BEIS Select Committee – Thomas Cook inquiry

The run of UK corporate failures has continued with the announcement ¹ on 23 September 2019 that tour operator Thomas Cook had ceased trading. Newspaper reports focused on the loss of jobs and the plight of holiday-makers overseas. Two weeks later, the Civil Aviation Authority announced ² that it had completed “the largest peacetime repatriation plan, ‘Operation Matterhorn’ … bringing more than 140,000 people back to the UK”. A Parliamentary Select Committee has begun hearings to understand the train of events leading to the collapse. This article covers the story to date with a focus on the accounting and audit issues.