February_2013_trade_mission_delegates_booklet

Published February 2013 

© Crown Copyright 

Prime Minister’s 

Delegation: 

Visit to India 

February 2013 

Delegation overview

With low tax, less regulation and a talented workforce, the UK 

is one of the easiest places to start a business and access the 

European Union’s 500 million customers. No wonder more 

World ITO 

companies set up European Headquarters here than anywhere 

else. To find out more about doing business with the UK contact 

uktiindia@fco.gov.uk Visualisation: 

Flight paths 

Europe 

ukti.gov.uk/gouk/in 

Contents 

Foreword 02 

India facts 04 

UK facts 05 

Ministerial delegates 06 

Business delegates 10 

Parliamentary delegates 65 

Officials 68 

1

Foreword 

My first priority as Prime 

Minister is to do everything I 

can to ensure that Britain 

succeeds in the Global Race. I 

know we have the great 

businesses and entrepreneurs 

to make that possible. But I 

also know that success in 

business does not just happen. 

We can not rely merely on 

sentiment and shared history 

with our trading partners. We 

have to get out there, make 

the case for Britain and open 

doors for British business. 

That is why I see leading British 

trade delegations as a vital part of 

my job. And I am delighted this is 

the biggest delegation any British 

Prime Minister have ever taken 

overseas. 

Success in the global race is 

ultimately about linking Britain to 

the fastest growing economies 

in the world – and few countries 

are more vibrant or exciting than 

India. That is why India was the 

destination for my first trade visit 

as Prime Minister, and it is the first 

country I am returning to. 

Back in 2010, I set a target, 

together with the Indian 

government, to double bilateral 

trade between our two 

countries by 2015. Since then we 

have made good progress. In 2010 

and 2011 trade grew at an average 

of 23 per cent. The value of jointly 

funded research has increased by 

a staggering 12,000 per cent. Here 

in Britain, Indian investments in 

2011 alone generated 5,500 jobs 

while Indian capital and expertise 

has helped turn Jaguar Land Rover 

into one of the most successful 

car companies in the world last 

year. 

There is more to do. As two 

countries which share special ties 

of history, language and culture I 

believe we can go further in 

making Britain India’s global 

partner of choice and so we 

should go to India upbeat and 

confident about what Britain has 

to offer. 

As India grows, it needs a 

partner that can support its 

ambition. India plans to spend 

$1 trillion on infrastructure over 

five years. It wants to quadruple 

its electricity capacity and to 

invest $143 billion to meet its 

growing demands for healthcare. 

It wants its business to have 

unrivalled access to European and 

global markets and its students 

to get the best education in the 

world. Britain can do all of these 

things and more. The companies 

and organisations in this 

delegation are uniquely placed to 

meet India’s demands. We want to 

attract India’s brightest and best 

students. And I intend to say so at 

every opportunity. 

But I know that my role as Prime 

Minister is also about more than 

helping promote your businesses. 

It’s also about making sure we get 

the business environment right. 

On this trip we are pushing to do 

just that – including through laying 

the foundations for a free trade 

agreement that could deliver new 

deals, jobs and growth for 

generations to come. By 

galvanising your Indian private 

sector partners to help the 

Government of India understand 

that it’s a win-win, you can help us 

get closer to the finishing line. 

I hope too that you will take the 

opportunity over the next few 

days to tell me and my team about 

any other ways in which we can 

help tackle barriers that are 

getting in the way of new 

business opportunities. This 

week’s visit is vital, but our 

commitment is about more than 

a week. It is a week-in, week-out 

determination to help you secure 

more trade, more investment and 

more jobs – and with it, to make 

Britain and India one of the 

defining relationships of this 

century. 

Rt. Hon David Cameron MP 

Prime Minister and Leader of the 

Conservative Party 

2 3

India 

• PwC predicts that India is 

projected to be the 3rd largest 

economy in the world by 2050 

in terms of GDP 

• Over the next two decades 

India’s middle-class will grow 

to over 40% of population, 

creating the world’s fifth 

largest consumer market. 

