Marvel Padel seeks alcohol licence for Northampton wellness venue

Marvel Padel has applied to West Northamptonshire Council for a premises licence at Unit 8, Carousel Way, Riverside Prime in Northampton, adding alcohol and other licensable activities to a project already cleared as an indoor padel tennis, wellness and therapy venue. The move pushes the scheme beyond a simple court build and toward a club model built around longer visits, café trade and after-play spending.

The planning permission approved earlier this year allowed the change of use of the warehouse into a facility with four double padel courts, one mini-court, a small café area, therapy rooms and changing facilities. The building covers about 17,200 sq ft and sits on Riverside Business Park near Billing Aquadrome, on the eastern edge of Northampton. The development was expected to generate between 15 and 20 jobs.

The licensing application sought permission for the sale of alcohol and other activities tied to the venue’s operation. West Northamptonshire Council kept the application open for representations until June 17, and the council says members of the public can support or object to licensing bids during the consultation period. That makes the alcohol request part of the public process around how the site will function once it opens.

The planning file showed little resistance to the wider scheme. No consultees objected, while WNC Public Health, WNC Recreation & Leisure and Councillor Silas Hays backed the application. Council officers said the site would bring a long-vacant unit back into productive use and deliver community benefits, a reminder that the project has been framed not just as a leisure build but as a reuse of industrial space.

The alcohol licence also points to a broader shift in padel’s business model. Rather than operating purely as a rackets facility, Marvel Padel appears to be assembling a venue where court time, wellness services and hospitality sit side by side. For a sport still building its base in Britain, that matters because the revenue mix is changing as quickly as the footprint.

The Lawn Tennis Association says more than 400,000 adults and juniors played padel at least once in the 12 months to the end of 2024, up from 15,000 in 2019. It also says the number of courts in Great Britain reached 1,000 by July 2025. In that context, Northampton’s new site looks like part of the next phase: not just more courts, but venues designed to keep players on site longer and make padel feel like a social destination as well as a sport.