TC/Co-op: online gets streamlined

Two websites are to close as a result of the Thomas Cook/Co-operative joint venture.

The co-opholidays.co.uk and ski-direct.co.uk sites, which employ 14 people, will shut down.

Thomas Cook has begun a 30-day consultation with five staff employed by the joint venture, while the others, who work on a self-employed basis, have been given notice.

Staff are being given the opportunity to apply for jobs at the Co-operative Personal Travel Advisors (CoPTA) homeworking division.

The company said it needed to streamline its website offering following the joint venture.

The co-operativetravel.co.uk will be the main focus, a spokeswoman said.

It already receives the majority of customer traffic and is supported by staff at Altrincham.

The spokeswoman said: ‘Since Thomas Cook, The Co-operative Travel and the Midlands Co-operative formed a joint venture last year, we’ve always said that we would conduct a full review of all the business functions and look to integrate and strengthen the combined business by addressing underperforming areas and minimising overlap and duplication.

‘We are working closely with those 14 affected colleagues as they go through the consultation and notice period.’