GB Badminton board
Great Britain board members
Should you have any questions relating to Badminton England’s governance please contact the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive in the first instance via ea@badmintonengland.co.uk.
Stephen Baddeley (Chair and Non-Executive Director)
Stephen was one of England’s most successful men’s singles players, winning European and Commonwealth titles while gaining 143 caps for his country.
His first ‘proper’ job was as Director of Coaching and Development for Badminton Scotland before joining Badminton England in 1996, initially as its Performance Director, followed by 7 years as its CEO. In 2004, he moved to Sport England as its Director of Sport which included a 14-month term as its interim Chief Executive.
He is currently Director of Sport at the University of Bath. Stephen has been Chair of the GB Board since November 2016.
Sue Storey (Accountable Officer)
Sue is the Chief Executive of Badminton England. Her role is to lead the organisation, work with the board, the team and key volunteers to deliver the strategy, to develop and grow the sport, deliver major events for badminton (including Yonex All England Championships), developing the top performance athletes to compete in Olympic/Paralympic Games and other international competition and promote the fantastic, exciting sport of Badminton.
Previously, Sue was the Chief Executive at Volleyball England, where she oversaw the three disciplines of Volleyball, Sitting Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, working collaboratively to deliver huge improvements across the sport.
Prior to that, Sue was an Inspector for the Sport Grounds Safety Authority, who, as authors of the ‘Green Guide’, are unique as the world’s only government funded body set up specifically to develop safety at sports grounds. She has also had a key role in developing stakeholder relationships and working collaboratively with national and international sporting bodies, federations and organising committees.
She is a cyclist, road and velodrome, she previously played hockey at Midlands League level and was a past Taekwondo GB Veterans Champion.
Sue also holds two NED positions; Trent Bridge Cricket Ground and Active Partnerships National Team.
The final interesting fact about Sue is she has two sets of twins!
Priya Guha (Senior Independent Director)
Priya is a Venture Partner at Merian Ventures, investing in women-led innovation, a Member of the Innovate UK Council, NED at the Digital Catapult and Adjunct Faculty at the Ashridge Hult Business School. She was previously GM for RocketSpace, launching their UK operations.
Priya used to be a career diplomat, most recently as British Consul General to San Francisco and previously in India and Spain. She is on the Althea Foundation Board, Tech London Advocates Advisory Board and Royal
Academy of Engineering International Committee. She also Chairs the Board of Trustees of Modern Muse and is an Advisor to The Youth Group. Priya was recently named in the 2020 Top 50 Most Influential Women in Technology for the 3rd year running.
Christine Black (Director – Badmintonscotland)
Christine has been a director of Badminton Scotland since 2007 and is currently chair of Performance since taking up the role in 2015. She was also President of Badminton Scotland between 2009 – 2011.
A former international player, Christine has been Team Manager for 4 Commonwealth Games and she now sits on the Scottish Disability Badminton Working Group.
The current Badminton Development Officer for East Lothian Council, Christine has introduced many hundreds of both Primary and Secondary school pupils to the sport.
Kenneth Nixon (Director – Badminton Ireland)
Ken is a retired Solicitor and District Judge. He was past President and Chairman, and current Council member of Ulster Badminton. He retired as Company Secretary of Badminton Ireland in 2020 after long term Board involvement. Ken was also past chairman of the NI Sports Forum (umbrella organisation for sport’s Governing Bodies) and of the Confederation of British Sport, from which was a founding member of Sports Resolutions UK.
Ken currently sits on the Sports Resolutions Mediation/Arbitration Panel and pro bono Advisory Panel. He is a current Board member of the Northern Cricket Union, the Mary Peters Trust and the NI Commonwealth Games Council. Despite the effects of Polio Ken was able for many years to play standing doubles badminton but now plays with the benefit of a wheelchair with members of the Para Badminton group at the NBC Lisburn.
James Thomas
James joined the Badminton England board in July 2022 as the Performance Non-Executive Director.
He began his sporting career playing Rugby Union at Premiership Clubs in England and New Zealand. After injury brought about an early retirement in professional sport, James moved into working within the sport system.
James has held several senior positions within the UK Sport High Performance system over the last sixteen years and has worked with several sports including Athletics, Judo, Wheelchair Rugby and Boxing. He has spent the last five years as Performance Director at British Gymnastics and was the Team Leader at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Alongside his professional roles, he has also been a Non-Executive Director at GB Boxing, a member of the UK Performance Directors strategic group and the UK Sport People Development steering group.
James now works at Manchester City Football Club as the Director of Performance Services.
Alongside an undergraduate and post graduate background in Sport and Exercise Sciences, he is completing a Legal master’s in International Sport Law at Sheffield Hallam University, specialising in anti-doping and football law.
Outside of his professional career, James is an outdoor enthusiast, spending a lot of his free time mountain biking with his son and hiking in the Lake District. Committed to outdoor adventures, he is aiming to summit Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn in the near future.
Kelly Aston (Director – Badminton Wales)
Kelly is the most decorated Welsh Ladies Singles Players with a career high of World Number 5 gaining over 140 caps for her country, Commonwealth Games Gold, European Silver & Bronze, three time Olympian and received an MBE in 2002 for her services to sport.
Having retired from professional badminton in 2006, Kelly settled in Dubai and moved into teaching and then nursery development, successfully launching and building a British International Nursery Franchise business in the Middle East.
In October 2017, Kelly joined Badminton Wales, initially as Head of Operations, and is currently CEO of the National Governing Body looking forward to a future of Badminton in Wales.
Michael Davis
Michael is a qualified accountant and a member of the professional accountancy body CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). He has over 20 years’ experience operating in a senior finance leadership role. He established his career in the private sector, working in a variety of IT related companies and in Transport and Logistics, before moving into the not-for-profit sector.
Michael is currently Head of Finance & Governance at England Athletics Limited, with responsibility for finance, HR, governance and commercial partnerships.
Michael is also a member of the finance committee for a large church-based charity.
Stephen Farrow (Company Secretary & Non-Executive Director)
Should you have any questions relating to Badminton England’s governance please contact the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive in the first instance via ea@badmintonengland.co.uk.