India’s wealthiest will total 

around 24 million by 2025 

• India is the UK’s 18th largest 

export market for January to 

September 2012. In the first 

nine months of 2012, UK 

exports to India including 

goods and services was £5.3bn 

• Around 400 British companies 

already operate in India, in a 

wide range of sectors. In the 

last ten months UKTI has 

helped over 1,500 companies 

with their India strategy 

• There are over 700 Indian 

companies in the UK. India is 

the 5th largest investor and in 

2011 attracted 81 new projects 

from India generating 5,500 

jobs 

• Top five sectors where Indian 

companies have invested in the 

UK: information & 

communication technology, 

healthcare & pharmaceuticals, 

financial services, automotive & 

engineering and manufacturing 

• India estimates it needs to 

invest US$143bn in healthcare 

over the next five years to 

meet growing demand. The 

country has the second highest 

diabetic population in the 

world - at 62m - equivalent to 

the population of the UK 

• The Indian Government is 

seeking a huge expansion of 

both capacity and quality at all 

levels of the education system. 

Headline targets include 

creating 40m new university 

places by 2020, and 11,000 new 

secondary schools. 

The UK 

• The UK is the most open 

economy in Europe and is 

ranked first in Europe for ease 

of doing business according to 

the World Bank 

• The UK is the number one 

gateway to Europe, giving easy 

access to the 27 Member 

States of the European Union 

• The UK is the seventh largest 

economy in the world; its GDP 

is US$2,400bn 

• The UK has one of the lowest 

corporate tax rates in the EU, 

and one of the world’s most 

flexible labour markets 

• Since 2011, over £850m has 

been saved by businesses due 

to cuts in regulation 

• The ICT sector is one of the 

fastest-growing sectors in the 

UK, worth £140bn 

• The UK is one of the largest 

players in the world 

defence-aerospace market 

• London has ranked as the 

world’s leading financial centre 

since 2006 

• The UK has one of the world’s 

largest and most productive 

life sciences economies, 

including biotechnology, 

pharmaceuticals, healthcare and 

medical technologies 

• 75% of UK construction 

equipment production is 

exported to more than 150 

countries across the world 

• The UK is a world leader in 

providing educational resoures 

from pre-school to university 

and beyond. The UK has a 

world-class education sector, 

with four of the world’s top 

ten universities. 

4 5

Ministerial delegates 

6 

Rt. Hon David Cameron MP 

Prime Minister and Leader of the 

Conservative Party 

David Cameron became Prime Minister in May 2010 

and leads the Conservative / Liberal Democrat 

Coalition Government inspired by the values of 

freedom, fairness and responsibility. 

Before becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron was 

elected Leader of the Conservative Party in December 

2005. He has been MP for Witney since 2001, and as a 

Member of Parliament he held a number of positions 

on the Opposition Front Bench prior to becoming 

Party Leader. 

Until he became an MP, David Cameron worked in 

business and Government, He was educated at Eton 

College and Oxford University. After graduating he 

worked for the Conservative Party and then as a 

Special Adviser in Government before spending seven 

years at Carlton Communications, one of the UK’s 

leading media companies. 

Lord Green 

Minister of State for Trade and Investment 

Lord Green was appointed Minister of State for Trade 

and Investment on 11 January 2011. He began his 

career with the British Government’s Ministry of 

Overseas Development. In 1977, he joined McKinsey 

& Co Inc, management consultants, with whom he 

undertook assignments in Europe, North America and 

the Middle East. 

He joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking 

Corporation Limited in 1982 with responsibility for 

corporate planning activities, and, in 1985, was put in 

charge of the development of the bank’s global treasury 

operations. In 1992, he became Group Treasurer of 

HSBC Holdings plc, with responsibility for the Group’s 

treasury and capital markets businesses globally. 

In March 1998, he was appointed to the Board of 

HSBC Holdings plc as Executive Director, Investment 

Banking and Markets. He assumed additional 

responsibility for the Group’s corporate banking 

business in May 2002. He became Group Chief 

Executive on 1 June 2003 and Group Chairman on 26 

May 2006. He was a director of HSBC Bank plc, The 

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited 

and of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. Lord Green 

became Chairman of the British Bankers’ Association in 

November 2006. 

7

Rt. Hon Hugo Swire MP 

Minister of State, 

Foreign and Commonwealth Office 

Hugo Swire was appointed FCO Minister of State on 4 

September 2012. He studied at St Andrew’s University 

for a year before going to the Royal Military Academy, 

Sandhurst and was subsequently commissioned with 

the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards. Mr Swire went 

on to work for Sotheby’s for nine years. He has also 

worked for the National Gallery and in financial public 

relations. 

