Cunard has announced the appointment of Simon Palethorpe as senior vice president sales and marketing.
Palethorpe will join the Southampton-based cruise line Cunard on April 11 following a career in food, retail and travel industries.
He has held roles at Levi Strauss and buy.com, which was later bought by John Lewis, and later became group commercial director for Avis Europe.
After a stint in private equity at Terra Firma Capital Partners, Palethorpe has spent the last four years managing a portfolio of online businesses in the food, cosmetics and ticketing industries.
Carnival UK CEO David Noyes said: “This is a key year for Cunard with the remastering of the company’s flagship, Queen Mary 2. Simon’s appointment will reinforce our efforts to take the Cunard brand to new audiences around the world.”
Palethorpe said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Cunard and look forward to helping build on its exceptional work. The Cunard brand has been synonymous with the height of cruise luxury for nearly two centuries and is still as relevant for customers today as it always has been.”