Is your leisure resort swim ready?

In this issue of Business and Industry Today, we are pleased to feature Splash About as our Swimwear Company of the Month

Splash About was established in 2005. However, it was acquired in 2011 by the current team behind the brand and has since been at the forefront of designing and developing some of the most advanced swimwear and learn-to-swim products for babies and young children. Splash About’s unique approach centres around innovation, scientific research, and technical design to produce collections that are practical but uncompromising on style, with safety under pinning the brand in and out of the water.

In 2019, Splash About acquired leading British swim products wholesaler Swimrite Supplies Ltd (SRS Leisure). The deal, which saw SRS rebrand as Splash About, positioned it as the supplier of choice for consumer-led family fun swimming products at over 1,000 municipal pools, leisure centres and holiday parks across the UK.

In just four short years – and notwithstanding COVID-19, Splash About has become the number one supplier of swim related products to the UK leisure industry. It currently holds contracts or sole supplier agreements with a significant proportion of leisure retail including Haven, Butlins, Park Dean, Away Resorts and Center Parcs.

The company is a global brand, headquartered in Lincolnshire with distribution centres located in North Carolina and Asia and an EU warehouse that serves customers from Portugal to Poland, Spain, Denmark and many more.

There are several facets to Splash About as a business. As an online retailer, it provides swimwear, learn-to-swim and family fun swim products direct to consumer through its website www. splashabout.com as well as through retailers including Amazon, Boots and Jo Jo Maman Bébé.

A key element to the business is supplying products required in professional baby swimming classes. “We work with the UK’s leading baby swimming schools such as Water Babies, Puddle Ducks, Turtle Tots, and Swim Kidz, where we supply our market leading range of ‘Happy Nappy’ products,” commented Splash About Director Lesley Beach.

“The Happy Nappy is our multiaward-winning swim nappy which is approved by swim schools and recommended as best practice by British Standards Institute’s guidelines for baby swimming because it offers the best protection against faecal leaks. This is essential for swim schools because any unwelcome leaks are bad for business; pools have to close, be cleaned then reheated, which all amounts to lost revenue and avoidable expense."

From 2019 Splash About’s business expanded to supply Holiday Parks and Leisure facilities. Lesley went on to explain how the company takes a fresh approach to the requirements of this market.

“In this sector, we identified a real opportunity to transform poolside retail outlets into real revenue generating sales channels. We have been making great strides and have devised an innovative business model for the leisure sector that includes strategic merchandising, bespoke branding, and an online portal to manage stock levels and ordering which is designed to optimise retail sales especially during peak trading periods."

As a consumer brand, Splash About is best known for its flagship ‘Happy Nappy’ which has championed reusable swim nappies since its inception. The updated product, the Happy Nappy DUO, is an award-winning, eco-friendly alternative to disposables.

The DUO is described as the only reusable swim nappy proven to destroy faecal bacteria that chlorine alone cannot, and it works thanks to an innovative Silver Lining which destroys any pathogens present inside the nappy rendering them harmless. The Silver Lining has been so successful, that it has been launched as a standalone pant to wear under swimming costumes, wetsuits, and sunsuits to replace disposable swim nappies.

“Some of our other industry firsts include the BabyWrap, an open flat baby wetsuit, Splash Jammers which bridge-thegap between swim nappy and swimwear for potty training toddlers, swim jackets with adjustable buoyancy and wetsuits, sunsuits and costumes all with integrated swim nappies.

“However, for the Holiday Park and Leisure sector, Splash About differentiates itself with a unique business model and expansive product range.

“We provide bespoke marketing and strategic merchandising to help businesses capitalise on space, creating a ‘retail theatre experience’ for our range of family fun swim products. We provide clean, streamlined marketing displays to help maximise sales and provide an integrated web portal that reduces the reliance on manual input, indicates stock levels in real time, auto orders, and analyses data from sales,” explained Lesley.

Splash About is stringent in its approach to sustainability too and is proud that Haven has become the first Holiday Park to decide to solely sell Splash About’s Happy Nappy swim nappy in its retail poolside outlets. This decision to reduce disposable swim nappy usage in their pools at all 41 sites will save Haven 20 tonnes of waste annually.

The rest of 2024 looks promising for Splash About with new products expected to enter the market this summer.

To find out more about Splash About’s products and services, see below:T 01472 236465info@splashabout.comwww.splashabout.com