Member Spotlight: Swarm Bluewater
Where are you based?
We're based in Northumberland, delivering training for businesses across the North East and throughout the UK.
How many employees do you have?
We're a small, senior team of 4 people, but with almost 100 years of combined business experience between us. We are also supported by a network of highly skilled associate trainers.
Give us a brief overview of your business.
Swarm Bluewater is a training consultancy that helps businesses and the people inside them understand value — the value they offer their customers, and the value they can unlock in themselves.
We are licenced to deliver the IOEE & SFEDI programme IdeaSpark Essentials: Unlocking Customer Value. Most businesses fail because they build what they think customers want, not what customers actually need. This intensive programme flips that on its head. Over 6 half days, small business owners and entrepreneurs learn to start with their customer rather than their product — using the proven programme, built step-by-step on the SparkAI platform with real-time feedback and guidance. Participants leave with a completed canvas, a powerful value proposition statement, a messaging toolkit, and a 30-60-90 day action plan — plus an IOEE Professional Award in Value Driven Ideation and Affiliate membership of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs.
Alongside IdeaSpark, we deliver accredited professional development for the research and insight sector as an MRS-accredited training provider, including the MRS Advanced Certificate programme, and a growing suite of leadership and management courses helping owners and managers lead their teams with clarity and confidence — full details at www.swarmbluewater.co.uk.
Tell us about a recent business success.
We recently completed the pilot cohort of IdeaSpark Essentials with six SME owners based in Norfolk, and the results genuinely exceeded our hopes. Every participant who completed feedback rated the content 5/5 for relevance to their business, said the course helped them solve a real business problem significantly, and told us it exceeded their expectations. Better still, most had implemented changes before the programme even finished — refining messaging that attracted new business, repackaging and repricing services, and rebuilding client conversations around real customer needs.
One participant, copywriter Jo Thwellis, described it as “a ground-breaking, unflinching deep dive into the psychology of your target customer that will revolutionise your value proposition and laser focus your business.” That's exactly what we built it to do — and we're now preparing for wider rollout in the North East.
How has being a Chamber member impacted your growth and networking opportunities?
The Chamber network has been central to how we work. Our IdeaSpark Essentials pilot was recruited partly through the Norfolk Chamber network and delivered in a Chamber training room — a great example of the Chambers in action. As a specialist consultancy, our growth runs on relationships and reputation, and the North East Chamber membership gives us both: opportunities to meet ambitious North East business owners face to face, and a platform to show what practical, accredited training can do for our region's SMEs. That is why we are now rolling out the Ideaspark programme to a limited number of North East Chamber members at a Chamber member ONLY investment price.
Where can we find you?
Check out our website here: www.swarmbluewater.co.uk or contact us directly to register your interest in the next IdeaSpark Essentials cohort:[email protected]
or check out our social channels below:
To read more of our member spotlights, click here.
