Hackney Council has approved a new concession contract aimed at boosting community participation in tennis across the borough, with a strong focus on making the sport more accessible and inclusive.

The Hackney Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee, meeting on Monday, 7 September 2026, awarded the Tennis Facilities Management and Community Tennis Development Concession Contract to Provider A, a Hackney-based charitable organisation. The committee's decisions can be found in the Decisions Monday 07-Sep-2026 14.00 Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee.

The five-year contract, with an option to extend for a further two years, will see Provider A manage, operate, and develop the council's tennis facilities. The agreement aims to ensure affordable, accessible, and high-quality tennis provision, increase participation, and deliver community tennis programmes.

Affordability and Accessibility

Affordability will be a cornerstone of the new contract, with Provider A committed to lower off-peak and junior pricing and free or subsidised provision, including Free Park Tennis, family tennis, disability sessions, New Age Games for residents aged over 50, Pupil Premium holiday-camp places and free use of equipment. Current court fees, which will continue under the new contract, are set by the Council at £8.30 per hour at peak times, £5.45 per hour for off-peak weekday use, £4.05 per hour for junior off-peak use and specified early-morning bookings, and £14.10 per hour for floodlit courts. Any proposed annual uplift to these charges will be subject to RPIx indexation and prior Council approval.

Targeting Under-represented Groups

Provider A is specifically targeting increased participation from a range of under-represented groups. These include disabled children and adults, women and girls, older residents, inactive adults, low-income families, children receiving pupil premium, ethnically diverse communities, LGBTQ+ residents and children and young people without previous tennis access. To reach these groups, strategies include increasing disability tennis sessions, dedicated women's and girls' programmes, LGBTQ+ community events, expanded family tennis, free park tennis sessions and targeted outreach through schools and community organisations.

Facility Improvements and Investment

Provider A has committed to ongoing investment in community tennis across the borough. This includes seeking to deliver further environmental improvements through the installation of energy-efficient LED floodlighting and the development of the proposed Millfields Park Lodge Community Sports Hub, designed using low-carbon principles including energy-efficient building fabric, heat pump technology and biodiversity enhancements. The provider will also actively pursue external funding from organisations such as the LTA, Sport England and charitable trusts to support sustainable improvements to the Council's tennis facilities.

Contract Value and Financials

The estimated concession contract value over the maximum seven-year term is £5.6 million excluding VAT, amounting to £6.72 million including VAT. Provider A will pay the Council a guaranteed annual concession fee of £100,000. This is supplemented by a surplus share mechanism where the proportion of operational surplus payable to the Council increases as the surplus itself grows. The actual surplus will be determined through year-end financial information and is subject to Council review and verification.

Performance and Safeguarding

The contract includes robust performance indicators designed to measure success. Key metrics include customer satisfaction (aiming for at least 80% in Year 1, rising to 90% by Years 3-5), an income increase of 10% from Year 2 onwards, and court occupancy rates of 85% in Year 1, increasing to 90% by Years 3-5. A significant target is a 5% increase in participation from under-represented groups by Years 3-5. The contract also mandates increased school and community engagement and 100% compliance with safeguarding, health and safety requirements. Failure to meet these targets could result in improvement actions and contractual remedies including improvement plans and termination where necessary.

Local Employment and Skills

Provider A has committed to creating clear pathways from participation into volunteering, coaching qualifications and paid employment. Specific initiatives include supporting 10-15 people per year into LTA qualifications, providing 2-4 work experience placements and 4-10 Duke of Edinburgh placements per year, one traineeship per year, and increasing Tennis Leaders from 40 to 100 per year by Year 3. While a precise number of jobs is not estimated, the provider will prioritise the recruitment of Hackney residents wherever possible.

Councillor Florence Schechter, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resident Services and Digital, highlighted the importance of increasing opportunities for residents to be physically active, stating that public tennis facilities play a crucial role in delivering these ambitions by providing affordable opportunities for people of all ages and abilities.

This decision follows an open procurement process initiated on 17 March 2026. The council's previous contract with the provider, which began in 2019, saw an increase in court bookings and utilisation rates, alongside expanded schools and community programmes. Further details on the procurement process can be found in the Public reports pack Monday 07-Sep-2026 14.00 Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee.