Cruise retailer invests in apprentices

Luxury cruise retailer Panache Cruises has hired another four apprentices – and promoted a fifth – as part of its investment in the next generation.

Henry Livesey, Tom Holding, Molly Brooks and Isabella Clark have joined the Chorley-based company and Mollie-Jo Green has been promoted to the role of assistant partnership manager.

 It brings the number of apprentices employed by Panache Cruises to 20 as part of their strategy to employ 100 apprentices by 2030.

 The tech-enabled company was launched in 2020 by CEO James Cole and has grown its UK team to 62 and another 10 in the US.

 Panache Cruises had a record-breaking year in 2024 – exceeding £25m in turnover and over 6,000 customers – and Cole said their apprentices had a big part to play in achieving their target of over 50 per cent growth.

 “Apprentices are great for the business,” he said. “We want people who want to succeed and grow with the business and we feel apprentices give us that.

 “Combining apprentices with more experienced people we recruit into the business is the way we’ve chosen to grow Panache Cruises.

 “With apprenticeships people can combine the practical experience of being in the workplace while being able to continue their learning to gain extra qualifications.”

 Cole had special praise for Mollie-Jo Green, who has already been promoted to the role of assistant partnership manager.

 “MJ is doing fantastic,” he said. “She came to us from doing her A Levels to do a degree apprenticeship and is set for great things in her career.

“We’re proud to have her in the team and to be able to promote Mollie-Jo during her apprenticeship. She’s had a couple of promotions already. 

 “Somebody could join us at 18 and be in a managerial position three years’ later with a degree under their belt – but without a huge student debt.”

The news comes after Lancashire Business View reported in December that Panache Cruises were looking to make a £500k investment to be spent on additional office space at Strawberry Fields Digital Hub, in Lancashire, and larger premises in the US.

Also Panache Cruises reported sales of over £3m in November, its biggest ever trading month.