The department was formed on 19 October 1970 through the merger of the
Board of Trade and the
Ministry of Technology, creating a new cabinet post of
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Additionally, the department also took over the
Department of Employment's former responsibilities for monopolies and mergers. However, in January 1974, the department's responsibilities for energy production were transferred to a newly created
Department of Energy. On 5 March that year, following a
Labour Party victory in the February 1974
general election, the department was split into the
Department of Trade, the
Department of Industry and the
Department of Prices and Consumer Protection. The departments of Trade and Industry were reunited in 1983. The Department of Energy was re-merged back into the DTI in 1992, but various media-related functions transferred to the
Department of National Heritage. Until it was succeeded in June 2007 the DTI continued to set the
energy policy of the United Kingdom. After the
2005 general election the DTI was renamed to the
Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry, but the name reverted to
Department of Trade and Industry less than a week later, after widespread derision, including some from the
Confederation of British Industry. In 2007, part of DTI merged into the new
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), while most of it was renamed as the
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR); part of that would become the
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in 2008. The responsibilities which had gone to DIUS largely returned in 2009 with a re-merger to create the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), though in 2016 the
Department for International Trade (DIT) was split off. Energy returned in 2017 with the creation of the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); BEIS lasted until 2023 when this department was again split and mixed with other responsibilities, into 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). ==Structure==