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Essex

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Franchise partner for Berkshire, Essex and the South East.The Swimtime franchise represented a business opportunity that I could call my own, having worked in the leisure industry for over 12 years.My Swimtime business continues to go from strength to strength, and with our Franchisor demonstrating commitment to further advancement of the brand, I am confident and excited that this growth will continue.

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Holiday Inn Brentwood

Everlast Fitness Colchester

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Lincolnshire

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Shropshire & Staffs

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Everlast Tunstall

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Stockport

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Village Hotels Cheadle

Kingfisher Health Club

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Scotland

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At the start of our journey we spent several days training at Swimtime UK central office, learning about the systems and processes, coupled with two days on the road with the Franchisor establishing contacts within new and existing clubs. From day one we have been very happy with the level of the support from the Franchisor central office, and the advice and understanding they can provide having been in the industry for over 20 years – but it is your responsibility to make the best use of the resource and build a viable business. For example, we were unknown in Scotland so have had to make use of social media tools and be quite savvy about how we built up a customer base that would trust us and continue to use Swimtime.I chose the Swimtime franchise opportunity because this particular business model was already a proven national success within the leisure industry. Having experienced isolation and lack of support in the past, the initial and ongoing support on offer was very appealing and this combined with a strong brand. I knew we could make it a success. I did my homework and identified that in our particular area there is a high demand for the product we were investing in and having experienced the product first hand, over a period of time, our confidence grew and we knew that the model would work for us in Scotland. We also identified that we could provide a better product and service when compared to our competitors. So, having done the research we started our franchise in July 2009.Today the challenges we face on a day-to-day basis haven’t changed since Day One – it is just that the scale is different. With this franchise business, you can’t lose sight of the fact that as the number of customers grows, and more and more lessons are available in a wider range of locations, every individual has their own needs and is there to learn a valuable, enjoyable life skill. That is your responsibility to deliver that to them, but if you get that right, the sense of satisfaction in a job well done, and of ‘giving something back’ to communities is great!Ten years on, things have never looked brighter, or more exciting! We have pushed through the milestone of 1,200 customers, and we are now holding lessons in 16 pools across Scotland.Swimtime UK Ltd is continuing to expand as a business with more franchises becoming available. For anyone considering buying any type of franchise, I'd say it is paramount that you talk to existing franchisees about their business and the challenges they face. Then look at the product itself, the branding, the selling points and the viable longevity. Be honest and realistic in your expectations, and be passionate about your product.But the most important piece of advice that I could give is to be prepared to work hard. By applying 100% effort right from the beginning and by making the most of the support provided by our central office the franchise has been a great investment of time and money for us. The future goals are quite simple; to continue to grow the business by consistently delivering outstanding customer service, increase the number of swimmers, and attract more great Independent Swimming Teachers!

Swimtime Scotland, a franchise of the largest independent provider of swimming lessons in the UK, has been running since 2009 and is operated by Paul Lagar.Running a franchise in Scotland, with the challenges such a large geographical area has to offer, was a relatively easy decision for Paul Lagar. Having been used to travelling whilst working as a freelance consultant and prior to that, heading up the sales and operations for a contract management company, Paul was looking for a business where he could see the potential for significant growth.

