P&O Cruises launches partnership with Pride of Britain Awards

P&O Cruises has launched a partnership with the Pride of Britain Awards on the first leg of flagship Britannia’s 10th anniversary sailing.

Awards co-hosts Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo joined last year’s winners and agents on board the ship in Southampton along with P&O Cruises red carpet host Jeff Brazier to open nominations for the nation’s “unsung heroes” for this year.  

P&O Cruises gifted last year’s winners and their families with a cruise holiday each and the line will have its own Inspiration Award category this year.

This marks the first year the line has sponsored the initiative, which was set up by the Daily Mirror 25 years ago and is televised on primetime ITV.

Vice-president of sales and marketing Rob Scott told Travel Weekly: “The Pride of Britain Awards is one of the best British institutions and when you think about the brand, it is the perfect fit for us as we are reaching people around the UK and collaborating on that.

“It is a great brand fit and we are really proud of it and I hope it brings agents on board as that is really important.”

P&O Cruises also has partnerships with the Bafta Television Awards and Southampton FC, which Scott said were “slightly different” so “work really well together” to reach new agents and passengers.

Scott added: “As a market leader, you have to continue to remind agents why it is a great investment over a competitor because of the quality and that should be shown through our partnerships.”

Senior manager for trade partnerships Paul Moran said the partnership with the Pride of Britain Awards and Britannia’s 10th anniversary sailing around the country showed it “wanted to reach all parts of the UK”.

He added the line was “continuing to invest in its regional team” and it was recruiting in the north west, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“It is about accessibility for agents and we want to make sure they know we value all parts of the UK," he said.

Moran added Britannia would host a further 120 agents in Belfast and Liverpool on the anniversary itinerary.