British Swim School franchise unit economics
British Swim School franchisees rent lane time at existing commercial pools, two pools an outlet. Sell subscription swim lessons across a territory of up to 25,000 children under ten. The average outlet billed $432,912 in 2025 and kept $108,457 of net operating income, which is 25%, with labor and pool rent taking half of revenue between them. From the fourth year the minimum royalty is $42,000 a year whatever the outlet sells, and the median outlet bills $295,286.
- Primary source
- British Swim School Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 168 of 289 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
The average outlet billed $432,912 in 2025 and kept $108,457 of net operating income before the owner was paid, which is 25%. Labor and pool rent take 49.7% of revenue between them, and from the fourth year the royalty is $42,000 a year whatever the outlet sells, against a median outlet billing $295,286.
- From year four franchise fees take $42,000 a year whatever you bill. The median outlet bills $295,286, where 10% comes to $29,529. The minimum costs $12,471 more, which is 15 customers of pure margin *, and it holds for every outlet under $420,000 of sales.
- Labor and pool rent take half of revenue. $142,480 and $72,719 on $432,912, 49.7% gone ahead of a single operating expense *, and the pool rent share of 16.8% sits inside the 10% to 25% of lesson revenue a pool owner is owed.
- Net operating income after operating costs is 25% of revenue and the median outlet keeps 21%. $108,457 on $432,912 and $63,095 on $295,286, both ahead of anything the owner takes, and the average has an outlet billing $2,319,232.
- Today’s brand and minimum marketing charge reaches $83,506 for a median outlet. Against $52,648 in the filed statement *, a $30,858 difference that takes median net operating income from $63,095 to $32,237. That is 28.3% of revenue going to the brand and its required media.
- The oldest outlets are shrinking while the system doubles. Median revenue in the pre-2022 class fell 15.1% from $465,080 to $395,028 across three years while outlets went from 138 to 289. Inside that class the top quartile fell 4.5% while the bottom rose 12.1%.
How much does a British Swim School franchise make?
The average British Swim School unit reported $432,912 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $295,286. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 25.1% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 12% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Top performers
What separates the top British Swim School performers
British Swim School splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,307,986 a year. The worst averaged $123,873. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $295,286. The average was $432,912. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 10.6× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $122,700 to $176,050, a 1.4× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 16.8% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Wages, the dominant line.Wages take 32.9% of sales, against 25.1% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 16.8% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver.This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 12.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
- The first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.168 of 289 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
The costs, line by line
Half the revenue goes before the first operating line.
| Line | Average | Share of revenue | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | $432,912 | 100% | $295,286 |
| Cost of sales, labor | $142,480 | 33% | $104,552 |
| Cost of sales, pool rental | $72,719 | 17% | $29,136 |
| Cost of sales, lesson supplies | $11,744 | 3% | $2,068 |
| Total cost of sales | $226,943 | 52% | $164,893 |
| Gross profit | $205,968 | 48% | $130,393 |
| Royalty | $43,291 | 10% | $29,529 |
| Marketing fee | $8,658 | 2% | $5,906 |
| Advertising and promotion | $21,951 | 5% | $17,213 |
| Merchant and bank fees | $10,567 | 2% | $6,629 |
| Technology | $4,951 | 1% | $3,812 |
| Insurance | $4,739 | 1% | $3,153 |
| Office supplies and expense | $1,758 | 0% | $519 |
| Training | $1,596 | 0% | $538 |
| Total operating expenses | $97,512 | 23% | $67,298 |
| Net operating income after operating costs | $108,457 | 25% | $63,095 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, from 168 outlets that traded at least nine months of 2025. Net operating income after operating costs sits ahead of the owner’s own pay, any office rent, interest and depreciation.
Twenty-five cents of every dollar survives to net operating income. $108,457 on $432,912, and $63,095 on a median of $295,286, a 21% median margin in a business that leases its main asset by the lane hour. Is what renting capacity instead of building it buys an owner.
Labor at 33% is the line that decides the year. $142,480 of instructors and deck staff. Every point of labor drift is $4,329 at the average outlet and $2,953 at the median. The whole 25% margin is worth eight points of labor.
Pool rent averages $72,719 and the median outlet pays $29,136. The average is 2.5 times the median *. The big multi-pool outlets have most of the rent in this column, so a single-market owner should model the median.
