Following a standout first year as one of the North East’s fastest-growing community sports venues, True Padel Sunderland has agreed to expand into the adjacent unit at Adderstone Group’s Wessington Retail Park, enabling the club to significantly expand its offer and meet rapidly growing demand.
True Padel currently occupies a 23,000 sq. ft. unit at Wessington Retail Park, housing five doubles courts and two singles courts, alongside café, lounge and function spaces. The expansion will see the club grow to over 33,000 sq. ft., creating space for the addition of four new padel courts or eleven courts in total as well as the introduction of specialist padel physiotherapy services.
Once complete in Spring 2026, the expanded facility will make True Padel Sunderland the largest dedicated indoor padel club in the North East and one of the largest indoor padel centres in the UK, significantly increasing its capacity to accommodate players and expand its programme of sessions and activities.
Since opening in Sunderland, more than 10,000 people have tried padel at the venue, with nearly 1,000 becoming regular players who now form a thriving local community. The club’s popularity, driven by padel’s accessibility and strong social culture, has seen early-morning, daytime and evening sessions consistently busy, prompting the next phase of growth at the existing site.
The acquisition of the additional unit marks a major milestone for True Padel Sunderland, allowing the club to expand capacity and enhance the overall experience, while reinforcing its position as a long-term leisure destination for the city.
Over the past 12 months, the club has hosted more than 350 social mix-in sessions and over 3,000 open matches, bringing together players who may never otherwise have met. Beyond physical activity, the venue has become a key social space in the city, supporting wellbeing and routine for a wide cross-section of the local community.
The expansion has been made possible through True Padel’s partnership with Adderstone Group, one of the region’s largest property investment and development businesses. Following the club’s exceptional first-year performance, the partnership has evolved to support the next stage of growth at the site.
Ian Baggett, Founder CEO of Adderstone Group and former GB seniors’ tennis player said, “Adam and Alex are a real class act and quietly building one of the best padel businesses in the UK from a North East base. Their backhands are still a bit erratic so I’ve told them that I’m prepared to settle the first rent review on the back of a 3-set-match!”
Adam Carr, Director of True Padel and co-founder of the business alongside his brother Alex, said, “We couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Adderstone. They are passionate about supporting our expansion and get padel and its potential. This latest development will take us up to 20 indoor courts in the North East with more plans in the pipeline. It’s so rewarding for everyone involved to be introducing literally thousands of people in communities all over the region to the fastest growing new sport in the world”
Building on the momentum of its first year, True Padel Sunderland’s expansion at Wessington Retail Park represents a significant investment in the club’s future, strengthening its community impact and truly cementing its role as one of the best indoor padel clubs in the UK.