News of the forthcoming departure of former MyTravel managing director John Bloodworth from the Thomas Cook Group raised some eyebrows. It left the merged company with not one former MyTravel face at the top.
But without impugning the departing UK and Ireland head in any way, it makes sense. After all, this is a merger in name only. Thomas Cook has taken over a previously distressed group and is incorporating those parts that complement its own. MyTravel chief executive Peter McHugh and his team have done their job, having salvaged the former UK number-two and given the banks that took control a return on their money.
It is a curious feature of the consolidation at the top of the trade that, while this merger is truly a takeover, the takeover of First Choice by TUI is truly a merger. How often is it that one company buys another and then puts its affairs in the hands of the chief executive and chief financial officer of the company it just bought?