Record attendance at our Tennis Industry Xmas gathering
There was a record attendance at the TIA annual Xmas lunch in December with attendees from a wide range of tennis business interests. The event was again sponsored by Gen2 Group, the TIA’s Insurance Business Partner, which has recently become part of the James Hallam Insurance Brokers practice.

Right: Steve Matthews with LTA president Sandi Procter in background
Tennis Broadcaster Marcus Buckland led a star-studded panel discussion with the former British tennis great Roger Taylor and with the equally great composer and musician Jeff Wayne.
An auction took place to benefit the TIA’s Official Charity, the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust. Jeff kindly donated best seat tickets for his War of the Worlds O2 arena show and tickets for the immersive War of the Worlds Experience. The auction raised £1990 for the charity.
Please note the date for the 2025 Tennis Industry Xmas Lunch – Wednesday December 3rd – to be hosted again at The Queen’s Club
TIA UK’s Sarah Langford re-appointed to governing body Council
In December the Council of the LTA approved the re-appointment of Sarah Langford as a Voting Council Member for 2025 – 2027. Sarah is the Managing Director of Bromley Tennis Centre, Director of Virtus Leisure Management as well as a Director of TIA UK Ltd. Sarah’s on-going close liaison with the LTA gives the tennis industry excellent insight into the strategy of the LTA, delivering benefits to the tennis industry as a whole
East Glos Club’s journey to net zero

From recycling tennis balls and planting for wildlife, to making the switch to using energy-efficient floodlights, TIA Operator Member East Glos Club and The Growth Hub Gloucestershire are working together to guide the tennis and sports club business on its journey to becoming more sustainable.
The East Glos Club recognised the need for the club to do its bit for the planet back in 2021, by forming its first ever sustainability working group. Fast forward three years and the club has already made huge strides towards its aim of matching Gloucestershire County Council‘s ambition to be net zero by 2030, by working with the county’s business support network, The Growth Hub Gloucestershire, to identify key areas where it can become more sustainable.
The Club’s Operations Manager, Steve Wigg commented “Our sustainability journey began in 2021, when Peter Mitchener, our community relations director and sustainability champion, called on passionate members to help the club become more sustainable. Joined by the groundsman, operations manager and club manager Darren Morris, the working group for sustainability was formed.
The club has been working with The Growth Hub since 2022, when Darren was supported by two of their business navigators to look at strategy, vision, marketing and sales after the Covid pandemic, along with the substantial growth of the business in recent years.
This then developed into a focus on our sustainability goals, after we attended the 2023 Net Zero Conference hosted and organised by The Growth Hub.”
Over the past few years, the club has made simple but effective changes to become more sustainable, such as recycling glass and food waste, switching off unnecessary lights, installing water-conserving taps and PIR sensors, in conjunction with LED lighting in the clubhouse, corridors, rooms and squash courts. It carried out an energy audit with an external company to highlight all areas of opportunity for efficiency.
“The Growth Hub facilitated online meetings to guide us on the different areas where we could highlight and target ways of being even more environmentally friendly and ultimately work towards net zero.
New projects last year included converting seven tennis courts to LED floodlights, supporting ‘bike week’ and ‘no mow May’, introducing flower planters to support wildlife and the introduction of a ball recycling scheme that has proved very popular, with over 4,500 tennis or padel balls recycled so far.
In order to engage and get buy-in with the members we reached out for volunteers and set up a sustainability committee, who give up their time to help the club move forward in this area.
The Growth Hub has been excellent. Supportive, knowledgeable and able to provoke thought and discussion with our team. Through scheduled online meetings, set tasks and an extremely comprehensive tailored spreadsheet, we’ve successfully identified areas for improvement and will continue to work with the club committees to take it from strength to strength.”
Article curtesy So Glos
HSBC to become title sponsor for the LTA’s Championships for women’s and men’s tennis at Queen’s
The LTA and HSBC have entered into a four-year partnership through until 2028 that will see the bank become the title sponsor of the HSBC Championships – an exciting new two-week proposition of world-class women’s and men’s tennis at The Queen’s Club, taking place from 7-22 June 2025.
The partnership comes following the announcement last year that 2025 will see the launch of a new calendar for the grass-court tennis season. The calendar includes The Queen’s Club hosting two consecutive weeks of world class tennis, as the LTA stages a women’s Tour-level event (WTA 500) in London for the first time in more than 50 years.
The existing men’s (ATP 500) event was recently named by ATP players as tournament of the year for the third consecutive year.
The partnership was recently agreed following a very competitive tender process involving a number of potential partners. The HSBC Championships will undergo a comprehensive rebrand and refresh that will fully complement its new status as both a women’s and men’s tournament.
LTA Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd said, “We are delighted to welcome HSBC to our LTA family of partners, becoming the title sponsor of the HSBC Championships of our ATP and WTA 500 events in June. The LTA’s goal is to increase the visibility and accessibility of tennis, particularly of the women’s game, with HSBC helping us reach new audiences. The HSBC Championships will mean fans can enjoy the tradition of world class tennis in a unique setting and be part of the return of women’s tour-level tennis to London for the first time in more than half a century. We can’t wait to get started.”
HSBC UK Chief Executive, Ian Stuart said, “Tennis has the power to unite and inspire, and we are incredibly excited to partner with the prestigious LTA and sponsor the new HSBC Championships starting this June.
“As the tournament grows to showcase some of the best in women’s and men’s tennis, we are looking forward to helping bring this exceptional event to an even broader global audience. Our ambition is to create a phenomenal experience for athletes and fans – including exclusive benefits for our customers – that serves up passion, perseverance and opportunity both on and off the court.”
Curtesy: LTA News
Pickleball news
Despite a bid by the LTA to hold the remit for the governance and development of Pickleball in England, Sport England has recognised Pickleball England as its national governing body.

Sport England stated in its announcement last month:
“The four home nation sports councils – Sport England, sportscotland, Sport Northern Ireland and Sport Wales – have unanimously recognised pickleball as a sport. Sport England has now recognised Pickleball England (PBE) as the national governing body for pickleball in England.
“During a rigorous process, PBE demonstrated they met the strict criteria required to run and represent the sport, showing good governance as well as having established delivery mechanisms in place and plans to increase participation. Pickleball is rapidly growing in popularity, and we look forward to PBE continuing to provide inclusive and accessible opportunities for people to play the sport and enjoy the physical and mental benefits of taking part.”
Image curtesy Wilson Sporting Goods
SAPCA Annual Conference and Awards Dinner
This event takes place on Thursday 27th February at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The one-day conference will be followed by the SAPCA Awards Dinner, where SAPCA will celebrate the success of its members. On the night, winners will be chosen in six categories. TIA Partner Member JB Corrie has been nominated for its innovative Retractable Sports Play Lighting Tower. To see the categories and 12 finalists, click here.
If you wish to attend the Annual Conference go to: sapca.org.uk/events/
Spring Forum
Thursday May 1st 2025 at the offices of Pinsent Masons. Details to follow in the next newsletter