Shrewsbury Club to be sold to DLL
David Lloyd Clubs has acquired The Shrewsbury Club, announcing it will invest in a redevelopment of the site next year – and confirming existing employees are part of their plans. The Shrewsbury Club will add to David Lloyd Clubs’ 132 other facilities across the UK and mainland Europe.
Dave Courteen, MD of the Mosaic Group, previous owners of the Shrewsbury Club, said the decision had been made “in the best interests of the club”. The Shrewsbury Club’s existing 65 employees will join David Lloyd Clubs’ 11,000-plus team members and there are plans to transform The Shrewsbury Club’s facilities.
Following the deal, for an undisclosed price, there are plans to incorporate the latest workout tech in the gym, professional tennis and swim coaching for children (Tennis Stars and Swim Stars), a signature group exercise series and luxury spa facilities. “I’m confident that they’ll continue to build on all we’ve created at The Shrewsbury Club, and that we’re handing the club on to a business that shares our values and will look after both the members and the staff team.
“This has been far from an easy decision to make. On a personal level, The Shrewsbury Club has been a big part of my life, and I’ve loved every moment of my involvement here over the last 13 years. But as a group we believe this decision is in the best interests of the club, and so it’s the right one. We’ll look back with pride that we took the club on when it was in administration, with less than 2,000 members and we are handing it on as a flourishing business with 6,000 members, significantly-enhanced facilities, and – we believe – a reputation as a valuable asset to life in Shrewsbury.
Article courtesy of Shropshire Star
Reserve your place at the annual Xmas lunch
Tickets will shortly be released for our annual Xmas lunch at The Queen’s Club on Thursday December 5th. Last year was sold out and so if you wish to reserve a place at this year’s fun event, you are advised to send an email to phil@tiauk.org as soon as possible.
Further details of the event will be sent to TIA members shortly and will also be posted on the website and on social media.
LTA announces new padel strategy
The new strategy, which covers the period from 2024 to 2029, maintains the LTA’s focus on growing the infrastructure of padel, increasing and diversifying the coaching workforce and building on the performance pathway as well as increasing visibility and driving participation.
Since becoming the national governing body for the sport in Britain in 2020, significant investment has already been directed towards developing and supporting padel in Britain. In addition to private investment, the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation have invested £6 million into 40 padel facility projects funding a total of 75 new courts, as well as the competition structure, performance support and coach development.
In total, since 2019 the number of courts has grown from 50 to 350, annual participation from 6,000 to 129,000, and the LTA has launched new coaching courses, as well as a performance pathway to support Britain’s best players.
The new strategy will help deliver the next stage of the sports development with a series of actions that focus on investing in the visibility of padel and its infrastructure, growing the fan and player base, growing and engaging the padel workforce, developing opportunities to widen the appeal of padel and creating a pathway and support for adult and junior performance players.
The commitments for the first phase of the strategy, inclusive of 2024 through to the end of 2026, include:
- Grow the visibility of padel to increase awareness from 20% to 40% of the population, interest in playing from 7.5% to 15% and boost participation.
- Increase the number of annual padel players from 129,000 to 400,000, and monthly players from 65,000 to 200,000.
- Increase the number of padel courts from 350 to 1,000
- Grow the padel coach and activator workforce from 40 to 700
- Enable 10 players to break into the top 200 and 2 players into the top 100 and inspire the padel audience.
From 2025 onwards, the LTA will also establish a new Padel Advisory Group (PAG) to help guide the development of the sport across Britain. The group will be open to those from across the industry who want to work collaboratively and share ideas to grow the sport.
Tom Murray, LTA Head of Padel said, “The new strategy will help take padel in Britain to the next level. The strategy and tactics that we’ve put in place will truly help to open padel up to many more people across the country, with more funding, facilities and coaches ensuring that the sport is accessible, welcoming, enjoyable and inspiring.”
Olly Scadgell, LTA Managing Director of Tennis Development said: “Once we became the national governing body for padel in 2020, we wanted to lay the foundations for the sport to grow in a sustainable way. Now the numbers of courts, players and coaches are accelerating rapidly, and the sport is thriving, this strategy will help us take padel to new audiences and ensure it is accessible to more people across Britain.
