James Cole on what it takes to be an award-winning travel entrepreneur
Panache Cruises founder James Cole was named the John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year at The Travel Industry Awards by TTG last year. He talks to Abra Dunsby about making waves in the cruise industry
They say that successful entrepreneurs often do things differently, and that’s certainly true of James Cole, who founded specialist luxury cruise agency Panache Cruises during the pandemic, going on to make £3 million worth of sales in his first trading year.
Cole, who was named the John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year at The Travel Industry Awards by TTG last September, says he saw launching a cruise business during the pandemic as an opportunity to help customers and in turn secure new business.
“Panache was all about the long term. It was a bit of a leap of faith launching when we did [in July 2020], but our whole proposition is about customer service.
“We thought it was a great time [to launch the brand], as the market was focused on cancellations and refunds and we saw a positive opportunity to support cruise customers; not just people who were interested in Panache but also people who were struggling to get answers to questions about cruises they had booked, or about when cruising was going to restart, or what protocols were going to look like onboard.”
He says this initial phase “worked really well for Panache and helped the brand build a considerable database of luxury cruise customers”.
Cole adds that as well as helping potential customers navigate the changing travel rules and regulations around cruising, and converting them to booking, the pandemic also enabled the business to recruit top talent.
“People were made redundant or were on furlough and there was an opportunity to recruit a team of selected individuals.”
Cole now has a team of 15 working for Panache, with eight “connoisseurs” offering “high-touch, end-to-end customer service”, as well as employees focused on luxury product, marketing and administration.
The success of the business means he also plans to recruit for new roles this year, as well as launching a graduate programme in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire.
POSITIVE APPROACH
Launching a new cruise brand during the pandemic brought a glimmer of positivity to the industry when it needed it most, says Cole. “The cruise lines liked that they were able to have positive, uplifting conversations with us – not just about refunds and cancellations – in what was quite a negative environment.”
As well as making considerable sales in 2020 and 2021, plenty of which were high-value bookings – including a recent 89-night world cruise worth £100,000 – customers who have travelled with Panache are also becoming brand advocates.
“Customer feedback has been hugely positive,” says Cole, with all but three of the company’s 150 or so reviews on Trustpilot five-star. He adds that the repeat booking rate is strong: “We have over 40 customers who have done more than one booking with us. One customer has done 17 bookings with us. As we’ve only been trading for [a short while], this is encouraging. The aim is to impress customers enough that they come back to us time and again and recommend us to their friends and family.”
FLEXIBLE FUTURE
With 24 years’ experience in the cruise industry and past roles as the founder of Cruise118.com and managing director of World Travel Holdings, Cole has plenty of savoir-faire when it comes to building a successful cruise brand.
He says his approach towards his team has remained steadfast throughout. “In the businesses I’ve worked in, I’ve always had a belief that your colleagues come first; if you treat them well, give them autonomy and scope to do the best job they can, they’ll look after customers in due course. That’s definitely our philosophy at Panache Cruises.”
He adds that the company is “hugely flexible” and recognises that “people need to have the right work-life balance.” Currently, team members can work from home, the office or even abroad, with one employee working from France while they visit family.
LESSONS FROM A LEGEND
Entrepreneurs are also innovators, and Cole takes this approach with Panache. He says: “We try to be innovative, entrepreneurial and fleet of foot, and do things in different ways on many levels,” adding that focusing on the luxury and ultra-luxury cruising niche, offering unique digital marketing, working with celebrity ambassadors and doing away with IVR phone systems to ensure customers are answered quickly ensure the brand stands out from others.
Cole was “humbled and shocked” by the Entrepreneur of the Year win, and felt honoured to collect the award from the late John Hays’ wife, Dame Irene, and daughter Helen, at the ceremony.
“I knew John and learnt a huge amount from him; [World Travel Holdings] was a member of Hays Travel and we worked together on his cruise strategy.”
Cole hopes to emulate many of Hays’ qualities, and adds: “John was hugely admired within Hays Travel. He had a great culture there, which was built from scratch from the early ’80s.
“Being humble while driving the business forward and being well respected throughout the business – these are key learnings from John.”
With a caring approach to staff, a sharp business eye and heaps of ambition, it seems Cole shares plenty more attributes with John besides.
James Cole shares a trio of tips for being successful in business
- Have a master plan: When starting any business it’s important to have a plan and stick to it. We have a plan for where we’d like to be tomorrow, as well as a seven-year plan. We’d like to be the UK’s largest seller of luxury cruises by then.
- Seek out mentors: Have people around you that you can ask for advice and use as sounding boards.
- Employ talented staff: Don’t be afraid of surrounding yourself with great people, as you can’t do it all yourself. You need a fantastic team to create a successful business.
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
