Cook’s tour-de-force

I Was much saddened by the demise of thomas Cook.

In January 1951, I was 23, out of work, and my wife was three months’ pregnant with our first child when I spotted the job advert: ‘travel clerk wanted, apply stating salary required.’ I duly applied, requesting £7 per week.

after ten days with no reply, I rang asking to speak to the manager, to whom I queried the lack of courtesy. he apologised, but told me that the vacancy had been filled.

however, my response was that he hadn’t interviewed me and therefore I would call to see him at 11am the following day.

I duly arrived and after an amicable discussion he reiterated that the position had been filled, but he would bear me in mind for the future. then to my surprise, the next morning I received a letter asking me to start the following Monday at Cook’s at the princely sum of £4 and 15 shillings

per week. I was there for 11 happy years and when I left to manage a small local travel agency, I was thanked for past service and made a honorary member of the Travel agents Institute, which became the Institute of Travel & Tourism.

I bought the new agency in 1968 and struggled throughout the seventies to make it a success. My late wife and four children all worked in the company, which now concentrates on business travel and is now run by my youngest son, with flourishing offices in Jersey, London, stoke-on-Trent and Manchester.

None of this would have been possible without my grounding with Thomas Cook.

The greedy, incompetent senior management sharks who have sullied the company name should be ashamed for the rest of their lives — but they won’t be, of course!

JOHN MORRIS, Barlaston, Staffs.