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Kingsmills Hotel

Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Dunblane Hydro

 Village Hotels Aberdeen

Clayton Caravan Park

Robert Gordon College

Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Craigendarroch

Village Hotel Glasgow

Waterside Hotel - Peterhead

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West Yorkshire

I started off as a lifeguard at the local leisure centre so teaching swimming was never part of my plan, but one day I was lifeguarding and there was a child that has autism that was struggling&nbsp; in his lesson and the teacher, nor his parents, could get him to join in. Our manager came over and asked me if I was able to help because I had experience working with children with disabilities and special needs, so I climbed down, took my socks and shoes off and walked in the pool fully dressed in my lifeguard gear and assisted this child in his lesson. I was in the pool for about 20 minutes with him, working with the teacher to assist the lesson and it made me realize this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I really enjoyed working with children and swimming teaching then really piqued my interest, so, I became qualified.Once I became qualified I worked at multiple leisure centres and private swim schools, working any shifts I could and, during that time, I felt ‘they are not doing it right’ and the way that swim teachers were treated seemed pretty poor in comparison to the other staff. We were not really classed as part of the team and that really annoyed me. I organized my classes, I made a lot of effort, I bought a lot my own toys and equipment with my own money to really try and build the best experience for the swimmers, so, I decided to leave the leisure centres and start my own swim school. I was doing that for about six months when the pool I was hiring priced me out, they put their prices up so high I could no longer afford to work or run the summer school there. I was looking around for other pools and I found the Croydon pool which was run by Swimtime under franchisee Keri. I called Keri wanting to hire the pool but the answer was no, if I wanted to be in that venue I had to work for Swimtime. It was taking a pay cut and it was taking a risk but I told Keri my intentions of wanting to run my own swim school. So, I started teaching for Swimtime, brought my program over, built it up further and then, three months in, I requested a meeting with Keri and that conversation ended in him proposing that I to buy the Surrey territory. I was bit taken aback, I was not quite expecting that, so I drove home as fast as I could, told Andrew about it and asked him to join me doing it.Recruitment has been a big challenge but I feel I have now mastered this and our trainee program has been the best way that we have pooled swim teachers. It takes time to get good teachers and I am very picky about who joins our team; I do not just want someone who has got the piece of paper that says they are qualified, I want the right person and sometimes the right person does not have the qualification yet. I love watching people fall in love with swim teaching because that is what happened to me. We have managed to build teams through our trainee program and we have top quality teachers now.Quality has always been the forefront of what we do; if our product is good then I believe this is what people look for and my business will grow.I also love watching the swimmers grow; one of my swimmers joined us when he was four and he is going to secondary school next year so I’ve known him for some time and been part of his growth and development and that is really special for me.Running a Swimtime franchise gives us the freedom and flexibility to be able to work from home, to do things we want to build our swimming programmes and, ultimately, our business. The sky's the limit and you can grow as quickly as you want or you can take your time if you need. I would say you get out what you put in.To anybody considering starting a swimming franchise I would say go for it and do it the way that makes sense to you. The other thing I would say is, it does not matter if you do not know it all because you will learn it as you go along, ask a lot of questions; it makes you so much more aware of how things work and how other people see things and that is the journey.

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 Holiday Inn Brighouse

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South West

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I started my Swimtime franchise in 2012 after I found myself at a crossroads in my career in Customer Service. My background was in retail and, although I was new to the swimming industry, my business and customer experience was very relevant and beneficial.I chose Swimtime because it was an opportunity to run my own business. Owning a Franchise meant I would receive full support from the Franchisor and Central Office team. This is the benefit of Franchising with a company whose reputation continues to grow through a high-quality national brand. I have great support in the office too which is so important. This enables me to also focus on all other aspects of my business - future growth opportunities, marketing, recruitment, accounts.I am passionate about offering the best quality swimming lessons and the highest possible levels of service to every one of our customers.Every day is different and subject to change, so flexibility is vital! I communicate with customers, instructors and club managers daily either face to face or by phone to keep on top of everything that is happening.The main challenges are juggling all my responsibilities and seeking opportunities for growth in a difficult economic environment. I look after a large geographical area so prioritising and understanding different demographics and local economies is also a challenge.I would advise anyone thinking about buying into a franchise to research the market fully. Look at the company, product and opportunity before investing. I am definitely a supporter and am so glad that I took the chance to do something for myself and my family. I am fully focussed because it is my business. The development of my Swimtime Franchise, its reputation and success is all down to me!

