Running a tennis club, particularly in a voluntary capacity, is not easy and there are many legal, financial and business considerations that clubs need to be familiar with. It is important not to forget that a tennis club should be treated in the same regards as a small to medium sized business, and to run your club smoothly and successfully it is essential to be up-to-speed with the business aspect of your club.
Thi section provides advice and guidance on a range of different legal and business elements that could affect your club. However, it is important to recognise that this is only generic advice and may not be appropriate or relevant for every tennis club or venue. Clubs are encouraged to seek proper legal or professional advice in dealing with many of the issues raised in this section.
LTA Registered Venues are also able to seek free guidancce from a specialist business and legal advice telephone helpline called the BASeLine Business Advice Service. BASeLine can provide valuable guidance and advice to help venues on an assortment of different business-related topics that affect tennis venues, from taxation queries, finacial management subjects, legal concerns, HR issues amongst many other business and legal concerns that arise when running a venue.
To access support from the BASeLine Business Advice Service, you simply need to call their helpline, the number for which is 0344 571 7986. You will need to quote the membership number, which is X1232KC79BB5.
Finance and Tax
We would strongly advise venues to comply with rules for employment taxes, corporation tax and VAT to avoid charges for back tax, interest and penalties.
To help you stay on top of your club's taxes and finance, we have created a single guide to provide generic information.
If you are working on a major project within your club, we would advise developing a business plan to ensure the project meets your club's objectives and is within your financial capabilities.
Please see our business planning guidance for further information.
Club Structures
The LTA does not have any rules or requirements that specifically state that a club must be structured in one legal form or another. It is a matter for each club to determine the legal form that is best suited, based on it's own circumstances.
For further information, please download the Legal Structures and Status Guide.
Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC)
Does your club want to save £4,000 per year? This is the average cash benefit to clubs registered under the CASC scheme which has been worth around £16 million to tennis clubs since the scheme has launched.
Find out more information on CASC.
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. The aim of the GDPR is to protect all EU citizens from privacy and data breaches.
GDPR comes into force from 25 May 2018 and will impact on all organisations including tennis clubs, venues and in many cases coaches. It will affect how organisations collect, use and store individual’s data and information. Tennis clubs and coaches are encouraged to review and amend their data processes in order to ensure that they are compliant with the new regulations and to avoid potentially significant financial penalties.
We have developed GDPR guidance and template resources to help tennis clubs and coaches understand GDPR and put in to place the necessary processes and procedures to be fully compliant.
Please note, the LTA is aware that many Venues make use of Clubspark. Venues do not need to physically sign a data processor agreement (like the template provided by the LTA) with Sportlabs to cover a Venue’s use of ClubSpark. The terms and conditions of ClubSpark which the venues accept as part of the registration process will be updated to reflect the requirements of the data processing agreement. For those Venues already registered they will be provided with the option to accept the updated terms and conditions.