Take advantage of the opportunities the British Midlands offers Indian companies

The British Midlands is a UK government-funded organisation, that comprises two of the nine UK-based regional development agencies East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) and Advantage West Midlands (AWM) who work together to offer support to all international businesses looking to invest in the British Midlands region. The British Midlands region, which is the largest commercial centre outside London, has always been a favoured investment destination for Indian engineering, manufacturing and automotive companies. India is among the top ten countries to have invested into the UK in the last couple of years. At present there are over 50 Indian-owned companies in the British Midlands region and this is expected to double in the next few years.

The benefits of investing in British Midlands

• UK’s primary manufacturing region with a GDP of $ 176 billion which is 15% of GDP is the British Midlands
• Proximity to the city of London
• 25% cheaper than London with same quality of skill sets and standard of living
• Strategic location for access to Europe’s 400 million inhabitants
• Property rates – 28% less than that of London
• Excellent linkages – air, water, road and rail transportation – 180 plus flights to Europe, US and Middle East
• Excellent Research facilities with 17 world class universities
• Largest freight hub outside London in UK
• Largest concentration of Indian population in the region in UK

The region has expertise in the following sectors which enables it to be the primary manufacturing region in the UK:

Engineering Cluster in The British Midlands

The Engineering Sector in The British Midlands is part of the Transportation technologies cluster. This broad cluster includes many sub-clusters such as Automotive and Performance Engineering, Railways and Aerospace.

Credentials in Automotive and Performance Engineering Cluster

About 900 automotive companies (1/3rd of UK) are in The British Midlands. 51% of all UK car production takes place in The British Midlands. 25% of all motorsport companies in UK are based in the British Midlands, including engine manufacturers, race and rally preparation companies, and race car construction teams. 40% of all Formula One engines are made in the British Midlands. The region’s racing circuits include Silverstone (the UK’s premier motorsport venue and home to Formula 1), Donington Park, Mallory Park, Rockingham Motor Speedway and Santa Pod Raceway (the UK’s leading drag racing venue) and the British Midlands has established an international reputation in motorsport engineering and technology.

Europe’s largest road distribution centre, Magna Park, is located here, along with three dedicated rail freight terminals providing intermodal road and rail transportation and customs facilities.

Mile-long trains can travel from Eurohub in Corby direct to Paris.

Credentials in Railways

Over 1000 companies are directly involved in the rail industry. Derbyshire is the focal point for the UK rail industry. It is uniquely placed to offer virtually all of the skills needed to design, build and run a modern transportation network. University of Birmingham has a dedicated Railway Research Centre, involved in industry-wide research to improve the safety and efficiency of rail travel.

Credentials in Aerospace

There are more than 600 aerospace companies located here. The British Midlands is home to nearly 27% of all suppliers to the UK aerospace industry and contributes over 43% of the value of the country’s supplies. The region’s long association with the aerospace industry began with the development of the jet engine, RADAR and the Spitfire Credentials in Research & Development Credentials. Motor Industry Research Association, Europe’s leading independent automotive research, design and development centre houses test facilities in the region.

It has 26 test laboratories and 50 m of test tracks, used by over 800 companies worldwide. It has conducted research for MG (Lola Le Mans cars), Rob Beere Racing, T-Cars formula, Peugeot Rally and Prodrive’s Subaru team.

Coventry is a magnet for companies carrying out R&D for the automotive industry – Lotus, Corus and Lear have all established major bases here. The Ford College in Loughborough is a ground-breaking initiative which is benchmarking standards of professionalism for the auto dealerships industry. The Motorsport Industry Association has over 220 members, who do over $ 960 m of motorsport business worldwide. QinetiQ, the largest research and development organization in Western Europe, has 8,000 scientists in the region. Toyota has established its own Training Centre on a 1.2 acre site within the grounds of Nottingham Trent University.

