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Bill Munro breaks down in tears at tribunal
Barrhead Travel founder Bill Munro broke down in tears yesterday as he revealed that he decided to sell his company after discovering he had a heart condition.
Giving evidence at an industrial tribunal in Glasgow, the 75-year-old said he was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm and then went to the accountants ‘as I may not live very long’.
He said he gave his daughter Sharon the shares and gradually she took on more and more of the management role.
"In the last two or three years, I gave up the day-to-day running of the business and was more involved in the ambassadorial side of things," he said.
Munro is now suing the US company that bought Barrhead for unfair dismissal. Travel Leaders Group made Munro redundant four months after it took over.
Earlier in the tribunal Travel Leaders bosses had accused Munro of being disruptive and refusing to let go. He had been banned from its shops.
Munro told the tribunal yesterday that he just wants to work.
"I love working in the travel business. I was blessed to be in such an exciting industry. I just want to work for somebody. It would be nice if Barrhead was part of it," he said.
"I have quite a lot of talent and know a lot of people. It breaks my heart to leave Barrhead. I am here in part to try to get my job back and to get back into the travel business.
"I should be allowed to work. The last couple of years have been a miserable time with lack of sleep and everything else."
The tribunal continues.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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