After being held in Manchester for the past nine years, the tournament will now be held in Milton Keynes, where Badminton England recently gained planning permission to build a controversial new £22 million ($34 million/€26 million) headquarters on the site of the National Bowl.

The tournament will be the first sporting event to take place at the arena on the site of stadium:mk, which was built in 2008 with plans for the arena to become home of the MK Lions basketball franchise, but the plans fell through, subsequently resulting in the team moving t the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London after failing to find an alternative home in the town.

"I would firstly like to express our appreciation of the tremendous support we have enjoyed from Manchester City Council over the past nine years." said Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy.

"They have been an incredible partner and we look forward to working with them on other projects in the future.

"The time was right to move and we were inundated with towns and cities around the country wanting to host the Championships, but in the end we were keen to bring the Nationals to our home city.

Badminton England are currently based in the Loughton district of Milton Keynes

"Sport matters to Milton Keynes and the support English badminton receives from Milton Keynes Council, MK Dons FC and numerous other partners is extraordinary.

"We know from the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships, the World Championships 2011 and the London Olympic Games, that we have a fantastic fan base who love badminton.

"I am therefore delighted that we can recognise that support by bringing a major event into the city."

Milton Keynes Council are hoping that the integration of a new sporting event within the town will help them reach their ambitious target of being recognised as an International Sporting City.

Leader of Milton Keynes Council Andrew Geary said: "This is great news for MK and is another step in our ambition to be a truly International Sporting City.

"Milton Keynes is one of the most accessible locations in the country and the transport infrastructure around the city must be one of the best in the UK.

Badminton England's new National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes is expected to be completed by mid-2015

"We therefore look forward to not only welcoming fans from Milton Keynes to the Championships, but fans from all over the country to the arena at stadium:mk."

Milton Keynes Dons chairman Pete Winkelman said: "We are incredibly excited to be welcoming the English National Badminton Championships to the Arena at stadium:mk, which will be the first major sporting event to be held in the venue.

"Hopefully this event can help attract a whole new audience to the sport ahead of Badminton England's move into their new facilities in 2015."

Badminton England had planning application granted for their new multi-million pound facility in the New Town back in late April, despite local opposition.

The new centre will feature a 3,000-seater multi-purpose arena, 17 badminton courts, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a health and fitness club, conference rooms and offices, and is due for completion in mid-2015.

The 2014 English National Badminton Championships are due to take place from February 7 to February 9 at  arena:mk. 

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