We recently announced that STA has teamed back up with Bigwave Growth to offer members an exclusive free new business support service. This free online ‘Swim School Assessment’ is designed to help members improve operational efficiencies and strengthen their businesses for the future by clearly understanding their market potential and market penetration. But what does the audit actually offer in practice – and how can it help swim schools grow?

To find out, we spoke with Sam Webb, Aquatics & Junior Activities Manager for Leeds City Council, who deliver STA-accredited swim programmes, about their real-world experience of working with Bigwave Growth, and the impact it’s had on their learn to swim programmes.

What were the biggest challenges your swim academy was facing before the audit?

Our swim programme consistently achieved high occupancy levels across its sites – a sign of strong engagement. However, numbers remained largely unchanged, and with long waiting lists and clear demand from the local community, we saw an opportunity to grow further. We needed a clearer picture of our full market potential and how best to meet it.

What was your experience like working with the Bigwave team?

Nick has been brilliant; he provided us with a comprehensive report detailing our latent demand, giving individual targets to each of our 13 sites and highlighting key areas that we needed to improve.

What aspects of the audit process did you find most helpful or insightful?

Having a figure that we could grow to in 5 years has given sites a target to aim for. Sites now strategize how they are going to get there.

How easy or practical was it to implement the recommendations?

Some of the recommendations have taken time to implement, but following Nick’s recommendation that 10% of turnover should be spent on the coordination of lessons, we have recently increased the number of Aquatics Co-ordinators and introduced an Aquatics Development Officer who is responsible for delivering training, recruitment and our volunteer programme.

The impact Bigwave has had on our programme has been phenomenal. We started working with Nick when lesson numbers were still impacted by COVID — we recovered quickly and have since grown the programme by almost 4,000 swimmers, with plans to increase a further 2,000 swimmers.

The teams don’t just look at the new enrolments but the wider picture including attrition, the reason for cancellations, and what stage of the programme people are leaving.

How valuable was it to have external support and a fresh perspective?

It is great to have someone sharing up-to-date industry information, and when sites discuss issues they may be having, Nick usually has a site that has overcome this issue and can share tried and tested solutions. Nick has also encouraged us to speak directly to his other clients and share best practice.

Would you recommend the audit to other swim schools or operators — and why?

I would highly recommend the audit and working with Bigwave long term. It has had a massive impact on the growth of our lesson programme and raised the profile of swimming lessons, so they are almost seen as an equal to health and fitness.

What one thing did Bigwave’s support help you see or do differently?

Monthly meetings bringing together Centre Managers, Swim Site Leads, and the Aquatics team have created a vital platform for staff to share best practices and collaborate on solutions for common issues.

In a sentence or two, how would you sum up the value of the audit for your business?

Nick’s invaluable mentorship has significantly benefited me and the team, fostering growth on both personal and professional fronts. Furthermore, his instrumental role in expanding the programme by nearly 4,000 swimmers has led to substantial financial gains, enabling us to safeguard our facilities during a difficult time.