Luke Jessop is the senior civil servant responsible for advancing the UK’s trade policy objectives for procurement and intellectual property via the negotiation of new free trade agreements and engagement in multilateral fora. Previously he has managed the Department for International Trade’s trade policy coherence and EU negotiations teams, and led the trade in agricultural goods team to develop UK trade policy positions and negotiation strategy for UK free trade agreements.

Before joining DIT, Luke held roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development where he designed and implemented UK aid programmes with a focus on trade and environment. He started his career in Defra with posts on climate change and marine conservation.

Luke has a first-class degree in Geography from Oxford University and an MPhil in Environmental Policy (Environmental Economics and International Environmental Law) from the University of Cambridge.