The Business On... Frank Meysman, chairman-designate, Thomas Cook
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The hire was announced yesterday by the current chairman, Michael Beckett, who is due to retire at the end of the year. Mr Beckett will leave on schedule in December and said he was "pleased to hand over" the reins to Mr Meysman.
Pleased or relieved?
Ecstatic, delighted, over-the-moon – those are the sort of words we'd use if we were in Mr Beckett's position. Chairing Thomas Cook is a thankless task just now: the firm is performing badly – it may even need a rights issue after three profits warnings this year alone – and has been short of a chief executive since Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned last month.
So who is Mr Meysman?
He's a Belgian national with a CV full of impressive executive jobs, though none of them have been in travel or tourism. He's had stints at Douwe Egberts, Procter & Gamble and most recently Sara Lee, where he was an executive vice president until 2003. Since then, he's held a string of non-executive positions.
He says?
"The Group currently faces a number of significant challenges, but in the medium to longer-term we will be well positioned to build shareholder value on the back of premium brands and a fine heritage in the UK as well as internationally." Very on message.
They say?
Thomas Cook watchers welcomed the fact the company had made an appointment, which at least is a start to the rebuilding process, and the company's shares bounced. Still, Mr Meysman is a gamble given his lack of travel experience. He's rarely worked in the UK either.
What would Thomas Cook think?
The company's eponymous founder would be pleased with Mr Meysman's experience in the food business. After all, Mr Cook's first foray into the travel market saw him hire trains to transport 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester to Loughborough. The one shilling fare included, unusually for train transport at the time, a meal. The charter travel business was born.
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