WPA’s £10 million UK padel plans
November is a pivotal month for the Dubai-based World Padel Academy as it prepares to open its first centre outside the Middle East – a four covered court venue in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire – and reveals plans to invest up to £10 million delivering a UK network of WPA clubs. The Bandeja editor Emma Kimber spoke with WPA CEO Ali Al Arif to find out more.
Dubai may have come to the padel party a little later than some countries but the city state has more than made up for lost time, embracing the sport and delivering, according to Ali Al Arif, what could be 1,000 or more public and private courts in around four years, a phenomenal achievement.
Such growth puts Dubai ahead of padel’s adopted homeland of Spain in terms of courts per head of population and Ali believes the UK and US could follow suit. It’s an enticing thought and one that WPA intends to lean into by developing a minimum of five indoor/covered padel centres around the UK, modelling them on WPA centres in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain right down to the fragrance infused around each venue.
The first UK site to open is WPA Mansfield, developed in conjunction with Mansfield Town Football Club at a cost of around £1 million. WPA UK chief operating officer James Bowring has been instrumental in bringing the project – in his home town – to fruition. It’s hoped that sites in Wales and the North West of England will follow, with WPA also having its eye on Glasgow, London and Birmingham in its drive to be a leading player in the UK padel sector.
“We believe the UK has the biggest potential with the United States. I believe padel will be one of the biggest sports, or biggest sport, in the UK for sure.”
- Ali Al Arif, WPA CEO
- Below: WPA centres in Dubai and Bahrain.
Passion
The WPA journey started in 2019 from Ali’s passion for padel and a lack of courts in Dubai. His idea was for ‘a couple of courts in a warehouse’, which became four in the padel-heavy Al Quoz district and has since grown to 10 courts. WPA expansion into nearby emirates followed and discussion began about taking WPA global – and the UK was top of the list.
“We believe the UK has the biggest potential with the United States,” said Ali. “Padel is just growing in the UK and there’s a lot to happen in the next (few) years. I believe padel will be one of the biggest sports, or biggest sport, in the UK for sure.”
This belief, coupled with the UK’s sporting heritage and, perversely, the challenges of establishing in the UK market, ticked the boxes for WPA, as Ali explained: “It’s not easy to enter the UK market. It’s very hard to do it. If you are in the GCC, Dubai or UAE (United Arab Emirates) it’s not that hard.”
The Mansfield scheme wasn’t without red tape and delays but Ali is confident they will expedite the process for subsequent venues. “I believe we gained a lot of experience in the first venue so hopefully the second venue won’t be the same. It took a long time compared to what we’re used to in different countries,” he said.
We believe in the power of sport to transform lives. Padel, with its mix of athleticism, strategy and camaraderie, embodies this belief.
- Ali Al Arif, WPA CEO
WPA UK padel centres will follow the company’s core concept of offering a full range of facilities, ideally with six to 10 indoor courts, top-notch coaching, training facilities, social areas, pro shop and a cafe. All ages and abilities will be catered for, from beginners to semi-pros wanting to compete in top-grade LTA tournaments and everyone in between, with junior academies, after-school clubs and competitions/social events geared to different player groups and demographics. Playtomic has been signed up as the court booking system.
Juniors are a huge part of the WPA family, starting with children aged under six years learning to love padel and being comfortable on court, as Ali explained: “If you have a kid, if your son or daughter wants to go, you will go no matter what. So having them in your venue means you have the family itself visiting you. For me, if you don’t have kids or juniors you don’t have the future.”
WPA – part of the Dubai-based Spadrec sports and leisure business of which Ali is CEO –has a customised programme for its younger players, with dedicated coaches and a philosophy to ease them in gently. As they progress they can choose to compete or play for fun.
WPA methodology
Interestingly, all venues are managed from WPA HQ in Dubai and provided with what Ali described as a ‘full methodology’ for coaches, programmes etc – and, of course, the signature scent – the idea being that you know you are in WPA padel venue before noting the logo or branding.
Customer service is key and, while the organisation embraces tech, it’s not at the cost of building relationships; Ali knows that standards need maintaining and each facility needs ‘a proper coaching set up and proper front desk’, with the aim to make players feel they are in their ‘padel home’ and hang around pre/post match: “We always aim for the client to be there not just for the 60 or 90 minutes booking. We aim for them to come earlier, to sit down, to have a meeting with someone, to have a quick chat. This is the main concept of WPA,” he said.
Ali has watched the London padel scene grow in the last year or so, with standards rising, which he described as ‘very exciting’. And he’s keen for more ‘names’ to enter the UK, considering that competition is good for both the sport and for clubs, having benefitted from venues opening close to WPA in Dubai. “We really benefitted from it, with more players playing the sport. More players then looked up the best place to play padel,” he said.
The future
Expansion is definitely on the mind of WPA, with Ali revealing that it may consider the States, more European countries, locations such as Singapore and Hong Kong and other GCC countries to add to its padel portfolio.
“I really believe we should be entering different countries. But we always take our time. We don’t want just to rush and open 300 courts because this is possible but then you don’t maintain your standards. So we always try to take it step-by-step, do it with the right people, the right landlords, the right locations. We take our time, we pick the right people. The number one is the people, the partnership. Number two is the location and all these other details. But for me, always, the key thing is the people,” added Ali. 🎾
