Founded in 2011 in Bristol by Gaby Lixton and Caroline Sparks, Turtle Tots began with a simple yet powerful mission: to make baby and toddler swimming lessons accessible, engaging, and impactful. What started as a small venture quickly evolved into an award-winning franchise network, now teaching over 17,000 children each week across the UK, Ireland, and Dubai in the UAE. Gaby and Caroline recognised early on that their scalable, values-driven model could empower others to build rewarding, flexible businesses through franchising. Driven by a passion for child safety, emotional development, and community, Turtle Tots continues to innovate—embracing technology, AI tools, and strategic planning to stay ahead in a competitive industry. With a collaborative leadership approach and bold plans for global expansion, Gaby, Caroline and Turtle Tots remain a shining example of purpose-led entrepreneurship that balances growth with meaningful social impact.
Can you describe your entrepreneurial journey and the motivation behind starting your business?
Gaby launched Turtle Tots in Bristol in the UK in 2011. There was a demand for competitively priced specialist baby and toddler swimming lessons and the number of customers grew quickly during the first year. In 2011 we realised that the business model was perfectly suited to franchising, which would allow us to scale quickly, and offer other people the opportunity to run a flexible, profitable and rewarding Turtle Tots business.
We now have over 50 franchisees operating Turtle Tots businesses across the UK, Republic of Ireland and most recently launched in Dubai, UAE. Collectively they teach over17,000 children every week in over 250 swimming pools with 200 teachers.
Drowning is the fourth leading cause of death for children age 1-4 according to the World Health Organisation and we are passionate about teaching children vital water safety and lifesaving skills. Introducing children to water at a young age also has many emotional, physiological and psychological benefits for children and provides a unique bonding experience for the parent and child.
How do you stay ahead of technological advancements in your industry, and how has this impacted your business model?
At Turtle Tots, we recognise that staying ahead of technological advancements is essential not only for operational efficiency but also for enhancing the customer experience and supporting our franchise network.
For example, we’ve invested in a bespoke, cloud-based booking and customer management system, streamlining administration for franchisees and making the booking process quicker and easier for customers.
We work closely with industry bodies including the International Swim School Association and the internationally recognised Swimming Teacher’s Association. In 2017 the STA launched a brand new qualification called the Level 3 Diploma in Baby & Pre School Teaching. This qualification expanded the knowledge of experienced swim teachers by improving their knowledge and providing them with evidence from research done over the last two decades into child psychology and neuroscience, which led to changing theories of how children learn.
As a result Turtle Tots re-wrote its baby swimming programme, to be even more baby-led, with more focus on reading cues, and communication to ensure babies are active and willing participants in everything we do in the pool together. This isn’t difficult at all as babies are hard-wired to learn, and the way they learn best is by observation and imitation.
What role does artificial intelligence play in your current operations or future plans?
At Turtle Tots, we see artificial intelligence (AI) as a valuable tool to enhance—not replace—the personal touch that is a cornerstone of our brand. While AI can’t replace the delivery of swimming lessons, we are actively exploring ways it can support and strengthen key areas of our operations and future growth.
Currently, we use AI-driven tools on our website such as intelligent chatbots and language translation plug ins.
We’re also exploring AI-powered analytics to help us better understand customer behaviour, optimise class scheduling, and track business performance across our franchise network.
In our long-term plans, we see potential for AI to play a role in training and development, through personalised e-learning paths and intelligent performance feedback systems for teachers and franchisees.
Importantly, we approach AI integration thoughtfully—ensuring that any technology we adopt enhances our service quality, supports our team, and remains aligned with our core values.
Can you share a significant challenge you’ve faced in your business and how you overcame it?
Covid was a significant challenge for Turtle Tots When the lockdown was announced we immediately communicated with our franchisees and customers, giving franchisees emotional, practical and operational support.
We spoke to our contacts at the major banks; signposting franchisees to the most appropriate financial support. We also made them aware of discretionary grants, deferred monthly royalty fees, and worked with suppliers to reduce costs.
We produced updated documentation including extensive health and safety templates, customer guidelines and FAQs, signage, marketing collateral; even branded face coverings.
This was all undertaken whilst facing a huge amount of uncertainty and financial headwinds.
Having forecast revenue of over £1 million for the first time in 2020/21, our revenue fell by 78%, with only nine weeks of limited trading throughout the year. However, we exploited the opportunity by using the time
- Our teachers and franchisees studied for a new qualification – the Certificate in Teaching Aquaphobics, which enables teachers to understand and identify parents who are fearful of water, and help them from a psychological and physical perspective. 2-3% of the world population are aquaphobic.
- As we were unable to teach swimming during the pandemic we used video and our social media channels to continue communications with our customers and target market.
