Manchester-based operator Pure Padel is set to expand to the North East by opening its third club in Darlington in May 2025.
Plans have been confirmed for a state-of-the-art seven-court club based in a former DIY store on Darlington Retail Park, owned by Adderstone Group, which is currently undertaking a full refit to transform it into a stylish padel venue.
The new venue will offer seven panoramic padel courts, a pro-padel shop, a bistro-style café and bar, a heated sports lounge, fully equipped changing rooms with showers, plus access to expert coaches. Free onsite parking and wifi will also be available.
The announcement follows Pure Padel’s launch of Manchester’s premier indoor padel club last September at its club on Dutton Street, as well as a club at Alderley Park, which launched in October 2023.
The new club will add to Darlington’s existing padel offering, with Padel Project UK having opened four outdoor floodlit courts at Darlington RFC in January. Not far away, Tennis World in Middlesbrough have two courts and further up the A1 is the nine-court True Padel in Durham.
Matches at Pure Padel Darlington will be on a ‘pay to play’ basis, allowing players of all abilities to book and play via the Playtomic app from 6am to 10pm. With no member fees, Pure Padel enables players to play as much or as little as they choose.
Pure Padel has welcomed more than 13,000 players to its two Manchester venues and founder Sammy Arora has plans to build another 30 padel clubs in the UK over the next five years, with five currently in planning and a further 15 in the pipeline.
The Midlands and South West London are among the business’ target regions, as well as further expansion across its home county of Cheshire. Meanwhile, planning permission has been logged for a second site in the North East, in Gosforth.
Sammy said: “The new site in Darlington is the perfect location for the next Pure Padel club. We’ve targeted the North East due to its enormous growth potential – the region is fast becoming a padel hub with lots of existing fans of the sport that are looking for new and accessible clubs to play at. Our indoor club, offering shelter from the elements and year-round guaranteed play, is hugely appealing and gives us a strong foothold in the area.
“Its position in the town’s most popular retail and leisure park is ideal for lots of reasons – it’s well-known, accessible and offers ample free parking. The unit itself offers 28,000 sqft, allowing us to not only offer seven indoor courts, but leaves plenty of space for all the other things that make our padel clubs unique, such as the bar and social areas.”
Ian Baggett, founder and CEO of the Adderstone Group, the owners of the Darlington property, said: “Having played tennis most of my life I view padel as a brilliant development for all racket and sports fans and am pleased to see it growing in popularity across the North East.
“Pure Padel is emerging as one of the leading players in the sector and the location of this new development in our Darlington premises is perfect for the growth of the sport in the town and surrounding communities.”
Sammy is equipped with backing from a strong selection of non-exec board members from retail, property, finance and law and has accumulated various sources of investment including Sammy’s father, Bobby Arora, who is one of the key investors.