Hugo Swire was elected as the Conservative 

Member of Parliament for East Devon in 2001 and 

served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, 

Media and Sport between 2005 and 2007. He was 

appointed Minister of State for Northern Ireland in the 

coalition Government in May 2010. 

Rt. Hon David Willetts MP 

Minister for Universities and Science 

The Rt. Hon David Willetts MP is Minister for 

Universities and Science. He has been the Member 

of Parliament for Havant since 1992 and previously 

worked at HM Treasury and the Number 10 Policy 

Unit. He served as Paymaster General in the last 

Conservative Government. 

He has written widely on economics and social policy. 

His book ‘The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took 

Their Children’s Future – And Why They Should Give It 

Back’ was published in 2010. 

Rt. Hon Gregory Barker MP 

Minister of State for Energy and Climate 

Change & Minister for Business Engagement 

with India 

Gregory Barker spent 15 years in business and finance 

before entering Parliament in 2001 as the 

Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle. In 2008 he 

played a key role on behalf of the Conservative Party 

in supporting the Climate Change Act and was a major 

contributor to David Cameron’s ‘Green’ policy 

formation whilst in opposition. In 2010 he was 

appointed Minister of State at the Department of 

Energy and Climate Change. In 2012, he was given 

additional responsibility as “the Minister for Business 

Engagement with India” which reflects the strategic 

importance the Coalition Government places on its 

future relationship with India. 

8 9

Business delegates 

10 

Jason Prior 

Chief Executive, Buildings + Places, Aecom 

One of the world’s leading placemakers, Jason is 

renowned as a visionary in creating successful new 

communities and regenerating towns and cities. As 

Chief Executive of Buildings + Places, Jason’s 

award-winning projects are achieved through working 

collaboratively with clients and multidisciplinary teams. 

His projects are often large scale, extremely complex 

and have a lifespan of many years. He develops solutions 

that are rooted in their local place and culture, 

have a sound economic base and strong local appeal. 

His ideas are bold but pragmatic, and are always 

multifaceted to include new homes and jobs, education 

and healthcare, social amenities and public space, 

improved infrastructure and transportation 

connections. His vision is to encourage economic, 

environmental and social sustainability to promote a 

better quality of life. 

Terry Hill 

Chairman, Arup Group Board of Trustees 

Terry Hill is Chairman of the Arup Trust heading the 

Board of Trustees. Previously he held the position of 

Arup Group Chairman (2004-2009) responsible for the 

overall strategic direction of the firm. Terry has a 

background in civil engineering and economics and 

previously held the position of Chairman - Global 

Transport Market (2009-2011) focusing on developing 

the Aviation, Maritime, Rail and Highways businesses, 

ensuring the delivery of the best Transport projects 

to clients throughout the world; and earlier led Arup’s 

Infrastructure Division, where his role centred on 

consulting, infrastructure and managing major projects. 

John Mountford 

International Director, Association of Colleges 

John Mountford is Association of Colleges’ 

International Director, representing and supporting 

Colleges as they develop their international work. This 

includes leading on the AoC’s International Charter, 

meeting international stakeholders and policy makers 

and supporting a number of groups focused on 

international education. 

John is also a board member or representative for 

EUproVET, World Federation of Colleges and 

Polytechnics, TVET UK and UKCISA. He has also 

represented Colleges in the planning process for a 

number of key Government funded initiatives and 

played a leading role in setting up a permanent AoC 

India Office, launched in January 2013. 

Colin Tyler 

Chief Executive, 

Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) 

From 1997 until Colin joined the ACT in September 

2011, he was employed by Rentokil Initial PLC, firstly 

as Director of Treasury, Tax and Risk Management, then 

Business Services Director, and from 2007, he was 

Divisional Finance Director, City Link Limited. Prior to 

this Colin’s career included various treasury roles at 

both Guinness and Amersham International. 

He has a first class degree in Medical Biochemistry, and 

is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants 

of England and Wales. Colin is a member of the ACT. 

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Professor Dr Uwe Krueger 

CEO, Atkins 

Professor Dr Uwe Krueger is CEO of Atkins. He has 

served as President of Cleantech Switzerland, a group 

providing sustainability advice to companies on behalf 

of the Swiss Federal Government. In addition he served 

as Senior Advisor for TPG Capital. Until September 

2009 he was CEO of Oerlikon Group. He began his 

career at international strategy consulting firm A.T. 

