Homeworking organisation Independent Travel Experts is actively seeking to recruit Cook staff who face losing their jobs.
It joins other companies such as Travel Counsellors, Hays Travel and Midcounties Co-op Travel which have all expressed an interest in taking on Thomas Cook staff willing to switch from their jobs in high-street shops to become agents working from home.
Around 900 shop staff jobs are to be axed by Thomas Cook, part of 1,600 to go within the retail division. In total the company is shedding 2,500 posts across the business as part of its latest restructure.
ITE, a joint venture with the Travel Network Group, is one of the most recent homeworking start-up companies. It has around 70 self-employed homeworkers and is targeting at least 100 members. Members must generate their own sales leads and earn a minimum of 61% commission on sales and up to 70%.
Director Paula Turner (pictured, right), who previously worked as resourcing manager for The Co-operative Travel and Future Travel Group, said: “We might be the new kid on the block but we’re confident we can attract Thomas Cook retail staff.”
The company is targeting new recruits at Thomas Cook in locations where shops are ‘likely’ to close and hopes to attract senior retail staff who are confident of establishing a good client base and working for themselves.
“We are actively targeting and recruiting self-starters. We already have some homeworkers who were retail staff made redundant by Thomas Cook in the first wave of closures who are now our top sellers and loving it,” she added.
“It doesn’t suit office juniors. It needs to be those who are self-starters and can create their own customer database and generate their own sales lead.”
Turner and Amanda Taylor (pictured, left), also a director of the business, have both experienced redundancy first-hand. “We know what it’s like to be made redundant and how hard it is. We hope to help people get the right work-life balance; there are so many positives for homeworking.”
ITE has introduced a special offer of the first six months’ free – normal maintence fees for software plus VAT usually amount to £36 – on top of its existing offer of free sales leads for the first three months.