James Cole talks balancing fatherhood & owning a business

Businesses are run in many different ways but for me, from the very start of Panache Cruises in 2020, it was all about the people, my colleagues.

I have been in the corporate rat race where it was frowned upon if you left the office before 6pm, at the earliest and I’ve started a business where our culture was to work long hours at the expense of the rest of our lives.

The corporate business lost £1bn in a single year and my first business venture took many years to make a £1 of profit.

So why not have a business which is focussed on helping, supporting and encouraging colleagues to have a balance in their life and to put their families first not the business?

Panache Cruises has so far been a great success, makes a profit and is already the Best Workplace in Travel. We have had multiple people join us at a reduced salary because they know we provide balance and flexibility in our approach.

We can get comfortable with our colleagues planning their work around family commitments, we offer flexible working arrangements and also understand that children get sick and accommodate parental needs. As we say at Panache Cruises ‘Nothing is too much trouble’.

I am also proud of myself for leading from the front in my new found flexible working arrangement. I get up early, work for around 90 mins at home before breakfast, spend some time with my wife and children, then head into the office 3 or 4 days a week until around mid afternoon. Then, I either go to the gym, return home or on a Friday afternoon spend time with Lilli my youngest.

Do I still have improvements, you bet I do, I’m trying really hard to spend less time on my phone in the evenings, plan my days better so I can be more productive during working hours and spend time with my family ‘in the moment’ rather than having work matters always at the front of my mind. However it’s one area of my life I am determined to continue to improve.