Gosling Sports Park announced the results of their most successful year in recent history at their AGM last week.

Celebrating huge success both on and off the court the highly acclaimed charity reflects on a year with grand slam and national championship winners, prolific capital investment and a record trading surplus.

The Sports Park reported a trading surplus of over £250,000 during the year alongside capital investments of almost £1million. The Park welcomed over 900,000 visitors and the turnover reached an all time high with revenue increasing by 12% year-on-year. The current financial year continues to perform well with revenue upturns in fitness and tennis of 11% and 19% respectively showing a continued solid performance.

Chairman of Gosling Sports Park Steve Ryan said 'As a registered charity the surplus is ploughed back into improving the facilities and services for our customers into the future'.

New partnerships and businesses were launched and Gosling continues to grow its loyal customer base and revenue streams. Other notable successes have been achieved with national and international accolades across its community sports and tennis development programmes.

Gosling was awarded International High Performance Tennis Centre (IHPC) status by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) last year which places the Park among the top four tennis venues out of 2700 in the country. Funding of £400k secured from the LTA and £100k secured from the Hertfordshire LTA resulted in the construction of a tennis airhall ('bubble'). The facility which was formerly opened by MP Grant Shapps earlier this year, serves the local, regional and international tennis communities and allows increased access to community sport throughout the year.

The Gosling Sports Park offers outreach coaching to over 650 pupils annually in local schools, 150 of which is on a weekly basis. Other highlights of note include Gosling IHPC hosting the European University Tennis Championships (ETCA) where 16 Universities competed from six different countries, their first deaf tennis tournament and many other major events.

On an international level Timea Babos who trains with the Gosling IHPC team, won three Junior Grand Slam Doubles titles (at the French Open, Wimbledon, US Open), the women's 25k event at Woking, and reached a junior career high of Number 3 in the World tennis ranking.

Further success is reported at mini-tennis level with six national 9U players, a national champion, Destiny Martins, and top place for Michaella Brown who won the 10U Bournemouth Grade 2.

At junior level Gosling became 14U Junior Team Aegon Champions and seven players achieved European 14U rankings. Tara Moore joined the Gosling IHPC and went on to reach the Wimbledon Girls Singles Quarter Finals (against top Brit player Laura Robson).

The Gosling Sports Park IHPC is delivering a professionally managed and sustainable programme.

Penny Arnold, Chief Executive at Gosling, said today 'We are hugely proud of the fantastic achievements of our IHPC to date and remain focused on ensuring that Gosling remains a leader in the field of tennis development. We thank all of our coaches, administrators, players and the LTA for their inspiring contributions'.

Other investment at Gosling Sports Park saw the launch of the Wellness Centre, a new private partnership which boasts the UK's largest reformer pilates studio. Working closely with Welwyn and Hatfield Borough Council, Gosling secured a loan to provide new 3G football pitches and extension to the children's soft play centre. The investments are set to double revenues and increase footfall even more to the site. The Park has achieved significant success since the opening of its new £4.7m health club and spa in 2008 which has continued to perform ahead of expectations.

In the board room, the Charity has made significant changes in its bid to make Gosling a 'World class destination of choice for sports, fitness and Wellbeing' by 2020. The Board appointed a new Chairman, Steve Ryan (Managing Partner at SA Law), who has led a drive to recruit essential skills to the ambitious Board. The 'Company Members' (voluntary positions for members to join) appointed 5 new Board members at Gosling's AGM recently including: Bank Manager, Rob Storey; Accountancy Firm Partner, Richard Malone; Property Consultant, Eamonn Sonner; Business Entrepreneur, Andy Hoare; and Asset Management Specialist, David Kenyon. The Charity is now seeking a professional fundraiser to help support the achievement of its long term vision.