Court De Padel plans Scottish expansion with three new venues

Court De Padel agreed terms on three Scottish sites in Dundee, Perth and Edinburgh, a move the company says could create about 60 jobs. The bigger question is whether that is the start of real padel infrastructure buildout in Scotland, or simply another operator testing a market that is still being built around planning, participation and year-round indoor access.

The company’s operations director, Joan Ferras, said each venue would involve about £800,000 of investment and create roughly 20 jobs apiece. Full planning applications are expected to go to local authorities over the next six weeks, and the project still needs approval before any of the sites can proceed. The Perth location is tied to Perth Airport in Scone, while the Dundee and Edinburgh sites have not yet been publicly specified.

Court De Padel has already shown the model it wants to repeat. It says its first club opened in Norwich in November 2025, its second site opened in Hull in June 2026, and it is targeting three to four new clubs every year as it expands across the UK. The group’s first club launched with eight indoor courts in Norwich, a detail that matters in Scotland more than most markets: this is not an outdoor-padel story, it is an indoor-infrastructure play built to avoid the weather becoming a weekly excuse.

The venues are being sold as more than a grid of courts. Court De Padel says they will include indoor padel and pickleball courts, changing rooms, a cafe, bar space, modern facilities and on-site physiotherapy support. Ferras also said the clubs would offer coaching, leagues, tournaments and social events, which puts the emphasis on retention as much as access. That is the real tell here. Operators are no longer just chasing first-time bookings; they are trying to build recurring usage around a club format.

There is already some proof that Scotland can absorb the sport, but the picture is still early. Tennis Scotland has recently advertised a Head of Padel and a Padel Partner role to help implement a Scottish padel strategy, grow participation, develop the workforce and strengthen the competition structure and performance pathway. Dundee City Council also allows the public to view and comment on planning applications online, a reminder that every new court still has to clear local scrutiny before it becomes real steel and glass.

Edinburgh already has one padel precedent in the system. In 2025, a separate proposal at Powerleague’s Portobello site won planning approval for three covered padel courts. Court De Padel’s push now suggests the next phase is not whether Scotland gets padel, but which operators get there first with the indoor product, the right planning case and enough scale to keep the lights on through winter.