Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is the department for economic growth. Our purpose is to connect people to opportunity and prosperity across the country. This demands a huge variety of specialist expertise and resources across a wide range of areas from skills development and investment in new business ideas, to regulation, consumer rights and building Britain’s research base. BIS exists to help open up and modernise the UK economy, and has a vital part to play in helping businesses succeed:

• As a partner that can see the bigger picture and actively shape the economy;
• Seeking out growth opportunities;
• Creating open, fertile and fair market frameworks in which companies can flourish;
• Delivering better regulation and breaking down the barriers to success;
• Boosting innovation and investing in the new technologies that will transform our lives; and;
• Inspiring the talent that will ensure the UK has a world-class skills and research base.

BIS is a ministerial department, supported by 47 agencies and public bodies. One of our great strengths is the wide range of talent and expertise at our disposal, from our internal teams to our network of partner bodies. This variety gives us the insight and experience to identify and grasp opportunities quickly, to connect across the economy from large enterprises to start-ups, from higher education to research, from central to local government.

The priorities of the Department are set out in detail and can be viewed at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills/about#priorities 

Around 2,500 staff work for BIS and around 500 people work for UK Trade & Investment in the UK. Our partner organisations include 9 executive agencies employing around 14,500 staff.