The Bandeja summer 2024 issue

feature
Pure Padel founders Sammy Amora
& Fraser Higson.
The Pure Padel courts
at Alderley Park.
The courts may serve a city centre
population of 80,000 but its founders
didn’t take it as red that ‘build
and they will come’ would apply,
with David Blake explaining that
organising a variety of sessions,
including coaching, has been key to
building a padel community - and
an occupancy rate that rarely drops
below 90%.
“We were always quite confident that
a new padel club in Manchester city
centre would be popular, but to be
honest even we’ve been surprised by
how busy it’s been,” he said. “We’ve
hosted more than 6,000 matches in
our first four months and coached
close to 1,000 players - many of
whom were completely new to the
sport and are now regular players,
which is really rewarding to see.
“Community and experience
are absolutely key for us. We’re
an experience-led club - the
service, music, merchandise and
community are at the forefront of
our minds. Anyone can buy great
courts and maintain them. It’s all in
the extras for us. We’ve created a
third space for city dwellers and
the resident workforce alike,
hosting first dates, meetings, hens
& birthday parties, global sporting
brands and world class athletes
in their downtime.
Pure Padel, Alderley Park.
“Our Padel 101 sessions - teaching the
basics to new players - continue to
be some of the most popular, which
is great, as it means we’re welcoming
dozens of new players into our
community every week. Equally our
new ‘Improver & Intermediate Socials’
are selling out well in advance.
We’re proud to be at the vanguard
of padel in Manchester, which is
being driven in no small part by our
active, experience-seeking and social
media-savvy community. Manchester
is one of the most famous sporting
cities in the world so it’s no surprise
the world’s fastest growing sport has
exploded here.”
Meanwhile
Club de Padel is also interesting
because it’s a ‘meanwhile project’,
making use of a site earmarked for
development but with no date for
that yet in the calendar. It’s a growing
trend - Padium in Canary Wharf,
London, is another example and
more applications are being made
for padel facilities citing ‘temporary
change of use’ or ‘temporary
permission’. Given the level of
investment that goes into developing
these projects there is very little
temporary about them. Savvy
building owners and commercial
property agents are increasingly
seeing the value in a padel tenant,
Club de Padel founders David Blake,
James Wigglesworth, Matt McKinlay.
which is a real positive for those
searching for sites.
Pure Padel
The Padel Club in Wilmslow is
not the only operator looking to
branch out with new sites. Pure
Padel, which opened three courts
in Alderley Park last October has
planning applications currently under
consideration for six indoor courts
in Cheetham Hill and five courts at
Manchester Maccabi Community
and Sports Club in Prestwich. The
Cheetham Hill scheme, if successful,
will be the first indoor padel club in
the region, a huge feather in the cap
of Fraser Higson and Sammy Amora,
the team behind Pure Padel.
The number of players it’s welcomed
runs into the thousands, something
Sammy puts down to using court
booking platform Playtomic: “It really
helped us achieve those numbers
in such a short space of time as we
could really tap into a huge customer
base that other padel clubs in the
area generated beforehand! We are
operating at high court occupancy,
the key to operate successful padel
clubs is to drive occupancy during
the off peak hours of the day.”
The venue also works hard to raise
awareness of the sport and, as
Sammy put it, ‘get as many rackets
in hands’ as possible. Pure Padel hosts
regular intro to padel sessions and
beginner socials, plus private events
- think birthday parties, team
bonding, networking days etc -
and has a keen focus on coaching.
“We place a huge impetus on
delivering great coaching. It not only
drives occupancy during the off peak
hours but it is also great for customer
retention when people see their level
and ability improve,” added Sammy.
Northern’s rock
At the Northern Lawn Tennis Club,
its two covered padel courts have
generated significant income for the
private club, with peak hours and
weekends generally fully booked
since the courts opened in November.
Managing director Jonathan Kinsella
described their introduction as
‘transformative’ in bringing the club
together: “It has allowed people to
find common ground, have a bit
of a laugh and a joke and given us
an opportunity for growth. It’s been
massive for the club,” he said.
“The money generated from
padel is astounding.”
The courts - opened by Stockport’s
Wimbledon ace Liam Broady - are
open to non-members (who pay
more) and the club has seen interest
from its health and fitness members
too, including those who have never
played a racket sport, as well as
tennis and squash players. “It has
been something that has really
bought the club together and we are
glad that we made a leap of faith
with it,” added Jonathan.
However, the road to gaining planning
for the courts was ‘brutal’ according
to Jonathan, with fierce local
opposition to the scheme and the
involvement of MPs. But, despite the
two courts replacing championship
level grass tennis courts, the scheme
gained the backing of planners
and pressed ahead with the help
of funding from the LTA (the tennis
courts were replaced with three
synthetic courts).
Courts Open
Manchester Padel Club 3 courts Heald Green
Soul Padel 2 courts Stockport Decathlon (3 months only)
The Padel Club 4 courts Wilmslow
Pure Padel 3 courts Alderly Park
Club de Padel 4 courts Deansgate
David Lloyd 3 courts Manchester TraffordCity
2 courts Cheadle
Hale Country Club 2 courts Altrincham
Courts Planned
The Padel Club
4 covered Wilmslow
11 courts TraffordCity
Pure Padel 6 indoor Cheetham Hill
5 courts Manchester Maccabi Community
& Sports Club, Prestwich
Powerleague 6 courts Manchester Nicholls site
Dunham Forest Golf Club 2 courts Altrincham
Manchester Padel Club 2 courts Heald Green
Discussions are now underway to add
a third - and possibly fourth - padel
court. Just don’t tell the neighbours!
Let’s get social
Manchester’s court count had been
heading for 64 but the Social Sports
Society’s plans for nine covered
courts in Peary Street were withdrawn.
Let’s hope they return to the table -
the scheme for temporary use of a
former industrial site included multiuse
courts, boule/pétanque courts,
a bouldering wall and kids’ obstacle
course, would no doubt have been a
valuable addition to the area. •
The Hook Club 4 courts Champneys Mottram Hall Hotel
44
SUMMER 2024 | thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER 2024
45