According to the latest available regional figures, the East of England exported £265 million worth of goods to India in 2009, and is ranked fourth among the nine English regions in terms of the value of its exports there. The UKIBC believes the region and the UK as a whole can do much more to harness the opportunities offered by the rapidly expanding Indian market.
Over 500 businesses across the UK, including local employers Mott MacDonald and Red Gate Software are due to attend the conference organized by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), the business led organization backed by Government and set up to boost UK India bilateral trade. Ludo Chapman, Managing Director of Cambridge-based Grant Instruments (pictured) is a keynote speaker.
He said: “Advice and experience I would want to share with companies thinking of India as a potential market are: don’t think you can succeed too quickly; don’t think a Western approach will work in the Indian market, as time and effort has to be spent establishing relationships and adapting to Indian requirements; it is critical to understand your competition there, both local and international; utilise any local knowledge when doing the initial market assessment - for instance, our experts who undertook our market study were ex-Philips personnel who worked in India and who were also able to connect us with distributors. Finally, senior management of the company must spend time supporting local staff and showing commitment to the market.”
Businesses will be able to meet and gain other useful advice on how to get established in profitable Indian markets from representatives of summit sponsors Rolls Royce, Tata, Pearson, PWC and Standard Chartered.
The largest sector of UK goods exports, by value, to India in 2010 was diamonds (£720 million or 18% of all UK exports of goods to India), followed by silver and then ferrous waste and scrap. Meanwhile, there are over 1,500 Australian businesses currently exporting everything from jeans to cookies to India. France has successfully sold high-end brands like L'Oréal and Dior into the Indian market.
The UK India Business Council particularly believes that the East of England is the UK's “ideas region” one of the most dynamic and fastest growing in the country, with five of the world’s top-ranked universities, the third highest level of business spend on R&D in Europe, a global financial hub and vibrant science, new media and technology sectors. This means it is the perfect region to find business partnerships in India, to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunities in India’s science, healthcare, entertainment and media sectors which, fuelled by the world’s largest young population, are expanding rapidly and there is an obvious and lucrative market for UK technology businesses with smart IP, with India’s IT industry is worth over £30 billion.
Richard Heald, CEO of the UK India Business Council, said: “I urge East of England businesses, already strong in so many crucial sectors, to leverage fast growing economies like India which weren’t hit as hard by the global financial crisis. This is very different to previous global recessions because a powerful economy like India can provide huge opportunities for local businesses right here in the East of England.
“The UKIBC is here to show them the practical steps they need to take in order to start forming partnerships with Indian business and Government. It can seem like a huge leap but small businesses around the world are finding fantastic opportunities in India every single day.”
The conference, at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, which is being attended by the likes of Ipsos, City and Guilds, Waitrose and DHL will focus on market entry and expansion strategies, and will attract speakers from UK businesses and Indian multinationals. Companies taking part include Tata Consultancy Services’ chief executive Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Bournville College, Pearson, Pizza Express, Get Through Guides and Grant Instruments, with more to be confirmed. It will provide:
Workshops giving practical help on issues ranging from collaboration at the R&D level and accessing each other’s markets to jointly participating in the global value chain of digital media technology; Networking opportunities with potential Indian Business partners and UK businesses that already have expertise in the Indian market; Brand new market intelligence on the best opportunities.
East of England businesses that would like more information about the event can go to www.ukibc.com/summit. Book your place at http://www.ukibc.com/summit/Register.aspx
Grant Instruments – A Case Study
Grant Instruments, founded in 1951, is a privately held company based near Cambridge. Grant has established international leadership in the manufacture and design of equipment for sample preparation, scientific analysis, data acquisition and data analysis, providing solutions to the global scientific and industrial markets.
The scientific division of Grant Instruments designs and manufactures a wide range of high quality laboratory equipment used throughout the world for analytical, diagnostic and research purposes. Grant also offers a choice of data logging products.
Grant today sells its products in nearly 100 countries and has a relationship history with India that spans several decades. Initially however, it took a reactive approach to working in India, dealing with requests for their products on an ad hoc basis. Three years ago, Grant realised that India is an exceedingly important market for them and that they needed to be much more structured in dealing with it.
So they commissioned a market study from experts in their field in India to assess the market opportunities. Next, they looked at what distribution mechanism was to be adopted and looked at potential distributors. The final critical step was that to show their distributors the commitment that Grant has to the Indian market, so they established an office in Bangalore. Their focus now is on the metropolitan cities targeting the pharmaceutical, education and private sectors. Today, they have already established 80% of their distribution network. Grant thus took a systematic approach of entering a market by showing their international experience. This experience enabled them to appreciate the need to understand and plan for country-specific nuances.
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UKIBC is led by business, with a board and members drawn from all sectors and from the largest firms to the newest start-ups. They’re backed by the UK government through UKTI (the government's trade and investment arm) and ensure that the business voice is heard by governments of both countries. http://www.ukibc.com/
Media can register by emailing press@ukibc.com