Oxfordshire Thomas Cook staff in limbo over shops’ future (From Witney Gazette)

Oxfordshire Thomas Cook staff in limbo over shops’ future

9:30am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News

WORKERS at eight Oxfordshire branches of Thomas Cook were last night waiting to hear whether their jobs were safe after the troubled holiday firm announced a raft of store closures.

Bosses revealed plans to shut 195 of its high street travel agencies and about 40 staff in Cowley, Bicester, Witney, Abingdon, Didcot, Wantage, Carterton and Banbury were set to be told whether their store would survive the axe.

But workers at three out of the four Dreams bed and furniture stores in the county were breathing a sigh of relief after their outlets were saved from administration.

However, two staff at the Bicester store have been left fearing for their future after it was taken into administration and put up for sale.

Around 2,500 jobs nationwide are to be axed at Thomas Cook, with management saying the moves were being made as part of a restructuring and to slash administration costs.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association, which represents employees, said it was “shocked and angry” at the scale of the job losses.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “The company needs new products if it is to come to terms with the age of the internet and prosper in the 21st century.”