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On behalf of UK Trade & Investment, the Northwest Development Agency & the UK India Business Council, Business Venture is involved in organising India-focussed events for North West businesses – all with the specific aim of encouraging and promoting bilateral trade with India
A UKIBC NEXTGEN EVENT
The IT industry accounts for 5.9% of India's GDP and employs more than 2.3 million people, making it one of the biggest job creators in India.Last year annual revenues from outsourcing projects amounted to US$60 billion and this is expected to increase to US$225 billion by 2020.
India may have started off being a sought after labour market for Business Process Outsourcing, but there has been a considerable shift over the years and India is now emerging as a hotbed for technology companies and globally competitive value added services, inspired by the likes of Silicon Valley.
North West IT sector businesses were among those who attended an interactive discussion event hosted by Halliwells LLP, Manchester on 27th May. The event explored the innovation taking place in IT in India, moving from a traditional outsourcing model to a value based entrepreneurial tech industry while exploring opportunities for trade and investment for the next generation of young leaders between India and UK.
Brian Thorp, North West Regional Director for the UKIBC gave an outline of the work of the UKIBC and introduced Manoj Ranaweera of Techcelerate to discuss the work of the recently formed Next Generation Network North West Committee of which he is a member. NextGen was launched in the North West in October 2009 with a Textiles Past Present & Future event organised by entrepreneur Imran Hakim.
Leading the excellent panel discussion at the IT event was Was Rahman, CEO and Founder of Dolphin Advisory Services.
Guest panellists included
India & the North West
London-based Indian business representatives were among guest speakers and panellists at the India & The North West event at Manchester Town Hall in in April. They shared their expertise and experience with North West businesses keen to show what this region has to in terms of products, services and technology for export and as a key area for inward investment.
Run in co-operation with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) the event was hosted by Manchester City Council & the NWDA. Chaired by Sunil Mohindra of Mohindrain Maini LLP Manchester, the event was opened by former India & Lancashire cricketer Farokh Engineer who lives in Cheshire and is now a business consultant working with organisations in India and the UK.
Anil Verma, Minister (Economic) from the Indian High Commission in London gave an outline of the current state of the economy in India and key sectors that will require significant investment going forward. He also made very useful contributions to the Q & A panel discussion along with London-based Tarun Ghulati, Chief Executive of UTI International; Amit Dev Mehta, Vice President of Tata Capital Ltd and Chris Parsons, Chairman of the India Group at Herbert Smith LLP. They were joined by David Walter, Chief Executive of Photolink Creative Group which has well established premises in both Manchester and Mumbai and Graham Phillips, MD of The Marketing Group and Strand Technology Ltd Cheshire who chaired the very useful panel discussion.
Feedback from the event has been extremely positive.Dr Gunveena Chadha,
Director & Head of the CII in the UK described it as a “wonderful event for promoting business with India”.
Among other comments received from businesses were:
“We want more events like this”
“Excellent panel discussion”
“The quality of guest speakers was most impressive”
“The speakers were very good and gave access to a wealth of networks and contacts”
“A very well organised event with good speakers and a useful panel debate”
Doing Business with India
More than 60 North West business people attended the Doing Business with India event at the International Business Centre, Warrington in December. Run in conjunction with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) the Northwest Development Agency and UKTI, it was a welcome opportunity to host this event in the North West as traditionally CII visiting delegations rarely venture outside London.
Pictured L-R: Steven Broomhead (NWDA), Mr C Gururaj Rao (Consul General of India), Sandra Brusby OBE (India Business Unit North West), Mr R Dinesh (TVS Logistics Services Ltd), Keith Johnson ( Addleshaw Goddard) Gaurav Bhandari (Ex-Im Bank of India) & Dr Gunveena Chadha (CII)
Dr Gunveena Chadha, the recently appointed Head of the CII in the UK welcomed a visiting delegation from TVS Logistics Services Ltd, India which has recently taken over Multipart Holdings UK, based in Chorley. TVS President Mr S Ravichandran and MD, Mr R Dinesh were among those who attended the event, together with Multipart MD Chris Gateley and a 4-strong delegation of Indian journalists covering their visit to the North West. The group were particularly keen to network with NW businesses to further assess the attractiveness of doing business in this region. In turn North West businesses were as keen to assess any available opportunities for them to do business with India.
The event was hosted by NWDA/UKIBC and opened by NWDA Chief Executive Steven Broomhead who confirmed that India was very much “on the radar” as far at the NWDA was concerned. He described the region as an excellent place to do business and was delighted that the delegatio
n had chosen to meet businesses in our area
Keith Johnston (left), Partner at Addleshaw Goddard LLP Manchester chaired the event. Guest speakers included Mr Dinesh from TVS Logistics, Gaurav Bhandari, Head of the Export-Import Bank of India in Europe and the new Consul General of India Mr C G Rao.
Among those joining the lively panel discussion were Anshul Kapoor from Image Foundry Studios, Manchester and Mr V Venkatesan, Senior Vice President of Hindujja Automotive
“An excellent event to showcase NW England as a key investor destination for Indian businesses”
“Very interesting to hear from people with direct experience of operating in a different culture”
“The networking with CII, Exim Bank and TVS was invaluable”
“Thanks for organising this event and for the excellent arrangements”
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Transforming the Textiles Landscape: Past, Present & Future
Held at Bolton University on1st October 09, this was the first of several being organised by the North West chapter of theNext Generation Network. Led by Imran Hakim, in his role as NW Ambassador, the event was attended by around 120 people and featured key speakers from the Textiles industry in theregion as well as from Bolton University.
Organised in co-operation with UKTI, UKIBC, Business Link North West, TiE, the IoD and NWtexnet, feedback to date has been very positive with "fast paced and interesting", "good quality speakers & attendees" and "the turnout was impressive" among the comments to date.
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Insight India Series - 15th May 2009 at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Manchester . This was the second of 3 events organised by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) and aimed at addressing the keyissues related to doing business in the current environment.. Main areas addressed included Macroeconomic indicators, Risks, Operations, HR, Policy & Regulations, Taxation, Accountancy practices, Legal frameworks and Marketing. Among the guest speakers were Sharon Bamford, CEO of the UKIBC and representatives from KPMG, HSBC, ALMT Legal and Kinetic Cubed Ltd. The event also featured cultural briefings to assist businesses looking to become involved with Indian markets.
India Business Clinics - 9th May at the International Business Centre, Warrington. One of 6 business clinics hosted by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) across the UK which highlighted the opportunities existing for UK companies in the ICT and Life Sciences sectors in India. UKTI Sector specialists came from India to share details of the many opportunities on offer. Businesses who attended were also able to meet on a one-to-one basis with UKTI International Trade Advisers as well as the India sector leaders.
Emerging Cities in India - 28 May 2009 at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. Identifying India’s rising stars – in terms of cities and people – is vital for UK business. The rapid industrialisation of India has generated a wealth of business opportunities outside of the traditional economic centres of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. The UK India Business Council has conducted a landmark research project to highlight these opportunities. Their report ''Opportunities for UK plc in Emerging Cities of India' was presented in CD format to delegates at the event and is available to all UKIBC members
To find out more about any of our India initiatives, call Sue Ainscough
on 01925 715 175 or email sue.ainscough@wbv.org.uk
