Four-time Olympic medallist, Rebecca Adlington OBE, and Olympic swimmer, Steve Parry MBE, have successfully completed a management buyout of Swim!

The pair originally founded the swimming lesson business in 2012 and The JD Gyms Group acquired a majority stake in May 2022 to help drive growth. It now operates from 27 venues in the UK, delivering lessons to more than 30,000 children each week. Twelve of the sites are purpose-built and fully managed by the Swim! team and the other 15 are based in schools and sports centres.

The MBO sees Adlington, Parry and the chief operating officer of The JD Gyms Group, Amelia Worrall, step away from JD and form a new owner-managed team with full control of the Swim! Worrall will become managing director of Swim! after a phased handover from The JD Gyms Group. Parry will also retain an active role.

Adlington, who is the brand director, says there are big expansion plans in the coming years: “We are committed to creating child-friendly, purpose-built facilities enabling children to learn this vital life skill, with a passion for ensuring more kids can access pools within their local communities. We are truly thankful to JD Gyms for their support over the past two years.”

Alun Peacock, chief executive of The JD Gyms Group, wished the team luck with their expansion: “We are delighted to have facilitated the expansion of the Swim! business over the last two years and are excited to see how the management team can springboard growth on the back of this MBO. The MBO comes as part of our realigned strategy, in which we will be focusing primarily on the accelerated growth of the JD Gyms fascia.”

The JD Gym Group has 89 gyms and has been on the acquisition trail this year as it aims for 100 sites in the UK.