Rita Goldberg got the idea in 1981 to open a private swim school in the basement of her Manchester, England, home.
What she didn’t know is that 40 years later her idea would have morphed into the entity British Swim School, a franchise organization now operating over 250 schools across the U.S. and Canada.
Nearly 28,000 swimming lessons are held weekly, servicing everyone from three-month-olds to adults. In 2022, British Swim School ranked No. 63 on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Top Franchises for under $100,000 list. But 2019 saw another big change for the company that has led it to where it is today.
In April 2019, British Swim School came under majority ownership by Buzz Franchise Brands. It was that same year Ashley Gundlach found herself as the director of marketing at British Swim School.
Gundlach had grown disillusioned in the earlier part of her career at a local agency. “We were always an outsider to our clients’ businesses,” she said. “In 2019, I began looking for opportunities to be an insider within an organization. I spent several months researching opportunities for companies that had a reputation for a strong culture and are committed to doing well in the communities they serve.”
British Swim School fit the bill, so Gundlach jumped on board. Then in 2021 she took on her current role as president of the company.
Gundlach’s personal aims and goals align with the focus at British Swim School, a company with the mantra “Survival of the Littlest.”
“My mission echoes that of our brand: to ensure every person, regardless of age or ability, has the opportunity to be a safe and happy swimmer,” said Gundlach. “This is evident in all we do — from our Special Abilities program that focuses on what children and adults can do instead of what they cannot, to the fun and gentle approach we build into our training and lesson plans, ensuring students have a blast in their lessons and are excited to come back to the pool.”
In fact, Gundlach is herself a parent of three British Swim School students, giving her a firsthand view on the phenomenal instruction. The teaching focuses on water survival and then moves on to stroke development. Overall, the company has been revolutionary in the development of a program to help the very young survive an accident in the water.
The revolutionary developments don’t stop there. The unique model of British Swim School means they look to partner with existing facilities with underutilized pools. Gundlach shared they don’t build new pools but instead aim to provide franchise owners a meaningful source of ancillary revenue.
“Facility owners love working with us: there is minimal interruption to their business, we carry our own line of insurance and we’re bringing foot traffic — and thus potential customers — through their doors each day,” said Gundlach.
In addition, the adult programs offered by British Swim School are especially attractive to club operators. “It provides a service to members most clubs can’t provide due to personnel restrictions,” said Gundlach. “Additionally, this program brings non-members into the facility, and often we’re able to collaborate with club operators to offer joint discounts or other perks for a win-win scenario.”
However, British Swim School knows any success that happens only happens together. Gundlach shared they are aware pools can be a headache, so their model looks to alleviate that burden whether it’s through renting space by the day, hour, lane, etc. It can be based on whatever works best for the facility.
“Seeing our owners meet their goals of business ownership and financial independence, while at the same time filling a critical need in their communities, is extremely rewarding,” said Gundlach. “Most people don’t realize drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for kids under the age of 10, but we’re part of the solution and that’s amazing.”
Gundlach acknowledged communication has also been a key part to successful partnerships between British Swim School and its franchisees. The best club partnerships are where communication is strong between the club owner/manager and franchise owners.
“With great communication, we’re able to identify opportunities to build on the partnership — a good example of this might be a club that needs help staffing lifeguards, an area we can sometimes support with our staff — or quickly alleviate any concerns that pop up,” said Gundlach. “We train our franchisees on how to be great partners with their facility owners, and frequently see the relationship expand over time — either into new pools or longer contracts — as a result.”
Just as those relationships expand over time, so too has British Swim School. Starting from a Manchester home, 40 years later it is a franchise model making waves through teaching the foundations needed to enjoy the water for life.
Gundlach said the goal is to expand into all 50 states and within those, into all major markets. 2022 saw a lot of progress toward this goal. It seems British Swim School isn’t slowing on its life changing mission — and that’s survival of the littlest.