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Village Hotel Swansea

Trecco Bay

Everlast Bristol Filton

Delta Hotels by Marriott St. Pierre Country Club

Village Hotels Swindon

Everlast Swindon

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Kent

Delta Hotels by Marriott Tudor Park Country Club

Village Hotels Maidstone

Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel

North Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

Beechwood Park School

Everlast Fitness Club Dunstable

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West Country

Long Range

Kariba Pool

 Holiday Inn Taunton

Red Doors Farm

Tregoad Holiday Park

Long Barn Cottages

Elfordleigh Hotel, Golf and Country Club

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East Yorkshire

Village Hotels Hull

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Home Counties

I started swimming lessons when I was five or six, went all the way through the swimming program and my teacher recommended that I join the local swimming club, which I did. I discovered that I really loved swimming and competing, so I swam competitively until I was around 15 up to National level.During this time one of the coaches asked me if I wanted to help out with some of the younger swimmers. I thought “Why not? I spend most of my time here anyway”, so I helped out and they put me through my Level 1 and Level 2 swimming teaching qualifications. At which point I discovered that being a swimming teacher when I was still at school was really good money compared to what all my friends were earning in their part time jobs so I started swim teaching around doing my GSCEs and A Levels in the evenings and at weekends. It worked for me because it still allowed me the freedom to go out and spend time with my friends because I’d be finished by 7pm during the week and only worked in the mornings at the weekend.In Sixth Form, I had a meeting with our school careers counsellor where I proudly announced that I wanted to own a swim school because I loved doing it and saw the potential to continue earning very good money; I was already earning close to a full time income working part time hours. She looked at me and said “You’re an A* student, are you joking? What happened to going to uni?” and I was shocked. I told her that I’d done my research, only part of the uni course I’d considered was funded and I’d end up in a lot of debt that I’d have to spend a long time paying off and the top end pay wasn’t what I wanted. She laughed at me, told me it was a waste of my potential, I’d never make any money in swimming and that I should go to uni. This just added fuel to the fire for me and I was even more determined that I wouldn’t go down the uni route and would continue to pursue my dream of having a swim school.I finished my A Levels, didn’t go to uni, and continued with swimming teaching. I went on to do my PGCE and qualified as a primary school teacher, continued to teach swimming around that and then became a swimming co-ordinator for another swim school which I really enjoyed. I doubled the amount of swimmers that they had in their program and I realized that I was actually very good at the organization of swimming lessons as well as teaching them.Then I had my son, Reuben, so I went back into teaching full time at a primary school because it was easier with child care. Working in the evening and at the weekend with a young child isn’t ideal and cost me a fortune in child care fees, so it made the most sense at the time.I met the previous Swimtime franchisee for West Mids and approached them offering to teach 1 to 1 lessons because I found I was still getting requests for swimming lessons all the time. I was honest from the off and said my flexibility wasn’t great due to having a young child and limited child care options being a single parent but I wanted to find a way to make it work. She was great, so understanding and was willing to work around my availability so we agreed that I would teach every other Sunday when my son was with his Dad.Eventually this increased to include a couple of nights in the week as well but I found that I was still getting bombarded by requests for lessons, people asking me if I could put them on a waiting list for lessons with me. I just thought it was crazy so when the franchisee made the decision to leave Swimtime and I received an email from Head Office saying they would be managing the area. I thought “I could do this”.I went to the discovery day because, although I had been teaching for them for awhile and I knew the swimming program, I didn’t know much about the business itself. Whilst there I realized that a lot of the things Theo and Rachel stand for really align with me because of working in primary schools, running school swimming and knowing that the links between children’s mental health, children’s obesity etc falls directly into children’s activities and swimming plays a huge role in remedying these issues. I listened to them speaking so passionately about this at the discovery day and knew straight away I was all in. I didn’t know how I was going to make it work but I was determined.When I started with Swimtime as a franchisee I quit my day job which is the best thing I ever did. I’ve gone from being run down, permanently exhausted and not having any time or freedom; I used to miss parents evenings, sports days, school plays etc. I was the parent who had to ask other parents to cheer for him and take pictures for me, I never went to anything. When I became a franchisee I suddenly had that time freedom which meant I could now go to these things which has made my son a lot happier and it’s made me a lot happier.I can enjoy a much better work life balance now, I’m home in the evenings a lot more as I only teach now if I need lessons covered for my other teachers. Now I do still work at the weekend or in the evenings sometimes but, when I do, it’s because I’m choosing to, not because I have to which makes a massive difference.