- And the pandemic also gave us the opportunity to examine our costs which led to us downsizing our offices, renegotiating contracts with suppliers and moving to a hybrid working model for our staff.
How do you approach strategic planning and decision-making in you organization?
At Turtle Tots, our approach to strategic planning and decision-making is grounded in our mission to deliver high-quality, child-led baby and toddler swimming lessons while supporting our franchisees and maintaining a sustainable, values-driven business.
We take a collaborative and data-informed approach. Strategic planning typically begins with assessing performance data, market trends, and feedback from our franchise network, customers, and staff. This ensures we are staying responsive customer requirements.
Decision-making balances innovation with practicality. We pilot new ideas, gather insights, and scale what works. Whether it’s enhancing our programme, investing in technology, or expanding our support services, we always consider the impact on our core values, customer experience, and franchisee success.
Ultimately, our strategic choices are driven by our commitment to safety, inclusivity, excellence, and community, ensuring Turtle Tots continues to grow as a trusted leader in baby and toddler swimming.
What is your approach to leadership and fostering a positive company culture?
We have a very collaborative approach to leadership, and this is particularly necessary because each of our 50 franchisees runs their own business and the decisions we make impact every business. As leaders themselves they also have opinions on the changes that we need to make.
A recent example is the pending launch of new customer welcome packs, and the renaming of levels of our swimming programme; aimed at improving the customer experience and making it easier for customers to book lessons. We formed a Working Party made up for three franchises and select head office staff to project manage the change ideas and communicate with the wider network of franchisees to get feedback.
Giving our franchisees a voice in this way fosters a positive company culture. We also have an internal online forum for franchisees and head office to engage. This is used to communicate news, ask advice, run opinion polls and more.
Annually we have our Development Days, our in-person conference for franchisees. This is used to impart business updates, run training workshops, and the franchisees love the opportunity to meet one another face to face, and share ideas and best practice.
How do you ensure your business remains adaptable and responsive to market changes?
As a business in its 15th year we have had to be adaptable to the challenges of the economy, and mindful of customers spending habits.
Fortunately, swimming is a life skill and something that every parent wants their child to learn as early as possible so that their child is as safe as possible in and around water. Therefore demand for swimming lessons is less elastic that other children’s activities.
However it has been important to be mindful of our competition and our franchisees research what their competitors charge before they set their own pricing.
A big change over the last few years has been the need for verified customer reviews, to attract new customers and also to be recognized by Google, thus reducing our Google advertising costs and improving our website searchability. This has been something we have embraced, alongside the use of a chatbots on our website.
Can you discuss a recent innovation or project that has been particularly successful for your company?
We have recently entered into a joint venture with one of our UK-based franchisees to build the first Turtle Swim Centre. We are installing an overground pool in a building and the design of the building and fitting will be bespoke and suited to customers who have young children. The Swim Centre is opening in September 2025 and will allow the franchisee to increase the size of her business by 400%.
We plan to build further Swim Centres over the next five years to attract new franchisees to join us, and also enter into more joint ventures with existing franchisees.
What are your long-term goals for your business, and how are you working towards achieving them?
Over the next few years we plan to expand in the Middle East. Our franchisee in Dubai launched their Turtle Tots business in September 2024 and has grown very quickly, teaching lessons in beautiful swimming pools including The Fairmont on the Palm, Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club and The Paramount Hotel. Their success has led her to quickly need to employ staff to satisfy the demand for baby and toddler swimming lessons.
We are now searching for ambitious, driven, and like-minded people to launch Turtle Tots in the other UAE Emirates and also in the other GCC countries.
Over 70% of our franchisees began their journey with Turtle Tots as a customer and they have loved the brand and the programme which has led to them retraining to become a Turtle Tots franchisee and build a successful baby and toddler swimming business with our support. Word of mouth, in-person networking and business awards also play a role in attracting new franchisees and we always look forward to spending time in the UAE and meeting potential franchisees as well as other business owners.
What advice would you give to emerging entrepreneurs in your industry?
Start with a clear mission.
Having a strong “why” will guide your decisions and keep you motivated, especially during challenging times. In our case, it’s about making a positive impact on families while creating flexible, rewarding careers for franchisees.
Plan.
Write a business plan and a cashflow forecast, and revisit both at regular intervals. Whatever business you run, it relies on the numbers!
Quality matters. Always.
Whether it’s your teaching standards, customer service, or branding—parents notice the details. Invest in training, continually improve your offering, and never compromise on safety or quality.
Build strong systems early.
Sustainable growth relies on having efficient, scalable systems in place—from admin and bookings to communication and customer feedback.
Community is everything.
Create genuine relationships with your customers, and if you’re franchising, with your network. Word-of-mouth and reputation are of the upmost importance. Attend business networking events to meet other entrepreneurs. They are an opportunity to proceed.
