Tracking upward trends of Indian investment in the UK
By AMIT ROYMay 13, 2022
THE shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and his Labour front-bench colleague, Preet Gill, the shadow international development secretary, have both dismissed Boris Johnson’s recent trip to India as being of little consequence.
But Grant Thornton’s report, India meets Britain Tracker: The latest trends in Indian investment in the UK 2022, indicates that the British prime minister has a better grasp of just how crucial India is to the UK economy, and that an interim trade agreement “by Diwali” between the two countries is a goal worth pursuing.
Lammy had tweeted: “The fact that Boris Johnson is running scared from updating parliament on his fruitless trip to India shows it was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to distract from his lies and law-breaking at home.
” Meanwhile, Gill called the visit “a vanity trip”.
The Grant Thornton report, compiled with the help of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and launched last week, analysed the performance of 900 Indian companies in the UK, up from 850 in 2021. The report says 26 per cent of them have at least one woman on their board, compared with 17 per cent of Nifty500 companies. They have a total turnover of £54.4 billion, an increase from £50.8bn in 2021. And they paid £304.6 million in corporation tax, compared with £459.2m in 2021.
It is possible Lammy and Gill are unaware that “together the Indian companies employed 141,005 people, up from 116,046 in 2021 and 110,793 in 2020”.
The Tracker report does not include companies owned by British Indians or the UK branches of firms with headquarters in India.
The report, now in its ninth edition, sets out which 900 companies have been studied: “The Tracker includes Indian-owned corporates with operations headquartered or with a significant base in the UK, with turnover of more than £5m, year-on-year revenue growth of at least 10 per cent and a minimum two-year track record in the UK, based on the latest published accounts filed as at March 31, 2022.
Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi in Delhi in April (Photo: Ben Stansall/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“To compile the India meets Britain Tracker 2022, Grant Thornton analysed data from 900 UK-incorporated limited companies that are owned directly or indirectly, or controlled, by either an Indian-incorporated parent or an Indian citizen resident outside the UK.
” It commented: “The increase in the number of companies and number of people employed is remarkable in the context of Covid-19 disruption.” The report states: “During his visit, prime minister Johnson announced commercial deals by UK and Indian businesses worth more than £1bn in new investments and export deals in areas from software engineering to health, creating almost 11,000 jobs across the UK.”
The report makes it clear that Johnson’s visit was neither “fruitless” nor a “vanity trip”.
It says: “Free trade negotiations launched this year have the potential to transform the relationship between India and UK. A deal between the two countries, currently the fifth and sixth-largest economies in the world, would drive a dramatic increase in the two-way flow of investment and opportunities.”
Eastern Eye discussed the report in an exclusive interview with its principal author, Anuj Chande, partner and head of South Asia Business Group at Grant Thornton.
Asked whether a UK-India trade agreement was dependent on Johnson remaining prime minister, Chande said: “Obviously, there is a personal relationship between Modi and Johnson. But I think the strength and depth of the UK-India relationship outlives any change in prime minister.”
He added: “He’s [Johnson] very committed to doing something with India. He enjoys doing business with India. He sees the potential of India. So there’s no doubt that it’s very much something that he’s emotionally attached to and wants to succeed.”
As to what kind of deal was likely, Chande said: “I think it’ll be an interim as opposed to the final deal. It’s a bit ambitious to expect the final deal to be done by Diwali. They will try and deal with some of the low-hanging fruit, some of the easier issues to deal with.
“It’ll be more about reducing duties on some engineering and healthcare products exported from the UK to India. They may also deal with the social security imbalance that exists, where Indian expatriates here have to wait five years before they have access to social security, whereas a US counterpart has to wait less time.
“Whisky is always mentioned as a hot topic. But I don’t know whether the Indian government will necessarily give in that easily on that.”
Chande reckons the 2.5 million-strong Indian diaspora in the UK has a key role to play: “They’re interpreted as this living bridge between India and UK. So they promote India to UK companies because they come from a culture they understand. They have family there. They know the potential of India. They know the benefits of India so they can use that knowledge and experience to educate UK companies that there is a huge market opportunity.”
He pointed out: “There are still a lot of UK companies that don’t really think about India in terms of an export market or in terms of setting up business there. So the diaspora do have a part to play because they’re not so cautious.”
