All change at Eurostar

Former easyJet Chief Commercial Officer returns to Arriva.

Well known in the airline industry from his time at easyJet when it first floated in 2000 Mike Cooper (59) will stand down from his job as Chief Executive of Eurostar to returning in October to Arriva the Anglo-German public transport company where he had held various senior posts for nine years leaving in 2014 as Deputy CEO and MD Mainland Europe.   

His return comes at a crossroads for both companies.

Eurostar, once part-owned by the British taxpayer but now controlled by SNCF, the French state railway, is due to be merged next year with Thalys, an SNCF business that runs high-speed trains between France and Belgium.  Whether he would have been offered the top job is open to speculation.

Arriva was put up for sale last year by its owner Deutsche Bahn, the offer withdrawn last November.

Arriva has a whole variety of interests in bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus services in 14 countries across Europe and before the pandemic employed around 60,000 staff.  In the UK it operates Cross Country Trains, Chiltern Railways and London Overground franchises, with licences running until 2024.  What their future holds nobody knows. Please also see BTN Mike Cooper ON THE SOAPBOX 4 November 2019 

www.arriva.co.uk

www.eurostar.com

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