My "day job" with Thomas Cook IT Support has come to an unexpected close today following the collapse of the rescue deal. I have something of a temporary reprieve for up to a few weeks, supporting the CAA and the administrators with the massive repatriation effort for our customers in-resort.
Today was horrible, saying goodbye to many friends and colleagues. Our building (which we share with Bauer Media and Model Rail) is now looking very empty with most of the stall leaving at lunchtime. What was sadder was seeing the UK retail stores turning from green to red on our monitors as they were taken off-line and the huge amount of disabled user accounts.
I have had to start job hunting, as Electra Rail does not pay the bills. I'm sure there will be some time to do some real modelling and crack on with a few new projects, such as the Purple Meridian, in the meantime. I still don't think it has sunk in yet and I am totally numb.
adam
we are all sorry to hear of this, and wish you and your family well. we all sincerely ( having heard the news ) hope that you are gainfully employed again soon in a ob which makes use of your skill sets. chin up.
Tough break bloke.
Sorry to hear this.
Good luck moving forward.
NeMo
Certainly is sad times for ALL associated with the failure of a business. With IT being some what the unmentioned members of staff I'm sure and a huge name for the world too loose.
Billions of pounds in debt and borrowing more and more year on year to try to sustain itself. I thought a statement yesterday from a certain chief exec was particularly hollow. Implying that he was working tirelessly on a sunday to cobble together another rescue package for the good of the company, presumably to make sure his golden handshake remained.
It is unfortunate how someone who is ultimately responsible for the company kept his job and that the board kept agreeing to the plans of borrowing their way out of trouble. A business plan I know my bank would never allow me to do and one I've yet to know succeed
Hopefully staff will get help with further employment and one thing is for sure EVERY business now needs IT support so :beers: to your new prosperous future
Sad about the demise of such a well known and long established company :(
Hope you can find another job you enjoy, Adam.
I can only echo the above sentiments. Good luck to you in the future. As has been said, companies need IT these days.
Quote from: captainelectra on September 23, 2019, 08:40:41 PM
..
What was sadder was seeing the UK retail stores turning from green to red on our monitors as they were taken off-line and the huge amount of disabled user accounts.
...
What a vividly sad picture that paints Adam. I think when travel companies fail the focus of news reports and thus the national conscience, is on stranded holidaymakers. You've reminded me that the pain runs much wider and deeper. When those unfortunate holidaymakers finally get home, they will likely still have a job.
Very best of luck with the job hunting. :heart:
:hellosign:
Sorry to hear your news Adam, best of luck for the future
regards Derek.
Saw it on the news here last night.
Must be horrible for you. All the very best for the future, mate.
Sorry to hear that Adam. My employer went into administration (another well known company) just over a year ago. I still work there (in tech), deprecating the systems and switching everything off gradually! After a couple of false starts I've got a new, better role starting in November. These things do usually work out for the best, as rubbish as they are in the short term. Chin up.
sorry to hear that, such and iconic company to end up like this. As others have said there is a lot of help for all the holidaymakers, hopefully there is the same level of help for the workers being made redundant.
as a proud owner of some of your work, a man of your skills will always be in demand.
Good hunting Adam!
I'm sure something will come along for you fairly quickly. As others have said, every business needs IT support, so hopefully your prospects are good.
Sorry for you and everyone else at T Cook.
I have fond memories of visiting the "campus" at Peterborough in the 1990s selling paper.
Good luck!
Joe
P.S. I'm also on the rock & roll since my employeur went bust in January
Best wishes Adam, hope you get something sorted soon
Definately a bad day for yourself, the rest of the staff, and the historic name of Thomas Cook..
I suspect the vultures are already circling to buy up bits of the business without the debts. I wouldn't be surprised to See the name TC to be bought and resurected... but it won't be the same.
Yes it's the staff we need to feel sorry for jobs are not that easy to find at the moment , but it sounds like the bosses won't have to worry it's allways the same if they didn't take such rediculouse amounts of money and have fancy offices etc etc then the companies wouldn't be in such a mess ,I agree they risk a lot of money buying the planes and other equipment and need an office but it sounds to me as if the boss of TC was taking the proverbial .
Just my opinion .
Good luck Adam it makes your planed move more of an option now though.
Bob Tidbury
Many thanks for all the kind words and support - it is much appreciated. :thankyousign:
A move to Spain would certainly be lovely but we would need to see what would happen with reciprocal healthcare deals should B****t ever happen. Both myself and my wife have regular prescription medication and we would rely on being able to continue this within another EU country without crippling insurance costs. A lot of ex-pats face being driven back to the UK unless this is sorted and there is no immediate prospect of that happening. I''ll stick with Peterborough for a while longer, I guess... :)
So sorry to hear this Adam. Hoping and praying you find something else soon.
Adrian
Quote from: captainelectra on September 24, 2019, 10:54:39 AM
Many thanks for all the kind words and support - it is much appreciated. :thankyousign:
A move to Spain would certainly be lovely but we would need to see what would happen with reciprocal healthcare deals should B****t ever happen. Both myself and my wife have regular prescription medication and we would rely on being able to continue this within another EU country without crippling insurance costs. A lot of ex-pats face being driven back to the UK unless this is sorted and there is no immediate prospect of that happening. I''ll stick with Peterborough for a while longer, I guess... :)
I'm pretty shocked at what's happened with Thomas Cook. I hope you can apply your talents gainfully elsewhere soon Adam.
