700 Indian firms in the UK employ over 1,00,000: study

Indian entrepreneurs are playing an increasing role in the growth of the British economy, creating employment opportunities and contributing to the country's gross national product (GDP), according to a new report.

About 700 Indian-owned companies in UK collectively employ over 1 lakh persons, according to Grant Thornton UK LLP's India Tracker 2014 report.

The report, prepared in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), monitors UK offshoots of Indian companies to assess their growth in terms of turnover and employment.

Of the over 700 Indian-owned small to large-sized businesses in the UK, 41 organisations have reported year-on-year growth rates of more than 10 per cent, with 26 of these recording strong growth in excess of 20 per cent.

These 41 companies are in technology or telecoms, pharmaceuticals or chemicals, and engineering and manufacturing.

These 'Top 41' corporates, including large corporates (5), mid-sized corporates (17) and SMEs (19) across the UK, generated combined revenues of around £19 billion, according to the report.

Among major investors in the Top 41, Tata Motors account for more than 80 per cent of the total turnover.

"The appetite and opportunities for successful UK investment by Indian companies remain as strong as ever. In light of sluggish growth potential in India, investors are increasingly eager to enter or scale up their UK operations as the British economy re-enters a growth phase," Anuj Chande, partner and head of the South Asia Group at Grant Thornton UK LLP, stated.

The report cited a close cultural interaction between India and the UK over the past as a contributor to Indian executives' decision to set up a base in the UK, which also provides them an access point to European market, he added.

Launching the report earlier this week, Ranjan Mathai, High Commissioner of India to the UK, said, "I am very pleased that this research has been conducted to show the strength of Indian investment and the range of business in which they have invested in the UK. This complements the UKTI statistics of India being the 5th largest investor in the UK last year.''

"The pharmaceutical / chemical and technology / telecom sectors represent over half of the organisations in the Top 41 (22 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively); although the automotive, transport and engineering and manufacturing sectors are also strongly represented," Mathai added.

Geographically, of the Top 41 Indian companies operating in the UK, 29 per cent are based in London, 32 per cent in the South, 29 per cent in the North and 10 per cent in the Midlands.

There are also 12 Indian corporates in the UK employing more than 1,000 people each, according to the report.