Harding+ has claimed the "Cruise Retailer of the Year" title at the DFNI Frontier Awards for the fourth time in five years, marking the awards program's recognition of a stretch of growth now passing to a new chief executive.

Jeremy Fennell formally takes over as CEO from Chris Matthews, who steps into an executive director seat on the company's board.

Matthews ran the business for three years, the period in which Harding+ accumulated most of its recent wins.

What does the leadership change signal?

The handover puts day-to-day control of the shipboard retailer with Fennell, whose most recent post was group chief operating officer at SSP Group. He also spent more than two decades at Dixons Carphone, including running Dixons Travel, an operator with deep airport and travel-retail roots.

Matthews framed the transition as continuity rather than disruption. "Four wins in five years says something important about the consistency of this business that I'm immensely proud of," he said. "But awards recognize progress rather than signal that the work is finished. There is much opportunity ahead."

His move to the board keeps institutional knowledge inside the leadership circle while freeing Fennell to set execution priorities.

Who is the new CEO?

Fennell's résumé blends high-street retail scale with travel-channel expertise. The SSP Group stint exposed him to global travel-hub food and beverage concessions run for airport operators and rail landlords. His Dixons Travel tenure placed him inside one of the U.K.'s longest-running travel-electronics retail operations.

That mix matters in cruise retail, where the competitive set includes duty-free operators, onboard boutique specialists and the cruise lines' own direct sales channels. Harding+ operates inside a category where the parent cruise brand, the concessionaire and the brand partners split revenue on every item sold at sea.

What has Harding+ been investing in?

The cruise retailer spent recent years reworking its operating model, AI strategy and retail modeling, according to the company, with the stated goal of giving onboard teams more guest-facing time and supporting continued like-for-like improvement. Harding+ has not disclosed specific revenue or margin figures tied to those investments.

For travel sellers and the cruise lines whose ships house Harding+ concessions, the operational pitch is straightforward: a more data-driven onboard retail operation shapes assortment, pricing and conversion rates on every sailing.

What did Fennell say about the win?

"Winning 'Cruise Retailer of the Year' for the fourth time in five years is something the whole Harding+ team should be incredibly proud of," Fennell said. "You don't achieve that consistency without a lot of talented people doing exceptional work every day, both onboard and behind the scenes."

He also pointed to what he sees as the unfinished agenda. "There is already an exceptional business here. The opportunity now is to build on that and see how much further we can go."

Fennell told the trade audience he left Cannes — where the DFNI Frontier Awards were presented — with concrete leads to pursue. "I've come away with plenty of ideas, questions and opportunities to explore with our teams and partners," he said.

What does the next phase look like?

Harding+ has not publicly disclosed revenue, store count or like-for-like sales movement for the financial period covered by the award cycle. The company frames the recognition as a platform for the Fennell era rather than a milestone in itself.

That puts the near-term watch on three signals: shipboard concession renewals with cruise-line partners, the rollout of any AI-driven merchandising or pricing tools that change how cruise brands and Harding+ split revenue on individual stock-keeping units, and any expansion into new onboard categories or itineraries that would shift the retailer's distribution footprint at sea.