Paddle UK Data Strategy Case Study

Data Strategy Roadmap for Paddle UK: Driving Data-Driven Success

The Client: Paddle UK

Paddle UK is the national governing body for Paddlesport at a UK level, providing strategic leadership and international representation. Formerly known as British Canoeing, it acts as the umbrella organisation for Paddle Scotland, Paddle Cymru (Wales), and Paddle Northern Ireland. While it directly serves members in England, Paddle UK works across all nations to promote participation, enhance coaching standards, and advocate for the sport’s growth and inclusivity.

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The Challenge:

Paddle UK faced a growing challenge: data was flowing into the organisation from multiple sources, including race results, membership figures, and inclusion initiatives. Yet, without a cohesive data strategy, information was fragmented and inaccessible across the organisation. There was a lack of confidence in the data’s reliability, and reporting to key funders such as Sport England and UK Sport was complex and time-consuming. The organisation had explored AI tools but recognised that meaningful progress required a well-defined data strategy roadmap.

Responsive Analytix was brought in to create a data strategy roadmap that would enable data to be treated as a strategic asset. Paddle UK was clear in its ambition to move towards objective, data-led decision making. The organisation had a clear vision: to use BigQuery as its unified data platform, but it needed our guidance to validate this direction and, if appropriate, define how to bring that model to life.

Our Approach: Building the Data Strategy Roadmap

Responsive Analytix was engaged to provide independent guidance and shape a clear path forward. Our work began with a comprehensive discovery phase:

We consulted staff across departments — including the national governing body and world-class programmes — to map current data flows, identify pain points, and understand existing tools and processes.

We assessed the gap between Paddle UK’s current state — characterised by fragmented systems and inconsistent data quality — and its vision: to become a data-informed organisation with a unified, trusted data environment to support decision-making, reporting, and growth.

We proposed introducing a federated data governance model, combining central oversight with local ownership, to improve data quality, compliance, and accountability.

We produced a detailed roadmap outlining the steps required to:
Establish core data governance foundations, roles, and responsibilities.
Migrate data to a single, scalable platform based on Google BigQuery.
Implement modern technologies to integrate, store, and present data effectively.
Strengthen reporting capabilities and embed a culture of data-driven decision-making.

The Solution

Responsive Analytix led the development and delivery of the data strategy roadmap, working closely with Paddle UK’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT). We ensured strong stakeholder engagement throughout — from discovery to final recommendations — and secured full sign-off of the strategy and roadmap by both the ELT and board.

To demonstrate value and build trust in the new approach, we created pilot dashboards and the BigQuery data pipelines focused on the membership data. These pipelines enabled centralised, daily-updated membership reporting, replacing fragmented legacy systems. The solution provided marketing and membership teams with accurate, timely insights — leading to more targeted campaigns, a clearer understanding of member engagement, and positive feedback across the organisation.

This work laid the foundation for delivering Paddle UK’s data strategy roadmap in full. The initial phases, including developing pilot ETL pipelines, creating daily-updated membership reporting, and building visualisation dashboards, demonstrated immediate value. This helped build trust in the new data platform and reporting processes. These early successes catalysed broader organisational engagement, creating momentum for the ongoing initiatives set out in the roadmap. Collectively, these efforts are enabling Paddle UK to realise its ambition of becoming a truly data-informed organisation, where data is a strategic asset underpinning decision-making at every level.

The Results:

Paddle UK now has a solid foundation for becoming a truly data-informed organisation. Key outcomes of the project to date include:

ELT approved data strategy and roadmap — A clear, actionable plan for delivering data governance, centralised reporting, and advanced analytics, fully endorsed by Paddle UK’s board and senior leadership team.
Centralised membership data platform — A unified, daily-updated membership dataset built on BigQuery, enabling consistent, accurate insights across teams.
Dashboards — Visualisations that provide actionable insights for marketing and membership teams, supporting more targeted campaigns, improved member engagement, and evidence-based decision-making.
Positive organisational feedback — Staff and leadership have highlighted the value of having a trusted, central source of membership data, noting improved understanding of membership trends and more effective marketing efforts.
Strong foundations for future growth — The solution provides the structure to integrate additional data sources, enhance performance reporting, and strengthen Paddle UK’s ability to demonstrate impact to funders such as Sport England and UK Sport.

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What was the feedback from Paddle UK.

“David’s work has changed the way I think about our operations and what data truly means.

“By looking at things purely from a data perspective, he’s helped me see that there’s a real power in the data we hold, when it’s visualised properly.

“I’d thoroughly recommend his services. He’s proactive, works quickly and efficiently, has a strong subject knowledge and I felt he was really invested in helping to provide a positive outcome for our organisation.”

Barry Wade, Director of Digital Innovation, Paddle UK