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SPN FEB 2011 Pool&SpaIndustry


www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk


‘WE MUST GO ON IMPROVING STANDARDS’


Roger Millward, is Chief Executive of the STA, the


Swimming Teachers’ Association, the world’s largest swimming teaching and lifesaving organisation. In 2010 it had a new corporate identity and in recent years has expanded and developed its size and influence on an international scale


T


he STA is a member of SPATA and works closely with the association. Here Roger, who has been with STA for 15 years, talks in a question and answer format about the issues and opportunities of both STA and its work with SPATA.


Q. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE INDUSTRY SO FAR? A. It has been raising the profile of STA. We have come a long long way in 15 years; back then we were predominately a swimming badge company and now today, we are the international experts in safety training solutions across four key business areas – Swimming Teaching, Lifesaving, First Aid and Leisure Management.


Over the last 15 years we have quadrupled STA’s membership and increased the number of people trained to National Standards from less than 1,000 per year to over 30,000 per year. Plus we now deliver programmes in 22 countries across the world. From an accountant’s perspective, it also has to be that STA is financially very sound and has a good income split across all areas ensuring we are not reliant on any one area of the business.


Q. IN YOUR OPINION WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST / MOST EXCITING DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDUSTRY? A. For swimming, I firmly believe anything that serves to improve standards and encourage further participation in swimming should be applauded. We were especially proud to be involved in developing the PAS 81 Specification for the Management and Operation of Swimming Schools with the British Standards Institution (BSI) after significant consultation with a large number of major sport and leisure organisations, government departments, professional bodies and associations, and swimming tuition providers. Before the development of PAS 81, there were no national guidelines in place to determine or control either the establishment or the operation of Swim Schools in the UK. This was an incredibly important development for the industry and especially because of the boom in the private swim school market.


Q. WHO DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN THE INDUSTRY? A. I admire a lot of people in this industry. A special mention must be given to the swimming teachers I meet day in day out who don’t get the recognition they fully deserve; they work tirelessly and passionately to teach young children important skills that could one day save their life. Professionally, I admire the work Steve Parry is currently doing in schools with Total Swimming and Steve Franks, a former STA colleague. Whilst at STA, Steve was fully committed to developing PAS 81 and the STAmark accreditation and because of his personal endeavour the industry can now benefit from increased standards.


Q. WHAT HAS BSPF MEMBERSHIP DONE FOR YOU AND YOUR COMPANY? A. By working with the BSPF we gain valuable industry insight. This serves to improve the way we develop our qualifications and ensures that our courses are relevant, fit for purpose and up-to-date.


Q. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT TO SEE BSPF DO FOR YOU? A. I think as an industry we really need to focus our efforts on improving standards in smaller private pools, spas and hot tubs.


Q. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING OUR INDUSTRY? A. Speaking as an accountant, it has to be the economical climate.


Q. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THE INDUSTRY WILL FACE IN THE FUTURE? A. Where the money / funding will come from.


Q. WHAT ARE YOUR MAJOR DISLIKES? A. Where to start!!! Box ticking and petty regulations – people thinking standards can be achieved by ticking a box rather than looking at the underlying issues. I also dislike monopolies and the lack of a free market.


Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE DOING AWAY FROM WORK? A. My two key passions are horse riding and skiing.


Q. IF YOU COULD PASS ON ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO YOUR INDUSTRY COLLEAGUES, WHAT WOULD IT BE? A. We should ALL be working together in order to provide more and better safer facilities and programmes so that everyone has the opportunity to learn how to swim and gain a life skill.


Q. WHAT WAS THE MOST HAIR RAISING MOMENT YOU HAVE DEALT WITH? A. Earlier this year, the STA’s business development director and I were over in the Middle East for discussions with the Government there on how they can create national standards for swimming. However, this was at the time of the volcanic dust cloud and after resolving ourselves to the fact that we could be stuck for at least another couple of weeks, we took the decision to try and get back home by any means possible. Over a period of 48 hours we travelled non-stop covering many thousands of miles on planes, trains and cars, finally hitching a ride with a coach travelling to the UK from France!


Roger Millward, STA Chief Executive: “We now deliver programmes in 22 countries across the world”


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