Department for Business and Trade

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Old Admiralty Building, Westminster
Department overview
Formed	7 February 2023
Preceding agencies	Department for International Trade Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy
Type	UK Government Department
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Headquarters	Old Admiralty Building, Admiralty Place, London, SW1A 2DY
Secretary of State responsible	The Rt. Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade President of the Board of Trade Minister for Women and Equalities
Department executives	Gareth Davies, Permanent Secretary Crawford Falconer, Second Permanent Secretary David Bickerton Amanda Brooks Joanna Crellin Caleb Deeks Beatrice Kilroy-Nolan Gavin Lambert Andrew Mitchell Bidesh Sarkar (interim) Ceri Smith , (Directors General)
Child agencies	Competition and Markets Authority HM Land Registry Trade Remedies Authority Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service British Hallmarking Council Competition Service Small Business Commissioner Industrial Development Advisory Board Low Pay Commission Regulatory Policy Committee Companies House The Insolvency Service Central Arbitration Committee Competition Appeal Tribunal Trade and Agriculture Commission British Business Bank Certification Officer Financial Reporting Council Groceries Code Adjudicator and the Pubs Code Adjudicator Independent Complaints Reviewer Land Registration Rule Committee Office of Manpower Economics Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies UK Export Finance
Website	gov.uk/dbt

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v t e

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) ^[1] is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a cabinet reshuffle under the Rishi Sunak premiership. The new department absorbed the functions of the former Department for International Trade and some of the functions of the former Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

The department is headed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, assisted by a number of junior ministers. The present incumbent and the first to hold the role is Kemi Badenoch; she is also President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities. Badenoch was previously the final Secretary of State at the Department for International Trade.

Background

Foundation

The department was established on 7 February 2023. It combines the business-focused responsibilities of the former Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with the former Department for International Trade (DIT). The ministers and senior civil servants from DIT were carried over to continue leading the new department.

The creation of the new department was described by Downing Street as an opportunity to provide "a single, coherent voice for business inside government, focused on growing the economy with better regulation, new trade deals abroad, and a renewed culture of enterprise at home". ^[2]

Responsibilities

The department's focus was outlined by Downing Street as follows:

• Delivering economic growth opportunities across the economy.
• Backing business by improving access to finance and delivering a pro-enterprise regulatory system;
• Promoting British businesses on the global stage and attracting high-value investment, including through high-quality Free Trade Agreements with India and other priority partners.
• Promoting competitive markets and addressing market distorting practises to support growth whilst protecting consumers;
• Championing free trade;
• Ensuring economic security and supply chain resilience;
• Supporting economic growth and innovation by making the most of Brexit freedoms and removing unnecessary regulatory burdens;
• Delivering legislation on setting minimum service levels for priority public service sectors and to review, reform, retain, and/or repeal retained EU law by December 2023. ^[2]

Scrutiny

Since 26 April 2023, the work of the department has been scrutinised by the Business and Trade Select Committee of the House of Commons. This is a renaming of the Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, which absorbs the responsibilities of the dissolved International Trade Committee. ^{[3] [4]}

History

The department was responsible for finalising negotiations for the UK's to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in April 2023, a free-trade agreement (FTA) between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. It successfully concluded an agreement after 2 years of negotiations. ^{[5] [6]}

In May 2023, the Minister for Investment, Dominic Johnson became the first UK government minister to visit Hong Kong since 2018, and the first since the imposition of a new national security law by Beijing in the Special Administration Region. ^[7]

In May 2023, the department announced that it had commenced negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with Switzerland. ^{[6] [8]}

Ministers

DBaT ministers are as follows, with cabinet members in bold:

