"We share information about trade and investment opportunities with the department of international trade within the UK high commission in India… where the focus is London, we step in,” chief representative of London and Partners (LP), Hemin Bharucha told Parsiana in an interview in his Bandra office on December 4, 2018. LP focuses on five areas for collaborations between businesses based in India and London: investment, trade, tourism, education and conventions.
"Advice is free,” stated Bharucha. However, logistic support for registration of businesses in London, legal advice, leads for financing opportunities and related business matters come at a fee. LP collaborates with companies in London that can provide services for setting up businesses. International accounting and advisory firm, BDO (Binder Dijker Otte) is one such. "An individual Indian business may find their fees high...with the volume of business we provide them and our consequent bargaining power, we make it cost effective for businesses set up in London,” he noted.
The UK was listed at the seventh place in the "Doing Business 2018” report of the World Bank, he noted. In terms of number of companies and jobs created in London, India ranks second, after USA. Seventy percent of Indian investments made in the UK flow into the capital, London, Bharucha said, quoting internally published statistics.
Hemin Bharucha above, center with, from l, Burzin Luth, Divya Bajaj, Neha Karnad
and Julie Chappell, managing director, London and Partners
Hemin Bharucha with wife Meher
"While technology and financial services are a major component,” one Indian business is looking for support to set up a research and development center in London to experiment with British-Indian food fusions! "We also advised a British company that wanted to export ready-to-eat samosas to India,” he let on.
Bharucha’s office consists of three other staff members: vice president Burzin Luth looks after the western and northern regions of India. The office set up in Bangalore two months ago consists of vice president Divya Bajaj and Neha Karnad. They look after business opportunities in the south and east India. Luth and Bharucha were colleagues at the British deputy high commission till 2017, after which both joined LP.
"I would love to support young Parsi entrepreneurs… They are not thinking large… Which 30-year-old has the drive to go global?” queried Bharucha. "Not one of the approximately 350 applicants was Parsi-owned,” he says of the 3rd annual India Emerging 20 Awards held by LP in association with BDO in 2018. The objective of the search was to discover 20 of India’s most innovative and high-growth companies to help them grow in London. "We being a public-private-partnership, can open a lot of doors for entrepreneurs,” he stated.
Bharucha considers himself a traditionalist Zoroastrian. He is married to Meher, an assistant vice president, legal in an infrastructure and finance company.