Bolsover Cruise Club

Staff are extremely experienced in the sector, with 40% of employees having worked at the company for 10 years, while the team has enjoyed a total of 16,000 nights at sea.

Training remains paramount, though, with new employees looked after by an in-house training team who monitor them closely in their first eight months. The team also regularly takes educational trips and ship visits to better their product knowledge, from which they write reports to be emailed to everyone in the business.

The company prides itself on its customer service, with one consultant recently celebrating their 100th booking with the same client.

Meanwhile consultant Dawn frequently sends clients her own personal photos so they know what to expect in destinations. She also hand-delivers tickets to clients celebrating special anniversaries, despite not living close to them.

A new social media strategy has boosted customer engagement, resulting in a 70% increase in social referrals this January compared with the same month last year. And the company has refocused efforts on its website to improve the customer journey, with a new cruise search tool added in December, making the site easier to navigate. The results led to a 101% increase year-on-year in digital leads in January 2019.

Bolsover subsequently achieved a Net Promoter Score of 87 (anything over 70 is considered world class) in the first quarter of 2018, while 99% of clients on its Facebook page said they would book with Bolsover again.

Social responsibility is of equal importance to the company – its charitable efforts last year included a shoebox appeal to provide care packages for families living in temporary housing and children in care, alongside a fundraising drive for a local hospice.