Central Sports

Central Sports traces its roots back to Maurice Robinson Sports, established in 1923, and it’s that century of history the brand still leans on today as the UK’s specialist racket sports retailer. It holds official retail partner status with Badminton England and is the appointed retailer for the Yonex All England Championships, two relationships that anchor its standing in a fairly niche corner of UK sports retail.

What sets it apart from most online sellers is that it still runs physical stores alongside national delivery, a flagship in Birmingham and a second shop inside the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, both offering in-person racket fitting and stringing services alongside next-working-day shipping across the UK. That combination, a proper bricks-and-mortar fitting service paired with fast online fulfillment, is something the company says few other UK specialists manage to offer together.

The range covers badminton, tennis, padel, and pickleball, stocking brands including Yonex, Victor, Li-Ning, Carlton, Babolat, Wilson, Head, Bullpadel, NOX, Selkirk, and JOOLA, alongside footwear, custom teamwear, court accessories, and professional restringing. Badminton England members get a 5% discount on standard web prices, and their club earns 5% credit back on every purchase made through the partnership, a structure built to funnel some of the retail spend back into the grassroots game.

The expertise runs through the whole operation: in-store staff fit, string, and advise on equipment across all four racket sports, from a beginner buying their first racket to a tournament competitor needing a precise custom string-tension setup. More recently, Central Sports was named official shuttle partner of Badminton England, extending a relationship that already ran through retail into tournament supply, and the Central Sports Foundation and Partnership Programme round out a business that still frames itself as service-first, even a hundred years after it started as Maurice Robinson Sports.