Commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has advised Olympic athletes Becky Adlington and Steve Parry on the successful management buyout (MBO) of the swimming lessons business they first founded in 2012.
Four-time Olympic medallist Rebecca Adlington OBE and fellow Olympic swimmer Steve Parry MBE founded Swim! in the wake of their respective Olympic successes.
Swim! operates from 27 venues across the UK, providing children of all ages with a bespoke learn-to-swim programme. The business delivers lessons to over 30,000 children per week. Twelve of the sites are purpose-built and fully managed by the Swim! team and the remaining 15 pools are based within schools and sports centres.
In May 2022, JD Gyms Group acquired a majority stake in Swim!, helping to drive further growth of the business and increase access to swimming lessons provision across the UK.
Now, under the terms of the MBO, Adlington, Parry, and incoming Swim! managing director Amelia Worrall, will step away from JD and form a new owner-managed team with full control of the Swim! business.
Corporate partner Matt Noon led on the provision of legal advice to longtime clients, Adlington and Parry, assisted by senior associate Elizabeth Jones and apprentice solicitor Nick O’Shaughnessy.
It’s fantastic news that Swim! is once again back in the hands of its founders, Becky and Steve. The investment in 2022 by JD Gyms Group propelled the business model forward and expanded access to swimming lessons for many more children across the UK. With Amelia’s addition to the team following the MBO, Swim! is now in great shape to continue its growth journey. We were delighted to play a part in helping make that happen.Matt Noon
Partner
Matt Noon said: “It’s fantastic news that Swim! is once again back in the hands of its founders, Becky and Steve. The investment in 2022 by JD Gyms Group propelled the business model forward and expanded access to swimming lessons for many more children across the UK. With Amelia’s addition to the team following the MBO, Swim! is now in great shape to continue its growth journey. We were delighted to play a part in helping make that happen.”
Steve Parry added: “The creation of Swim! in 2012 was - and still is - a passion project for Becky and me and we’re excited to be back at the sharp end. Matt and his team have been our go-to legal advisers for a number of years now on this journey and they played a key role again on this transaction from start to finish. As usual, they gave really commercial and pragmatic advice to Becky, Amelia and myself throughout.”