London’s international trade, investment, and promotion agency – London & Partners organized an exclusive interaction with the press and media here in the city on Wednesday with Hemin Bharucha, the agency’s Country Director for India on the various business opportunities and tourism available in London.

Hemin Bharucha briefed the gathering about his organization and interacted with the reporters.

“London & Partners is a government agency that is headed by the Mayor of London. We help companies from India to set up in London, and we also help companies in London to do business in India,” he said.

The main objective of organizing this interactive session is to convey to the public that an agency like London & Partners is available to help companies that are looking to expand their business in London.

“We are funded by the government, and all our services are free,” Mr.Bharucha said.

Sharing a glimpse of the support that London & Partners could facilitate to aspiring companies, he said that the agency will not only help a business organization from India set foot on London, but also help them in terms of acquiring the needed property, people and other resources.They will be introduced to business networks/connection, and will also be provided the opportunity to attend the events organized by London & Partners.

Mr.Bharucha said that a lot of companies from Coimbatore, Chennai and Madurai are showing interest in taking their business to London. Recently a Coimbatore-based software product development company called VenPep Solutions entered London.

He shared that a delegation comprising of London-based VFX companies are coming to India. While they usually go to Tier 1 cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, this time they are looking at Chennai. Mr.Bharucha said that during their next visit they may also come to Coimbatore and Madurai because there is so much happening in these cities. So there could be good chances for collaborations and partnerships.

So far 900+ Indian companies have entered UK, and more than 400 are headquartered in London, according to Mr.Bharucha.

London & Partners are focused taking up technology companies, VFX, Digital Gaming, Animation, Movie Studios, Life-Sciences and Sustainability companies to their city.

“Every year, we alone support about 40 companies to set up in London,” he said. “There is no minimum share capital or minimum investment amount we ask for,” he added.

Mr.Bharucha also opined that setting up business in London is easy as the legal system & accounting system are almost the same, the language (English) is quite widely spoken in India. Also, there is a huge Indian population in London; 6% of London is of Indian origin.

“For the last 5 years, India is the 2nd largest investor in the UK, and for the last 2 years it has been the largest investor in London,” he shared.