Harding+ Chief Executive Jeremy Fennell offers his early impressions of the cruise retail business and assesses the opportunities in a growing travel channel.
UK. It has been a whirlwind couple of months for new Harding+ Chief Executive Jeremy Fennell. The long-time SSP Group senior executive took over the role on 1 October with his predecessor Chris Matthews (a former colleague of Fennell’s at UK technology retailer Dixon’s) remaining as Executive Director, supporting the holding board.
Until he was appointed in late July, Fennell had not been aboard a cruise ship, so this was a fast-track exercise at light speed, he says.
“I had eight weeks or so to get out and see the business, meet people on the front line, meet guests and to sail. By Cannes I had been on 11 ships, all with very different itineraries and guest types. It was a dive in at the deep end.”
What were his first impressions, we ask?
“Travelling gives you a strong indication of just how broad the demographic is across the cruise business,” says Fennell. “You see so many families, multi-generational groups, young adults across an average age of around 47.
“And they are all looking for a different experience. The cruise lines know what their guests want, those guests are very loyal to their cruise brand, and they are served impeccably well onboard. Watching all that, it’s easy to get drawn into this world.”
There are similarities of course with the world of airport concessions that Fennell knows from his days with SSP and previously, Dixon’s, but there are differences too.
“As with any concession you are dealing with the cruise line before you get to the guest. But you have that dwell time that means you spend much longer with the guest. And in that week or two-week window, more than half of them are visiting the shops. Of those, 67% are buying [m1nd-set survey, June 2026].
“It’s at a whole new level compared to airports. You can build a relationship over time that is rich and brings opportunity based around events, promotions and theatrical activations, delivered by the very impressive people who work with us onboard.”
Fennell says delivering for Harding+ will be about building on a “remarkable transformation” led by Matthews over the past three years.
That period saw logistics and supply chains updated, the technology backbone of the business sharply improved alongside a “reset” of the operating model with better availability and ranges onboard. That in turn has allowed colleagues to spend more time with guests and to enhance ship- and landside communications.
That has resulted in just over £290 million (US$388 million) in revenues the last financial year, up +1.5%, with pre-tax profit of £4.8 million (US$6.4million), and a business that is cash-generative and has paid down debt.
Against that backdrop, Fennell says his main objective is to “listen and learn” from the teams as well as the many cruiseline partners around the world.
Those inputs should then lead to an updated strategy and plan to be ready by early 2027 that will take the company to 2030.
“It is early yet but I feel there is more we can do in retail range, in availability and around the retail basics. But actually, I am most excited about the activations and theatrical events from doing expos on liquor tasting to watch or jewellery demonstrations and then connecting those to the journey or the destination.
“Although the numbers of people we engage are fantastic, half of guests are still not coming into the stores. So how do we make retail a bigger part of the cruise experience?
“The cruise lines understand their guests deeply and I want to make retail a greater part of the cruise experience. We also work with 700 brands and this is also an opportunity to further explain to them how they can get their brand and product in front of the guests and extend their time with those guests, through the medium of visual merchandising and display and range and but also theatre.”
The fundamentals of cruise growth should help explain that opportunity to brands, says Fennell. “There are 40 million cruise passengers a year, the sector is growing at +5% a year on average, and the demographic breadth of the audience is becoming richer all the time. The market is growing but so too is your brand’s opportunity to appear in front of those guests with all the exposure that offers.”
One other area the industry can benefit from is data exchange, in this case between cruise line and concessionaire. “If we can use all the data that we have well, and together, then there is an upside,” says Fennell.
There is also potential in the wave of ships that will come into the market as fleets are developed and grow.
“As newer, bigger ships come online, the opportunity to centre them around commercial activity is huge. And then you have the space layout between the different categories as those evolve. The luxury watch segment is still growing, jewellery is still growing, and in a big category such as beauty how do we allocate space and how many brands do we place onboard? There is a lot of complexity and differences between big and small ships so one size won’t fit every situation.
“Plus there is the question of how we place retail visibility beyond our lease lines, putting destination-relevant products in front of guests when they arrive onboard for example, or using the piano bar or other spaces as showcases for activation.”
Amid a recent period of tendering (much before Fennell joined) and intense competition, Harding+ has reinforced the message that it is the only pure-play cruise retailer now in the market, with other major concessionaires operating across channels.
Fennell doubles down on this messaging. “We are the only operator that is 100% cruise, with a 94-year history.
“To have that rich understanding of the logistics and the guest journey and the relationships with the cruise lines is huge. The capability to trade in this space is very different to other channels, and the understanding of all of those areas is where Harding+ excels.
“Cruise is super-complex and the barriers to entry are high. But once you can manage those complexities, you can show your ability to partner and get the best out of the business and serve the guest in the best way possible.
“The transformation that Chris led over the last three years with the team has got us into a place where those things now are underpinning the business, and we can focus on the activations, the events, the ranges and the guest experience.” 🛳️
