March 18 2016, 20.52 PM IST || Pocket News Alert
British Airways and London & Partners host India Emerging Twenty (IE20) 2016 in London
Lord Bilimoria and Mayor of London welcome India’s next high growth multi-national companies to London
Chennai, 17 March 2016 – Twenty Indian companies were awarded India Emerging Twenty (IE20) 2016 honour in London last night as part of the inaugural India Emerging 20 (IE20) programme, an initiative by London & Partners and supported by British Airways to identify and showcase India’s most promising global companies.
During a rigorous selection procedure, the companies, in financial and business services, technology and life sciences, were selected to come to London to meet and learn from senior business leaders, venture capital investors and decision makers from major global companies. Over the past 20 years, Indian companies have established themselves globally in terms of size, dynamism and innovation. IE20 offers an opportunity for companies to test themselves against the best and win recognition on the international stage offering them an opportunity to maximise their global potential.
Moran Birger, British Airways’ regional commercial manager, South Asia, “India is fast emerging as the land of rising entrepreneurship and we are delighted to provide a platform such as IE20 to aid young and bright minds of the country in achieving their goals and global aspirations. With a proud heritage in India spanning over 90 years, we believe it is vital to give right opportunities to growing businesses to win recognition and develop global potential on the international stage. As part of this partnership, we will fly the final 20 winners to London in our World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy cabin).
“At British Airways, we have a strong focus on small and medium size businesses and we want to help them save more and make the most out of their business travel spend. Our new and improved On Business programme, which already saves customers £30 million a year on flights, now rewards points based on spend rather than distance travelled or number of flights. The On Business Programme helps SME customers in India save £30 million a year on flights.”
Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United Kingdom last year which resulted in $13 billion of commercial deals being signed, over one million Indian businesses were made aware of the IE20 programme with the judges whittling the entries down to just 20 places.
Gordon Innes, CEO London & Partners, added: “Following Indian Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit, we wanted to bolster our already strong ties with India. India is such an exciting economy with so many emerging, global companies. And London is the world's pre-eminent global city, home to 40% of the top 250 companies from the Fortune Global 500.
“That’s why we developed the India Emerging 20 programme: to support Indian businesses looking to scale up and internationalise. Particularly, technology businesses, because of London's recent emergence as one of the world's largest tech clusters.”
Leading NRI entrepreneur and the founder of the Cobra Beer Empire Lord Bilimoria who attended the IE20 event (India Emerging 20) which has demonstrated the Indian economy's extraordinary depth and breadth in technological innovation,said that London and the wider United Kingdom offered the best opportunities for businesses to internationalise.
Latest data released by London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s business and promotional organisation, shows that Indian companies are the second biggest investor in London, ahead of China and Japan, but behind the USA.
Since 2005 there has been a 117 per cent increase in Indian companies across all business sectors investing in London, with a 133 per cent increase in tech companies investing in the city, which accounts for 46 per cent of all projects.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson MP said: “India is the fastest growing major economy in the world and Indian companies are now the second biggest foreign investor in London. To welcome 20 of their brightest and best businesses demonstrates how attractive the city is for Indian companies with global ambitions.”
The winners come from a broad range of categories including life sciences, artificial intelligence, IT services, cyber security, sports tech, travel tech, adtech, e-commerce and analytics.
The IE20 programme is being run by London & Partners in partnership with British Airways, BDO, Newland Chase and UK Trade and Investment. This week the company representatives have flown to London for a programme aimed at helping them facilitate international partnerships, alliances, business opportunities and to find out about setting up a global HQ in the city.
