Britain has hired New Zealand’s former trade head Crawford Falconer as chief trade negotiation adviser to manage the UK’s free trade deals once the country leaves the EU.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has appointed the former ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) because the UK has little recent experience in trade talks - for the past 40 years trade deals have been managed by Brussels.

Mr Falconer will be responsible for developing and negotiating free trade deals with countries outside the EU; striking deals with a range of countries covering specific sectors and products; developing the DIT as a “centre of excellence for negotiation and British trade”; and supporting the UK as a member of the WTO.