The line’s restructure, led by chief commercial officer Phil Gardner, will see it recruit head of inventory and trading and head of distribution positions, as well as form a new sales function covering both its contact centre and trade team.
Ambassador will centralise both teams into a singular department, which Gardner said would allow agents to benefit from “an end-to-end service under one roof” with contact centre staff liaising directly with the line’s trade sales team both on the road and in head office.
It is hoped the plans will align the company’s sales functions and “avoid channel-level silos”, while also increasing focus on inventory management and offering more fluid pricing.
The restructure, which follows the recent departure of head of trade sales Lisa Jacobs after joining the line last May, comes as Ambassador looks to transition from a start-up business towards a longer-term strategy.
The company was the first cruise line to launch in the UK for a decade and debuted its first ship, Ambience, from Tilbury in April.
On Tuesday (16 August) Ambassador announced it was postponing the launch of its second ship Ambition after agreeing a deal to charter the vessel to the Scottish government to help home Ukrainian refugees.
“The time is right for us to look at our commercial focus and make sure we are closely aligning to our ambitions for the future,” said Gardner.
“Cruising is back in full swing with demand coming from both existing and new to cruise so we need to make sure Ambassador is ready to respond to the healthy interest from holidaymakers. This means the time is right to ensure we have a structure fit for purpose for the future.
“I am confident this new structure will give us a fantastic platform to build on with a team who can take us forward at an exciting time.”