Multi-unit franchisee owner Fiona Marshall has a wealth of experience in all aspects of the learn to swim journey having gone from competitive swimmer, to swimming teacher, to Swimtime franchisee heading up Swimtime teams and running successful swimming programmes in the East Midlands, Home Counties and Northern Ireland.

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Holiday Inn Rugby-Northampton

Staverton Park Hotel

Mercure Daventry Court Hotel

The Duston School

Holiday Inn Central Milton Keynes

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East Anglia

 Everlast Kings Lynn

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East Midlands

 Everlast Nottingham

Everlast Fitness Rugby

Everlast Fitness Kettering

Village Hotels Nottingham

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Lancashire

I have always been a competitive swimmer through club and county level, and that led me into the leisure industry as a lifeguard and a swimming teacher from a young age. I got into the teaching with the council early on, I then went off to uni, came back and that’s when I was introduced to Swimtime through a fellow teacher, who I had worked with previously, called Linda. I met with her husband, Barry, and started doing some cover teaching over in Warrington and Liverpool.I had been to the Swimtime Teachers conference and some of the franchisees were talking about franchising there and I felt it was going to be beneficial for me. The whole structure of running my own business and scaling my own business, I felt was going to be better, was going to be better as a franchise because I was following a proven model but mainly because of like Barry and Linda at the start. I formed a good connection with them, they had a lot of good contacts within leisure and they just secured the contract for JJB at the time and I felt it was growing rapidly. There were not many other swimming franchises and businesses at the time when I when I bought into the franchise so it was a natural kind of thing for me already working with Swimtime. It made it an easier, far easier, choice.The fact that no two days are the same, can be both a positive and a challenge. My earliest challenge was getting me out of the water to take the control of the business side of it as well because I always I loved the teaching side of it. Not only do I love the teaching, I also like to deliver a high standard of lessons and I felt that if, I was not doing that, it was handing it over to someone else and trusting them to be able to deliver to my standard, but still having it under my reputation was difficult.The most rewarding thing about being a franchise business owner is the connections that I have made, the friends I’ve made, all the different people I’ve met over the years I have been within the business.If you're considering starting your own franchise with Swimtime my advice would be to be prepared to put the effort in at the at the start and you'll reap the rewards further down the line. Try and be consistent with everything you do and set your own high standards, follow them yourself and others will follow them as well. Speak to franchisees who have been in the business a long time and gain knowledge from them because there is there is a lot of things that you do not know at the start. It will make life a whole a whole lot easier using the network to help grow your business, develop your skills and enhance your own business.

