Abercrombie & Kent is bolstering its sales and marketing teams with the addition of 14 graduates and a university placement student.

The luxury operator welcomed six university leavers onto its sales graduate scheme in July, and will take on a further 8 in September.

Additionally, A&K has taken on a university student for her placement year in industry, working within the marketing team.

Over the two-year course, the graduates will complete four six-month rotations in sales roles across the A&K brands, as well as spend time with the product and marketing teams.

They will also work together on a key business initiative, conducting research, creating a business plan and presenting the proposal to senior managers within the business.

In a bid to improve their sales ability, the operator said all graduates are guaranteed to travel to their specialist area while working in their roles.

A&K said previous intakes of graduates have gone on to become top-selling sales consultants, and it hopes that the new group will continue to grow within the business.

The operator confirmed it plans to take on its sixth cohort of graduates next year.

Kerry Golds, chief tour operating officer, said: “Fostering young talent is a key part of our business model, provides new routes from a variety of background, and is a key part of our strategy to attract new people to our wonderful industry.

“Some of our most successful staff joined the business on our graduate schemes, and our apprenticeship and internship routes are a testament to our commitment to attracting a diverse workforce.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with applications in our most recent graduate scheme call-out, and we’re keen to hear from people from all sorts of backgrounds about joining the A&K family.”