Paul Bush has been appointed as the new British Curling chair ©British Curling

Paul Bush has been appointed as the new chairman of British Curling to succeed Robin Niven, who has served in the role since February 2020.

Bush is currently the chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland, a position he has held for the past eight years.

"I am delighted to accept the role as Chair of British Curling," he said.

"It will be a real privilege to work with such an iconic and exciting Olympic and Paralympic sport, that is so important to both Team GB and Scotland.

 "I look forward to working with the Board and all of the team as they strive to build on the success of the last Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and focus on realising their ambitions at Milan-Cortina 2026."

Paul Bush will take over Britain's most successful Winter Olympic sport basking in the glory of winning a gold medal at Beijing 2022 ©Getty Images
Paul Bush will take over Britain's most successful Winter Olympic sport basking in the glory of winning a gold medal at Beijing 2022 ©Getty Images

Curling is Britain's most successful Winter Olympics sport.

Team GB has won a total of six medals in the sport, including three gold, the most recent of which came in Beijing 2022 when the women's team skipped by Eve Muirhead pulled off an emotional victory.

At the same Games, the men's team skipped by Bruce Mouat won the silver medal. 

Bush was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to Commonwealth Sport in the 2007 New Year's Honours List.

He was recognised after serving as Chef de Mission for Scotland's team at Melbourne 2006 which was the most successful Scotland team at an overseas Commonwealth Games with 11 gold, seven silver, and 11 bronze medals.

Bush is also director of events at VisitScotland.

Over the past decade he has leped brought some of the world’s biggest event properties to the country, including The Ryder Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2014, World Gymnastics Championships and World Orienteering Championships in 2015, the MTV Music Awards on two occasions, the European Championships in 2018, The 2019 Solheim Cup, UEFA EURO 2020 and this year's International Cycling Union Cycling World Championships.

Building on the success of Beijing 2022 and maiximising the opportunities offered by the National Curling Academy will be among the main targets set for Paul Bush ©British Curling
Building on the success of Beijing 2022 and maiximising the opportunities offered by the National Curling Academy will be among the main targets set for Paul Bush ©British Curling

John Harris was chairing the Board prior to Bush's arrival and the the former chairman for British Shooting set to remain involved as a senior independent director.

"Following a rigorous process Paul emerged as an outstanding candidate whose knowledge of both the domestic and global sporting scene means he is ideally suited to leading our efforts to further develop the sport," said Harris.

"The last Olympic cycle was one of huge learning for our organisation, ultimately resulting in magnificent success, not only at the Beijing Games, but at World and European Championships as well as World Juniors.

"However, everyone involved in British Curling believes that we have only just begun to maximise the benefits gained from the creation of the National Curling Academy, which was the result of exceptional interaction with a number of partners and Paul is perfectly placed to continue that process.

"It was a pleasure to be involved in the recruitment for the new Chair of British Curling.

"Congratulations to Paul Bush for being appointed to the role, he will bring a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to the role.

"All of us at UK Sport are looking forward to working together with Paul to support the ongoing success of British Curling and our brilliant athletes."