Vertical Group, a technology supplier to the Co-op’s Freedom Travel Group consortium and Future Travel Group homeworking arms, is to retain its interest in the newly-merged retail venture between Co-operative Travel and Thomas Cook.
The two divisions use Vertical’s Tarsc front and back-office agency technology and the firm was central to the founding of the two Co-op divisions.
Peter Healey, chief executive of the Vertical Group, and David Elstob, Freedom director and founding managing director who is also a Future director, confirmed their involvement will continue.
Healey (pictured) said: “David and I retain our interest in both Future and Freedom and we believe there is a great opportunity for the members and this is a very exciting time.
“We continue our involvement and support both businesses going forward. It is early days, but the merger should give both Future and Freedom members greater confidence in the future, and from a systems point of view, we will have to wait and see.”
The merger is also likely to have implications for other Co-op suppliers, but Travel Weekly understands no decisions have been made and discussions are ongoing.
Traveltek, which powers the Co-op’s award-winning website, described the merger as a “very exciting opportunity”.