Ian Moss is Badminton England's new Performance Director

BADMINTON England today announced the appointment of Ian Moss as their Performance Director as Team GB step up their plans to deliver medal success in London 2012.

He joins badminton from Rowing Canada Aviron, where in the past four years he has transformed them into a nation who brought home medals in four of the five disciplines in Beijing last summer, and he is seen as the man with the pedigree to take Team GB to the Podium.

BADMINTON England Chief Executive Adrian Christy acted quickly after disappointing results in Beijing and said: “What was obvious to everyone after the Games was that GB had to step up another level if we are to consistently compete for and achieve medal success and we immediately set about the search for someone who could lead the Performance programme.

“Ian met every aspect of the criteria we had set ourselves; extensive World and Olympic experience, clear vision, a great understanding of the environment we are in and tremendous leadership, organisation and decision-making skills. Vitally, he has proved he can come into a system, grasp what needs to be done, and progress to win medals. He is an outstanding appointment for us.”

Prior to joining Rowing Canada Aviron, Moss was Executive Director with Badminton Canada for eight years and he is relishing the opportunity to rekindle his passion for the sport with BADMINTON England.

Moss, 49, who was born and raised in England before moving to Canada, said: “This is certainly a very exciting opportunity for me personally and one that I look forward to with great anticipation. The right building blocks are certainly in place for success and I believe I can bring the right style of leadership to the programme in order to achieve medal success in 2012 and beyond.”

He will officially take up his post in April but will begin to make his mark immediately with the programme players and coaches.

The next generation of players who hope to be part of the GB programme can be seen this weekend at their respective National Championships.

And Moss will see them first hand when he attends the European Team Championship at the Echo Arena, Liverpool from February 10-15 because England, Scotland and Wales are drawn in the same group. He will also be able to see many of those players in action again when he visits the Yonex All England Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham from March 3-8.