Celebrating our amazing team of franchisees
What a year it’s been for the Baby Squids team! We recently brought all our incredible franchisees together for Baby Squids Connect 2025 in a beautiful hotel in Oxford, and it was an event filled with so many connections being made, a lot of fun and laughter, and a huge amount of appreciation.
As anyone who knows me knows it is super important that hard work and determination is awarded across the board. I always state that our success and our franchisees success goes hand in hand. Everyone has their own motivations and their own dreams and I simply love working with you all to find and achieve yours!
A special shout-out to our growing Team North where Nic has been joined by newest members—Carly, Becky and Mags (Margarita)—who attended their very first event this year! I cannot wait to see how your first year goes!
⭐ Viki Smith was crowned the Hitting the Heights Star. Viki worked incredibly hard this year to build her East Hampshire business. As a result, she soared over the ceiling she had once given herself. She is constantly learning, improving, and embracing change. Viki is currently the 2nd biggest franchise and achieved the biggest growth of 2025!
⭐ Carly Cullen is The Social Star. Carly joined our network “with a bang!!” and her social spread has been “off the scale”. This is purely down to her infectious personality and drive to succeed. She delivers incredible warm classes and wins the award for biggest social growth of the year!
⭐ Hannah Melrose took home the Data & Insight Star award. Hannah had a fantastic year, dealing with the challenging ups and downs of pools and introducing newbie teachers while running around her huge area. Her talent for finding pools through knocking on doors is a “marketing marvel”. She is also a wonderful team player, and her support for other franchisees is amazing.
⭐ Nicky Jackson is our Non Stop Dynamo Star. Nicky faced many challenges this year with pools and recruitment, but also exciting opportunities with the introduction of Southampton. She is an essential part of the team, and we couldn’t think of Baby Squids without her!
⭐ Tracy Foster was named the Legendary Back Up Superstar. Tracy is the secret support behind Somerset, quietly working in the background supporting her sister and also Jenna with cover, admin, and generally being able to turn her hand to most things. They could not have been without her this year!
⭐ Nic Williams is The Accomplished Star. Nic has done such a marvelous job managing her gorgeous business that our Founder barely speaks to her these days. Her customers never seem to leave, giving her a brilliant retention rate and always outstanding reviews. Her calm and kind nature shines through.
⭐ Jenna Burrows received the Commitment & Determination Star award. From the birth of her second baby in January, it’s been a rollercoaster year. Despite the challenges, Jenna continues to deliver amazing service to all customers. Her hard-working ethos without a negative word against a soul is wonderful.
⭐ Nadina Robson is our Gold Star Employer. Nadina is a thoughtful, caring, and special employer who ensures her team is very well supported at all times. This dedication ensures Baby Squids New Forest goes into its 7th year even stronger.
⭐ Kristina Tyldesley-Holley was celebrated as the Grown Up Star. We are very proud of how hard Kristina worked to stabilize her business and finances this year. While her favorite place is the pool and her least favorite is the laptop , she focused on what she is amazing at and has flourished into the grown-up franchisee she is today!
⭐ Becky Bentley earned the Lionheart Courage Star. As a brand new and bubbly franchisee in West Yorkshire, Becky moved super quickly from initial conversations to her very own franchise. She took a “super brave step” for her and her daughter, and 2026 brings exciting times!
⭐ Jacqui Hirst was celebrated as the Golden Heart Star. Jacqui is one of the kindest souls in the network and always thinks about how to improve her lessons to support the children. Teaching all her classes in Somerset, she works super hard running all over the place to provide gorgeous and inclusive lessons.
⭐ Margarita King took home the Spirit and Sparkle Star. Brand new and not quite off the starting blocks yet, November 2025 brought the introduction of Mags, an absolutely amazingly authentic woman who is going to bring even more spirit to Team North. It’s going to be a supersonic good one!
⭐ Alice Mosey was awarded the Customer Excellence Star. Alice always provides exceptional customer service to all her customers and support for her teachers too! She is constantly moving forward, and 2025 has seen new pools which will see her grow even further.
⭐ Hannah Banting received the Mega Star Award. Hannah is a completely amazing right-hand woman who is dedicated as a teacher but also now as a support for all the Baby Squids team in her role as Franchise Success Manager. She lives and breathes the ethos, and we can’t wait to see what the team achieves in the next year!
More Than Just an Award
For me these are all about recognising individuality, our successes are so connected in how we work together as a team. Baby Squids is about that team work, and being yourself!
And we are all so different!! Some are taking a brave first step (like Becky), a logistical hero tackling big challenges (like Nicky), or a quiet, legendary support superstar (like Tracy), their efforts do not go unnoticed but we are also a bunch of busy bees so its so important to stop and recognise each ones successes.
This collaborative, fun, and supportive environment is exactly what you get when you become a Baby Squids franchisee. We encourage and support hard work, encourage personal growth, and make sure that, even when things are challenging, we all feel supported and part of a growing team.
If you have the passion and you want an exciting career change then we have the network to help you soar like Viki and shine like Carly! See what I did there!!
Laura x