About Water Babies

With humble beginnings around a kitchen table in Yorkshire, we never imagined that we’d grow into the franchise business that we are today. Since we began in 2002, we’ve grown incredibly quickly. We now welcome over 52,000 children into warm water at around 560 local pools every week and our sessions progressively develop children’s water skills in line with their physical, mental and emotional development phases. This is delivered by over 70 franchisees, running more than 80 outlets across the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Canada, and China.

Water Babies franchisee’s come from a wide range of backgrounds, but they all share a passion for giving children the best start in life.

Some facts about us

• We teach over 50k babies and toddlers every week
• We have offices in 6 countries including China, Canada, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK
• We have our own purpose-built swim centres in China – and we’re building more!
• Leadership and Culture British Franchise Association award winner in 2020
• We wrote the first (and only) British Standards for pre-school swimming
• We created the first Aquatic diploma for prefundamental swim teaching
• Our Head Office has been awarded gold for Investors in People 2019
• We are campaigning through Children’s Alliance to elect a Cabinet Minister for Children to ensure they have a voice at the highest level
• We have over 600 swim teachers who are the best at what they do!
• We take over 250k underwater photos of babies and toddlers every year

The Benefit of Franchising

As a franchise owner, you’ll have all the autonomy and excitement of running your own business, with the support of our head office team, your dedicated Franchise Partner, and the mutual support of the rest of the franchise network. We are the best in the industry, so you can feel confident that your business will thrive. Our aim is for every franchisee to be swimming at least 1,000 customers per week, generating excellent profits and a great return on your investment.

Becoming a Water Babies Franchisee

Not only does a new Water Babies franchisee have the strength of our brand, but they also receive all the equipment, tools, technology, and marketing they need to make their business successful. From the very start of their journey, when they make an enquiry, Water Babies provides world-class support and training. The team is on hand with an 8-phase launch plan, including 285 steps intertwined throughout, supported by our Project Management team.

Water Babies’ rigorous specialist baby swimming teacher training programme has been developed in collaboration with Swim England, the national governing body for swimming, and will qualify franchisees as one of the world’s best-trained baby swimming teachers. Ours are the only baby swimming teachers who can obtain this prestigious qualification, which is the highest-level qualification available in early years swimming.

Together we’ll make sure that you’re ready to take on the challenge and continuously support you on your journey as a franchise owner.