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History of the Board of Trade

Organized by the Business & Trade Historians, the voluntary staff history network at the Department for Business & Trade

Stephanie Decker FAcSS FBAM

Nov 19

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The Business & Trade Historians, the newly renamed voluntary staff history network at the Department for Business & Trade (DBT), are inviting you to a special DBT symposium on the “History of the Board of Trade”, taking place on Tuesday 9 December between 2pm and 5pm in the Old Admiralty Building, or online. Please indicate if you would like to attend in person as space in the room is limited to 40 people!

This event offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the rich and complex history of DBT’s predecessor departments, tracing their evolution through four centuries of business, trade, regulation, and evolution of government and the state. Whether you’re a policy professional, historian, or simply curious about the institutional legacy that shapes DBT’s work today, this symposium will offer valuable insights into how the past continues to inform the present.

Symposium Themes and Speakers

The programme will explore key historical moments through short presentations by leading scholars and practitioners:

17th Century – Origins and State Building Dr Ed Legon, Senior Lecturer in Heritage Management and Business History, Queen Mary University of London
18th Century – Empire and Trade Professor Martha Prevezer, Professor of Governance and Economic History, Queen Mary University of London
19th Century – The Regulatory State Professor Perri 6, Emeritus Professor of Public Management, Queen Mary University of London
20th Century – War Economy and Strategic Trade Jack Connolly, Director of Trade Defence, DBT

We are excited to welcome this expert group of speakers. Dr Legon, Professor Prevezer and Professor Perri 6 have recently jointly written a new academic book entitled Trade, Regulation and Empire State-building in Britain: The Board of Trade’s Role in Building the British Regulatory State (Palgrave Studies in Economic History: Amazon.co.uk: Prevezer, Martha, Queen Mary University of London, Legon, Ed: 9783031957376: Books which is now published. Jack Connolly also has an academic background and is a former Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He is the author of a report into The Fourth Fighting Service: The Early Development of British Economic Statecraft | Blavatnik School of Government.

The event will be facilitated by Emilia Braddon, DBT’s PhD Historian based at King’s College London, and will conclude with a panel Q&A, offering attendees the chance to engage directly with the speakers. DBT’s Permanent Secretary, Gareth Davies is due to open the event.

Why Attend?

For DBT staff: Gain historical context for today’s policy challenges, deepen your understanding of departmental legacy, and connect with colleagues across teams who share an interest in institutional history.
For external historians and researchers: Engage with new perspectives on the Board of Trade’s role in shaping British economic governance, and explore opportunities for collaboration with DBT’s internal history network.
For everyone: Discover how the Board of Trade helped shape Britain’s global role, and how its legacy continues to influence trade, regulation, and public administration.

We warmly encourage attendance whether from across DBT or from the historical community. Whether you’re a seasoned historian or new to the topic, this symposium promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking afternoon.

The event will be held in person (limited spaces available) in Old Admiralty Building and also online on MS Teams. We also plan to record the event. Tea and coffee will be provided and some Christmas refreshments.

Please RSVP by no later than Thursday 4 December indicating clearly if you wish to attend either online or in person. Note that all external visitors will need to issued with a visitors pass and we will provide further details separately to confirm your attendance and logistics.

For those seeking to dial in remotely, we can provide you with a link upon registration.

We hope that the event will be an opportunity for learning and provoke further discussions.

Find out more and join the “Business & Trade Historians”

If you want to join the DBT’s staff history network, the “Business & Trade Historians” then please complete our membership form at https://forms.office.com/e/MG7EwbUrvj.

You can find out more about the group on the Intranet at: Business & Trade Historians - The Intranet or via our Sharepoint page. You can also follow the group on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/tradememorial and read our blog with stories of the 305 men named on the Board of Trade War Memorial at https://boardoftradewarmemorial.wordpress.com .

Edwina

war.memorial@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Edwina Osborne | Senior Appointments Manager | Governance, Honours and Appointments Team | Strategy and Private Office