By Robert Mitchell
The entire AFP Group has celebrated the VIII International Padel Days as our best yet.
AFP Rackets and AFP Courts CEOs believe that the passion they saw in the faces of the 140 distributors who travelled to Barcelona from 33 countries around the globe, which included representatives from Japan, South Africa, and the USA, provided concrete proof that our group is positioning itself as padel’s unstoppable business ahead of 2024.
With the VIII International Padel Days also coinciding with the glitzy rooftop opening ceremony of AFP COURTS’ new corporate headquarters and production plant in Les Franqueses del Vallès, Barcelona, our valued distributors were in attendance at what was a memorable moment in our company’s history.
Reflecting on all of this Jose Delgado, AFP COURTS’ co-CEO, shared: “Every year we are doing even better, and I believe the VIII International Padel Days has been our best yet for sure.”
“For me this is the case as this year it also coincides with the official opening of our new headquarters, which was a very proud moment for everyone at AFP and it was great to share this special moment with our distributors.”
“I’m sure that next year it will be even better but for me it is impossible, given the opening, and it is a day for us all to long remember.”
With the event hosted by AFP Group CEO José Luis Sicre a variety of international speakers provided informative and engaging content, which kept our distributors enthralled at the superb Torre Glories conference centre.
For Jose the commitment and passion of our distributors made the 2023 event a standout and he said: “It is a dream for me to see all these people in the auditorium and just how passionate they are about working with AFP.”
“The first court we installed outside of Spain was in 2014 and the aim of our company, and I think this is the success of AFP, is to work exclusively with our distributors, as we do with Padel Tech in the UK, and sharing with them all the knowledge we have built up from the last 15 years.”
“I felt so much satisfaction to see all of these distributors from around the 33 countries that work with us and that some of these people have been working with AFP for some years now – that is very special to me.”
The opening of AFP’s state of the art Les Franqueses del Vallès corporate headquarters and production plant is something that AFP’s co-CEO believes has future-proofed our company as he projected forward.
Jose said: “I think that we have an amazing and promising future and that we will help to spread the sport of padel worldwide and that means not just Spain and Europe but in countries that are in every corner of the planet.”
“We have many difficulties to overcome in some of these countries whether that be the US or the UK and Germany, with complicated regulations to work around which are different to how it is in Spain.”
“But we have adapted all our technology at the production plant to be ready for the exciting future I believe is awaiting us.”
“Now we have 12.500 square metres fully dedicated to design, manufacture and export of padel courts, filled with superb industry leading technology and we have a new plan of production and so we have no excuse to get in front of our shareholders to say that we are not ready!”
“Now that we have the production centre, we are ready to meet all the demands ahead of us and maintain the mission that AFP Courts has which is: ‘To continuously lead the market in terms of quality, credibility, sustainability and to be ready for everything that is coming’.
“As I said, that is very, very exciting.”
Looking forward to the New Year Jose has no doubt that AFP is set to become the unstoppable business at the forefront of padel’s relentless growth across the globe.
“You ask me what will 2024 bring? That is very much the million-dollar question!” laughed Jose.
He continued: “So, 2023 has been complicated, as I mentioned in my speech, where we have had a variety of problems, but we have overcome these and we are in front of an unstoppable sport, and I believe we are an unstoppable business.”
“So I believe in 2024 we are going to have better results and that we will drive our unit sales upwards and that we can reach 1000 courts sold and installed – I am convinced of that.”
“This is the beginning of the future that is ahead of us, and I hope it is very exciting for all of AFP’s distributors and partners because it excites me!”