Brian Bender

Sir Brian Geoffrey Bender is the Permanent Secretary, of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of the United Kingdom Government. He was previously the Permanent Sectretary of the now defunct Department of Trade and Industry.

Born on 25 February 1949, he was educated at Greenford Grammar School and then continued to obtain degrees in Physics at Imperial College, London (BSc physics 1970, PhD physics 1973).

He married Penelope Clark in 1974 and has two children, one son and one daughter.

Career history

Bender has held the following posts prior to his current role:

* Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 1973-1989
* Private secretary to Secretary of State for Trade 1976-77
* Seconded to UK Permanent Representation to the European Community
* First Secretary, Trade Policy 1977-82
* Counsellor, Industry and Energy 1985-89
* Deputy Head, European Secretariat, Cabinet Office 1990-93
* Head, Regional Development, DTI 1993-94
* Deputy Secretary and Head of European Secretariat, Cabinet Office 1994-99
* Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office 1999-2000
* Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 2000-01
* Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2001-05
* Permanent Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry 2005-2007