What happens with the reciprocal agreements is definitely a worry, but on the health insurance side there may be an alternative for you. When I started my move to Spain I realised that getting my Residentia as an employee of my UK company meant proving means, getting health insurance etc. that would have been tricky and expensive. However I was able to do a different route and set my self up as an Autonomo (self employed person) which then entitled me to apply for Residentia as one of the benefits of Autonomo status in Spain is full social and health coverage on their system. You pay a monthly contribution (mine's about €90 a month this year, eventually rising to the full €300 or so contribution after 2 years) and have to pay for an accountant but it can work out a lot cheaper than getting health insurance privately and even gives you a full state pension after 15 years.
Many thanks for the info - I did not know about this. As the plan is to run Electra from a Spanish base, there could be a lot of merit in doing it this way.
Adam, aside from the immediate thoughts of the loss of jobs the first thing that occurred to me is that demand for travel still exists and some company will fulfill that need. So, let's hope the disruption to so many lives will be only temporary and not too devastating. What, in your opinion, will be the timeframe for the emergence of a "new" Thomas Cook, and is there a competitor who is most likely to purchase the name and aircraft? Virgin, perhaps? Despite the stigma of bankruptcy, the Thomas Cook name and reputation (which I've always considered favorably) will likely survive as a more sustainable entity.
I've only once used Virgin Vacations, but my impression was that Virgin used a contract travel agency (in the case of the U.S. that company was in Washington state).
Best wishes for your own future!
Leon
My wife and I have just got back from Almeria to visit relatives, flying Thomas Cook. The collapse occurred while we were away. I give full marks to the CAA for keeping us informed of arrangements to get us home, which was on the same day and time we had booked to return. Staff at Almeria and Ringway were plentiful and seemed well briefed. The 'rescue' plane was crewed by 'former' Thomas Cook staff on their last, unpaid, flight. They were quite emotional about the situation. I give them full marks too and our sympathy goes to all the TC staff who have lost their jobs. Interestingly it was a Thomas Cook A321 bringing us home, as TC doesn't, didn't own planes - this one was leased from Avion Express.
regards Norman
I see they used a Malaysian Airlines A380 to get people back from Mallorca, bit different!
Quote from: njee20 on September 25, 2019, 05:39:48 PM
I see they used a Malaysian Airlines A380 to get people back from Mallorca, bit different!
Yes I saw that as well, a real case of "any aircraft available will do".
I did wonder where they found the crew for that big bird at short notice, but suppose if it was on "wet lease" they would have pilots...
Just to add to the commiserations Adam, I wish you all the best.
Skyline2uk
Sorry to hear about your job Adam. I hope you can get a new one quickly. :thumbsup: Awful how such a well established company can just come to an end. All that history... :(
Thomas Cook were not just a travel agent, they were something special.
They issued their own travellers cheques (remember those) in competition with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Bank of America, among others.
I haven't checked but I imagine that the expression "Cook's Tour" is in several dictionaries?
Best regards and good luck to all the ex-TC.
Joe
Sorry to hear of your misfortune Adam.
But at least you have transferrable IT skills? I'm sure it'll turn out alright in the end.
We could do with your talents where I work, as our IT is somewhat lacking!
All the best for your future....
Quote from: Gizzy on September 26, 2019, 03:37:13 PM
Sorry to hear of your misfortune Adam.
But at least you have transferrable IT skills? I'm sure it'll turn out alright in the end.
We could do with your talents where I work, as our IT is somewhat lacking!
All the best for your future....
:hmmm: Peterborough to Cambridge, not a horrendous commute :)
Quote from: joe cassidy on September 26, 2019, 12:13:13 PM
Thomas Cook were not just a travel agent, they were something special.
They issued their own travellers cheques (remember those) in competition with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Bank of America, among others.
I haven't checked but I imagine that the expression "Cook's Tour" is in several dictionaries?
And anyone with the Waddingtons board game* 'Go' will know the Bureau de Change offices were Thomas Cook.
*Remember board games? I have several
Quote from: class37025 on September 26, 2019, 03:59:32 PM
Quote from: Gizzy on September 26, 2019, 03:37:13 PM
Sorry to hear of your misfortune Adam.
But at least you have transferrable IT skills? I'm sure it'll turn out alright in the end.
We could do with your talents where I work, as our IT is somewhat lacking!
All the best for your future....
:hmmm: Peterborough to Cambridge, not a horrendous commute :)
I work near Ipswich, but our IT is in Milton Keynes....
ahh, the town of concrete cows and roundabouts ???
Sorry to hear this. Certainly came out of the blue as I always considered it quite a well established company that was happily ticking over. Was actually in a branch using their money exchange service the day before it happened and the staff were certainly unaware
Always here a lot about the unfortunate customers but often not enough about the staff :(
All the best
Quote from: class37025 on September 26, 2019, 04:17:52 PM
ahh, the town of concrete cows and roundabouts ???
the cows are now 40yrs old and munching happily outside the MK museum (there are fibreglass replicas masquerading elsewhere in MK!)
http://www.miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk/ (http://www.miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk/)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_Cows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_Cows)
I see the replicas are now where the originals were in MK..
Quote from: captainelectra on September 23, 2019, 08:40:41 PM
My "day job" with Thomas Cook IT Support has come to an unexpected close today following the collapse of the rescue deal.
Very sorry to read about this. Hope you can reset your career quickly. I don't mean this at all flippantly, but (writing as a former IT director) your experience of managing systems through good times and now bad, will surely stand you in good stead.
Best wishes
Mike