Getting rid of non-domicile status – as the Labour party has pledged to do – may deter many Indian investors from coming to the UK, Chande warned.
Non-doms pay tax on their UK earnings, but on overseas earnings, they are liable to pay tax only if these are brought into the UK. This practice has existed for 200 years. But Labour targeted Akshata Murty, wife of the chancellor Rishi Sunak, because of her non-dom status, even after she volunteered to pay the extra tax on her foreign earnings from Infosys shares.
Chande explained: “There are a lot of Indian families that are setting up base to become residents here (in the UK) because their children are going to education here. And for them, the non-dom tax benefit is very important. They don’t have any intention to necessarily live here for the rest of their lives. But they want to be here while the kids are being educated. They find the UK is a comfortable place because of the huge diaspora community, the food, language and everything else. So for them, any potential change in the non-dom status would be a major factor in their decision as to whether they would remain in the UK.
“Whether the Labour party gets rid of it is a different matter. But (for many Indians), that would be a negative factor.”
The top sectors were technology and telecoms (35 per cent); pharmaceuticals and chemicals (27 per cent); engineering and manufacturing (14 per cent); consumer (11 per cent); energy (five per cent); automotive (three per cent); business services (three per cent); and real estate (three per cent).
There was a special focus on 37 companies whose revenues had grown by at least 10 per cent. They had an average growth of 38 per cent, a combined turnover of £1.6bn and 5,077 employees.
“Of the 37 fastest-growing companies, 33 have featured in previous Trackers and show how Indian companies are achieving sustained growth. Four of this year’s Tracker companies have appeared in it for three consecutive years – these are Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd, Marksans Pharma Ltd, Route Mobile, and Zensar Technologies Ltd.
“The three fastest growing companies were MSSL (GB) Ltd (248 per cent); Prodapt (UK) Ltd (114 per cent); and Route Mobile (UK) Ltd (98 per cent).
“This year, for the first time, more of the fastest growing companies are located outside London (20 companies) than in London (17 companies). Outside London, the north is the most popular region, with 22 per cent of all tracker companies located there.”
The report acknowledges that UK-India mergers and acquisitions activity “was sluggish, both in terms of the number of deals being made and the overall value of deals. Nevertheless, several notable deals went through. Wipro, India’s third-largest IT company, acquired Capco, a global management and technology consultancy to the banking and financial services industry, for $1.45bn (£1.18bn). The deal will make Wipro one of the largest providers of integrated, end-to-end consulting, digital, cloud and IT transformation services.
“Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s most high-profile business groups, acquired a strategic stake in British broadband satellite communications company Oneweb, in a deal worth $500m (£405m).
“Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries acquired the Sheffield-based battery technology developer, Faradion, in a deal worth £100m.”
The Tracker deals with the recovery from the pandemic: “Despite its terrible impact, the global health emergency delivered positive examples of the close relationship between India and the UK. In April 2021, the UK sent more than 600 pieces of vital medical equipment to India to support the country in its fight against Covid-19. This included ventilators and oxygen concentrator devices. Later in the year, an emergency appeal by the British Asian Trust raised over £4m, including £2m in government match funding.
“The past year has brought impressive evidence of the deep ties between India and the UK, with the two countries collaborating on vaccines and medical support to tackle the pandemic. The threat from Covid-19 seems, at last, to be subsiding and the two countries can now focus on deepening their relationship further for the future.
“As 2021 began, the pandemic continued to exert its impact worldwide, with both the UK and India experiencing further waves of Covid-19 during the first half of the year. Despite this, Indian businesses in the UK succeeded in expanding their combined turnover and increasing the number of jobs they support. The growth in the number of Indian-owned companies in the UK, identified by our research, is remarkable and reflects the increasing appetite for Indian businesses to set up greenfield operations and make investments in the UK despite Brexit and Covid-19 challenges.
“Following negative growth during 2020, the Indian and UK economies bounced back during 2021 as vaccines began to bring the pandemic under control. India forecasts GDP growth of 9.2 per cent for 2021- 22 and 8-8.5 per cent for 2022-23. This will make it the world’s fastest-growing economy between 2021-24.
“Against the backdrop of pandemic-related disruption, India remained a leading source of foreign direct investment into the UK during 2020-21, accounting for 99 FDI projects, second only to the United States in terms of project numbers.”
