Created by the merger between MyTravel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG in June 2007, Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the leading leisure travel groups in the world. With revenues exceeding €12 billion, the group employs over 33,000 people across the globe. Each year more than 19 million people around the world choose to travel with Thomas Cook.

In the UK and Ireland alone, the company has a network of more than 800 high street stores, leading travel websites (www.thomascook.com and www.flythomascook.com), its own TV channel and some of the world’s favourite travel brands. The company’s airline, Thomas Cook Airlines, flies from a number of regional airports to destinations worldwide. Thomas Cook also helps travellers through other areas of the group, including financial services and a publishing division. The new group brings the operations of both MyTravel and Thomas Cook into one central organisation.

Following the merger, the new organisation looked for ways to help facilitate internal communication between its regional businesses and the international group. The existing intranet solutions that were operating throughout the business were separate from each other and bringing these together into one system was a key goal for the new organisation.

After researching the market, Thomas Cook selected the feature-rich SORCE Intranet to improve the ease of distributing information to all areas of the group. Initially connecting more than 20,000 employees from the UK and Ireland, the new intranet will eventually replace all existing intranet systems. To further the accessibility of information across the business, the new intranet will also integrate with existing back office systems, such as SAP.

In addition to delivering the specific business requirements of Thomas Cook, the new intranet will take advantage of the powerful suite of easy to use readymade applications that come complete with SORCE. A wide range of applications including contacts manager, news articles and document management will be rolled out across the group, providing staff with the tools to work more effectively. SORCE was chosen for its scalability, which will easily accommodate the growth of the group as it expands in the future.