Travel firm set to cut 2,500 UK jobs

Travel firm Thomas Cook says it is to cut 2,500 UK jobs and close 195 stores in Britain as the euro crisis, high fuel costs and unrest in destinations like Egypt and Greece take their toll on the holiday business.

Most of the job losses would be in its retail network and back-office positions and would involve the closure of 195 of its 1,069 UK stores, said the world’s oldest travel group, which has a workforce of 15,500 in UK and Ireland.

The 172-year-old group has struggled over the last two years with a slump in sales that has forced it to renegotiate bank loans and sell off planes and stores to lighten its debt load.