Kris Ball wants to grow The Padel Club into the “biggest padel operator in the UK” having established his Wilmslow concept as an immediate success.
The founder and CEO of the four-court outdoor padel club in leafy south Manchester has big expansion ambitions, with four indoor courts to be added to the existing facility and another three sites planned before 2023 is out.
But Ball’s experience with The Padel Club has taught him that the old adage, ‘Build it and they will come’ does not necessarily ring true – even with a sport as fashionable as padel.
“You can’t just pop up a padel court and assume it’s going to be full,” he tells The Padel Paper when we visit the plush club just east of Manchester Airport on a crisp February afternoon.
“We’ve had to put in a lot of effort to attract people to the club, because 95% of people who come to play here have never played padel before.
“That’s why we’ve put huge emphasis on the social and community side of things. We give a lot of space to social areas where people can meet and have a coffee. It’s almost as important to have that social aspect as it is to have the court itself.”
The lack of padel awareness in the UK prompted Ball and resident coach Ben Goodeve to prioritise padel introduction sessions at the club – and they continue now even though their courts are almost always full.
Ball says: “We still allocate a lot of time to those intro sessions to get new people into the game and integrate them into the club so they’re playing other people. It’s important to meet the coach, understand the rules and techniques and learn the game.
“We also wanted to make sure there’s a lot of club sessions so you haven’t got to spend a lot of time finding three other players – there’s always a session to book onto.
“As we’ve increased our court numbers from two to four, we’ve started adding more intermediate sessions, tournaments and social events. It had to be beginner-focused to start with and it’s developed from there.”
From 7am until lights out, the club is fully staffed with a lots of activity: coaching for beginner, intermediate and advanced standards, mix-in club sessions, juniors, older people and networking events such as the Manchester Young Professionals. There’s a coffee bar and shop next to the four outdoor courts. Come summer, the new four-court indoor centre will also have a café and bar.
Like so many in the UK padel industry, Ball was influenced by what he’d seen in Spain. “There were padel courts everywhere and I wondered why no-one was doing it in the UK,” he explains.
In 2019, he conducted research, wrote a business plan, identified a site and began the search for funding. The well-heeled denizens of Wilmslow soon responded, including former England Test cricket captain Michael Vaughan, who is one of several well-known investors. The club, initially just two courts, opened last June, with two courts added alongside a few months later.
Vaughan is one of several current and former sports stars, including Manchester City players, who are regulars at The Padel Club. “We don’t really talk about it very often, but if you hung around here for a week, you’d see quite a few well-known people,” Ball admits.
“Our goal is to be the biggest padel operator in the UK,” he states confidently. “You might think we’ve only got four courts [so far], but we’ve spent a lot of time developing our team and making sure we’ve got solid foundations and funding.
“Anyone in the padel industry in the UK will tell you these things take time. But a lot of these things are happening under the surface. Deals are being done. Once those deals are made and planning applications go through, we’ll be shouting from the rooftops!”