Loughborough University and Warwick University offer leading edge research, development and test facilities specific to the motorsports industry. The British Midlands is internationally acknowledged as a world centre of automotive technology innovation. Its expertise extends across design, fabrication, engine technology, transmission, electronic systems, components and chassis. The Rolls Royce University Technology Centre in Birmingham carries out ground-breaking research and development work on titanium based materials for the aerospace industry. The Rolls Royce University Technology Centre in Nottingham researches advanced aero engine technologies. Research at Warwick Manufacturing Group has led to numerous breakthroughs and innovations for the aerospace industry. Warwick is a partner in ENHANCE (Enhanced Aeronautical Concurrent Engineering) which aims to reduce the time-to-market and cost of development of aeronautical products.

Apart from this, the region has 17 universities that produce 7,000 engineering and technology graduates annually.

For more details visit: www.thebritishmidlands.com

New business from The British Midlands

Yesterday in New Delhi a business mission from England’s British Midlands region was welcomed by one of leading real estate companies, Vipul Ltd. The British Midlands, a UK government-funded organisation, that comprises two of the nine UK-based regional development agencies East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) and Advantage West Midlands (AWM) who work together to offer support to all international businesses looking to invest in the British Midlands region. Mr. Anil Aggarwal, Director, Vipul Ltd. was Chief Guest at the inauguration of the mission as it heads for the Punjab.

The British High Commission supports this group of business people who will be meeting partners in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jallandhar and Amritsar in a week of busy business meetings, with support from the CII and UK Trade and Investment.

The key theme of the missioners is growth through delivery of shared visions between the Punjab and the British Midlands region of England that matches the Punjab in Agri-business, Engineering, Education and research. The British Midlands region hosts nine leading Universities and many excellent colleges – two participating in this mission.

The region is keen to develop partnerships and share its diverse advanced technologies in space, transport – from rail to motor racing, waste treatment, bio and life sciences and technical textiles. It is also host to high quality services, as wide ranging as quality assurance, innovative design education, ICT, skills assessment, and freight support services. The UK’s most prestigious luxury brand in table and giftware, Royal Crown Derby, is also part of this mission.

The Universities in the Punjab have been approached by the British High Commission to match those in the British Midlands, and this mission will start the formal partnering with the Punjab, identifying shared strategies and opportunities to create new joint research, new courses and fresh content that will start to develop.

The mission is led by Helen Deas, who set up the East Midlands India Business Bureau for England’s East Midlands Development Agency (emda) after completing three years as Deputy Head of Mission and Head of trade and investment Western India in the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai.

Thanking Vipul Ltd. for their support she said “I am certain that two States in India are natural partners for the British Midlands’ region. This visit to the Punjab will result in business and future new developments for the mutual benefit of our educational establishments, businesses and people. I am delighted to have witnessed India’s innovation and growth. Whatever world problems there are, our regions have so much to gain that they need to understand more about each other now. The British Midlands India Business Bureau will offer free help to bring our businesses and skills programmes together, with support for Punjabi senior business visitors, looking to visit or establish, as well as British Midlands’ firms doing the same in the Punjab. In addition to many Punjabi speakers is the region, we also are proud to be home to the excellent entrepreneurial example of Dr Nath Puri, of Purico and the Puri Foundation, now President of the Nottinghamshire Cricket Club.”

Mr. Anil Aggarwal met ten organizations on this British Midlands Regional Government funded mission and will be supporting their meetings in Ludhiana. Talking at the meet he said “We welcome this interest from the businesses from this East Midlands India Business Bureau supported mission. This mission will not only improve the bilateral relations between India and the UK but will also provide us a platform to further enhance our business opportunities. We are glad that the Punjab is on their priority list as it offers huge growth potential for mutual business development. We are looking forward to working with them and to widening our business scope.”

The British Midlands India Business Bureau plans a further University mission to the Punjab and to Gujarat later this year.

For further details:
http://www.thebritishmidlands.com