Padel’s popularity in Jersey surged rapidly, and when Les Ormes added it to their leisure facilities, the sport’s growth exceeded all expectations. What began as a small addition quickly transformed into a buzzing hub, with families, curious newcomers, keen racket sport lovers, and just about everyone else getting involved. But with all this enthusiasm, it wasn’t long before the courts were packed and there simply weren’t enough slots for everyone who wanted to play.
Courts were fully booked from morning until night. Newcomers struggled to find space to try the sport, and regular players faced long waits for available slots. The team at Les Ormes knew padel had huge potential to grow, but without increasing capacity and improving the customer experience, they risked losing momentum.
That’s where the Better Business Productivity Grant stepped in.
Unlocking growth through investment
The Productivity Grant is designed to help Jersey organisations improve efficiency, increase output, and create long term, sustainable benefits for their customers and the wider community. For Les Ormes Padel, it offered a pathway to accelerate growth and meet the surging demand for this fast growing sport.
With support from the grant, Les Ormes was able to install brand new, purpose built padel courts featuring higher quality surfaces, better lighting, and improved enclosures designed for island weather conditions. This investment immediately transformed both capacity and playing experience.
But the benefits went far beyond simply adding more courts.
What the grant made possible
✔ Increased capacity and accessibility
The most immediate impact was the ability to welcome more players. With additional courts available, booking bottlenecks eased, making the sport more accessible to newcomers.
Families and first time players could now find sessions at more convenient times, helping padel grow even further as a community activity.
✔ Improved customer experience
The new courts offer higher quality play and a more reliable year round experience. Better lighting and surfaces mean games feel smoother and more enjoyable, while modern enclosures make matches less dependent on weather disruptions, something every islander can appreciate.
✔ Enhanced operational efficiency
With upgraded facilities, the Les Ormes team can manage bookings more effectively, minimise cancellations, and run coaching sessions and tournaments with greater consistency. This efficiency contributes to stronger future planning and a more sustainable operating model.
✔ Supporting local wellbeing
Padel has quickly become one of Jersey’s favourite social sports. The increased capacity allows more islanders to stay active, connect with others, and enjoy a fun, accessible form of exercise.
A smooth and supportive process
For Les Ormes, the grant process itself was straightforward and collaborative. Steve Dunford, who leads the project, emphasised how seamless the experience was from start to finish:
The Productivity Grant made a huge difference to what we were able to achieve. The process was really smooth, straightforward, supportive, and built around helping us invest in something that genuinely improves the customer experience. It’s allowed us to grow padel in a way that simply wouldn’t have been possible at the same pace without the grant.
Steve Dunford, Les Ormes
Looking ahead
The success of the new courts has only strengthened Les Ormes Padel’s ambition for the future. With more islanders picking up a racket each month, the team is now exploring ways to expand coaching, grow competitive play, and continue investing in high quality facilities that keep Jersey at the forefront of this booming sport.
The Better Business Productivity Grant didn’t just help solve an immediate capacity challenge, it created a foundation for long term growth, community engagement, and continued innovation.
You can find out more about the Better Business Grants here.
