India Delights–From sleepy Southwold, Suffolk, to the Taj Mahal!!
Whilst our previous labour prime minister preferred to “stay at home” over the summer months, our new Coalition Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron had a rather more exotic venue in mind. Cameron led a 150-strong trade delegation to India last week, a country with a population of 1.2 billion and with an economy expected to grow at 8% a year for the next 25 years.
Whilst Britain’s own economy is predicted, in a new forecast from Goldman Sachs, to experience a stronger recovery in 2011 at 2.9% as compared to the US, 2.4%, and the Eurozone, 2.2%, this almost pails into insignificant when compared to the prizes that await businesses that successfully penetrate the vast, growing Indian marketplace.
Was the trip a success or did the UK delegation go over the top?
It has been reported that Jitesh Gadhia, the investment banker who advised Tata on buying the UK steelmaker Corus, commented, “When you are courting the prettiest girl in town there is a danger of trying too hard and getting a cold shoulder.” However, it would appear the trip has proved successful in parts. The Indian government confirmed it would relax rules on insurers, opening opportunities for Standard Life and Prudential. There was also a pledge to double the £11.5 billion a year trade between the countries within five years. In aerospace and defence, a £700 million contract was signed for BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce to supply Hawk training aircraft.
3i, the FTSE 100 venture capital firm, certainly has seen the potential offered by India, locating 55 staff at the prestigious 20-hectare Infosys campus in Bangalore looking at companies to buy, anywhere in the world. This work was previously done in 3i’s regional offices
Cameron is particularly focused on green technology as one fertile area for co-operation, saying he wanted British companies to sell nuclear and other low carbon expertise to help bring environmentally friendly power to the 450 million Indians without reliable electricity.
In anticipation of the aggressive growth of the Indian marketplace, NAI Global has built a network of offices across India to service the property needs of global corporations, particularly those with headquarters in the UK. In addition, through its strategic relationship with ERM, a leading global provider of environmental, health and safety, risk, and social consulting services, NAI is one of the few global property consultancies with a true capability able to provide advice across all social and environmental factors influencing companies’ global relocation decisions.
About the author
Scope of Service Experience Paul is Senior Vice President,Corporate Services EMEA region. Operating out of London, Paul has responsibility for driving the development and the management of relationships and business with major international corprate clients operating within the region .Additionally he is responsible for extending the reach and capability of the NAI Global European network. To achieve these goals Paul works with the corporate clients and NAI Global member firms and colleagues across the world. Education BSc. Estate Management, University of Reading Background & Experience Paul has over 28 years experience of advising international corporate clients with particular emphasis on developing strategies to minimize operational costs and maximize value. He has considerable expertise in advising corporate clients in the industrial and logistics sectors, particularly in the areas of aerospace and defense and paper and packaging. He has managed multiple projects across the UK, Norway, France, Germany, Turkey, Poland and Abu Dhabi for the Civil Aerospace division of Rolls-Royce, and multiple projects across the UK and, more recently, India, for BAE Systems, two long-time clients. Paul’s recent experience also includes assignments for Bombardier Transportation, Rockwell Collins, Pentland, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Texas Instruments, Tibco Software and Wolseley. Paul’s clients have also included companies such as Chesapeake, Federal Express, Kuehne+Nagel, DHL Exel, UPS & Travis Perkins. Vue Cinemas, Cineworld Prior to joining NAI Global Paul spent 3 years as Senior Director-Corporate Solutions at BNP Paribas Real Estate with responsibility for International Corporate Client development. Whilst at BNP Paribas Real Estate he was also responsible during 2008 for the coordination of BNP Paribas Real Estate’s European Logistics team of over 70 logistics specialists operating from 29 offices. Prior to BNP Paribas Real Estate,Paul was an equity partner at our UK member firm NAI Fuller Peiser where he had worked for 24 years and been Head of the Sheffield, Manchester & London offices and most recently a board member and head of corporate real estate, with particular responsibility for international work and developing the relationship with NAI Global during the period 2003-2006 Paul also served as Vice Chairman of the NAI Global Members’ Leadership Board during 2006 Professional Affiliations & Designations Fellow of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) Member of Corenet Global Member of SIOR NAI Global 2005 Member of the Year (NAI Fuller Peiser) NAI Global 2005 Committee Leadership Award (NAI Fuller Peiser) NAI Global 2005 Member of the Year-EMEA Region (NAI Fuller Peiser) NAI Global 2004 Member of the Year -International Region (NAI Fuller Peiser) Significant Transactions Prior to joining NAI Global Paul in his capacity as Senior Director Corporate Solutions at BNP Paribas Real Estate Paul was Senior Relationship Manager for clients such as Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Travis Perkins, Federal Express Chesapeake, Rockwell Collins, Vue Cinemas, Cineworld
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