The managing partner of Mazars in the Midlands has been on the road in India banging the drum for the region as the gateway into Europe.
David Chapman from the firm’s Birmingham has a strong relationship with Tata in India and works with Jaguar Land Rover in the Midlands.
Mr Chapman was accompanied by Jerry Green, international commercial manager of HSBC, in making major presentations to chairmen and chief executives of companies in Delhi and Mumbai. “We were pushing the Midlands as the Gateway to Europe for companies on the Indian sub-continent who want to launch or grow the export side of their business.
“And we stressed that the global reach of both Mazars and HSBC meant that we were natural partners for those looking for a foothold in the European market,” he said.
He cited growing evidence of Indian interest in the Midlands as base for their European operations.
“We are a gateway to Europe – 50 per cent of India’s investment in Europe goes to the UK– even before you take Tata into consideration. There has been a ten per cent increase in Indian companies choosing to locate their European headquarters in the UK,” he said.
Some 700 Indian companies have chosen to locate their businesses here and India is now the fourth largest investor in the UK, he pointed out.
And he noted: “Although British people of Indian origin account for just two per cent of the total UK population, they punch above that weight to generate five per cent of UK GDP.”
