The experienced professionals
When it comes to building a tennis court, there is no substitute for experience. That's why you can rely on Cotswold Courts.
Our construction professionals have surfaced or built more than 4,000 courts. We have five dedicated construction teams led by two construction managers. All of our foremen have been in the industry for more than 25 years. And four of those five have been with our company for more than 25 years. Carpet laying is carried out by our dedicated team of specialists. Our own highly skilled excavator driver carries out all excavation work.
As part of the En Tout Cas group, we are members of SAPCA, the UK's sports and play contractors association. All Cotswold tennis courts are built to LTA standards.
Do you need Planning Consent for a tennis court?
Under normal circumstances, the construction of a tennis court does not require planning permission in the gardens behind a private house. The planning rules for tennis courts come under and are specifically mentioned in the general rules for outbuildings which state that an enclosure below a height of three metres does not require planning consent.
There are just seven reasons why you would need planning permission for a tennis court.
- The house is listed.
- Permitted development rights have been removed.
- The house is in an area of outstanding natural beauty or national park.
- Significant civil engineering works are required.
- It would be more than 50% of the garden,
- It is not in the garden.
- It is in front of the main elevation of the house
- Your development includes a two-metre court fence that is within two metres of the property's boundary,
Mark Jarman of Planning for Tennis, who is based in Charlbury, is an experienced planning professional who is responsible for any planning consultation issues. His service aims to help secure planning permission for all types of tennis related infrastructure from a single garden tennis court to more extensive tennis club facilities. For more information about Planning for Tennis click here.
We operate from a purpose-built office, but we don’t switch off from tennis courts at five o'clock. Out of office hours, the phone is normally diverted to a home number. We are happy to take your calls there in the evenings and at weekends, just ring our Head Office number on 01832 272449.
The best known in name in tennis court construction
Cotswold Courts is part of the En Tout Cas Group. En Tout Cas, is the oldest and best-known maker of all artificial tennis court surfaces. It was founded in 1909 and has been managed or owned by the same family for three generations.
Rory Shepherd
Rory Shepherd is the head of En Tout Cas and has been building tennis courts for more than 40 years. His father Bob worked for En Tout Cas for more than 30 years until his retirement in the late seventies as UK General Manager.
Rory joined En-Tout-Cas in 1974. He had already spent his school summer holidays building tennis courts in France for the company.
He went on to complete the company’s apprenticeship scheme before taking a National Diploma in construction. He was also part of the team that built the running track and tennis courts for the African Games in Ghana in 1977.
Tony Shepherd
After leaving to set up his own business, Anglia & Midland Sports Surfaces, (which continues to thrive today) Rory bought En Tout Cas in 2010.
The third generation is represented by Rory's son Tony who joined the firm in 2013 and is a fully incorporated member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
HISTORY OF EN TOUT CAS
En Tout Cas's all-weather courts were pioneered in the early 1900's at the suggestion of Commander GW Hillyard, secretary of the All England Lawn tennis Club, Wimbledon and captain of the Great Britain tennis team. He had played on artificial courts made from crushed ant heaps in South Africa. He asked Claude Brown, the manager of a coal merchant and a brickyard in Leicestershire, if he could produce something similar.
Bob Shepherd
These courts became known around the world as En Tout Cas - a phrase Claude appropriated after a guest at one of his tennis parties showed off her En Tout Cas – an all-weather umbrella or parasol from France.
The earliest synthetic tennis court surfaces had been slow to drain and dry. Claude’s genius lay in the idea of making courts, from ground-up stone and brick, that were quick to drain.
By the mid-1920’s the company had agents throughout Europe, Scandinavia and North America. En Tout Cas’ London offices were located in Harrods and in Fortnum and Mason.
The name became so well known that En Tout Cas became a generic term for an all-year-round tennis court. In fact, even to this day, only En Tout Cas make En Tout Cas tennis courts.
An En-Tout-Cas tennis court was as essential an adjunct to an English country house as a Rolls-Royce. Claude Brown was appointed Tennis Court Maker to King George V.
By the mid-1930s, there were ten En-Tout-Cas courts at Wimbledon and the company’s courts were being used for the Davis Cup and the French Open. North American clients included Edsel Ford, H F Du Pont, S R Guggenheim, J Pierrepoint Morgan and two members of the Vanderbilt family.
A name to trust…
Cotswold Courts are made and supplied by En Tout Cas - the original manufacturer of all-year-round courts and sports surfaces. En Tout Cas was founded in 1909 and continues to be a byword for British-built quality and excellence.
