Middleton Enterprises have made a £950k investment into Smash Padel, the UK padel operator that serves as the official home of Great Britain’s junior national squad. As part of our Growth Capital offering, this investment will support the company’s ambitious plan to expand from five to twenty sites across the South of England.
Founded by Simon Champ and Rupert Taylor, both seasoned entrepreneurs with backgrounds in capital markets, Smash Padel has rapidly become a leader in the UK’s growing padel market. The business operates a profitable and scalable model focused on a coaching-led approach and is home to several players from the GB Under-18 squad.
Currently operating five successful sites, Smash Padel has recently opened its first location in Cardiff, with the next site launching soon in Taunton.
“We took the time to assess and understand the full landscape of UK padel operators before committing capital,” said Julian Liban, Investment Manager at Middleton Enterprises. “What sets Smash Padel apart is their rigorous approach to site selection – they are not simply opening doors wherever they can find space. They have a community model that genuinely grows the sport rather than just monetising existing players and this will provide defensibility as more competition enters the market. Smash Padel has the clearest strategy and, in our view, the strongest platform for long-term success. This is a firm with real sporting credentials run by deeply experienced operators, and we are proud to back them.”
Simon Champ, Co-Founder of Smash Padel, commented: “Middleton Enterprises has a proven track record of supporting businesses like ours as we scale and expand into new locations. They bring more than just funding – they have deep expertise in physical site roll-outs from across their portfolio, and they have acted as a true strategic partner throughout this process. We’re excited to build on what we’ve started and to take the sport to more communities across the UK.”
As the official home of the Great Britain Under-18 squad, Smash Padel is uniquely positioned to anchor the sport’s grassroots and elite pipeline in a single, scalable model.
We’re thrilled to support Smash Padel on this exciting growth journey.
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