British Swim School
Education & Child Enrichment · Swim Schools
- Active units
- 289
Franchised, year-end 2025
About British Swim School
Operating in the children's services and aquatic safety sectors, the brand offers a curriculum that ranges from water acclimation to advanced competitive strokes. Franchisees follow an asset-light business model by partnering with existing facilities like fitness centers, hotels, and schools to rent pool space. This approach allows for the delivery of group and private lessons without the need for independent facility construction. Programs serve students of various ages and abilities, including specialized lessons for infants and adaptive aquatics for individuals with special needs.
Key terms
- Community Heroes Program
$2,500 discount on the Initial Franchise Fee for the first franchise; not combinable with VetFran; no discount for Area Development.
- Area Development Agreement - 2 territories
$100k
- Area Development Agreement - 3 territories
$140k
- Veteran discount
20.0% off franchise fee — 20% off the Initial Franchise Fee for the first Franchised Business
Brand Percentile Rankings
Rankings compare brands in the same operating year. Fee and investment figures come from the FDD (2026 filing).
Growth
- Total locations289
Franchised units open at year-end
- New openings47
Gross new units opened during the calendar year
- 1-year unit growth rate12.0%
Net unit growth versus prior year
- 3-year unit CAGR22.1%
Compound annual growth rate of unit count over the trailing 3 years
- Unit growth ratio3.1×
Cumulative opens / closures through year-end
Unit economics
- Annual unit volume (Median)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- Annual unit volume (25th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- Annual unit volume (75th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- 1-year Median AUV growth rate—
Year-over-year change in median AUV
- Store-level EBITDA Margin25.0%
Median unit-level EBITDA / AUV
Investment profile
- Estimated initial investment$136k
Midpoint of estimated initial investment range
↓ Lower is better - Time to open4 months
Midpoint of average time from agreement to opening
↓ Lower is better - Royalty rate—
Percent of net sales paid to the franchisor
- Sales-to-investment ratio—
Median AUV / estimated initial investment midpoint
- Cash-on-cash returns80.0%
Median unit-level EBITDA / estimated initial investment midpoint. Steady-state estimate; year 1 returns will be lower as the unit ramps to median volumes.
Franchisee healthLocked
- Unit closure ratio
- Transfer vs. closure ratio
- Percent multi-unit franchisees
- Litigation rate
- EBITDA multiple on sales & transfers
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Location footprint
Showing 162 of 280 mapped locations
Sources
Financial and operating figures are sourced from the brand's Franchise Disclosure Documents. Brand percentile rankings are based on comparisons to other brands that include the same metrics in their Franchise Disclosure Documents.