Chorley-based Panache Cruises was founded in July 2020 by James Cole, who was named the John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year at The Travel Industry Awards by TTG last September for his initial success, which saw first-year sales reach £3 million.

Panache is now set to take on 13 new members of staff, most of them in sales. Cole said most vacancies were for “cruise connoisseur” sales roles, but four apprentices were also being recruited – plus a head of finance. The cruise connoisseur roles ensure one point of contact for clients, and can be office- or home-based.

“Some have already started and we have others coming in the next few weeks.” Cole told TTG. “We said from the off our objective was to be the biggest seller of luxury cruises by 2027. This expansion will keep us on track.

“We’ve seen significant uplift since cruising restarted, but we had bumps in the road with Omicron and then Ukraine in March. But apart from that, we have seen some very positive months. We’re hitting our numbers and now is the time to push forward and increase the size of the company.”

Cole said he was keen to take more office space in the firm’s current office building to cope with increased staffing, but stressed flexible working was permitted. “We encourage people to come into the office, but we have one person who started this week that lives abroad; whether you’re in Chorley or the Canaries, it really doesn’t matter, although we encourage them to be in the office for the first couple of months.”

Cole, who has 24 years’ experience in cruising and previously founded Cruise118.com, attributed the agency’s initial success to maintaining close contact with existing and new clients during Covid. Pandemic redundancies also meant there was a pool of talented potential staff to tap into.

“We used the pandemic to lay foundations and to say to customers and prospective customers, ‘we’re here to help’. We wrote more than 70 guides and held more than 50 webinars. We have continued that information-giving, and it has been exceptionally well-received.”

Cole said Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine meant some markets would be more reluctant to travel, ensuring “some very good deals” for Baltic itineraries this summer. “Australians and Americans are not travelling in the numbers we would normally see," he said. "Partly it’s Covid and partly it’s Ukraine, so there are some exceptional offers in the marketplace, especially in Europe and on European rivers.”

The “vast majority” of current sales are for Europe, he said, although he added: “We’re also seeing a real uplift for bucket-list purchases – people are spending more and booking further ahead for late 2023 and 2024.”

His confidence in the market is such that another recruitment drive is planned for later this year. “We want to ensure our new colleagues are up to speed first, but later – over the summer and into the autumn – we will be recruiting again; it will be largely for more connoisseurs.”

He said the TTG award had “benefited the whole business” as it had developed. “It was great to be recognised at such an early stage," he said. "My name is on it, but it’s very much a team award. I’m sure it had helped us gain customers.”