Department for Business and Trade

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) 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.

Department for Business and Trade
Department overview

Old Admiralty Building, Westminster
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	Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade President of the Board of Trade
Department executives	Gareth Davies, Permanent Secretary Tara Smith, Chief Operating Officer
Child agencies	Competition and Markets Authority 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 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

The department is headed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, assisted by a number of junior ministers. The incumbent is Peter Kyle.

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".

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.

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.

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 two years of negotiations.

In April 2021, The Lord Grimstone of Boscobel established the UK Investment Council under the DBT to enhance UK inward investment and inform the trade policy of the UK by providing a forum for global investors to offer high-level advice to the government.

In May 2023, the Minister for Investment, The Lord Johnson of Lainston, 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.

In May 2023, the department announced that it had commenced negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with Switzerland.

Ministers

The DBT ministers are as follows, with cabinet members in bold:

Minister	Office	Portfolio
Peter Kyle MP	Secretary of State for Business and Trade President of the Board of Trade	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. 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 his position as Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
Jason Stockwood	Minister of State for Investment	Responsible for the Office for Investment; investor relations; investment events and delivery; life sciences; GREAT board
Sir Chris Bryant MP	Minister of State for Trade	Trade strategy implementation; WTO and CPTPP; free trade agreements; international industrial strategy; export strategy and trade promotion; EU, Windsor Framework and UK Internal Market; Ukraine reconstruction; creative industries; economic and investment security; trade remedies; sanctions; import/export controls; Trade Remedies Authority; UK Export Finance
Blair McDougall MP	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business and Economic Transformation	Industrial Strategy implementation; Industrial Strategy Council; entrepreneurs and small businesses; scale-ups; access to finance; regulation; corporate governance; insolvency; Post Office; postal services
Kate Dearden MP	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection	Employment rights; labour market enforcement; consumer protection; retail and hospitality; consumer goods; product safety; Department Corporate Minister; competition policy
Liz Lloyd	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Economy	Business support for developing the digital economy; DBT digital government; One Login for business; digital trade policy; regulatory environment for digital enterprises; labour market environment for digital entrepreneurs; preparation for economic impact of transformative AI/AGI; tech adoption and skills; professional services; COVID loan recovery
Chris McDonald MP	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry	Advanced manufacturing; automotive; aerospace; chemicals and plastics; construction; infrastructure; maritime and shipbuilding; steel; materials and critical minerals; Industrial Development Advisory Board; defence