About us
BEIS existed until 2023 when it was split to form the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Responsibility for national security and investment policy has gone to the Cabinet Office.
Responsibilities
BEIS were responsible for:
- business
- industrial strategy
- science, research and innovation
- energy and clean growth
- climate change
Priorities
From 2021 to 2022, the BEIS priorities were to:
- fight coronavirus by helping businesses to bounce back from the impacts of COVID-19, supporting a safe return to the workplace and accelerating the development and manufacture of a vaccine
- tackle climate change: reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050
- unleash innovation and accelerate science and technology throughout the country to increase productivity and UK global influence
- back long-term growth: boost enterprise by making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business
Read the BEIS Outcome Delivery Plan to find out how it performed against its priorities.
The department
BEIS replaced the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in July 2016. The department employed around 5,000 staff who worked in offices in London, Aberdeen and around the UK.
In February 2023, BEIS was replaced by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
Read the BEIS annual report and accounts.