Thomas Cook names Harriet Green as chief
THOMAS COOK has named Premier Farnell boss Harriet Green as its new chief executive, ending a nine-month search for Manny Fontenla-Novoa’s successor after a string of profit warnings sparked his departure last year.
Green, who has been at the helm of the FTSE-250 electronic parts distributor since 2006, will take over from Sam Weihagen, Thomas Cook’s interim chief executive, on 30 July.
Weihagen will stay on at the firm until September before retiring, to ensure a smooth transition.
Shares in the debt-laden tour operator, which recently agreed a £1.4bn refinancing package with its lenders, jumped almost 10 per cent yesterday as investors welcomed the news.
Whilst a newcomer to the travel industry, analysts said yesterday that Green’s experience turning around Premier Farnell’s operations, which have also faced tough market conditions of late, will be invaluable.
“It was important for Thomas Cook to get someone known to the City, and with experience of fixing a complex, underperforming group. And it has managed to accomplish that,” Douglas McNeill, an analyst with Charles Stanley, said.
Frank Meysman, chairman, said Green “is an extremely successful executive with the right combination of international, business transformation and ecommerce experience that we need to take the group forward.”
Green graduated with a degree in medieval history and a masters in economics and political science before embarking on a career in engineering.
One of the FTSE-250’s 10 female chief executives, Green is also a non-executive director at BAE systems and a director at US firm Emerson Electric. In 2010, she was awarded an OBE for services to the electronics industry.
Earlier this month, Thomas Cook said former Kwik-Fit finance boss Michael Healy will replace Paul Hollingworth as finance chief in July.