Rothwell finds it’s just rosy in the garden

Rothwell finds it’s just rosy in the garden

AIRTOURS departing UKLG chief executive Peter Rothwell is either the shrewdest or the luckiest man in the travel industry.

Five years ago, he jumped ship from arch rival Thomson Travel Group and was promptly given gardening leave by the market leader for the best part of a year.

For those not familiar with gardening leave, it means you are not allowed to join your new employers for the said period. However, as you hold sensitive information, you are not allowed to continue working for your current boss either.

So you’re sent home to sit in the garden on full pay. When this first happened to Rothwell, he was able to while away the time by indulging his passion for skiing – nice work if you can get it.

Now Rothwell’s gone and done it again. He’s jumped back to a top job running Thomson Travel Group.

He was marched out of Airtours immediately when he dropped that bombshell to his current employers.

He’ll be on gardening leave for at least a year and possibly two if Airtours can enforce the clause about not working for a competitor for two years.

Mind you, his salary – in excess of £250,000 a year – should soften the blow, even if the bonuses at Airtours won’t be too good this year after two profits warnings. Winter is just about to start, so Rothwell can hit the slopes of St Anton again. By the time he joins Thomson, he’ll not only be one of the top people in the industry, he’ll be one of the top skiers. And do we sound jealous? Well, do we?

All white for some: when it comes to gardening Rothwell likes to take an active role