Pickleball – potential for growth
Whilst Padel is enjoying substantial growth in the UK, Pickleball is emulating this level of impact in the USA. Tracy Lynch, Vice President at Har-Tru reported on Pickleball’s growth at the TIA’s Spring Forum earlier in the year.
- 13.600,000 players
- Participation has grown on average by 200 percent since 2020
- Currently the fastest growing sport in the US
- 79,000 USA Pickleball members – an increase of 15% over 2023
- 12,000 known locations to play – 1000 new locations added in 2023
- 50,000 registered courts in US
The LTA reports that there are some 270 locations to play Pickleball in GB currently – so there is considerable potential for the sport to be established! It is considerably less costly to set-up than Padel and depending on the size of the tennis court, you may be able to mark out 4 Pickeball courts on 1 tennis court – making it a very attractive addition to facilities and activities on offer, particularly in the traditional club sector
Louise Price joins TIA UK Board
At the AGM in July, Louise Price, Managing Director of Price of Bath, was elected to serve on the TIA UK Board. Price is a family business and has been making tennis balls since 1936. It is the only surviving ball maker in Europe. Louise is the daughter of Derek and joined her dad to be the third generation of the Price family to manufacture tennis balls in the UK and has specialised in performance and bespoke tennis balls over many decades.
Louise is passionate about creating a more sustainable future for tennis and the company has developed the first and only fully recycled tennis ball range. She was awarded the inaugural Tennis Industry Leader Award in 2022
Steve Matthews, TIA Chairman said “We are excited to have Louise on the Board. She will give much added value in our deliberations as she is at the heart of British tennis manufacturing and all the challenges this brings. She will bring many years of experience and knowledge of the tennis market place, together with her passion for a sustainable tennis future.
We are also very pleased that David Carpenter has agreed to remain on the Board as a co-opted member. The Board is fortunate to retain David’s extensive knowledge in tennis and sport and for his valuable contribution and insight into future strategy”
CopriSystems diversifies business with PadelSystems
PadelSystems is a new division of the CopriSystems family business with its own dedicated team of enthusiasts. With over 35 years’ experience designing, manufacturing and installing sports facilities, it is no surprise that the boom in padel has been on CopriSystems’ radar for some time. Tennis, netball, football and multi-use facilities have always been at the core of the sports construction sector for CopriSystems, but since installing their first padel court five years ago at a private residential property, the interest from investors in this highly sociable, dynamic sport has taken on a life of its own and the enquiries for courts are continuing to grow at pace.
It became clear to Owner and Director Rafe Colenso that padel was taking off and reinforcements were needed in order to meet demand. He explains, “as sports fans, we have been drawn into playing padel and are fascinated by the rate at which its popularity is soaring. As sports construction experts, we are excited to be involved in the development of new facilities and our business has had to grow quickly in order to keep up with the pace.”
The launch of PadelSystems is a clear sign of the company’s commitment to the world’s fastest growing sport, as is the announcement earlier this year that they had partnered exclusively with Italian Padel. After extensive research into the European padel scene, which is some way ahead of the UK, PadelSystems chose Italian Padel because, like them, they expect exceptional quality in their workmanship, never cut corners and are always looking to improve their product.
Sas Palframan, Business Development Manager for PadelSystems explains, “We are really excited to be involved in the launch of new padel centres all over the UK that will help meet the demand to play and enable the sport to grow.” PadelSystems are also working with existing sports venues who are welcoming padel as part of a strategic drive to diversify and grow their club. Sas says, “It’s great to speak to so many sports clubs who are embracing padel, integrating it into their membership programme and recognising that it can positively co-exist with golf, tennis and badminton for example, not be a threat to them.”
PadelSystems will be working closely with CopriSystems, who will continue to provide all the groundworks and covered structures as part of a company-wide commitment to offer clients a full turnkey solution.
For a free consultation and site visit, email sales@padelsysytems.co.uk or call 01380 830931