Thomas Cook Group non-executive chairman, Dr. Thomas Middelhoff has stood down from the Board with immediate effect.

He has been succeeded as chairman by Dr. Karl-Gerhard Eick (54) who joined the Thomas Cook Board in December 2008 as non-executive director, nominated by Arcandor AG, which owns 52.8% of the shares in issue of the group.

Eick succeeded Middelhoff as CEO and chairman of Arcandor AG on March 1. He was previously chief financial officer of Deutsche Telekom AG from 2000 to 2009, being deputy chairman of the Board from 2004.

The Thomas Cook Board thanked Middelhoff for his "vision, enthusiasm and contribution over the last two years".


By Bev Fearis