Thomas Cook makes plea to lenders in last-minute rescue talks
Thomas Cook is teetering on the brink of collapse as it rushes to find a rescue deal in eleventh-hour talks with its lenders.
The world’s oldest holiday company is holding make-or-break discussions with creditors today as it fights to avoid collapsing into administration.
The firm has urged its lenders to slash the standby funding they require to help it through the next few months, according to Sky News.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has promised Thomas Cook customers that they will not be stranded abroad if the embattled holiday firm collapses.
The company is in talks this weekend to secure a £200m lifeline and avoid administration.
Raab said today that the government has put contingency plans in place to fly holidaymakers back to the UK if the company fails to reach a rescue deal.
The foreign secretary told the BBC: “We would wait to see and hope that it (Thomas Cook) can continue but in any event, as you would expect, we’ve got the contingency planning in place to make sure that in any worst-case scenario we can support all those who might otherwise be stranded.”
He added that ministers did not “systematically step in” when businesses went under unless there was “a good strategic national interest”.
The 178-year-old holiday giant has been holding emergency talks about a deal to hive off its Nordic airline and tour operating business units, according to the broadcaster.