Location, location, location - opening up padel's rural frontiers

For much of padel's extraordinarily rapid rise in Britain, the blueprint for growth has been remarkably consistent. Find a major city, secure a prominent site, build a high-quality facility and compete for as many players as possible.

This approach has undoubtedly helped drive padel's remarkable expansion, with more than 1,000,000 people now playing the sport in Britain (up from 15,000 in 2019) at some 600 padel clubs (there were just a handful five years ago).

But as the market begins to mature, a different question is emerging: where are the greatest opportunities still to come?

For club operator Padel People co-founders George Sandbach and James Rock, the answer has never been the biggest cities. Instead, it has been the towns and communities that much of the industry has overlooked.

Their first club in Wimbledon, just two miles from the iconic The All England Club - is their most urban. It's been followed by locations in Wiltshire, Somerset, Hampshire, Sussex and most recently Lincolnshire (two doubles and two singles in Boston). By the end of 2026 Padel People expects to have nine clubs and a pipepline of 19 venues/70 courts across England.

"We'd rather be the only club a town has than the fifth in a city," said Sandbach. “Often the big operators pile into the same places and end up competing for players on expensive land. We've always believed there was another way.”

That philosophy has shaped the business since Sandbach and Rock founded Padel People. Rather than pursuing the highest-profile locations, the pair have focused on places where demand exists, but provision does not, creating clubs that become part of the local community rather than simply another sports venue.

"There are two reasons," Sandbach explained. "Competition is one, but community is just as important. In a smaller town, a padel club becomes a genuine local hub. People bring their friends, they play every week and word spreads because everyone knows everyone. That loyalty is incredibly valuable.”

The approach also changes the economics of opening a club. Suitable buildings are often easier to find outside larger cities, while more realistic rents make it possible to create sustainable clubs without relying on premium pricing. To give an example, Padel People Wimbledon in South West London charges from £5.50 off-peak to £10 Peak. In Boston courts start at £5/hr.

Padel People co-founder George Sandbach

Opportunity

The Padel People strategy challenges one of the assumptions that has underpinned much of the UK's padel expansion: that the biggest populations automatically offer the biggest opportunity.

Padel People in Corsham, Wiltshire, has become one of the clearest examples of why that isn't always the case.

"On paper it looks too small," admitted Sandbach. "If we'd only looked at headline population numbers we'd probably have walked straight past it. Instead, it's become one of our busiest clubs, with courts full for much of the week and a real community built around it. The places everyone overlooks are often the ones with the greatest appetite and the least competition.”

The wider padel landscape has also evolved significantly since Padel People first began identifying sites.

"When we started, landlords and agents often didn't know what padel was," Sandbach recalled. "You had to explain the sport, explain the business model and convince them it would work. Today, it's completely different. We now have landlords approaching us to ask whether we'd be interested in their sites.”

Players have changed too.

"The first wave of people simply wanted to try padel. Now many have been playing for two or three years and they're looking to improve. They're interested in coaching, ratings and developing their game. That evolution is great for the sport, but it also increases the importance of having good coaches and strong club environments.”

Perhaps the biggest change, however, has been how Padel People itself identifies opportunities.

"What started as a map on the wall and a gut feeling has become something much more sophisticated," added Sandbach.

The business has developed its own software that assesses every potential location using a combination of demographic data, local competition, drive times, existing facilities, planning activity and available property. Rather than simply searching for the biggest towns, the system looks for places where genuine demand exists but remains underserved. In simple terms, the aim isn't to find the biggest market, but the biggest gap in the market.

"A town of 200,000 people with four busy clubs can actually represent less opportunity than a much smaller town with no provision at all," Sandbach explained. "We're looking for unmet demand, not just large populations.”

The technology has undoubtedly made the search more scientific, but both founders are clear that algorithms alone cannot determine where the next successful club should be built. Rock believes the software has made the search more intelligent, but no less human.

"The data removes much of the guesswork," said Rock. "It helps us narrow the field far more intelligently than we could a few years ago. But we still visit every location ourselves because you can only understand so much from a spreadsheet. The final decision is always made by people.”

James Rock, Co-founder, Padel People

That philosophy continues to shape the company's expansion. Recent planning approvals in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Dorset will take Padel People to nine venues by the end of the year, but Sandbach sees those milestones as evidence that the strategy is working rather than the story itself.

"As the sport matures, success won't simply be about opening more clubs," he said. "It will be about opening them in the right places. There are still huge opportunities across Britain, but they won't necessarily be where everyone is already looking.”

Padel's first wave of growth was largely driven by taking the sport to Britain's biggest population centres. Padel People's experience suggests the next wave may depend less on finding the biggest cities and more on identifying the places others have overlooked. 🎾

Read more: Padel moving in on Centre Court

Padel People Wimbledon; Padel People Wimborne; Padel People Cricklade; Padel People Shepton Mallet; Padel People Basingstoke; Padel People Corsham; Padel People Spelthorne; Padel People Sedlescombe; Padel People Boston.