P&O Cruises and Cunard in consultation with staff over sales team shake-up
P&O Cruises and Cunard have begun a 30-day consultation period with staff after announcing the most significant shake-up of their sales team in 10 years.
The team will expand from 31 to 42 staff, led by Carnival UK VP sales Alex White. The company has begun advertising to fill the new positions, for which it is considering both internal and external applicants.
It expects the restructure to be completed by March 16.
The company has announced it won’t know whether there will be any redundancies until the end of the process.
The new sale team will be divided into three areas: national partnerships, headed by Nathaniel Sherborne, retail partnerships led by Shane Riley, and sales operations led by Natasha Richardson.
The national and retail partnerships teams will a have field-based staff offering regional support, while Richardson’s team will oversee investment in training and sales support.
The new structure will include the introduction of dedicated resources for Cunard for the first time under Carnival and an expanded field sales team with greater focus on building up regional business.
Agency partners will be grouped and managed based on whether they are retail or national accounts.
"The proposed, flatter structure offers autonomy to allow the team to deliver results but with clearly defined accountability.," said White.
"Our agent partners have unique business models and as such, need a customised approach to sell our brands, on their distinct merits, to the right customers."
The company said it felt this was an ideal time to make the changes following the recent re-structure of senior management and a successful year for both brands including the launch of Britannia and 175 celebrations.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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