General manager Dale Sourbutts has been promoted to the role, taking over UK operations from chief executive Dan Townsley, who will become managing director of parent group Dreamlines to focus on “future global growth”.

Sourbutts is now responsible for managing the company’s strategic direction, daily operational activities and company policies “to ensure performance levels are met”.

He has been with Cruise1st since 2014 when he held the position of head of call centres across the wider business before becoming general manager last year.

Before joining Cruise1st, Sourbutts was at Cruise Thomas Cook for 10 years and prior to that Althams.

Townsley, meanwhile, will work alongside Dreamlines’ existing managing directors, Danyal Taraghi and Felix Schneider. He will continue to oversee both the UK and Australian offices of Cruise1st.

Sourbutts said: ”Taking on the role of managing director after five years at Cruise1st is a tremendous honour.

“Having been involved in ground-breaking activity during this time, from the opening of the first interactive and immersive cruise store in the UK to our acquisition by Dreamlines and the ensuing expansion, I can’t wait to now work even closer with the amazing team here to continue to grow the business and spearhead future innovative initiatives.”

Townsley added: “Dale has excellent commercial acumen and a proven track record of delivering focused, strategic, operational improvements that contribute to individual skills development, team dynamics and bottom-line performance.

“He has also managed global teams within Cruise1st, which have proved instrumental in the success of the business.”