For over 45 years we have demonstrated a commitment to regeneration and placemaking, delivering vibrant, award-winning and community-led projects. In the UK, the company has delivered over 8.9m+ sq ft of commercial space and more than 3,800 residential units, with a further 3.9m+ sq ft and 1,600 units in the pipeline.
These include Thorpe Park Leeds, the North’s premier, mixed-use community set within 350 acres of land off the M1 and home to over 100 local, national and international businesses employing over 5,500 people; Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, a new life sciences park focused on innovation in sport, health and wellbeing that will create up to 5,600 high value jobs; and Middlewood Locks, a 25-acre canal-side mixed-use neighbourhood located between Manchester and Salford that already has a growing community of over 1,300 people.
Game4Padel is the fastest growing company in the fastest growing sport in the UK. The company boasts a diverse group of over 100 experienced UK investors and ambassadors, including Liverpool FC star and Dutch international, Virgil van Dijk, former world no.1 tennis players Andy and Jamie Murray, the former British no.1 players Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle, and Welsh rugby legend Jonathan Davies. The company’s Chief Executive is Michael Gradon, a former FTSE 100 main board director and longstanding Commercial and Finance Chair of the Wimbledon Championships.
Padel was recently described as the biggest fitness trend of the Summer by GQ magazine and by Sunday Times Style magazine as ‘the sport that fashion-forward sports stars do on their days off’.
The game originally started in Mexico and quickly swept through South America and then into Europe. Spain is reckoned to have over 20,000 padel courts, and an estimated six million players – it is now the country’s second biggest participation sport after football. Padel is played in 91 countries and is the fastest growing sport in many countries such as Sweden and Italy. Forecasters predict padel will become an Olympic sport by 2032.
Commenting on the partnership, Game4Padel Co-Founder and CEO Michael Gradon said:
“This is an extremely exciting partnership as SGI’s portfolio of projects are perfect settings for padel facilities. The company has proven expertise in regenerating areas and bringing them back to life and this is very much akin to what we are doing as a business with our padel courts which often give new life and excitement to leisure sites. We believe our courts will be very popular with the people who are living or working in the SGI neighbourhoods and this will in turn help to grow the game of padel in the UK”.
We are no stranger to padel. Our’s charitable arm, The Scarborough Group Foundation recently provided funding for a new two-court facility in the town of Scarborough. Works are currently underway and expected to be completed by late October / early November.
Scott McCabe, Director at SGI, added:
“SGI is extremely excited about this new partnership with Game4Padel. Like so many other people, my family and I fell in love with the game while holidaying in Spain, and we have watched with interest at how it is really starting to gain momentum across the UK. “As such, we believe it will be a great addition to our mixed-use projects where one of our primary objectives is to build communities and support the active wellbeing of our residents”.
Game4Padel already has the most venues around the UK including:
• Thistle Padel Club, Edinburgh
• Barnton Park LTC, Edinburgh
• Windsor Penarth LTC, Penarth
• Huddersfield LT&SC, Yorkshire
• Heron Tennis Centre, Newquay
• Ipswich Sports Club, Suffolk
• Withdean Sports Club, Brighton
• Broxbourne Sports Club, Hertfortshire
• Forthill Community Sports Centre, Dundee (opening soon)
• Grappenhall Sports LTC (opening soon)
• Draycott Racquet & Fitness Club, Staffs (opening soon)
• Parabola Edinburgh Park business park (opening soon)
The company has a total of 30 venues open or secured including Westfield London shopping centre, a partnership with golf’s R&A at Lethamhill Glasgow, Ocean Terminal Leith, Liverpool Cricket Club, St George’s Hill LTC (Weybridge, Surrey), Bedfont Business Park (Heathrow), Cottingham LTC (Hull), Chesham 1879 LTC (Bucks), Marden Cricket & Hockey Club (Kent), Sphynx LTC (Southport) West Warwickshire Sports Complex, Heswall Squash Club, Bramhall Lane LTC (Stockport), Allt Yr Yin LTC (Newport), and Great Western Golf (Glasgow) and is in discussions regarding approximately 100 additional other venues. It recently announced a partnership with GLL which is the UK’s largest leisure operator and will create padel facilities nationally across the GLL portfolio of owned/managed venues.
Game4Padel offers to partner with a wide range of venues, including sports clubs, leisure centres, parks, schools, universities and, increasingly, commercial venues. Its capital and technical expertise enables it to finance, install, maintain and operate padel courts in any setting. The company also creates bespoke coaching and playing programmes, events, tournaments, and engagement activities for children and schools
