Edinburgh-based Game4Padel has agreed a ten-year lease to operate the courts at Westfield London in Shepherds Bush for an undisclosed price.
The padel tennis company backed by Sir Andy Murray is set to open three courts at one of London’s biggest shopping centres.
Game4Padel was founded in 2018. It opened its first court in Edinburgh a year later.
Padel tennis - a cross between tennis and squash - which is played in a doubles format on an enclosed court about a third of the size of a tennis court.
Balls are allowed to bounce off walls and serve must be played underhand.
The game requires less physical effort than tennis, which has made it appealing to a wide range of age groups.
It is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. It is well-established in Spain, where there are six million players.
There are at present about 6,000 active padel players in Britain and 100 courts in 52 clubs, according to the Lawn Tennis Association, which has forecast a 400 % growth in the number of courts by 2023.
Shopping centres are trying to attract leisure operators to their locations that can offer visitors an experience that they cannot replicate online.
Former Wimbeldon and US Open champion, Sir Andy Murray invested in the company in 2019 for an undisclosed sum. Jim McMahon, is the chairman for Game4Padel, and is also a founding partner of West Coast Capital, the investment business, and is chairman of Motherwell FC.
Game4Padel currently has five sites and is in discussions to open courts at 30 more locations across the UK, including two big shopping centres.
Michael Gradon, co-founder and chief executive of Game4Padel, said: “We see huge potential for padel facilities in premium UK leisure and retail developments so to have signed this deal with Europe’s biggest and best shopping destination is a real boost.
“The explosive growth of padel around the world gives us great confidence in its prospects here in the UK.”
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