The team successfully negotiated the UK's first trade agreement for 50 years, with Japan.  The agreement met all the objectives set for it and has been widely praised externally. This was the world's fastest-ever trade negotiation, was conducted almost entirely virtually , in unprecedented circumstances, and with a heavyweight nation of the trade world.   (The team did so in collaboration with 20 government departments and agencies, under intense pressure and scrutiny, creating new ways of working. The team received a letter of praise from the Cabinet Secretary for their achievement.