Card processing costs more than technology and insurance together. $10,567 against $4,951 and $4,739, 2.4% of revenue *, which is what a subscription business collected monthly by card looks like, and it is worth 13 customers a year.
Lesson supplies come to 3% of revenue. $11,744, with a median of $2,068, delivery is close to free once the lane and the instructor are paid. So the operating decisions here are pool hours and class fill.
The minimum charges
The brand charges a percentage until it charges a number. (Items 5 and 6)
| Charge | Rate or minimum | A year * | 10% overtakes it at * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 10% of gross sales | n/a | n/a |
| minimum royalty, second full year | $1,500 a month | $18,000 | $180,000 of sales |
| minimum royalty, third full year | $2,500 a month | $30,000 | $300,000 of sales |
| minimum royalty, fourth year onward | $3,500 a month | $42,000 | $420,000 of sales |
| Marketing fund | 2% of gross sales | n/a | n/a |
| Local advertising | $15,000 a year | $15,000 | n/a |
| Search engine optimization | $300 a month | $3,600 | n/a |
| Digital marketing | $1,416.66 a month | $17,000 | n/a |
| Required media minimum | n/a | $35,600 | n/a |
Every rate and minimum is as the brand reported it for a standard territory, and the annual totals and crossover points are marked *.
The minimum overtakes the rate at $420,000 of sales. The oldest class has a median of $395,028 *, so more than half of the most experienced outlets in the system pay $42,000. Every class average below the pre-2022 one sits under the crossover too.
In the bottom quartile of mature outlets the minimum is 33.9% of revenue. $42,000 on an average of $123,873 *, three and a half times the headline rate, and 50 of that outlet’s roughly 148 customers work purely to pay it.
The required media minimum of $35,600 is the same for every outlet. $15,000 local, $3,600 of search work and $17,000 of digital *, a flat figure for an outlet billing $123,873 and for one billing $2,319,232. So it lands as 28.7% of revenue at the bottom and 1.5% at the top.
Filed advertising came to $21,951, which is $13,649 under today’s minimum. 5.1% of revenue *, owners on earlier agreements have lighter marketing terms, so a new outlet should model the $35,600.
A median outlet on today’s terms costs $83,506 of brand and media cost. $42,000 of royalty, $5,906 of marketing fund and $35,600 of required media *, against $52,648 in the filed statement, a $30,858 difference that leaves $32,237 of the median $63,095.
The mature class
The strong outlets are coming down and the weak ones are coming up.
| quartile | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Change * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quarter | $1,369,980 | $1,356,644 | $1,307,986 | −4.5% |
| Second quarter | $611,875 | $585,541 | $557,986 | −8.8% |
| Third quarter | $346,873 | $318,532 | $309,131 | −10.9% |
| Bottom quarter | $110,507 | $123,994 | $123,873 | +12.1% |
| Class average | $606,775 | $596,178 | $574,744 | −5.3% |
| Class median | $465,080 | $425,232 | $395,028 | −15.1% |
Every quartile, average and median figure is as the brand reported it and the change column is marked *.
The median mature outlet lost $70,052 of revenue in three years. $465,080 down to $395,028 *, 84 customers at the system rate, one in six of what a median mature outlet holds.
The top quarter still averages $1,307,986 and the bottom $123,873. A range of 10.56 times inside one cohort *, same brand, same age, same fee schedule, so the difference is pool count, lane hours and fill rate.
Three quarters of the class fell and one rose. Down 4.5%, 8.8% and 10.9% against up 12.1%. The lowest-selling outlets are being repaired while the highest-selling are giving ground, which is what a system looks like when new capacity lands near established territories.
Newer classes are still climbing. The 2023 signings went $213,514 to $330,867 to $376,169 and the 2024 signings went $134,106 to $256,871 *, a 76.2% and a 91.5% climb, so the build-up is real and the plateau arrives somewhere near the mature median.
The system went from 138 outlets to 289 in three years. 175 opened and 24 left, a departure rate of 14 for every 100 that opened *, which is low, and the 19 agreements signed and awaiting opening say the pipeline continues.