Kearney, followed by senior positions at Hochtief AG, 

including CEO of Central/Eastern Europe, and 

Chairman of Turner International. He currently serves 

on the board of several high-tech companies, 

including STR Holdings Inc. in Enfield/CT, San 

Diego-based Zementis, Inc., SUSI Partners AG in Zurich 

and Ontex SA, Zele/Belgium. He lectures as an 

honorary professor of physics at the University of 

Frankfurt. 

Dick Olver 

Chairman, BAE Systems 

Dick Olver was appointed Chairman of BAE Systems 

plc in 2004. He was previously Deputy Group Chief 

Executive of BP plc having held a number of senior 

roles within the company. He continued his 

association with BP as Deputy Chairman of TNK-BP 

from July 2004 until October 2006. 

He is a Chartered Engineer with a First Class Honours 

degree in Civil Engineering. Dick is an adviser to HSBC 

and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. He is a UK Business 

Ambassador and a former member of the Business 

Council. He is a former Non-Executive Director of 

Reuters and Thomson Reuters. 

Ian Tyler 

Chief Executive, Balfour Beatty 

Ian Tyler graduated as a Chartered Accountant from 

Birmingham University. He joined Balfour Beatty in 

1996 as Finance Director, was appointed Chief 

Operating Officer in August 2002 and became Chief 

Executive in January 2005. Ian is a non-executive 

director of Cable & Wireless Communications and also 

president of CRASH, the charity for homeless people 

around the UK. Balfour Beatty is one of the world’s 

leading international infrastructure companies and 

operates across the transportation, power, utilities, 

education, and healthcare sectors. Since acquiring 

Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2009, Balfour Beatty has been 

involved in design and project management projects 

in India such as the Delhi airport redevelopment, the 

Mumbai Metro, Freight Corridor East (Kolkata to 

Delhi) and Delhi Metro. 

Graham Cartledge CBE 

Chairman, Benoy 

Graham is Chairman of Benoy, an international, 

award-winning firm of Architects, Masterplanners, 

Interiors and Graphic Designers. A champion of UK 

businesses and an ‘Ambassador’ for the British 

Creative Industries, Graham is on the Board of the Asia 

Task Force, Middle East Task Force, Latin America Task 

Force, the UKABC, the China British Business 

Council and is Advisor to the Board of UK India 

Business Council. 

In 2012, he was awarded Honorary Doctor of Design 

from De Montford University and Doctor of 

Architecture, honoris causa, from the University of 

Nottingham. Graham is Founder of The Benoy 

Foundation, a charitable trust, and a Board Member of 

Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. 

13

14 

Jitesh Gadhia 

Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Group 

Jitesh Gadhia is a Senior Managing Director at 

Blackstone, based in London. Mr Gadhia has over 

20 years investment banking experience, having held 

senior positions at Barclays Capital, ABN AMRO and 

Baring Brothers. 

During his career, Mr Gadhia has advised on a wide 

range of high profile M&A transactions across 

developed and emerging markets, including Tata Steel’s 

acquisition of Corus for £6.7 billion. He graduated from 

Cambridge University and attended London Business 

School as a Sloan Fellow. Mr Gadhia is a Trustee of 

Nesta, the leading body promoting innovation in the 

UK, and also a Young Global Leader, selected by the 

World Economic Forum. 

Xan Morgan 

VP Business Development, Bluewater Bio 

Bluewater Bio is an established specialist in the cost 

effective treatment of water and wastewater, founded 

in 2007 to develop a patented ‘HYBrid Activated 

Sludge’ process (HYBACS), powered by the company’s 

Shaft Mounted Advanced ReacTor (SMART) units. 

Following the acquisitions of Water Innovate Ltd (from 

Cranfield University) and FilterClear Ltd, Bluewater 

Bio’s core capabilities now include HYBACS, SMART, 

FilterClear (high throughput multi-media filtration) and 

GHG-Tox (nitrification & greenhouse gas monitoring). 

Bluewater Bio aims to be the natural choice for cost 

effective treatment, re-use and monitoring provision 

across the water, wastewater and process industries. 

Norman Cave 

Principal, Bournville College 

Norman Cave’s career in education spans some 30 

years. Having graduated in Law, from Manchester 

University in 1979, Norman successfully undertook 

an MA in Criminology at the University of Keele. His 

teaching career began in 1981, when he taught Law 

across a number of colleges in Birmingham. 

