In at the deep end as Shropshire entrepreneur takes over Swimtime
The UK's biggest swimming lesson franchise business has been taken over by a Shropshire entrepreneur for an undisclosed sum.
Swimtime, which is headquartered near Manchester Airport and which dishes out 17,000 swimming lessons per week, has been bought out by Shrewsbury-based Theo Millward using private funding.
Mr Millward, who lives in the county town and attended Shrewsbury School, was formerly chief executive of the Swimming Teacher Association in Birmingham, but is now taking control of the £4 million-turnover swimming business.
The company has 300 instructors with access to 200 pools around the country, and has 26 franchises under its name, including one in Shrewsbury and another in Telford.
The 30-year-old, who has six years of high-level management experience in the leisure sector, said: "Swimtime is a very successful, established brand and company, which I've had the pleasure of being involved with for some time through my previous work.
"I'm really excited to come on board at a time when there is enormous scope to develop and expand the business.
"I'm eager to get to grips with the day-to-day running of the company and look forward to meeting all franchisees in the very near future, as well as building relationships with account managers and suppliers. I have ambitious plans to invest significantly in new operations to help grow Swimtime exponentially over the next five years and beyond."
That investment could see the business, whose core market is lessons for five-to-10 year olds, appealing to other would-be swimmers, including babies, adults, and disabled people.
"There will certainly be investment on the marketing side," Mr Millward said.
"There's a really big health and fitness movement that's not just about sport and competitiveness, but about being active. We want to capitalise on that."
He added: "I'm not going to be changing things too quickly, but I will be working with a lot of local businesses in Shropshire, and we have already appointed a local accountant.
"For things like insurance brokers and the finance team, we will be looking at Shropshire-based companies. I have a lot of passion for the area, and I like to use local businesses where I can."
Mr Millward has held a variety of roles in the leisure industry, including head of IT and marketing and operations director, where he encountered Swimtime co-founder Linda and Barry Price.
They have already exited from the day-to-day running of the business but will remain as consultants during the handover period. Mrs Price will also continue as brand ambassador.
She said: "Having spent the last 20 years developing Swimtime from a start-up into a successful nationwide brand with 19 franchisees, we are very proud of what we've achieved and it will of course be sad to not be a part of the daily running of the business.
"However, we're confident that Theo is the best person to drive Swimtime forward and are pleased to hand over the reins to such an enthusiastic and competent business owner."
Mr Millward may be recognisable to some for his role in Shrewsbury's Mad Cow Productions theatre group, while he is also a keen rower.
