Career

He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

 in 1983, with his first foreign posting being to Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 in 1986 then to the UK Representation to the EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in 1989 as First Secretary, which he again served as Counsellor (Justice and Home Affairs) from 1998 to 2002. He then served from 1993-1997 as Private Secretary to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....

, then as head of the unit covering the EU Intergovernmental conference. His next foreign posting was to Muscat

Muscat, Oman

Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...

 as Deputy Head of Mission (1997). In 2002 he was appointed Head of the European Union Department, before being seconded the following year to direct immigration policy within the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

. Subsequently, he was Ambassador to Turkey, and Director-General Europe & Globalisation.

In 2011, Nick was appointed Chief Executive Officer of UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment is a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to ensure their success in international markets, and encourage the best overseas companies to look to the UK as their global partner of choice ....

.

Sources

• UKTI http://ukti.gov.uk