Norman has occupied every level of college 

management. He became Principal of Bournville 

College in 2002. Norman is an AoC Board member and 

is active in the AoC International operations. 

Norman is Chief Executive of Bournville’s Indian 

subsidiary, Bournville Training and Consultancy Private 

Limited. 

Bob Dudley 

Chief Executive, BP 

Bob Dudley was appointed Chief Executive of BP plc in 

2010. He was appointed to the BP Board of Directors 

in 2009. From 2003-2008 he served as President and 

CEO of TNK-BP in Moscow. Bob has worked broadly 

across the international oil industry. Previous roles 

include responsibility for BP’s upstream businesses in 

Angola, Egypt, Russia, the Caspian Region and Algeria, 

and for BP’s Alternative Energy activities. 

Bob has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the 

University of Illinois, and holds graduate degrees from 

the Thunderbird School of Global Management and 

SMU. Bob is a member of the US Business Council, 

the WEF International Business Council, the UK/UAE 

CEO’s Forum, the UK/Turkey CEO’s Forum and the 

Russian Geographical Society. 

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Dr Angela Strank 

Vice President, Head of Group Chief 

Executive’s Office, BP 

Dr Angela Strank joined BP in 1982 as a geologist in 

Exploration and Production, Sunbury, and has since 

occupied various roles including Manager Stratigraphic 

Services, Senior Business Analyst, Chief Financial 

Officer Lubes, Business Development and Reputation 

Manager Angola and Technology Vice President, Fuels 

and Lubes. 

In 2010 Angela was the winner of the UK First 

Women’s Award in Science and Technology, an award 

sponsored by the CBI in recognition of pioneering UK 

women in business and industry. In 2012 she was 

appointed to the role of Vice President, Head of Group 

Chief Executive’s Office, based in London. 

Dr Rajnish Mohindroo 

CEO, Brit Health Care 

Dr Mohindroo is a qualified GP trainer, trainer and 

examiner of medical students and a primary health care 

tutor at Keele University. He is a GP in Wolverhampton 

with special interest in ENT and has been responsible 

for setting up dedicated diabetes and CHD clinics to 

help address the needs of the local population and 

organised and delivered community dermatology 

services from his surgery at Showell Park health centre. 

He was the interim lead for IT and business intelligence 

at Wolverhampton CCG involved in developing the 

Governance framework. As company secretary and 

CEO (UK) of Brit Health Care, Dr Mohindroo is 

developing the company’s strategy, liaising with and 

running the day to day business of all team members 

and represents the company and its interests in the 

UK, India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East. 

Martin Davidson CMG 

Chief Executive, British Council 

Martin Davidson took up the role of Chief Executive in 

2007. Prior to this he worked for the Hong Kong 

Government as an Administrative Officer. He joined the 

British Council as Assistant Representative in Beijing in 

1984 and was responsible for opening the South China 

office in Guangzhou in 1989. He returned to Beijing in 

1995 as Director China. 

He speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin and has also 

held various posts in the British Council’s London HQ. 

He is also International Trustee for Leonard Cheshire 

Disability, a Governor of Goodenough College and 

Board Member of the Great Britain China Council. 

Roly Keating 

Chief Executive, British Library 

Roly Keating took up the post of Chief Executive of the 

British Library in September 2012. 

Before joining the British Library, Roly worked at the 

BBC, most recently as the Director of Archive Content 

with editorial leadership for the BBC’s online services, 

including BBC iPlayer. Roly’s former positions at the 

BBC include Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four. 

Roly is serving as a member of the independent panel 

established by the Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey MP, 

to review e-book lending by public libraries. He is a 

member of the Barbican Centre Board, and a Trustee of 

Turner Contemporary in Margate. 

17

18 

Neil MacGregor 

Director, British Museum 

Neil MacGregor has been Director of the British 

Museum since August 2002. He studied at Oxford and 

the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In 1981 he 

became Editor of the arts periodical, The Burlington 

Magazine. He became Director of the National Gallery 

in 1987. 

Neil sits on the Board of the National Theatre, London 

and the International Advisory Board of the Hermitage 

Museum in St Petersburg. In 2010 the British Museum 

and the BBC worked together on the acclaimed, A 

History of the World in 100 objects. Neil’s new book, 

Shakespeare’s Restless World, was published in 

September 2012. 

