Indian software firms are flocking to London, encouraged by the
Government's initiative to "fast-track" the work permit
applications of skilled ITers from abroad.
According to London's inward investment agency, some 42
companies have already established operations in the City, and with
two more about to announce a move here, that number looks set to
grow.
Colin Wood, director at London First Centre, attributes much of
the attraction to English being a common language, and to the fact
that India and the UK share similar trade and banking laws.
The speeding up of work permit applications has also been a
contributing factor, he adds. "It is now taking around three weeks
for staff from India to get a permit issued, whereas a year ago
applicants had to wait for up to eight weeks," comments Wood.
India's IT industry is booming and many of the businesses moving
over here see London as the first step to European expansion. They
tend to establish fairly small operations in the UK at first,
although some employ close to 100 people, and increase in size as
their businesses becomes established and further
contracts secured. Most hire English sales, marketing and
administrative personnel, says Wood, and bring in their own Indian
IT staff where expertise on their software products is
required.
Yet while these companies are introducing Indian ITers to the
UK, Britain is facing a possible loss of its own skilled
contractors because of the Inland Revenue's IR35 tax rules.
Concerned by the country's shortage of experienced IT staff,
Wood sees the influx of Indian software firms such as 3CRC and RS
Software, as important to the economic development of London and to
its promotion as "the next Silicon Valley". He claims that many of
the overseas companies setting up here would eventually like to
enter into joint ventures with British software firms, and combine
the experience and knowledge of both to create "a magic mix".
Earlier this year, engineering software company, 3CRC, one of
India's fastest growing IT companies and a subsidiary of Pentasoft
Technologies, launched its European base in London.
Ramesh Pillai, head of European operations, says London was the
obvious choice for its headquarters. "The ease with which one can
access the continent from here was an important factor, as was the
language, which means that communication between us is not a
problem," he explains. The presence of an already established,
large Asian community here was another factor, according to Pillai,
as was the similarity of certain business laws.
While the company uses its own (full-time) software engineers
and programmers from India, Pillai does not rule out the
possibility of employing local ITers in the future.