Thomas Cook Group Plc
TCG:LN
Overview
Company Profile
Thomas Cook is Europe's second-largest travel firm. It was formed by the merger of UK package holiday rival MyTravel and the Thomas Cook tourism unit of Germany's KarstadtQuelle. Under the terms of the merger, KarstadtQuelle owns 52% of the enlarged group and MyTravel the rest.
Classification
Financials
Corporate
Board of Directors
Frank Meysman
Non-Executive Chairman
Appointment: October 2011 Committee memberships: Chairman of Nominations Committee. Skills & experience: Frank Meysman was appointed Chairman Designate of the Company on 1 October 2011 and became Chairman on 1 December 2011. He has had a successful executive career in dynamic global brand companies, including Procter & Gamble between 1977 and 1986, Douwe Egberts between 1986 and 1990 and The Sara Lee Corporation between 1990 and 2003, where, from 1997, he was Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors. Since leaving Sara Lee, Frank has been a Non-Executive Director, including Chairman, of a number of public and private international companies. Other appointments: Chairman of Betafence N.V., JBC N.V and United Biscuits. He is also an Independent Representative Director of Picanol N.V., Warehouses De Pauw (WDP) and Spadel S.A.
Dr Peter Fankhauser
Group Chief Executive Officer
Appointment: November 2014 Skills & experience: Peter Fankhauser was appointed as Chief Executive Officer for Thomas Cook Group in November 2014, having joined the company in May 2001. Before being appointed to the Executive Board of Thomas Cook AG, Peter gained a great deal of experience within the travel industry working for Kuoni Travel. In March 2003 Peter took on the roles of Chief Product Officer and Chief Executive Officer for Thomas Cook Germany. Since June 2007 Peter has overseen operations for the Continental Europe segment for Thomas Cook Group. In November 2012 Peter was named as Chief Executive Officer for UK & Continental Europe. Peter progressed to the role of Chief Operating Officer for Thomas Cook Group in November 2013.
Michael Healy
Group Chief Financial Officer
Appointment: July 2012 Skills & experience: Michael Healy joined the Company on 14 May 2012 and became Group Chief Financial Officer on 1 July 2012. Prior to this, he was Group Finance Director of Kwik-Fit Group. Michael has considerable international experience, across a broad range of industries and was previously Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director of the Hong Kong listed First Pacific Company Limited and subsequently Chief Financial Officer of ebookers plc.
Carl Symon
Senior Independent Director
Appointment: October 2013 Committee memberships: Member of Audit, Renumeration and Nominations Committees Skills & experience: Carl Symon was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 3 October 2013 and became Senior Independent Director on 20 February 2014. Carl has extensive global business operations and management experience, having retired in 2001 from IBM after a long career, during which he held various senior positions, both globally and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM UK. His former positions include non-executive Director of Rolls-Royce Group plc, BT Group plc and Rexam plc and Chairman of HMV Group plc Carl has decided to retire from the Board at the end of the Company’s financial year, 30 September 2015, and accordingly submitted his letter of resignation on 15 June 2015. The Board is pleased to announce that Dawn Airey, Independent Non-Executive Director, will succeed Carl as Senior Independent Director with effect from 1 October 2015. Other appointments:. Non-executive Director of BAE Systems plc.
Warren Tucker
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: October 2013 Committee memberships: Chairman of Remuneration Committee, Member of Audit and Nominations Committees Skills & experience: Warren was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director on 3 October 2013 and became Chairman of the Remuneration Committee on 20 February 2014. Warren has significant experience in international business and strategic transformations. He was, from 2003 until May 2013, Chief Financial Officer of Cobham plc. He is a chartered accountant and has previously held senior finance positions at British Airways plc and Cable & Wireless plc. Other appointments: Non-executive Director of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc.
Martine Verluyten
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: May 2011 Committee memberships: Chairman of Audit Committee, Member of Nominations Committee Skills & experience: Martine Verluyten was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 9 May 2011. She has significant international financial and IT expertise and has held a number of senior finance positions across the telecommunications, electronics and materials sectors. Between 2006 and 2011 she was the Chief Financial Officer of Umicore, a Brussels-based materials technology group and from 2000 to 2006, she was Group Controller and subsequently Chief Financial Officer of the mobile telephone operator Mobistar. Other appointments: Non-Executive Director of 3i Group plc, Supervisory Board member and chair of audit committee of STMicroelectronics N.V. and Independent Director of Group Bruxelles Lambert. She also chairs the audit committee of the Flemish Region in Belgium.
Dawn Airey
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: April 2010 Committee memberships: Member of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee and Remuneration Committee. Skills & experience: Dawn Airey was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 12 April 2010. She has over 28 years’ experience in the media industry and has held senior positions at some of the UK’s leading media companies. She is currently Senior Vice President of Yahoo! EMEA. Until April 2013 she was President of CLT-UFA UK Television Limited within the RTL Group and prior to this, she was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Five TV, after joining the company from her role as Managing Director, Global Content at ITV plc. Between 2004 and 2008, she was also a Non‑Executive Director of easyJet plc. Following Carl Symon’s decision to retire from the Board at the end of the Company’s financial year, 30 September 2015, the Board is pleased to announce that Dawn will succeed Carl as Senior Independent Director with effect from 1 October 2015. Other appointments: Chair of the National Youth Theatre
Emre Berkin
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: November 2012 Committee memberships: Chairman of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee. Member of Remuneration Committee and Nominations Committee. Skills & experience: Emre Berkin was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 November 2012. He has considerable experience across the technological sector and international markets and, being based in Turkey, he has vital knowledge of one of the key destinations for millions of our customers. Between 1993 and 2006, he held a number of senior positions at Microsoft, latterly as Chairman, Middle East & Africa and Vice-President, Europe, Middle East & Africa, where he led all aspects of Microsoft business in 79 countries, including emerging markets. Since 2006, he has acted as a Non-Executive Director to a number of companies, including Pegasus Airlines, Turkey’s leading low cost carrier, and a broad range of technology companies including Alcatel Lucent Teletas Telekomunikasyon A.S., which is listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Other appointments: Non-Executive Director of Alcatel Lucent Teletas Telekomunikasyon A.S., and Pegasus Airlines.
Annet Aris
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: July 2014 Committee memberships: Member of the Health, Safety and Environmental Committee; and member of the Remuneration Committee. Skills & experience: Annet was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 July 2014. She is Adjunct Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, France, a position she has held since 2003, and before that was a partner of McKinsey & Company in Germany where, for a number of years, she was the only female partner and one of the leaders of its Transportation and later its Media practice. Other appointments: Annet also holds various non-executive roles in Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, including: Board member and Chair of the Audit committee of Kabel Deutschland AG; Board member and Chair of the Nomination and the Remuneration Committees of ASR Netherlands N.V.; Board member and Vice-Chair of the Human Resources Committee of Sanoma Group; Board member of Jungheinrich AG; and Board member and Member of the Audit and the Compensation Committees of ProSiebenSat1 AG.