A pair of Bristol mums have opened a new Dutch-style spa described as “a jacuzzi for babies”, with the help of a Start Up Loan, secured with support from SWIG Finance.
Sisters Louise Rickman and Jenny Alexander are the driving force behind Leteau – a combination of ‘Leto’, the Greek goddess of motherhood, and ‘eau’, French for water.
The baby spa aims to provide a calming environment for infants, offering warm water hydrotherapy in specialist baths alongside massage carried out by trained professionals.
Leteau is a Dutch-style spa described as “a jacuzzi for babies”.
The sessions aim to nurture a baby’s physical wellbeing and emotional development, deepen parent-child bonding and encourage positive water association.
The seeds of the idea were sown when Louise and Jenny were visiting Holland, where they grew up. Jenny’s daughter was six months old, while Louise was 20 weeks pregnant.
Talking about the inspiration for the business, Louise said: “We were staying with a family friend who was a senior midwife, and she introduced us to a baby spa close by,” said Louise, a former TV producer whose credits include Gardener’s World, Countryfile, Inside the Factory and CBeebies/CBBC.
“Jenny had struggled with post-partum stress and thought the spa was amazing, helping her to relax and connect with her daughter. She’d worked as a canine hydrotherapist, and wondered if she could transfer her skills to this kind of business – which is popular in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, all over the world, but much rarer in the UK.”
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With Jenny on maternity leave and Louise 28 weeks pregnant, the sisters found they had the time to give the idea some serious thought. “It was an opportunity to give it a go, and it felt like the right time – like the universe was sending us a message,” said Louise.
“My own experience of becoming a parent was traumatic; an infection contracted while breast-feeding led to sepsis, and I was very poorly in hospital. That left me with PTSD and post-natal depression”.
“As a result, I’m very passionate about supporting mothers during the post-natal period, which can be marked by overwhelm and overstimulation due to the pressure of constantly seeing to another human being. Leteau felt like a chance to turn both our negative experiences into a positive one.”
In addition, motherhood had given Louise experience of conditions including reflux, torticollis (head tilt, often caused by tight muscles following birth or pregnancy) and plagiocephaly – “flat head syndrome”, in which a baby’s soft skull develops a flattened spot due to constant pressure, often from lying on their back. She had already explored holistic therapies including infant massage and cranial osteopathy when she discovered the benefits of the baby spa, which also claims to ease wind, constipation and colic.
The benefits of the baby spa claim to ease wind, constipation and colic.
Leteau aims to offer a calm environment for both baby and parents. Babies are placed in baths of warm, fresh water 1.5m x 1.5m with an age-appropriate float. From six months, they can sit up and have gentle hydro jets on their legs. “Meanwhile, mums and dads can have a cup of coffee/tea and a moment to relax,” says Louise. “We provide everything, from nappies to towels – you can just turn up and chill, no need to think about chores or what to buy for dinner.”
Louise and Jenny are also trained by the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) and run a six-week course to enable parents to deliver massage at home.
The pair began seeking premises in early 2025; Louise’s son Sammy was born in February ‘25, and Leteau was registered as a limited company in August last year. The spa opened in November, and bookings have built up steadily through social media and word of mouth, with some customers travelling from across the South West and from as far afield as Birmingham and Cardiff, and enquiries from London.
This has shown Louise and Jenny the potential for expansion. Ultimately, they would like to create a series of one-stop shops for baby/parent needs, from ante-natal groups to lactation consultancy, yoga/Pilates classes and cranial osteopathy to relationship or trauma therapy. “All too often you do one or more of these things on different sides of town, when one central location would be easier.”
To fund the venture, Louise and Jenny turned to the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme at the recommendation of a former colleague who has launched his own business with the help of a similar loan.
Start Up Loans is part of the British Business Bank and offers personal loans of up to £25,000 per director at a fixed rate of interest and offers free mentoring to help anyone start or grow a new or early-stage business. In the South West it is delivered by the Bank’s Business Support Partner, SWIG Finance.
Louise and Jenny were paired up with Ellie Garbett, Start Up Loans officer for SWIG Finance, who helped the pair to secure £15,000 each.
Leteau aims to offer a calm environment for both baby and parents. Babies are placed in baths of warm, fresh water 1.5m x 1.5m with an age-appropriate float.
“We started writing the business plan in July, sent it across in August, and found out we had the loan very quickly,” says Louise. “Ellie was great – she believed in our idea, and that made us feel more confident. Until then, we’d only talked about the business within the family. For someone else to read about it and rate it was very special. She helped us to readjust the forecast, but said we’d done a good job on the plan.
“This business is rooted in our lived experience and from that we saw an opportunity. The Start Up Loan made it happen. We couldn’t have launched Leteau without it, and I’ve recommended it to other people since.”
Ellie added: “I am very happy I got to support this application as both Louise and Jenny had strong industry knowledge, relevant qualifications and skills to drive its success. The concept, combined with their passion, made this business venture truly special. They were a pleasure to work with throughout the process, and I was happy the funding would give them a valuable head start in launching Leteau.”
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About SWIG Finance
SWIG Finance is a people-based lender that provides loans and support to help smaller businesses in the South and West Country grow. We base our lending decisions on potential rather than collateral, which means that we can often support businesses when others can't.
We’re growing every year. In 2024/25, we lent £14.8m to 501 businesses, helping to create and secure over 1,272 jobs and generate £75.7m in social impact. Download the report here.
If you’d like an informal chat about your funding requirements, get in touch with our friendly and professional team to see how we can help: info@swigfinance.co.uk / 01872 227 930