Updated 11/04/22
the owners
The owners of the Hamptons are the Chelmsford Muslim Society, who announced the purchase on their Facebook page on 14/01/2020.
This purchase followed a long period of crowdfunding to raise the purchase price, you can find examples of the fundraising pages here and here.
The directors of Hamptons Sports and Leisure Ltd are now four of the trustees of the Chelmford Muslim Society, with the charity being listed as the sole shareholder. View the Companies House entry here.
They also operate a website titled Chelmsford Mosque-Mosqsue in Essex.
The CMS are a registered charity, you can find their charity page and financials here. The charitys aims are listed as:-
“I) 2 ADVANCE D ISLAMIC RELIGION IN CHELMS, FOR THE BENEFIT OF D PUBLIC
THROUGH THE ESTAB OF MASJID 2 FACILITATE THE HOLDG OF PRAYERS, LECTURES N
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS N ACTIVITIES 4D COMMUNITY. CLASSES 4 COMMUNITY N2 ADVANCE RELIGIOUS ISLAMIC EDUCATION.0001”
The CMS also operate a busy mosque in Moulsham St, which is also known as Chelmsford Central Mosque and Jamia Masjid. A listing can be found here. The theme of the mosque is described as:-
“Deobandi: Influenced by Deoband Madrassah and Tablighi Jama'at. Deobandis are divided about the importance of Sufism and generally play it down, so we have used 'Sufi' only for those places that are keen to promote Tassawuf”
The Deobandis are the largest Islamic group in the UK, who operate more than 40% of the UK mosques (as reported by the Spectator in 2014). Read the article here.
Deobandism is a conservative Islamic orthodoxy that follows a Salafist egalitarian model and seeks to emulate the life and times of Prophet Mohammed. The BBC produced a comprehensive guide to the Deobandis, listen here.