Luxury cruise firm makes two key hires

Luxury travel retailer Panache Cruises has made two senior hires as part of its growth strategy to hit £100m turnover by 2027/28.

The Chorley based business was launched in 2020 by James Cole and employs a team of 58 in the UK and another eight in the US.

Following a period of record growth, Alex Langton has been appointed head of sales and operations, while Rhianna Latham is the company’s first head of people and culture. 

James 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. 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.”

Rhianna has previously worked as HR business partner at Leep Utilities and James said her appointment was a sign of the company’s ambition.

He said: “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.

Alex has previously worked at ITC Travel and Audley Travel and part of his new role is ensuring Panache customers continue to have the best experience possible.

James said: “We pride ourselves on the personalised service that we offer.

“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. Panache opened a US office in Orlando in June.