Minister	Portrait	Office	Portfolio
The Rt Hon. Kemi Badenoch MP		Secretary of State for Business and Trade President of the Board of Trade Minister for Women and Equalities	Overall responsibility for the department. Responsible for leading on departmental strategy and delivering on the department's responsibilities. Also responsible for engaging with business across government, and for making necessary public appointments. The Secretary of State is responsible for leading UK government representation during free trade agreement negotiations, outlining mandates, and making decisions. The Secretary of State also leads UK government representation at meetings of the World Trade Organization, and at ministerial meetings of the G7 and G20 where the Secretary of State is further responsible for developing and maintaining the UK's overseas business network. [9] As President of the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State is responsible for leading engagement with the whole of the UK on the UK’s global trade and investment agenda. The role is held concurrently with her position as Secretary of State for Business and Trade. [10] As Minister for Women and Equalities, the Secretary of State also has responsibility for developing an equalities policy that is based on individual autonomy and dignity and for promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. [11]
Kevin Hollinrake MP		Minister of State for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business	The Minister's policy portfolio includes: small business and enterprise, scale up strategy, access to finance, labour market and employment rights (including National Minimum Wage), postal services (including Royal Mail), consumer and competition policy (including subsidy control), mutual recognition of professional qualifications, levelling up and regional growth, and corporate governance and transparency. The Minister is responsible for the following business sectors: audit and insolvency; hospitality; retail; consumer goods, and personal care. The Minister is further responsible for the following non-departmental public bodies: the Office for Product Safety and Standards, Post Office Limited, the British Business Bank, the Low Pay Commission, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), the Small Business Commissioner, Companies House, the Competition & Markets Authority, the Competition Service and Competition Appeal Tribunal, The Insolvency Service, the Central Arbitration Committee, the Certification Officer, the Office of Manpower Economics, the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, the Pub Code Adjudicator, the British Hallmarking Council; Financial Reporting Council, and the Regulatory Policy Committee. [12]
The Rt Hon. Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE		Minister of State for Investment Minister of State for Regulatory Reform	The Minister of State for Investment is responsible for investment strategy, investment promotion across all sectors, investor relationship management, investment events (including the UK Global Investment Summit),investor screening for the Department, and defence and security exports. The Minister is also responsible for the Office for Investment and managing the passage of trade legislation through the House of Lords. The Minister of State for Regulatory Reform is responsible for cross-government regulatory reform and the creation and implementation of better regulation. The Minister is also responsible for managing the passage of business legislation through the House of Lords and all Private Members' Bills. [13]
The Rt Hon. Greg Hands MP		Minister of State for Trade Policy [14]	The Minister of State for Trade Policy supports the Secretary of State with: Support on all free trade agreements (FTAs); support on World Trade Organization (WTO), G7, G20, OECD, Commonwealth and wider multilateral engagement; market access strategy; FTA implementation; the Board of Trade; union policy; chairing the XWH Inter-Ministerial Trade Advisory Group (IMTAG); External engagement via the: Strategic Trade Advisory Group, sectoral trade advisory groups, trade union advisory groups, civil society and think tank roundtables. [15]
The Rt Hon. Lord Offord of Garvel CVO		Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports	The Minister is responsible for export strategy implementation and promotion across all sectors, supporting the exports of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), Export Support Service, free trade agreement utilisation, outward direct investment delivery and UK Internal Market and the Union. The Minister is also responsible for UK representation at trade missions and trade shows and the 'Made in the UK, Sold to the World' trade campaign. The Minister is further responsible for the Board of Trade and UK Export Finance. [16]
Alan Mak MP		Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry and Economic Security Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Investment Security Unit	The Minister's portfolio includes responsibility for the following business sectors: advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, steel, materials, maritime and shipbuilding, and professional and business services. The Minister is further responsible for the following policy areas: sustainability and infrastructure, free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico, managing retained EU law (repeal and reform), economic security, trade defence, global supply chains, critical minerals, Ukraine reconstructions, and the UK sanctions regime. The Minister is also responsible for managing the Industrial Development Advisory Board (IDAB). [17]

See also

• Department for International Trade - preceding body from 2016 to 2023.
• Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy - preceding body from 2016 to 2023.
• Department of Trade and Industry - UK government department with a historically similar function from 1970 to 2007.

References

External links

• Official webpage on GOV.UK.
• Making Government Deliver: Updating the machinery of government for the world of today and of tomorrow policy paper forwarded by Rishi Sunak explaining the rationale for the department.