The Altrincham branch of Thomas Cook was one of 550 of the travel group’s high street stores to close this morning.
The 178-year-old business had been seeking £200m to survive but announced at 2am this morning that it had collapsed into administration.
Alongside its airlines business, the firm also had a significant high street presence.
Its store on George Street in Altrincham simply has a sign in the window that reads: “This shop has been closed with immediate effect. All customer enquiries should be directed to the website thomascook.caa.co.uk for further information.”
The news is a major blow for Manchester as a whole, with Thomas Cook employing 3,000 people in the city.
The airline’s headquarters is based at Manchester Airport and employs 450 staff, with the rest of the city’s Thomas Cook staff based elsewhere at Manchester Airport and in high street stores across Greater Manchester. In total, the company employs 9,000 staff in the UK and 22,000 worldwide.
