ian Ailles, chief executive Mainstream at Thomas Cook UK & Ireland, said, "Thomas Cook is one of the largest employers in the travel industry, with 19,000 people working across the UK business. 

"As part of the previously announced UK turnaround, we have regrettably today advised colleagues in our Bradford office that we're proposing to close it by March next year, relocating some roles to our other UK sites in Birkenshaw (near Bradford), Peterborough and Falkirk. 

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA travel union, said: "Thomas Cook is largely in the mess it is because of the mismanagement of former chief executive Manny Fontenla, who was paid an astonishing #15 million for driving the company towards the very edge of the cliff. 

"Now hundreds of our members are going to pay the price of that mismanagement with their jobs while he has ridden off into the sunset with all the loot.