Customers and pools
A customer is worth $835.51 a year.
| Class | Outlets | Average revenue | Average customers | Revenue a customer * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-2022 | 88 | $574,744 | 660 | $870.82 |
| 2022 | 13 | $384,722 | 464 | $829.14 |
| 2023 | 36 | $376,169 | 449 | $837.79 |
| 2024 | 69 | $256,871 | 320 | $802.72 |
| 2025 | 38 | $119,685 | 185 | $646.95 |
| All 244, weighted * | 244 | $374,562 | 448 | $835.51 |
Class outlet counts, average revenue and average customers are as the brand reported it, and the weighted row and every revenue-a-customer figure are marked *.
An established customer is worth $870.82 a year and a first-year one $646.95. A gap of $223.87 *. The build-up is as much about holding families across seasons as about signing them. That is because the mature classes convert the same enrollment into a third more revenue.
Break-even sits near $210,132 of revenue, or 252 customers. $90,644 of fixed cost against a 43.1% contribution rate after labor, pool rent, supplies, the marketing fund and card charges *, on today’s fee schedule with the $42,000 minimum royalty and the $35,600 media minimum in the fixed base.
The median outlet clears break-even by $85,154, or 102 customers. $295,286 against $210,132 *, a hundred families is the whole cushion, so a bad autumn enrollment window is the event that matters most in this model.
Two pools an outlet, earning $178,624 each. Median $110,671, with outlets running as many as nine, growth here is a lane-hour negotiation with a pool owner. The top quartile at $1,307,986 is running roughly seven pools’ worth of volume.
Rent works out at $36,360 a pool. $72,719 across two *, against $178,624 of revenue a pool that is 20.4%, near the top of the 10% to 25% group a pool owner is owed. So the rent line is where an experienced owner finds points.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does a British Swim School outlet bill?
Across the 168 outlets that filed an income statement, the 2025 average was $432,912 of sales with $108,457 of net operating income, which is 25%. The median outlet billed $295,286 and kept $63,095, which is 21%. Across the wider group of 244 outlets, class averages ran from $574,744 for the pre-2022 signings down to $119,685 for the 2025 signings.
Where does the money go?
Labor takes 33% of revenue, pool rental 17% and lesson supplies 3%, so cost of sales is 52% and gross profit 48%. Royalty is 10%, the marketing fund 2%, advertising and promotion 5%, card and bank charges 2%, technology 1% and insurance 1%. Total operating expenses come to 23%.
What does the brand take?
10% of gross sales in royalty plus 2% into the marketing fund. The royalty has a monthly minimum once the initial period ends. $1,500 in the second full year, $2,500 in the third and $3,500 from the fourth onward, payable whatever the month’s sales were. Technology runs about $250 a month at the start and rises toward $820 a month at 1,000 active students.
When does the minimum royalty start to bite?
At $420,000 of annual sales from the fourth year, below which the $42,000 minimum exceeds the 10% rate. The pre-2022 class median is $395,028, so most of the oldest outlets in the system sit under it. For the bottom quartile of that class, averaging $123,873, the minimum works out at 33.9% of revenue.
What is the marketing requirement?
$15,000 a year of local advertising in a standard territory, $3,600 of search engine optimization and $17,000 of digital marketing. Is $35,600 a year as a flat dollar figure with a percentage alternative absent. On top of that sits the 2% marketing fund, and in the first year a mailer program costing about $5,650. The outlets in the filed statement spent $21,951 on advertising and promotion, because earlier agreements have lighter terms.
What does it cost to open?
$122,700 to $176,050 for a standard territory on a $59,500 initial franchise fee, of which $86,700 goes to the franchisor or its affiliates. A targeted territory runs $95,200 to $151,050 on a $39,500 fee. Two or three territories under an area development agreement run $212,300 to $426,550.
How stable is the system?
289 franchised outlets at the end of 2025, up from 138 two years earlier. Across 2023 to 2025, 175 opened and 24 left, 22 terminations, one non-renewal and one that ceased for other reasons. The brand owns zero outlets itself. A further 51 businesses trade in Canada, and 19 agreements were signed and awaiting opening at year end.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Active customers against 252, because that is where break-even sits on today’s fee schedule at $835.51 of revenue a customer. And pool rent as a share of the revenue each pool produces against 20.4%, because the lane-hour deal is the one cost line an owner renegotiates.
Questions worth putting to British Swim School
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many British Swim School locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →What is a lane hour earning you?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around $835.51 of revenue a customer, a break-even at 252 customers. Pool rent measured against the revenue each pool actually produces.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
British Swim School reads against the rest of the swim schools group: Big Blue Swim School · Goldfish Swim School. The swim schools guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.