True Padel’s second venue is due to open its doors next week in Sunderland and brothers Alex and Adam Carr want their growing empire to become “the home of padel” in the north east.
Just two years ago, Alex was working in the golf industry in Abu Dhabi while Adam was a business analyst for an engineering company in Switzerland. Whilst living away they both discovered padel, but on a trip back to their home city of Durham to see family, they discovered the nearest courts were half an hour’s drive away in Middlesbrough.
It was a mission to build their own padel club that brought both brothers back home permanently. They opened the first True Padel facility in Durham and it celebrated its one-year anniversary last week.
Now one is about to become two with the opening of True Padel in Sunderland on 21 January in an old Wickes DIY store. Talks are already under way with two potential further venues in the area.
The Sunderland club will feature five doubles and two singles courts. The addition of the singles courts was partly due to the shape of the building and partly in response to customer feedback at their Durham venue that showed demand for the one-on-one version of the game. They also canvassed opinion from some of the other UK venues with singles courts (there are currently only six nationwide) who reported 90-100% occupancy rates.
“It’s been a crazy journey in such a short time,” 26-year-old Alex told The Padel Paper. “We’re hitting numbers and occupancy rates that we never really imagined, especially in year one. We’ve had just over 7,000 customers through the door and a lot of them are recurring. They love the venue, staff and other customers. It’s all positive and shows that me and Adam are doing the right stuff.”
Alex admits they struck lucky with their flagship Durham venue, which used to be an indoor football centre and thus didn’t need a change of use application. He knows the process won’t always be as smooth as they expand their empire, but is certainly confident about taking a grip on the padel scene in their native north east.
“It was a big risk coming into the north east with a brand new sport but, as with everywhere else, it has taken off,” said Alex. “We know the area and there’s plenty of other places here we can hit.
“We can take the north east because there’s a massive gap for it. Yes, there are a few courts in Newcastle and Middlesbrough, but there are a lot of people in the area and our overall target is to be the home of padel in the north east.”
In its first year, True Padel’s inaugural venue in Durham has built up a loyal following. Alex and Adam plan to replicate that community ethos in Sunderland.
“Social mix-in sessions have been so important for us,” said Alex. “Me and Adam both played them in the Middle East, Switzerland and Spain and learned a lot of lessons from that. We’ve developed them from scratch in Durham, starting off with skills-based sessions and moving on to matches.
“To watch someone coming into a mix-in with 24 other strangers, sit in our sports lounge and connect, then see them in the next few weeks playing matches with each other and forming relationships – it’s a big element to our success. Almost all our recurring customers started with a mix-in and now they’re addicted. That’s incredibly satisfying to see.”
