The new Department for International Trade is to look beyond British shores for its top civil servant, trade secretary Liam Fox has announced.
DIT, set up in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, is currently being led by Sir Martin Donnelly – the former permanent secretary of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
But the department made clear this week that Donnelly was only staying on as a transitional perm sec to "help set up" DIT "over the coming months", with the hunt for a long-term successor due to get underway shortly.
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Fox told MPs on Thursday that the new department had three tasks: promoting UK exports; supporting foreign direct investment; and "delivering the best international trading framework for the UK outside the European Union".
And he said DIT would now consider appointing a new chief from outside of Britain as it focused on "building our capacity to negotiate and administer a national trade policy" following Brexit.
"The Department for International Trade is like the UK as a whole: open for business," he said.
"And I’m pleased to be able to say today that we are now going to demonstrate this by launching an open, international recruitment for a new permanent secretary, which gives me an opportunity, Mr Speaker, to thank very much Sir Martin Donnelly, for the fantastic work he has done in helping build the new department."