Integrating and elevating

If a week is a long time in politics the last month has felt like a lifetime! I’ve never experienced so much organisational change in such a short period. During the course of a single month Britain voted to leave the European Union, we welcomed a new Prime Minster, gained a Secretary of State and joined a brand new department – with UKTI integrating into the Department for International Trade (DIT).

The formation of the Department represents a major elevation of the trade agenda under the new Government. I am incredibly excited about the possibilities this represents. In Dr Liam Fox, Greg Hands, Lord Price and Mark Garnier we have a superb ministerial team committed to getting the best for the UK globally.

We are now part of a department whose sole focus is trade and investment, which is an amazing development.  From my first meeting with Dr Fox I became aware of his ambition for trade and investment. He is expansive and global in his thinking and outlook, and strategic in his approach. He was meeting businesses with me on day one of the role!

As civil servants we are here to move forward and provide strong leadership for the UK, particularly during tumultuous times. On the morning of the referendum result, and in the extraordinary weeks that followed, I was privileged to see this up close; with people in Departments across Whitehall incredibly focussed and able to absorb and respond to the changing political landscape swiftly. I’m fortunate enough to be able to rely on a fantastic cadre of staff from UK and overseas who have responded magnificently to recent changes and who continue to deliver great work.

The result of the EU referendum has not altered our journey, nor has it changed our ambition. The UK remains an attractive proposition due to a multitude of factors; the quality of life we offer, our diversity, culture and language, our great educational centres, our telecommunications infrastructure, our stable regulatory environment, our low tax rate, our incentives for innovators and entrepreneurs, our great universities and our world class financial and professional services

All of these will be more important than ever as we move forward in a new landscape and continue building relationships and keeping our strong, confident and successful country ‘open for business’

Our mission remains the same today as it was last week,  last month, last year: to promote international trade and investment and to help secure the economic and social wellbeing of the UK.

We haven’t been distracted from that goal during the biggest machinery of government change in a half century, so you can be sure our commitment remains strong. And now we have new friends and partners to help us rise to the challenge and make our ambitions a reality.