Are you looking for an alternative to big warehouse padel clubs and traditional tennis or golf venues with padel courts? ‘Micro clubs’ might be your new destination.
Padel Pod, founded by tech start-up entrepreneur Jon Magnus, is a growing empire of small venues with under five courts (a mixture of indoor and outdoor). With lower overheads, Jon seeks to offer “a premium experience at the right price” and is creating what he calls “a cool brand that’s different from anything else out there.”
A small padel club is not in itself a unique concept, of course, but Jon feels there are many advantages to specialising in a more bijou model in both urban or rural locations.
Jon (pictured) has just opened a one-court indoor club in Shenley, Hertfordshire, in the barn of a farm near Arsenal’s training ground. The intention is to add two more courts outside soon. That site is in addition to Padel Pod’s two pop-up courts at a cricket club in trendy Crouch End, north London, which he plans to convert into four permanent courts.
Padel Pod has also won the tender for two outdoor courts on a new property development in Hackney Wick, north east London, and has further irons in the fire in Hertfordshire, Bath, Cambridge and Northumberland.
“I’m purposely going down the micro club route because I feel it’s more fun and accessible, more ‘for the masses,'” Jon tells The Padel Paper. “I’ve no desire to host big tournaments; these are everyday clubs for the every day player offering a premium experience at the right price.”
Although the size of Padel Pod’s current and future sites will always be small, each venue’s business models will differ slightly. Currently, the one-court club in Shenley is unmanned, with bookings made via the Padel Mates app. Each booking gives players the door code, automatically triggers courtside ‘mood lighting’ half an hour before the match time, and the court lighting itself five minutes prior to the booking slot.
Going forward, Jon will pick and choose when to have staff on-site, which will mostly be a hybrid coach/manager role; a friendly face who can help create a community, run group sessions and source their own private clients as well as run the facility.
“In my small clubs, it will be a balance between automating and providing a service,” explained Jon. “Shenley is currently automated but will have staff on-site when new courts are added. It’s on a farm and farmers don’t tend to charge industrial warehouse-type rents. If they can add wellness aspects, saunas, plunge pools, food and beverage etc, there will be multiple revenue streams which all parties can benefit from.”
Jon worked in tech start-ups for 16 years and discovered padel whilst living in Lisbon. He moved back to the UK to start his own software business, before reaching out to Toby Bawden, a well-known figure in the British padel industry, to collaborate with him on his Padel Corner online shop. Together, they found the site in Crouch End, which became Jon’s first venue when founded Padel Pod on his own eight months ago.
“I really believe in the idea of offering something premium without having to charge the prices at these warehouse clubs,” states Jon. “It’s going to be a cool, distinctive brand. I want to roll out as many micro clubs as possible in the next five years.”
