A Hale Barns couple have sold their swimming lesson franchise business for an undisclosed sum after building it from nothing to an annual turnover of over £4million.
Swimtime UK Ltd, set up by Barry and Linda Price in 1997, has been acquired by the former CEO of the Swimming Teachers Association, Theo Millward, who has bought 100% of its shares with private funding.
The Prices will immediately exit from the day-to-day running of the business but will remain as consultants during the handover period.
Linda, a former swimming teacher who will continue in a brand ambassadorial role, 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.
“We would like to thank all our staff and franchisees for their hard work and determination over the years. We’re incredibly proud each and every one of them and look forward to seeing them grow further. We are also hugely grateful for the support of suppliers, pool owners and loyal customers.”
The Prices talk about Swimtime UK:
In a recent interview for Business Advice website, Linda explained how the company had grown rapidly from humble origins in Sale.
“We’ve taught over 70,000 people to swim and it all started on our kitchen table!” she said. “It was all managed from our flat in Sale and the phones never stopped – we had simply reached our human capacity.”
Swimtime franchisees now operate thousands of swimming lessons every week in over 200 pools across the UK.
New owner Millward, 30, said he had “ambitious plans to invest significantly in new operations to help grow Swimtime exponentially over the next five years and beyond”.