Chande, who launched the tracker at an event at the St James’ Court Taj Hotel in London last Thursday (5), said it “has been the barometer of Indian investment in the UK for the last nine years. This year is particularly relevant in the context of the pandemic and its impact on Indian subsidiaries in the UK.
“The UK and India are now entering a new higher level of India-UK partnership. We have the UK-India free trade agreement that is under negotiation with the aspirational target that is set by both prime ministers for something like Diwali time.
“Grant Thornton has been involved in in this corridor for the last 30 years. We feel that with the India-UK Free Trade Agreement we actually see numbers growing and look forward to the next decade where we will see trade doubling or tripling.”
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has secured confiscation orders totalling £305,284 from Raheel Mirza, Cameron Vickers and Opeyemi Solaja for their roles in an investment fraud. The orders cover all their remaining assets.
The confiscation proceedings against a fourth defendant, Reuben Akpojaro, have been adjourned.
The FCA said the money will be returned to investors as soon as possible. Failure to pay could lead to imprisonment.
Between June 2016 and January 2020, the defendants cold-called individuals and persuaded them to invest in a shell company.
They claimed to trade client money in binary options, but the funds were used to fund their lifestyles.
In 2023, the four were convicted and sentenced to a combined 24 and a half years.
Steve Smart, executive director, Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: “We are committed to fighting financial crime, including denying criminals their ill-gotten gains. We’ve already successfully prosecuted these individuals for their part in a scam that conned 120 people out of their money. We’re now seeking to recover as much as we can for victims.”
PETER GLOVER, a long-standing member of the Day Lewis Group, died on 10 May 2025. He was with the company for 37 years, having joined in June 1987 as a pharmacist.
He held several roles, including Group Superintendent Pharmacist, and most recently worked in a Professional Services Advisory role. He was part of the senior management team for decades.
JC Patel, Co-Founder of Day Lewis Group, said: “Peter was much loved and well-known across the pharmacy industry. His contributions to the field were significant and his legacy will be remembered by all who had the privilege of working with him. He leaves behind a lasting impact on Day Lewis and the wider pharmacy community.”
The company extended condolences to his family and friends.
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Rachel Reeves welcomed the figures, saying they 'show the strength and potential of the UK economy,' while adding that 'there is more to do'. (Photo: Getty Images)
THE UK economy grew more than expected in the first quarter of the year, according to official data published on Thursday. The figures cover the period before business tax increases and US President Donald Trump's new tariffs came into effect.
Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent from January to March, following a small increase in the final quarter of last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Economists had forecast a rise of 0.6 per cent.
The data comes as a boost for prime minister Keir Starmer and the Labour government, which has faced slow growth since taking office in July.
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the figures, saying they "show the strength and potential of the UK economy," while adding that "there is more to do".
However, analysts warned that the growth may not continue.
Thursday's data is from before the business tax hike announced in the Labour government’s first budget last October, which came into effect in April.
It also predates the baseline 10 per cent tariff that Trump imposed on the UK and other countries last month.
"This might be as good as it gets for the year," said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
‘Short lived’
The growth is "set to be short lived as tariffs take effect”, said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.
She said that despite the UK-US trade agreement announced last week, “tariffs on UK exports to the US remain significantly higher than what they were prior to April”.
Under the agreement, tariffs were cut on British cars and removed on steel and aluminium. In return, the UK agreed to open markets to US beef and other agricultural products.
But the 10 per cent baseline tariff remains.
Selfin added that "the indirect impact of trade tensions between the US and the EU will further constrain demand for UK exports".
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said, "The economy grew strongly in the first quarter of the year, largely driven by services, though production also grew significantly, after a period of decline."
Analysts said production growth may be due to manufacturers rushing to complete exports ahead of the US tariff changes.
Separate trade data released on Thursday showed UK goods exports to the US rose for the fourth straight month in March.
"This pattern of increasing exports could be a sign of changing trader behaviour ahead of tariff introduction," the ONS said.
"Any residual support for manufacturing from front-running will fade from here on, pointing to activity remaining weak for the foreseeable future," said economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
The ONS said monthly GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in March, after rising 0.5 per cent in February.
The data follows the Bank of England’s decision last week to cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to 4.25 per cent, as US tariffs begin to affect growth prospects.
The Bank raised its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2025 to 1 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 0.75 per cent, but lowered its projection for 2026 to 1.25 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent.
