T he other day I had a drink with Julie Morosco from Airtours UK Leisure Group. She seemed like a very nice woman.
Mind you, if I worked for Airtours, I wouldn’t want Julie asking me to go for a drink with her.
Julie doesn’t have a title because it’s best not to publicise the type of work she does. Julie’s in charge of ‘right-sizing businesses’ and ‘people management.’ In English, that means she’s the one who has to get rid of people.
Julie’s been working with Going Places managing director Terry Fisher to make the retailer much more efficient for next year – ie getting rid of 80 jobs that are no longer necessary.
Of course, changes are needed at Going Places and no doubt Fisher will increase profits at the retailer.
But this ‘right-sizing’ will continue elsewhere. Airtours has turned in healthy profits and has £760m to spend on new acquisitions but Julie will still be used in all areas of the business to cut costs and improve efficiencies.
If Airtours is taking those steps, then other travel companies are sure to follow.
The new year for all travel companies is going to be tough as competition increases and the pressure to increase profits intensifies.
Everyone needs to be sure they are adding value to their businesses – otherwise they might just get a visit from Julie.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor