The Bandeja summer 2024 issue

heading
for 550?
Rocket Padel at Battersea Power Station
Counting padel court numbers in Britain is increasingly like herding cats;
with so many new courts going up it’s become an almost impossible task
to keep track.
At the end of 2023 the LTA put
a figure on court numbers
of around 350, a little shy of
its stated aim of 400 but it’s widely
accepted that that number has now
been reached and surpassed, with
many more new courts and clubs in
the pipeline.
High profile projects planned include
Rocket Padel/Battersea Power Station;
The Padel Club/TraffordCity; the
Padel Social Club/London’s O2 arena;
Game4Padel/Hove Beach Park and
Rocks Lane’s continued expansion.
club in Canary Wharf, London), the
audacious and brilliant four-court
Club de Padel in Manchester city
centre and the sport’s northern
Mecca that is True Padel (nine indoor
courts). Padel United (PDL) is also
worth a mention, it’s quietly going
about its business opening courts
around the country (Colchester and
Torbay are new launches on the
horizon) and, as mentioned earlier,
Rocks Lane (based in Chiswick,
London) has just opened new courts
at its centre in Barnes and has
planning in for Barnet, north London.
these problems will ease. There
is understandable hesitance
from councils and committees who are
yet to understand the benefits of padel
to their community or club,” he said.
Love all
Tennis continues to embrace the sport;
according to Tom Murray, Head of
Padel at the LTA, 50% of British courts
are located at tennis clubs. Golf, rugby,
hockey and cricket are also getting
in on the act, as are leisure operators
(including some of the Better and
Everyone Active sites).
PadelStars is fairly new out of the
traps with its first club having
recently opened in Reading (one
court) but it has ambitious plans
and the financial backing of
leisure specialist Dwellcourt, which
has taken a major stake in the
company, founded by Andy Knee
and Jamie Brooke. Many of its
future sites (Basildon, Chigwell,
St Albans, Bournemouth and
Bracknell particularly) are in
locations with other padel facilities
within striking distance.
Smash Padel opened with three
courts in Bicester and recently
acquired MVP in Oxford. Its next
move is three covered courts in
partnership with Whitstable RUFC
(east Kent is a virtual padel desert
at present) and courts in Cardiff,
another area that is padel deprived.
Pure Padel’s first venue has three
courts in Alderley Park, Manchester,
but company founders Sammy
Amora and Fraser Higson now have
planning in for two additional sites,
including an indoor venue.
So where’s next for padel to pop?
Birmingham is looking a good bet.
It has a handful of clubs, some
private. CorteSport has just opened
three courts at The Hayes, home
to Alvechurch FC in Kings Norton,
and Powerleague is moving in too.
And where would we like the next
hotspot to be? Exeter - it’s the place
we get most messages about re
playing padel.
Game4Padel
pushes ahead with
court roll-out
Brighton & Hove padel players are in for a
treat after Game4Padel, working with the city
council, announced it will be opening four
padel courts on the seafront.
The courts (plus six tennis courts) form part of the new Hove Beach Park,
which includes bowls, croquet, a skatepark, pump track and roller area, and
are due to open this summer.
Game4Padel, which has tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray, Annabel Croft
and Andrew Castle as investors, is also opening a permanent three-court
covered floodlit facility at Withdean Sports Complex in Brighton this summer.
A temporary court it’s operated there since October 2022 has proved
extremely popular with ‘excellent’ court occupancy. With significant demand
in the city for more padel facilities the new courts are sure to hit the spot.
Green Quarter
Game4Padel has also scored a first with the opening of courts at Parkside
Padel Club in West London. The three-court facility at Berkeley Homes’
new Green Quarter development in Southall represents the first time a
residential developer has planned padel into a scheme. “This is a
game-changing partnership for Game4Padel”, said CEO Michael Gradon.
“This first project with the Berkeley Group is exciting because the potential
to introduce padel across their residential developments could mean a
much faster roll out of the sport, helping us achieve our goal of nearly
400 padel courts in the UK by 2027.”
James Purton, Operations Director at Berkeley Group, added: “Padel has
proven to be more than just a sport; it’s a catalyst for creating vibrant
communities and fostering social connections. As an avid player myself I
have seen first-hand how it brings people together and it will provide an
opportunity for a new generation of padel players.”
Game4Padel currently has 59 courts across some 25 venues plus clubs in
Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
Big names are also seeing the
potential - David Lloyd Clubs are
installing courts around the country,
with plans for 33 in 14 UK clubs by
the end of the year. And five-a-side
football specialist Powerleague is
developing padel facilities in London,
Birmingham and, most notably
Gateshead, where it wants to install
courts on top of the Metro Centre.
These add to padel’s recent ‘big wins’
of Padium (a gorgeous eight-court
Ian Colligon, founder of iPadel, said
the overall outlook is ‘really positive’
in terms of organisations wanting
to build padel courts, adding: “But it
is still extremely frustrating at how
difficult it is to actually get them built.
So many have finance, planning
or club committee issues, so many
obstacles that make the process
difficult and long.
“However, as padel becomes
more well-known and mainstream
Fancy a weekend break with padel
thrown in? Then check out the Manor
and Ashbury resorts in Devon, which
boast their own indoor courts. And we
don’t know if Ryan Reynolds or Rob
McElhenney play padel but good news
if they do - Wrexham Lawn Tennis
Club has gained permission for three
covered courts.
Looking ahead, keep your eyes
on PadelStars, Smash Padel and
Pure Padel.
Padel is Us
Gloucester is to get 9 courts
following Cheshire-based The
Padel Club’s announcement that
it is turning the city’s former Toys
R Us store into an indoor padel
centre. Work has already started
on the project, which is hoped to
be open by Autumn. Bookings will
be via Playtomic.
An artist’s impression of the
new Hove Beach Park
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SUMMER 2024 | thebandeja.com
thebandeja.com | SUMMER 2024
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