Neish work if you can get it!

By Bob James

PADELTECH’s Project Manager Paul Neish has branded our bespoke three padel court creation at Gleneagles as a “five - star” development.

Work on the two Red Sport AFP Panoramic doubles courts and a Pro singles court, which is the first custom built singles padel court in Scotland, was completed last week.

The Mondo Supercourt surfaced padel installations providing a market-leading synthetic turf system which offers maximum consistency in angular and vertical bounce, before and after impact with glass, which was created following collaboration with the World Padel Tour.

All of which Neish is confident is entirely in keeping with the iconic Gleneagles brand which first opened its doors in beautiful Perthshire back in 1924.

Reflecting on all of this and the indigenous ‘x-factor’ which he believes will make these the best padel courts in the world Paul said: “I would say Gleneagles is five - star. It is just what is required by Gleneagles and in keeping with the iconic quality of their brand.

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“They have two Redsport AFP Panoramic doubles courts and a posted singles court and they are the best you can get while providing the ultimate playing experience which we guarantee their clients will enjoy!

“I also believe with the championship quality tennis courts underneath, the surface will probably be the best in the world as it is lying on an absolutely top class underlay, if you will, which is unique to these courts below.

“Textured Mondo Supercourt is simply the best surface and it is on another international quality surface and that will undoubtedly add to the performance of these courts and I believe add to their quality in this respect.”

As Paul explained the Gleneagles project presented some interesting and diverse challenges: “At the beginning Gleneagles weren’t sure what they wanted to do and we did three phases for them.

“So we put in two doubles courts and a singles court but we also allowed for that to move to a second phase if it was going to be as popular as they felt it may turn out to be and then ultimately allow it to potentially go to a third phase.

“Basically there was a sub floor which was chipboard which allowed us to wire the electrics without touching the existing flooring which belonged to the championship tennis courts underneath.

“The surface on them was, as I mentioned, amazing and on no account did we want to tamper with that, so we fitted three pop up courts and built the floor all around it which allowed us to get the electrics to it without actually damaging the surface underneath and that was pretty bespoke to be honest.

“We believe that Gleneagles is currently the only facility with a single court in Scotland, specifically with the guest experience in mine as a lot of people travelling to Gleneagles are in couples.

When it comes to the singles game Paul admits it offers something different: “The singles court is a posted court and it is very similar to install (as a normal doubles court) but it is six metres wide, so six metres wide compared with the 10 metres width of a doubles court.

“Basically it’s missing two panes of glass at the back and singles becomes more intense and the game can change a lot more as it's more confined and it will really hone your skills as you are hitting close to the glass from a playing point of view.

“Technically in terms of installation it is very similar and there is not much difference to be honest.”

Paul, who is interestingly also a qualified commercial diver, has worked with Padel Tech as one of our leading installers since the creation of our company before taking over as Project Manager at the beginning of the year.

As he explained with 39 courts spanning 11 developments completed during his first year in the role and a quarter of the year still to go he has had to hit the ground, literally, running!

He shared: “At the turn of the year Padel Tech needed a new project manager with on the ground experience, fortunately I already knew everything about the job and I was quickly taught the computer side while I shared from myside and it worked out really well.

“Looking back over 2023 I have overseen 39 courts across 11 sites including venues of the quality of Wentworth Golf Club, which was actually my first job and then we also had the likes of Kenilworth, Aberdeen, Shawfair, and then of course Gleneagles.

“In terms of our project at Padium in Canary Wharf it was up and running before I became Project Manager and I have to complement Paul Ross (Padel Tech MD) on the job he did running that one and doing a superb job on it while I ran everything else.

“So we have almost averaged a project every two weeks and now with a full quarter left of the year there are plenty more in the pipeline.

“I have pretty much trained everyone who works for Padel Tech now in terms of installation and I also trained people at East Glos in Cheltenham so it has been all embracing.

“But I get so much satisfaction from my job and when three years down the line a club like East Glos are coming back to say people are calling their courts: ‘the best they have played’ on’, well that is very satisfying.”

‘Projecting forward Paul is excited about some of the developments coming on stream which will include several private client facilities in the Caribbean.

Padel Tech’s Project Manager revealed: “We are currently working on the Northern Club right now and it's one of the most prestigious in the north west of England.

“We are building two posted courts end on end so there is a canopy 45 metres long by 12wide covering the two courts and that is an impressive project.

“We also have loads of stuff coming up in the Caribbean, with maybe around 10 courts to be built and maintained at the likes of the world famous Sandy Lane resort.”

Yet it isn’t all plain sailing in the Caribbean: “Although our guys are looking forward to doing that it is challenging to work in the heat. We had to go out to repair a playing carpet and it had melted with the heat and then overnight it solidified again and was like small Lego blocks.

“We actually took a temperature out in Barbados at the peak point of the day right on the meeting of the two glass panels in the corner and it was 160 degrees and that was tough but at the end of the day it was a great job and we left a very happy (and famous) client behind.”

A case of ‘Neish’ work if you can get it we are sure you will agree!

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