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Everlast Fitness Oldham

Everlast Fitness Blackburn

 Everlast Fitness Leigh

Village Hotels Manchester Ashton

Village Hotels Bury

Fitness First Wigan

Village Hotels Hyde

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Perthshire

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Harestane Hydrotherapy

The Land Mark Hotel

The Pitlochry Hydro Hotel

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Manchester

Everlast Fitness Sale

Delta Hotels by Marriott Worsley Park Country Club

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North Wales

Village Hotels St Davids

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South Yorkshire

Holiday Inn Rotherham

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South Coast

I started my Swimtime franchise in 2015 but before that I was working for Swimtime. Initially I started teaching for Swimtime South Yorkshire and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get enough hours at the time so I left and got myself an admin job elsewhere for a while.I was then approached by the owner of the South Yorkshire franchise at the time who told me they were looking for someone to run their office at Swimtime Yorkshire and, because of my admin background, I got the gig. This gave me a bit more of an inside perspective of how the business operates.I then moved down South and the opportunity presented itself to buy the South Coast territory. With my previous knowledge of the company and a regular income from doing admin for Yorkshire to support me I felt like the time was right and I had a good footing to go for it. I continued helping with admin for the Yorkshire franchise for the first 12 months, along side running my own franchise and gradually reduced that so I was purely running my own business from 2016.I decided to start my own business because I felt like I was already doing it anyway, running someone else's business, so when the opportunity came up it felt like a natural progression to get my own business going.&nbsp;I chose franchising over setting up my own business because I was already familiar with the Swimtime brand, the people and the support that was available within the network. I felt like I was joining a family I had already been introduced to and had felt welcomed and valued by. I’ve always enjoyed swimming and working with children so it made sense to go with something I know rather than start with something completely new.I still teach swimming lessons as well as I believe it’s important to stay in touch with the customers and what we have to offer. It’s still so rewarding for me to see the smiles on the children’s faces because they've swum their first length, it feels great to know I've made a difference and that is important to me and how I run my business.I didn’t have the easiest time when I first started but, with the support of management and my peers, I’ve gotten through every time and all the challenges along the way have made me stronger. I’ve learned so much about being a business owner and I’ve been pushed to learn new skills in order to be successful on my own. This has been my greatest accomplishment since starting my business. Getting through all the tough times, when it would have been easy to throw in the towel, is something I’m really proud of.It’s onwards and upwards for me and my Swimtime franchise. Despite the challenges my business is now at a point where I know it's working and I can make it bigger and better. I will continue to learn and grow my business, no looking back.To anybody considering starting a Swimtime franchise, I would say just do it. Bite the bullet and do it. I think it’s important to have a passion for swimming, teaching, working with people and the drive to do something for yourself. You have to understand what the business is about and it's about the kids and the people we're teaching to swim; it's about giving a skill to somebody else and there's nothing more rewarding.

Justine has grown Swimtime South Coast steadily over the past years, and looks set the continue this in 2023/2024. Justine has a daughter and a cat and is very passionate about learning to swim.

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Village Hotels Farnborough

Village Hotels Portsmouth

Meon Valley Hotel

Village Hotels Bournemouth

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Surrey

Everlast Fitness Ewell

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South Wales

Everlast Merthyr Tydfil

Village Hotels Cardiff

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Derbyshire

Everlast Fitness Derby

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Edinburgh

Franchise partner, with Heather Alexander, for Swimtime Edinburgh.Lewis and Heather are popular, experienced swim teachers who took the plunge and became business owners, running their own Swimtime swim school providing lessons to children and adults in the Edinburgh area.&nbsp; Between them, they have over 40 year’s experience.

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Franchise partner, with Lewis Scott, for Swimtime Edinburgh.Heather and Lewis are popular, experienced swim teachers who took the plunge and became business owners, running their own Swimtime swim school providing lessons to children and adults in the Edinburgh area.&nbsp; Between them, they have over 40 year’s experience.

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Village Hotels Edinburgh

Stirling Highland Hotel

Berkshire

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I first started learning to swim because I wanted to join the navy. I also volunteered at the place where I was learning to swim and started helping with their swimming program. The coaches saw that I was good with the kids so they started offering me regular teaching hours and I found I really enjoyed it so that’s how I built up my career as a swimming teacher and coach.&nbsp;After being there for some time I decided I wanted to start doing this for myself, not working for them, so I’ve always had an ambition to have my own swim school.&nbsp;I moved to the UK in 2020 from St Vincent’s in the Caribbean and I basically had to start over but the ambition to have my own business and my own swim school was still there. I had a lot of things to figure out being in a new country so I had to learn a new way of doing things. It’s a more relaxed industry in the Caribbean; it’s very different here and my qualifications were American so I had to redo all of my qualifications when I moved here and I needed to decide how I was going to do this.&nbsp;I started off working in the leisure industry and taught swimming in private schools which gave me an idea of how they were running their businesses.I come from a family of entrepreneurs; my mother, grandmother, uncles had their own business so I think it was in me to pursue being a business owner growing up surrounded by entrepreneurs who did their own thing.At one point I actually considered giving up swimming altogether. I couldn’t see how I could achieve what I wanted to achieve but these people continued to support me and encourage me and ultimately this is what made me decide the time was right to go for it and open my own swimming school. The community support was a massive part of it, it wasn’t just one person, there were loads of people. I’ve always found myself put into leadership positions whether I wanted it or not; in other jobs other teachers would ask me what they should do in certain situations and one manager would always leave me in charge when he was off so I wondered “Why am I always in the position and not just doing it for myself?”After some thinking about the best approach I came across franchising where the structure is already there and you get support and guidance going forward as well so it was appealing that I wouldn’t have to do it alone. We spoke to other franchisors and finding out about the BFA, we had to learn who was part of that, who was the best franchise to go with, what they were offering etc. and we came across Swimtime.I was impressed by Franscape, the bespoke platform they use to make bookings etc easier, and this was important for me because everywhere I had worked previously, all this was done manually and for me it seemed like a lot of unnecessary work which meant longer hours etc so to have a platform that makes all that quicker and easier was great.&nbsp;Also, I’ve always been hot on standards, it’s not just about making the money for me, I would always prioritise the quality of the service over the money and this really came across for me with Swimtime; that there was emphasis on the progress of the children, the quality of what we’re offering.&nbsp;We also spoke to Keri, one of the existing franchisees, which gave us a real feeling for the network and he was really helpful. We got a real taste of what it would be like to be a part of it which none of the other franchisors offered. Rachel took her time with the process, made sure we understood what we were getting involved in which we really appreciated.That was it for me and the rest is history – now we’re Swimtime franchisees!

