Vegan founder of plant-based food firm THIS launches petition for more padel courts at Chelsea Harbour Club – because he’s fed up of setting 7.59am alarm to book one in 8am rush

A vegan entrepreneur wants a luxury gym to have more padel courts because she’s tired of setting her alarm during the morning rush.

Andy Shovel, co-founder of plant-based meat company BU, was fed up with the ‘miserable’ ‘daily experience’ when trying to book court at the Chelsea Harbor Club in West London.

The vegan campaigner says he missed out on his hobby for “days” despite setting his alarm for 7.59am to remind him to report to court when he was released at 8am.

The club was frequented by Princess Diana in the 1990s and now has three indoor padel courts and 12 indoor tennis courts.

Former British tennis number Laura Robson was previously spotted playing at the luxury fitness club; The joining fee here is believed to be £2,000 and prices range from £319 to £439 per month.

Mr Shovel, who launched a non-profit charity last year A Little Weird In a bid to shine a light on animal welfare, the club’s owners launched a petition calling on the David Lloyd Group to build more courts ‘when demand…exceeds available facilities’.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said he pays £400 a month for his membership. He started playing at the club 18 months ago because it was the only place near his home with heated indoor courts that he could use in the winter.

Mr Shovel, who competed in national ranking tournaments and was once ranked just outside the top 100, said: ‘Playing padel is my passion outside of work. everyone is there [at the club] ‘People who play padel are getting a little bored of it because they can’t go to the court.’

A vegan entrepreneur wants more padel courts at West London’s Chelsea Harbor Club (pictured) because she’s tired of setting her alarm during the morning rush

The club was frequented by Princess Diana in the 1990s and now has three indoor padel courts and 12 indoor tennis courts.

Sometimes he has to wait two weeks to appear in court and has to join other people’s games in order to play. Now he is considering canceling his membership.

‘It will be great to see if management wants to build more padel courts, but [the membership] “It’s quite expensive,” he said.

‘If I can’t do what I want to do, there’s no point in paying for it.’

Explaining that he started the campaign ‘to help share the power of emotion among members who play padel’, he said in his petition: ‘The daily court booking experience has become quite miserable, such as setting an alarm for 07:59 and still somehow missing making a court reservation by trying for days.

‘For those of us in the club who only play padel (anecdotally, there seems to be a high percentage of members who play padel), the equation no longer holds.

‘Our aim is to encourage management to consider adding more courts. We are aware that the demand for tennis courts is also high, but this has no chance of being as high as the demand for padel courts; this is clear from the booking app.’

The Daily Mail has contacted David Lloyd Clubs for comment.

The Harbor Club is one of London’s most prestigious gyms, where Prince William and Princess Kate were once members.

A renovation took place in 2020, which included updating the locker rooms with marble-lined shower stalls and gold-effect mirrors.

The club was purchased in 2005 by Next Generation, a company founded by former tennis star David Lloyd, in a £16 million deal. Next Generation merged with David Lloyd Clubs in 2009.

Padel’s popularity has increased in recent years with celebrities such as David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Shakira and Eva Longoria being spotted on the field.

Rapper Stormzy has also backed the sport, investing in Padel Social Club in December 2024, saying he was “addicted” to it.

According to LTA Padel, there are 1,000 courts across 325 venues in the UK by July 2025, compared to just 68 in 2019.

But padel, the racquet sport founded in Mexico in 1969, is causing quite a stir in some of Britain’s affluent towns and suburbs.

Residents from Hampshire to Bath, Weybridge to Harrogate compared the sound of padel to ‘gunshots’, with some saying they could no longer sit in their gardens because of the ‘terrible’ noise and ‘abusive language’.

At a popular padel club, it has been proposed to install a four-metre high acoustic barrier to appease neighbours, but this has only led to comparisons with the construction of the ‘Great Wall’.

The number of padel players in Britain is growing rapidly, from 15,000 in 2019, according to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

While its basic skill level and social structure attract players everywhere, critics argue that the cost of the sport is pricing people out. Ray Algar’s research in June 2025 showed off-peak pitch hire fees averaged £30, but peak-time prices could reach £80.

The growth of sports has also divided communities; Neighbors complained that their lives were ruined by noisy players.

Wealthy homeowners living in a club in Hampshire’s cathedral city of Winchester told the Mail last October that they had to endure loud noises coming from the padel courts at all hours of the day.

Padel’s popularity has ‘exploded’ in the last few years, but people living near the courts said the noise would be classed as ‘antisocial behaviour’ in any other setting.

Residents next to Winchester Racquets and Fitness said the ‘boom sound’ of the ball being shot was so loud it sounded like a gunshot.

They said the noise started right after breakfast and they spent the day intimidating them inside.

Jenni Chilvers, who has a garden back facing the padel courts, said she hasn’t sat in her garden for the last two years because the noise was too much.

Padel’s popularity has increased in recent years with celebrities such as David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Shakira being spotted on the courts.

Actor Eva Longoria is an avid gamer and is appearing at The Star Padel Slam here in July 2024 in Marabella, Trinidad and Tobago.

The 76-year-old man said the noise started from 7 a.m. and continued until 9 p.m.

She said it had a ‘significant impact’ on her and her husband Peter, 83, and said she kept the windows closed even in the summer months.

The couple have lived in the house for the last 34 years and said the tennis club had previously been ‘good neighbours’ and considerate of surrounding houses.

But Ms Chilvers said the padel courts had been imposed on them without any consultation about noise.

He said the sound of the ball hitting the bat created a loud ‘crack’ sound similar to ‘gunshots’.

To make matters worse, he also heard ‘bad language’ coming from the courts. He said people were ‘screaming’ and ‘yelling’ while playing padel.

Mr Chilvers said the worst time was Saturday morning, when good players hit the ball very hard.

Ms Chilvers said: ‘This has affected us quite seriously over the last three years. The noise is terrible.

‘From seven in the morning until nine in the evening. It happens all day long with the windows open. It affected us significantly.

‘We have been living in this house for 34 years. We bought it knowing that it was a tennis club, it was nice to hear the sounds of summer.

‘But now they imposed this on us. This shouldn’t happen.’

Describing the noise, he said: ‘It sounds like a gunshot because it’s a bang. It is the effect of the ball on the bat.

‘It’s like a crack. Even while sitting here [the living room] You can hear it when the windows are closed while reading a book in the afternoon.

‘It’s not just the noise of the padel, they’re shouting too. They are screaming. ‘We used bad language.’