Hartlepool padel tennis facility proves a hit after Covid forces business transformation
A dedicated facility for one of the fastest-growing sports in the UK is bringing people to Hartlepool from all over the country.
Padel At The Toolroom, on the Hunter House Industrial Estate, was created by town businessman Ray Liddell after Covid forced to massively diversify his plastic injection moulding business.
It is one of a number of ventures that have opened locally in the last year to support padel tennis.
Ray transformed a unit on the doorstep of his a state-of-the-art precision engineering company The Toolroom into a multi-court facility for fans of the sport that combines elements of tennis and squash.
It has proved very popular with players travelling from far and wide.
Ray, 55, who created the new venture with fellow Toolroom director Jeff Storey, said: “One of our factories was struggling. The council had doubled in three years and it was a bit of a run-down building.
“We came up this and refreshed the inside and outside. We’ve just had our busiest week and have people coming from across Teesside, Durham, Newcastle and Rochdale.
“And many have stayed and spent the day in Hartlepool or Seaton afterwards.
“For me a massive satisfaction point is after however many miserable days, to come out and hear people laughing and upbeat.”
The building’s previous use for plastic injection moulding was hit hard by a number of factors after Covid, including a downturn in the automotive industry, shortage of raw materials, energy costs increasing ten times, plus fires, floods, break ins.
Ray switched the focus of the business to precision engineering small components after meeting the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.
Ray said: “We started The Toolroom and have invested about £500,000 in three-and-a-half years. We work with all the major companies in Hartlepool and have got some brilliant contracts with companies in London, Manchester and London.”
Padel At The Toolroom, the venue is holding a Hartlepool Open competition on Saturday, November 21.
It is open to teams of three players and will involve singles and doubles matches to find the best team in Hartlepool and the surrounding area.
“We’re quite excited about it,” said Ray.
For more details about Padel At The Toolroom visit the Playtomic website or app.