Panache Cruises’ expansion into the US has seen the luxury retailer generate an additional £2.3m in sales in four months
The Chorley-based firm, which opened its first office in Orlando in June, is now looking to relocate to a larger premises.
In the last 12 months Panache reported a turnover of £22.2m in the UK, but founder and CEO James Cole believes US sales will eventually eclipse those in the UK.
The company launched in 2020 and employs a team of 58 in the UK and another eight in the US. “We’ve spent the last 12 months understanding the cultural differences between the US and UK markets because they are different from a marketing point of view,” said Cole.
“Our ambition is to be the world’s largest seller of luxury and ultra luxury cruises by 2030. To do that we have to have the right foundations and base in the UK, which we’ve built over the last four years, but we also have to have significant sales coming from the US market.”
He continued: “The US market is up to six times bigger than that in the UK. We opened our office in Orlando in June but it has already generated $3m in sales in just four months.
“It’s still early days for us in the US but we’re growing exponentially and we plan to make additional appointments in the US and move into larger offices.”
Panache is targeting £100m turnover by 2027/28 and recently appointed Alex Langton as head of sales and operations and Rhianna Latham as the company’s first head of people and culture.
Cole said: “It’s a significant step for us to have appointed two people of the calibre of Alex and Rhianna. Alex comes from the travel industry while Rhianna is from the utilities sector.”