Former Thomas Cook boss Harriet Green speaks for first time on the collapse

Harriet Green, the former boss of Thomas Cook once credited with its recovery from near-collapse, on Wednesday said she was “frustrated and sad” her plan to turnaround the now failed business was unpicked.

Green was giving evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee’s inquiry into the demise of Thomas Cook last month under a £1.7 billion debt pile.

Green told MPs that when she joined the tour operator in 2012 there had been a number of profit warnings and the company faced a “wall of debt”.

She said she launched a plan to help revive Thomas Cook, including refinancing and reducing the debt, selling off some arms, and building a digital business.

“We did the first part of it in 28 months, but I was not able to complete that,” Green said, adding that it was really a six-year plan.

MPs also heard from Green that in November 2014 she was “basically told your services are no longer required” by the then-chairman.

Green said there had been disagreements with the board about the pace and scale of change.

Also giving evidence today was Manny Fontenla-Novoa, another former Thomas Cook boss, ex-finance chief Bill Scott, and Dean Beale, chief executive of the Insolvency Service.

Beale revealed the amount Hays Travel paid for Thomas Cook’s UK retail empire earlier this month was just over £6 million. That figure had not previously been disclosed.

The BEIS committee is looking to establish how much Thomas Cook’s creditors may be able to claw back following the collapse.

The company was unable to secure a rescue deal in September. That left 9000 UK jobs at risk and triggered the biggest peacetime repatriation by the Civil Aviation Authority to return home some 150,000 UK holidaymakers that were stranded.