Indian firms eye British Midlands to enter UK, EU

Seeking an entry into the UK and European markets, close to 15 Indian firms are learnt to have evinced interest in acquiring companies or setting up base in East and West Midlands in the UK.

Companies dealing in automotives, engineering design and IT have been in dialogue with The British Midlands, the UK government-funded organisation which has been set up to attract international investment for subsequent job creation in the region.

“Considering the Midlands’ proximity to London and the vast manufacturing base, the number of Indian companies coming to Midlands has more than doubled in the last two years, “ said David Fisken, Market Manager-Asia Pacific, The British Midlands.

He said the investments proposed by these companies are still in various phases of discussion. In some cases, The British Midlands funds upto 15 per cent of the acquiring company’s capital cost under its Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE) scheme. The organisation had contributed financially to Mahindra & Mahindra’s acquisition of the Stokes Group.

There are around 50 Indian firms in the British Midlands at present, which include Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank and Aditya Birla Group.

A major driver for the Indian companies for invest in the British Midlands are property prices which are 25 per cent to 40 per cent lower than London. “There are over 1,500 companies in automobiles, 700 in aerospace and over 1,300 IT companies in the region with no dominant local software player, which makes it an attractive market for Indian technology companies,” added Fisken.