Xaveon and Vanessa are new to the Swimtime family but are no stranger to providing swim lessons!Having started off working in the leisure industry Xaveon caught the bug for teaching swimming in private schools which gave him the idea of running his own business. Xaveon and Vanessa explored many Swim School options in the UK and decided franchising with Swimtime UK had more to offer in terms of structure, support and ongoing guidance, as well as award winning tech.Exciting times as they start their new business journey with Swimtime

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Village Hotels Bracknell

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Cheshire

I studied sports science and business at university and part of our course was to get involved in different coaching courses, so, I decided to do my swimming teachers course.In 2002, I started covering swimming teaching for Linda Price, who founded Swimtime with her husband Barry, while she was off doing different things and that is how my involvement with Swimtime started.I didn’t actually choose franchising; franchising chose me. I started out as a swimming teacher and over the first few years it became very clear that it was going to grow bigger and bigger, so, I was involved in Swimtime's growth into a franchise business from the very beginning.&nbsp;I used to travel the country looking for teachers and venues, putting different clubs and teachers in place before franchising was even considered. Then, when we got to the point where we were so busy, Barry decided franchising the business was the way to go to be able to cope with the demand.&nbsp;I took on the West Midlands and London franchises for maybe three or four years before taking on my current franchise in Cheshire.Even in those early days, I knew Swimtime had so much potential. The idea behind it, even when it first started, was just so far ahead of competitors at the time and we are now leading the way in this industry, so, it was just a no brainer from the very the minute I met Linda; I knew this was for me.The most challenging times can be teacher shortages. Thankfully, I have a great team of teachers that will cover, but it can be tricky finding good teachers that want this as a career and have the same standards as we do.On the whole I just think the biggest challenge is to learn to grow with the business.At the time when I took on a franchise, I had a new born baby. He was only three months old and it allowed me to work around him. As a working mom, I feel that I have not missed out on my children's assemblies or important events. It helps that I have an amazing team of teachers and amazing office staff that also allows me to have that flexibility that comes with owning your own business. Having a great office team allows me to work with my venues and the teachers to ensure we are promoting the best service possible and we strive to provide the highest standards of lessons.I still love teaching most out of everything I do. I only do cover when needs be now, but I do love being in the pools and just seeing the children develop and, even if it is only for a couple of weeks, that is still the most rewarding aspect of this job. Once a teacher, always a teacher.If you're considering starting your own Swimtime franchise my advice would be to just to go for it! We are the leading name in the industry, we are always striving to be the best and you have got a massive support from the franchisors and the franchisees. So, even though you are a franchise, you are not on your own. Really it is like any business, you just throw yourself into it and you will see the rewards.&nbsp;Swimming is a life skill, so no matter what there will always be children that need to learn to swim, so, it is a good business to be involved in.

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