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Island travel agency to shut          7/3/13

The Co-op Travel agency with the Co-operative’s Macaulay Road store in Stornoway is to shut with its two staff at risk of being made redundant .

The travel agency is run by national giant Thomas Cook which has announced it  is axing 195 of its less profitable high-street outlets in a bid to strength the network. 76 branches of Thomas Cook and 119 Co-operative Travel branches are to go across the UK.

Thomas Cook, which merged with Co-op Travel merged in 2011, previously had a shop in Cromwell Street, Stornoway, which was shut in a cost saving measure.

Angus MacNeil MP said: “It is disappointing that the Thomas Cook Group and Co-operative Travel are consulting on the closure of the Stornoway branch, the last remaining travel agent in Lewis.

“I would hope that they look at all possible options for the Stornoway branch, and that every endeavour is made to look at the possibility of getting another company to take over the current travel agency.

MSP Alasdair Allan commented: “Obviously this is bad news not just for the people directly affected but raises wider questions about the need to ensure towns like Stornoway encourage new businesses.

“I have written to Thomas Cook about the situation, and also raised the wider issue of making towns and town centres attractive to new businesses with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP.”

Retail union Usdaw’s Sharon Ainsworth said: "We were well aware of the challenges that Thomas Cook have been facing in turning their UK business around, but the scale and severity of these redundancies will come as a real shock to our members.

"We will be using the 90-day consultation period to urge the business to look at every possible alternative to redundancy for these hardworking staff. Many of our members are long-serving and I believe they have a lot to offer Thomas Cook in helping the business to build a successful future.”

Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook’s UK chief executive said: “"It is never easy to make decisions that impact directly on our people, but we also owe it to our customers to shape the business effectively.”