Travel firm cruises to £1m

A NEW travel venture has cruised to the million pound mark in less than two months of trading.

Chorley-based Cruise118 was set up by former MyTravel directors Mal Barritt and James Cole eight weeks ago.

The company sell cruises from the budget right up to the luxury end of the market, and employs 20 staff at its Lancashire headquarters and a further 15 home workers in Northern Ireland.

Mal said that while the travel industry is facing one of its most challenging periods in decades, the cruise market is continuing to grow by a predicted 14%  this year alone.

He said: “Hitting the million pound mark at this early stage has exceeded our predictions and is even more remarkable given the challenges being faced by many in the travel industry.

“Setting up a new business in the current economic climate was always going to be a risk, but we are confident that there is a growing market for cruise holidays that will continue to increase over the coming years.”