The merger between Thomson and First Choice was driven by rapid change within the leisure travel market in 2007. Consumers were increasingly using the internet to browse and book their holidays, therefore changing the dynamics and the major players in the travel industry. Within months in 2007, four of the largest travel companies became two; Thomas Cook and Mytravel merged under the Thomas Cook brand, and Thomson and First Choice merged keeping the two brands.
The challenges of a large-scale merger
When Thomson and First Choice merged, it
brought together two companies with similar
products but differing histories, cultures and
strategies. It was clear that there were a number
of business and communication challenges ahead.
Thomson had been through a number of significant restructures and a relocation from London to Luton in recent years, which led to change weariness and considerable uncertainty.
At the time the merger was announced in March, Thomson was consulting with employees as a further 900 jobs were being taken from the business. First Choice (Mainstream Sector) had been up for sale and there was much uncertainty connected to it being potentially sold off. There was already considerable emotion around this, and then Thomas Cook and My Travel merged. Five weeks later, First Choice announced its own merger with TUI AG (owner of Thomson).
The merger prompted another wave of changes for people at all levels in the business – there were changes at each level of management including the executive board and there was a head office relocation from Crawley to Luton.
The disparate workforces presented the internal communication (IC) team with numerous hurdles. There were people based in multiple head office sites in the UK, call centers, over 800 retail shops, airline bases and overseas resort destinations. The ability to reach a workforce of varying demographics in numerous geographies with limited access to systems in a timely manner was a challenge. Managers were dealing with the integration but also had to ensure we maintained business as usual.
The pace of change varied in different business areas. For example, it was a regulatory requirement to have one Air Operating Certificate (AOC) in the airline business, this meant that the airline business needed to integrate quickly and effectively to achieve the AOC.
Prior to day one of TUI UK & Ireland
The internal communication for employees, prior
to the merger, became the responsibility of the
HR division. The HR team were already
responsible for people priorities and policies for
day one of the new company and beyond.
Both Thomson and First Choice had small IC teams, which sat in different areas of the business; HR in First Choice and Distribution in Thomson. It was agreed that the HR integration would take on communication responsibility as this is where the majority of communication and change management experience was based, also, communication and people priorities were closely linked.
The decision was taken early on to regularly communicate with people even when there was little to update them on as, understandably, there was a great thirst for information. As a matter of priority, the objectives for the merger and key milestones were agreed. Consistent communication was delivered via existing channels in the two businesses – face-to-face communication was encouraged wherever possible so people had the ability to ask questions to senior managers and members of the integration team.
Work in Partnership (WiP) forums were established in both businesses and they soon became a key communication channel. These forums gave elected employee representatives the opportunity to speak to directors and senior managers and raise any issues they had on their mind. The WiP forums also provided a reliable barometer group for those working on the integration. The forums later became the consultation bodies to discuss where our head office would be based, the selection processes for new roles and agree the redundancy payments and outplacement support.
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