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With Michael Zilka of the St George’s Hill Lawn
Tennis and Fitness Club.
St George’s Hill estate must be one of the most desirable
residential estates in the South East, with a varied range of
architecture stretching from the early 1900’s to the present day.
The 900-acre estate has been in existence since 1908. At that time
the land was bought by the builder W.G. Tarrant from the Egerton
family who had a large house there. He started by building large
country retreats for people who lived in London and wanted a weekend
country house.
His output stretched from 1913 to 1930 and since then the estate has
grown every decade, except for the war years.
During the 1960s many pop stars lived there including John Lennon,
Ringo Starr and Engelbert Humperdinck. Cliff Richard still has a
home there. In all, there are around 425 homes.
But it is not only houses that you find within the estate. It is
also home to St George’s Hill Golf Club and St George’s Hill Lawn
Tennis Club. These were both founded in 1913 as part of the original
estate and have remained as separate entities ever since.
The Tennis Club, although exclusive because of the nature of its
location, is neither pompous nor intimidating. “It is very relaxed
and everyone, whether they are a celebrity, a captain of industry or
anyone else, sees it as a refuge from their pressured business and
social lives and all are treated in the same friendly way” says
Michael Zilka, the member with marketing responsibility.
The original club house, which was a little thatched cottage, burnt
down in 1918. The current building was opened in 1921 by Dame
Margaret Lloyd George and looks outwardly the same today as it did
then, although it has been recently totally refurbished and brought
up to date inside.
The club is set in 14 acres and includes a lake, alongside the club
house. “Until 1995, it was very traditional with 15 all-weather hard
courts, 15 grass courts and two indoors, four squash courts, and a
rather tired club house” says Zilka.
“In the late eighties, we had between 1400 and 1500 members, but by
the mid nineties we started to lose members – through age or just
because we were falling behind external trends. The leisure industry
was changing with a move towards health and fitness and the club
found it could no longer attract younger families.”
“Our membership was literally dying off” says Zilka, “and so, after
in-depth deliberation we decided that we needed massive investment
in order to reflect what was going on in the big wide world”.
After a couple of years’ consultation process with the members, a
proposal was made to redevelop the interior of the club house and
this was passed by the members in 1997.
“We now have 2,000 square feet of gymnasium/ fitness centre, a 20
metre swimming pool, aerobic studio, physio and beauty treatment
rooms and the changing rooms and social areas have been upgraded” he
says.
The club decided that the £2.2 million programme should be largely
self-financing and this was achieved by offering members a
“subscriptions in advance” package together with a loan note
facility, with a little additional help from the bank.
A five year business plan was then put into action, with the extra
money from new members repaying these loans.
“We now have 3,500 members and the plan has worked” says Zilka. “It
has also changed the profile of our membership considerably”.
They also have 1400 juniors between 4-18, an essential ingredient
for the future success of the club. “We have an Academy and an
excellent coaching structure for all major activities. In both
tennis and squash we now see some very good players emerging” says
Zilka.
Residence on the estate is not a prerequisite for membership and
only a very small proportion of the club’s members, 40-50, actually
live on the Hill. 90 percent of the membership live within five
miles,” he says.
There is usually a short waiting list of no more that two to three
months for the tennis playing categories, but immediate membership
is possible for the fitness category.
The club has a fine dining and catering reputation with a
comfortable lounge bar and bistro type restaurant overlooking the
lake together with a sports bar. “It is also a wonderful position
for functions” says Zilka.
“You have to be sponsored by a member, but we have many weddings,
children’s parties and other events taking place all through the
year”.
And in August, an annual tournament is staged, which attracts over
1000 entries – both adults and juniors. “The club is a great
attraction for anyone moving into the area” he says.
For more information about the Club, to arrange a visit or to
discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact 01932 843541,
e-mail us at info@stghltc.co.uk
or visit our website at
www.stghltc.co.uk |