Copyright expressandstar
Paul Binning has spent the last three months showcasing Pukka Padel, a cross between table tennis, squash and tennis, and building the brand, which includes custom made racquets and courts. Since starting up the company, Mr Binning said they had signed off on seven sites for playing the sport and was in the middle of creating a manufacturing supply chain and distribution centre in Kidderminster inside a former carpet factory. He said the inspiration for the company had come from a partner telling him about the sport and finding that once he'd played it, he'd fallen in love with it. He said: "Nine months ago, I had a meeting with one of my partners in London and he said he couldn't attend as he'd rolled his ankle playing Padel, which I didn't know what it was, so when I spoke to him, he said to come and play it. "I went to London and played for an hour and I was absolutely addicted, so when I got back to Birmingham, I tried to find a local centre, but found the nearest ones were either Manchester or Gloucester. "However, after a couple of weeks, I thought 'we're business people, so if there's a problem, let's find a solution' and so we decided to build our own centres and got our own manufacturing facility in China and getting our own products made, then creating our own centres." Mr Binning said Padel was great in a number of ways as it was more inclusive and an easier and cheaper way to get into racquet sports, as well as being good for losing calories and getting fitter, and was something that anyone could take up and learn in a few hours. He said: "The reaction has been crazy as people have been posting online about playing Padel and it's become a real vibe as it's Instagrammable and social and it's just a fun sport to play. "With Kidderminster, we bought the site to start manufacturing supply chain and distribution from the site, but also include a showroom here as well, so people can come and play the sport and see our range of equipment and the courts. "With those, we offer a full customisation of the turf colour, the signs on the court and mesh and we can work around the space you have so that it's still playable in smaller spaces." Mr Binning said the brand had garnered a lot of interest and he was planning to franchise it out across the country, plus there was also a lot of international interest from the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia. He said the brand also extended to Pukka Power, which was the gym side of the business, as well as Pukka Pilates and Pukka Performance, and said he was excited about bringing Padel to the public. He said: "The biggest thing for me is bringing Padel to the public and, at the moment, a lot of people are travelling far to play, so the ideal thing is to provide something which is reasonable and well priced. "It's also not just about Padel as our centres will also have a gym facility, spa facility and also have things like pickleball and a reception area where people can enjoy themselves in a community and social area."
