John Alty is a Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE European Institute. His career has been spent in HM Government working on regulation, markets and business issues, with a strong EU and international dimension. Before leaving the Government in 2021, John was the Director General for Trade Policy, Department for International Trade, responsible for building UK trade capacity and developing trade policy post EU referendum. Other Government positions held include Acting Permanent Secretary for Department for International Trade, CEO of the UK Intellectual Property Office, and Director General for Market Regulation (“Fair Markets”) in Business Department, working closely with Government ministers including Michael Heseltine, Peter Mandelson, Vince Cable and more recently Liam Fox and Liz Truss.

John's areas of expertise include competition policy, such as handling mergers and monopolies; the digital sector through online copyright reform; and labour market policy – introduction of the National Minimum Wage and handling negotiations over the EU Working Time Directive. In relation to the EU John has worked on single market policy and state aid rules, and wider issues of competitiveness.

On trade and international issues John led the creation of the UK’s trade policy capability after the EU referendum; oversaw negotiations and preparations for EU exit and personally led negotiations with S Korea to deliver the post Brexit FTA. In addition most of his roles have had a strong international dimension, from negotiations with eg the US, Japan and China on intellectual property to early work in China as the market opened up in the 1980s. John is also familiar with the business stakeholder landscape in the UK, having worked closely with CBI, TUC and other business organisations as well as individual companies and sector bodies over many years.

John was educated at Liverpool College and Oxford University, majoring in Latin, Greek, Philosophy and Ancient History.