Thomas Cook: City rallies to help Peterborough HQ staff

Staff at the Thomas Cook headquarters in Peterborough received the news on Monday morning

Free football match tickets, taxi rides to interviews and haircuts have been offered to the 1,000 Thomas Cook staff who lost their jobs in Peterborough when the company went bust.

Businesses have rallied to support staff from the travel operator's headquarters in the city.

The company, which employs 9,000 people in the UK went into liquidation on Monday with the loss of all jobs.

A former employee said local support "restores my faith in humanity".

'Walk of shame'

The man, who did not wish to be named, worked at Thomas Cook for more than 10 years and was among those who found out they had lost their jobs at a meeting at the headquarters on Monday.

"The walk of shame me and my fellow colleagues did yesterday was so demeaning, I won't ever forget that," he said.

Dozens of Peterborough businesses are now offering practical help to him and his colleagues.

This show of support from across the city "restores my faith in humanity and local community spirit", the man added.

Staff comforted each other as they arrived on Monday to hear the news about job losses

Recruitment companies are offering free CV checks, and a number of hairdressers and barbers have said they will cut hair and give free shaves to any former Thomas Cook employees ahead of interviews for new jobs.

Peterborough-based HR consultancy The Chrysalis Crew was one of the first organisations to offer support when news of the redundancies broke.

"Since [Tuesday] morning more than 40 former employees of Thomas Cook have reached out to us, and we know many more are passing on our details to their colleagues," said Sue Alty, from the company.

"We are offering to review CVs and discuss skill sets - and other services to them - for free," she said.

"I think the initial trickle of people getting in touch will become a flood by the end of the week."

A local taxi company says it will take staff to interviews for free and crèches are offering to look after children while parents attend interviews.

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The local football and ice hockey teams are also offering free tickets to matches.

League One Peterborough United Football Club used the hashtag #AUnitedCity when it said staff could get free tickets to Saturday's home match against AFC Wimbledon, with children getting in for £1.

It was "a small gesture to show our support for the city and its people", the club said.

Thomas Cook sponsored its shirts and one of its stands in the 1990s.

Likewise, the city's ice hockey team, Peterborough Phantoms, is offering free tickets to Sunday's fixture.

A number of businesses and organisations including Peterborough City Hospital have been promoting their job vacancies to former Thomas Cook staff.

The trust which runs the hospital said: "While we know it is highly unlikely there will be trained doctors and nurses among the Thomas Cook workforce, we are sure there are some excellent admin and clerical staff who would be good candidates for the range of roles available across our hospitals."

A dedicated Facebook page highlighting many of the offers of help has been set up by Peterborough resident Lucy Catton-Gee, who said it was "heartbreaking" to see the news of the company's collapse, and hear the stories of friends who had "literally lost their jobs overnight".

The page was "a little local gesture" to help, she said.