Real Tennis

Key Requirements for Successful Development

Fundamentals

There are number of fundamentals required for a new court project to succeed:

  • A well connected and driven individual to market and champion the project.
  • A path to a successful fundraising which will almost certainly need to be under-pinned by a small number of large donors
  • An enthusiastic institution (supported at the top level) which will need to remain onside for the duration of the project, say 5 years
  • A suitable site where planning permission is likely to be obtained
  • A good catchment area, with 100,000 population within 30 miles
  • Good communications by car or public transport
  • A sound business plan which can support the hiring and retention of a high-quality professional team
  • An experienced and committed individual who will manage and drive the design and build

If any of these fundamentals are not in place (especially the first three), one is probably in the department of “interesting conversations”

Middlesex University Real Tennis Club
Middlesex University Real Tennis Club
Radley College Tennis Court
Radley College Tennis Court

Peter Luck-Hille, William Maltby, Richard Dalzell and others, March 2020