WITH a name like Bloom there can be few more appropriately entitled developments in Game4Padel’s ever-expanding roster of padel facilities.
Our two-court venue at Bloom Heathrow London, to provide its full title, opened last month in one of West London’s most forward-thinking business parks. Designed to deliver a new natural habitat for London professionals which is modern, connected and sustainable, the campus at Bloom now includes two Game4Padel courts.
With the emphasis firmly on work, wellbeing, learning and socialising, all situated in one ‘eplace’ in a workspace designed for people, we thought it would be great to catch up with Bloom’s Lifestyle manager Ingrid Dunbar to get the low-down on how she perceives our padel offering blooming in this 21st century business garden.
Reflecting on all of this and the role she believes padel can play in helping create a unique and distinctive slant to the Bloom community Ingrid said: “I believe you can almost build a whole community around padel and it has already started to forge relationships around the business park where the common interest is padel.
“This is bringing people together whose paths maybe would not cross naturally but now they are enjoying each other’s company during the pursuit of a common interest which is healthy, active and sociable.
“We have seven buildings over 19 acres, so we are not a small business park and it would be fair to say that the majority of our staff come in between Tuesday and Thursday, so the community is good but it depends on who is working in the offices on that particular day.
“I would say that our community has bounced back post Covid and now we have between 600 to 1,000 people on site on any one given day. We are open to the general public who are welcome to come and use the courts and again this builds more relationships and widens the network.
“Bloom sits on the border of Surrey Council and Hounslow West Council so it was great to be able to invite representatives from both to our padel court launch event and that also helped with spreading the word. I hope that gives an idea of the scale of the park and our enthusiasm to engage with our local community.”
With Game4Padel having already created a similarly successful padel offering within the Edinburgh Park business epi centre, Ingrid had no doubt that this experience made our collaboration even more attractive. As she explained: “Game4Padel had previously utilised a model at Edinburgh Park which made excellent use of space, making it accessible to their clients and the general public. And it made great sense to us that our clients have something to look forward to around their working day.
“From our perspective, the padel court exposes us more to the outside world and of course there is a café facility and parking all of which enhances the experience and makes it that bit more social. It also means that new people, who may not have been here before, may be invited over to play with colleagues and will experience all that Bloom can offer – and they might
consider relocating here.”
With the MATCHi booking system already in operation it is game on at Bloom. Book online via the Game4Padel website or via the MATCHi App which you can download. You are issued a code which you punch into the security system on the court gates and then you have access to the court. There are rackets and balls on site to borrow if you don't have your own.
And with a coaching programme soon to be installed, featuring one of Game4Padel’s new Padel Pros Matt Allen, centred around lunchtime activity in the first instance, there are exciting times ahead for those who want to get the most out of their padel in West London.
As Ingrid shared: “From what I’ve seen, padel is very easy to pick up, but it still has a fast tempo and the feedback we have had is overwhelmingly positive. The people who tried it at our launch have definitely caught the bug.
“We are also looking to organise some charity events and really grow the community around padel and another part of that will of course be the coaching offering by Game4Padel.
“Really Bloom is a facility that we want to be used and enjoyed and we have no doubt from the early signs that is exactly what is already happening and will continue to happen.”
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