In 1990 there was a significant development in the way electricity was bought and sold. In many countries, the electricity market was deregulated to open up the supply of electricity to competition. In the United Kingdom the electricity supply industry was radically reformed to establish competition, including a market in advising users about switching supplier. This trend continued in other countries (see New Zealand Electricity Market and deregulation) and the role of electricity retailing changed from what was essentially an administrative function within an integrated utility to become a risk management function within a competitive electricity market.