Ex-Sainsbury’s boss to lead health and safety review at Thomas Cook
Former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King, CBE, is to lead an independent review of customer health, safety, welfare, relations and crisis management at Thomas Cook.
The review will begin immediately and is expected to finish in September, when the company said the findings, conclusions and recommendations will be published in full.
The move comes after the deaths of Christi and Bobby Shepherd from carbon monoxide poisoning on a Thomas Cook holiday in Corfu in 2006.
Earlier this year an inquest jury ruled that Thomas Cook ‘breached its duty of care’ in the case of the two children.
The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing of the brother and sister, who were aged six and seven when they died.
West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchcliff said he would make a series of recommendations to the holiday industry at a later date.
The manager of the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel and two members of staff had already been found guilty of manslaughter by negligence at a criminal trial in Greece in 2010, but eight others, including two Thomas Cook reps, were cleared.
Following the inquest, Thomas Cook came under fire when it emerged that it had received £3 million in claims against the hotel owners Louis Group.
Following a major backlash, with customers threatening to boycott the operator, it gave half of the money to the Unicef charity.
Thomas Cook was also criticised for the way it handled the case and its lack of communication with the parents.
In May, CEO Peter Fankhauser finally met with the parents, Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd.
"In that meeting, I promised them that we would review our health and safety standards, as well as how we take care of our customers ordinarily and during times of crisis, so that no other parents would ever have to experience what they have gone through," said Fankhauser.
"I hope that this independent review led by Justin King will play a significant part in supporting the change programme I am committed to implementing across the Thomas Cook business to put the customer at the heart of everything we do."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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