Earlier this week, data showed UK unemployment in the first quarter had reached its highest level since 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
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The company currently manufactures its popular Range Rovers in Solihull, West Midlands
JAGUAR LAND ROVER's chief executive has left open the possibility of building cars in the US as questions remain about the newly announced UK-US trade agreement, reported the Telegraph.
Adrian Mardell said that while there are no immediate plans to shift manufacturing across the Atlantic, he couldn't dismiss the idea completely given the ongoing trade uncertainties.
"We had and currently have no cause to build cars in the US at this time, but we cannot discount that it could be the case at some point," Mardell was quoted as saying.
His comments will worry government officials who are rushing to finalise practical aspects of the trade deal announced last week by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump.
The agreement has reduced tariffs from a potential 27.5 per cent down to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles exported from the UK to the US. This has already prompted JLR to restart US shipments after previously pausing them.
JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors, currently manufactures its popular Range Rovers in Solihull, West Midlands, while producing models like the Land Rover Discovery and Defender elsewhere in Europe.
North America represents a crucial market for the luxury carmaker, with 129,000 vehicles sold there in the year ending March — roughly a third of its worldwide sales. Most of these sales occurred in the US.
However, car manufacturers are still awaiting key details about how the agreement will work in practice. Bentley's chief executive Frank-Steffen Walliser expressed concerns at a Financial Times conference about the current uncertainty.
"The worst thing that can happen to a running business is the announcement of lower tariff," Walliser explained. "It means all your customers say 'I won't buy a car now', especially our customers, our clients don't need a car at the moment."
He added that the lack of clarity was seriously affecting business: "It is super hard on the business at the moment, nobody's moving."
One major question remains about how the tariff-free quota of 100,000 vehicles will be divided among different car companies.
"Is the 100,000 for Bentley? I can live with that," Walliser remarked. "But I assume our colleagues from JLR would also like to have a chunk."
Bentley, which sells around 4,000 cars annually in the Americas with the US being its largest market, has so far avoided price increases by shipping vehicles to America before tariffs were imposed. However, Walliser warned this strategy was becoming unsustainable as stock levels decreased.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining," he said about the trade deal. "But it is not operational."
Despite these concerns, Starmer has defended the agreement, insisting it "delivers for British business and British workers protecting thousands of British jobs in key sectors including car manufacturing and steel."
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Trade unionists in front of Arcelor Mittal headquarters in Saint Denis in France on May 13, 2025. (Photo by DANIEL PERRON/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
UNIONS in France fighting to save 600 jobs at ArcelorMittal operations in the country called for the government to take control of them, along the lines of what has happened to British Steel.
CGT union chief Sophie Binet promised hundreds of workers demonstrating outside ArcelorMittal's offices of its French subsidiary in France that she would press the issue with president Emmanuel Macron.
"I will deliver to him the CGT proposals to nationalise" the group's French operations, she told the protesting workers.
ArcelorMittal announced plans last month to cut 600 jobs across the seven sites it has in France, from a total workforce in the country of around 7,100 people. It is in the process of negotiating the job reductions with unions.
The group -- the second-biggest steelmaker in the world, formed from a merger of India's Mittal Steel with European company Arcelor -- has warned of industry "uncertainty" after the US imposed 25-per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
Yet the group in April posted a quarterly group net profit of $805 million (£633m). To shave costs, it is shifting some support jobs from Europe to India, and last year it suspended a $2 billion (£1.57bn) decarbonisation investment in France.
French unions believe Macron's government can follow the lead of its British counterpart, which last month passed a law allowing it to take control of ailing British Steel.
Italy last year also ousted ArcelorMittal as owner of its debt-ridden ex-Ilva plant, accusing the company of failing to prop up the operation after buying control in 2018.
"The Italians have done it, the British have done it... so why aren't we French able to also do it?" asked a regional CGT head, Gaetan Lecocq.
But a junior French minister for business, Veronique Louwagie, told parliament that "nationalisation is not a response in itself to the difficulties faced by the European steel industry".
She also said, however, that the government expected the company "to give what its mid-term strategy in France is".
A lawmaker with the hard-left France Unbowed party, Aurelie Trouve, has put forward a bill for the nationalisation of ArcelorMittal in France.
Trouve said the company "has clearly been organising the offshoring of production for years, and now we are faced with an emergency".