Quins chief executive David Ellis has hailed the club's new £1million training centre as an important step on the road to maintaining the club's place at the top table of European rugby.

Harlequins officially opened their new state-of-the-art facility -  located adjacent to the club’s current training pitches Surrey Sports Park in Guildford - on Tuesday.

The development - including new changing rooms, medical and treatment suites, video and statistical analysis suites, meeting rooms and administration offices - upgrades the club's current facilities at the University of Surrey.
 

Ellis said, “The new centre represents an important milestone in the club’s ongoing development, we now have a complex that befits a club of our stature that wants to consistently compete at the top of the game in this country and in Europe.

“We are most grateful to all the contractors and specialists that have contributed to turning our vision into reality on budget and on time.”

The opening was attended by representatives of the RFU, Premiership Rugby, the University of Surrey, Harlequins stakeholders including its supporters club and members, and the contractors, specialist engineers and suppliers that created the new centre.

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie added: “I think it’s very important that there is a true and good partnership between the clubs and the RFU - that is something that we’re all working towards.  I think we have a great relationship with Harlequins.
 

“This facility is a tribute to the farsightedness of the Club, to the farsightedness of all the things that they want to achieve in the future.

“What we all want to see is a growth of rugby, a growth of people being involved with it – participating, playing, watching, volunteering, and the more we can improve facilities the better.  This is a key thing for all of us – we’re very conscious of this at the RFU. 

"Again I applaud Harlequins for its investment in improving facilities for training, it’s absolutely essential and I think the right thing to do for the game.”