On 4 March 2014 Bromley Tennis centre celebrated its 10 year birthday and on 1 April 2014 the centre was handed over to Steve Matthews of Virtus appointed as the new management company. Bromley MyTime, who has operated the centre since it opened, recently decided to end their association with the centre and owners Newstead Wood School, who manage it in partnership with the Kent LTA, tendered for a new operator and set up a steering group to deal with the process. In January they selected Virtus, a new company led by Steve Matthews. Steve knows all about tennis, having been a GB player and a coach including the coach of the Slater Squad with Tim Henman in the 80s. He also has huge experience of leisure centre management having been with David Lloyd Leisure for twenty years and Director of Operations. He set up Virtus Leisure Management as a new company and Bromley Tennis Centre is his first contract. He brings great energy and expertise, huge knowledge and a personalised approach. He has made it clear that he intends to be a hands-on operator and have a regular presence at the centre working with the team and talking to customers. The team are all very excited about working with him. Steve’s vision is to make the Bromley Tennis Centre the best of its kind in the country. Of its kind meaning as a Community Indoor Tennis Centre originally funded by the LTA, one of 53 in the country. In Kent we also have Tunbridge Wells Indoor Centre and Deal Indoor Centre. Steve has inherited a complex centre. It’s buzzing with activity all day long including pay and play tennis, PE lessons for the Newstead Wood students, coaching for everyone, competitions, a High Performance, programme, a Coach Education programme and recently a Disability Hub site for the Tennis Foundation. His first challenge will be to spruce up a slightly tired building, and set up customer and staff processes for 21st century customer service. This website is just the beginning – soon customers will have access to online court bookings and payments. It’s been a hectic three months to transfer staff, and set up suppliers, a new website, a booking system and an accounts system. On 1 April at 7.30am, Steve opened the doors himself cutting a red ribbon in the process and welcomed staff and customers all day. We all look forward to an exciting new era.
