A city consultancy has set up an office in New Delhi after seeing rising demand from the subcontinent.

A visit to India to explore business opportunities proved the start of something major for Temple Management Training.

Although the visit to India was intended as an exploratory one, such was the level of interest in the Marston Green-based company’s Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) training that it decided to set up a base there.

The firm attended a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) visit after discovering there might be some potential to deliver the quality management systems training the firm specialises in.

Managing director Bob Hughes said: “The skills shortage in India has been reported many times, so our team set about working with UKTI and a visit was arranged.

“The objective was to link our business with the Auto Export Exhibition taking place in New Delhi which would offer a unique platform in terms of meeting organisations.

“We were there a few days before the show opened and UKTI and the British High Commission in New Delhi had arranged lots of meetings for us with Indian training providers, with a view to showing how the UK and India could connect as regards professional training.

“That kept us busy until the show opened and once that started we mingled with the crowds and saw lots of enquiries.”

Interest soon snowballed and Mr Hughes said the firm received “a barrage of orders” – prompting a decision to set up its own office there.

The New Delhi office is being headed up by international systems manager Richa Khatana.

Temple Management Training also used the trip to enhance links with one of its key UK customers – JCB – visiting two of the firm’s Indian manufacturing plants. It is now hoping to provide training in India for the Staffordshire-based firm.

As well as JCB it has also worked with a wide range of clients in the UK, including the NHS, Severn Trent, Cambridgeshire Constabulary,  Anopol and Weir Waste.

The Indian visit and office set-up was spearheaded by Temple Management Training’s Bal Gill, assisted by Mr Hughes, Tally Singh and Amarjit Singh.

Speaking about opportunities with JCB in India, Mr Hughes said: “We are doing lots of work in the UK with JCB and hoping to extend that as an international training provider.

“They want to do something called “one quality” where they are trying to bring all their engineers up to the same level.

“We are now in liaison to connect with the three manufacturing sites at JCB India, introducing “one quality” global international training – building on the success we have had with JCB in the UK.”

As well as being an approved training centre for The CQI, delivering its training and systems implementation from its Elmdon Lane training centre, Temple Management Training also delivers Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) through e-learning and training centre based tuition and City & Guilds accounts/book keeping courses.

In the wake of the firm’s success in creating an Indian base so quickly, Mr Hughes paid tribute to UKTI and the help it had received.

“UKTI have been brilliant in terms of assisting us and liaising with the High Commission and I would urge any UK company interested in exporting to contact them,” he said.

“The support we have had has been fantastic. We would ask for information and you would get it the same day - you can’t ask for anything more.

“Getting involved with UKTI was how it all kicked off and we are certainly going to maintain links with the organisation.”