MyTravel today announced the resignation of its chief executive, Tim Byrne, after a rocky year at Britain's biggest tour operator.

Mutual decision
The Manchester-based group said Mr Byrne - who was paid nearly £1m last year - had left by mutual consent and with immediate effect. The group's chairman, David Crossland, will now postpone his retirement, originally due in November, for up to 12 months while a replacement is found.

Mr Byrne's resignation follows a clamour from disgruntled shareholders who have seen a slump in the company's share price after profit warnings and a change in accounting policy that could sharply lower profits.

Tourism slump possibly to blame
As Mr Byrne was effectively thrown to the wolves, Mr Crossland said it had been "with regret" that the mutual decision had been reached. "Tim has made a major contribution to MyTravel over many years," he added. "He delivered record profits in his first year as group chief executive and in the last 12 months has led the company through the industry's most difficult trading environment in recent history."

Mr Byrne's departure follows a hard year for the former Airtours after the terror attacks of September 11 and the subsequent slump in tourism. The company cut 1,600 jobs because of the downturn and delayed the launch of its winter 2002 brochure by two months. In another blow to investor confidence, MyTravel said in May it still had more than 1m summer holidays to sell.

Shares rise again
The group last week saw its share price sink even further after warning that 2002 profits could be £15m lower because of an accounting change, although today shares in MyTravel surged 5.75p to 83.75p at the start of trading, a 7% jump.



[Source: Guardian Unlimited]