Cruise ship retailer Harding has announced the extension of its contract with P&O Cruises and luxury cruise brand Cunard to 2027.
The company said that its internal design team will continue to work in partnership with P&O Cruises’ and Cunard’s design teams and architects to design, manage and build entire retail environments, creating immersive brand solutions onboard their ships, building on its “joint success in designing the Iona retail spaces.”
“This is a real milestone in the Harding history and I am delighted to confirm our partnership with Carnival UK across both P&O Cruises and Cunard,” said Managing Director of Harding, James Prescott. “We have worked closely with the senior teams based in Carnival House, Southampton, in a total Trinity approach to deliver the most commercial arrangement and the best products with the right experiences for the customer and destination. We are delighted that the Carnival Corporation has put its trust in Harding here in the UK.”
According to a press release, for P&O Cruises, in addition to the existing three ships, the contract includes two new flagships; the Iona launching May 2020 and its sister ship launching 2022. For Cunard, the contract includes its new ship arriving in 2022.
The contract follows a 20-year working relationship between Harding and its cruise line partners and encompasses eight P&O Cruises and Cunard ships on more than 6,000m² of retail space.
Harding said that it’ll offer to the two Carnival UK cruise lines “an impressive mix of tax and duty-free product categories from fine jewelry and fine watches to own-label fashion, fused with lifestyle and experiential activations.”
Supporting retail activations will include a huge selection of renowned worldwide brands from Dyson and Apple to Jo Malone and Tom Ford, Harding wrote. Onboard the Iona alone, an “impressive list of first-at-seas” will also launch, including Liberty of London, The White Company and Georg Jensen, with Mulberry also launching a first-at-sea, standalone store.
Vice President On Board Revenue at Carnival UK Robert Palmer said that the cruise line was “delighted” to have signed this contract with Harding.
“Working with one of the leading players in cruise retail to build a strong commercial and branded retail partnership as we enter an unprecedented period of new fleet launches for both our P&O Cruises and Cunard brands is an inspiring milestone … Harding has shown that their agility to predict and mirror changes in land-based retail at a branded and experiential level for our guests at sea, undoubtedly gives our guests the best and most inspiring holiday retail experience,” he said.
“We are looking forward to continuing to work with the Harding team in the coming months and years,” he added.
