Finance chief carries can for £117m write-off at travel giant

THE finance chief at Britain's biggest travel business is to quit after the company revealed it will have to write off £117 million in an accounting blunder.

TUI - which owns the Thomson and First Choice chains - said the error related to its failure to correctly reconcile the separate accounting systems used in the retail and tour operator businesses within its UK division. Shares plunged 11 per cent on the news, down 25.4p at 205p.

Despite the situation dating back over a number of years, TUI said its chief financial officer Paul Bowtell had offered to stand down. He will leave at the end of the year following the preparation of full-year results.

The problems came to light after the integration of IT systems in its mainstream UK business following TUI's merger with First Choice in 2007.