Luxury cruise retailer Panache Cruises has made two senior hires as part of its ambitious growth strategy to hit £100m turnover by 2027/28
The Chorley-based business, which was launched in 2020 by founder James Cole and employs a team of 58 in the UK and eight in the US, has 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.”
He added: “Neither have a cruise background, which gives us a different perspective. They’ve gelled in really well with the management team and I’m very excited about the future.”
Latham previously worked as HR business partner at Leep Utilities. “Normally you need to be between 100-200 people before you have a head of culture but our number one focus is our people and colleagues and we wanted to make an early investment in them,” he said.
Langton has experience with ITC Travel and Audley Travel and Cole said part of his role would be ensuring customers continue to have “the best experience possible”.
Panache grows turnover to £22.2m during previous financial year
“We pride ourselves on the personalised service that we offer,” Cole continued. “All our customers get introduced to their own cruise connoisseur on their first point of contact until they come back from their cruise. Alex is responsible for that customer journey.
“Our strapline is ‘nothing is too much trouble’ and we live by that value. We’ve also recruited a number of new apprentices and cruise connoisseurs as we strive to become the world’s largest seller of luxury and ultra luxury cruises by 2030.”
In the last financial year Panache Cruises grew turnover to £22.2m – up 68 per cent from the previous 12 months – and booked 2,623 cruises. The firm also opened a US office in Orlando in June.