Sudhir Narang 

Managing Director, India, BT 

Sudhir Narang is Managing Director for BT’s India 

operations since December 2007. He is responsible for 

all Business Operations of the BT Global Services, BT’s 

India strategy, as well as promoting the company’s 

presence and services in the Indian sub-continent. He 

was recently elevated to handle sales across Asia 

pacific/Japan region and is also a core committee 

member of British Business Group. 

An alumnus of BITS Pilani, Sudhir also holds 

Post-Diploma in International Business. An avid reader, 

he finds spending time with family and friends, a great 

stress buster. 

David Johnston 

Executive Vice President of Strategy, Cobham 

David is Cobham plc’s Executive VP of Strategy and is a 

member of the company’s Group Executive 

reporting to the CEO. In this role he is responsible for 

the development of corporate and portfolio strategy 

with a focus on large M&A deals. David is also 

responsible for the leadership of Corporate Offices in 

Washington DC and New Delhi, India. 

David joined Cobham in 2006 and prior to his current 

role was Executive VP Business Operations responsible 

for the design and initial implementation of the group 

wide Excellence in Delivery Programme aimed at 

improving the group wide processes critical for the 

long term success of the company. David is a Fellow of 

the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 

and has an MBA from the University of Surrey. 

Lord Karan Bilimoria 

Chairman, Cobra Beer Partnership 

Karan, Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea CBE DL, is the 

Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer - a joint-venture 

between Lord Bilimoria and Molson Coors - and of 

Molson Coors Cobra India, which operates in the 

Indian market. 

Karan is the Founding Chairman of the UK-India 

Business Council, and serves as a member of the 

UK-India Roundtable. In addition, he sits on the 

Advisory Board of the Cambridge University Judge 

Business School, and serves as the Senior 

Non-Executive Director of the FTSE 250-listed wholesale 

firm Booker PLC. 

Karan sits in the House of Lords as an Independent 

Crossbench Peer. 

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John Cridland 

Director-General, 

Confederation of British Industy (CBI) 

John Cridland was appointed as CBI Director-General 

in 2011. John served as Deputy Director-General from 

2000 to 2010 and prior to that was Director of 

Environmental Affairs and Human Resources Policy. 

John is a board member of Business in the Community, 

a UK Commissioner for Employment and Skills and a 

member of the Council of Cranfield University. He was 

Vice Chair of the National Learning and Skills Council 

2007-2010 and spent 10 years on the Low Pay 

Commission and the ACAS Council. He was awarded a 

CBE for services to business in 2006 and an Honorary 

Doctorate from the University of Lincoln in 2011. John 

was educated at Boston Grammar School and has an 

MA in History from Christ’s College, Cambridge. 

Jeremy Brassington 

Managing Director, Conversor 

Jeremy trained as an accountant and had an early 

career in investment banking. He has spent 25 years as 

a partner in private equity firms investing in 

technology businesses. Latterly he has invested in and 

taken a management role in turning around 

underperforming companies. 

He acquired Conversor in 2003 and started Hearing 

Times, a newspaper for the hard of hearing and deaf, in 

2008. 

He is a Freeman of the City of London and Fourth 

Warden of the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers. 

He is married with one daughter and leisure time, if 

any, is spent playing golf and travelling. 

Captain Rob Clarke 

CEO, CTC Aviation Group 

As the third generation of flyers in his family Rob 

started his commercial aviation career by joining 

easyJet in 1996 at the beginning of their rapid 

expansion into one of Europe’s leading low cost 

airlines. 

He had previously been the recipient of a Guild of 

Air Pilots & Navigators (livery company) sponsorship 

through initial training. 

Following a rapid rise through the ranks at easyJet, in 

the process becoming their youngest Training Captain 

at the age of 24, he joined CTC in 2003. Rob has 

progressed to become CEO of CTC a position he has 

held for the last 4 years. 

Tim Cobbold 

Chief Executive, De La Rue 

Tim has over twenty years of international 

management experience in manufacturing industries. 

He joined De La Rue in January 2011 from Chloride 

Group PLC, an international provider of secure power 

solutions, which was subsequently taken over by 

Emerson Electric Co. Tim joined Chloride in 2007 as 

Chief Operating Officer and became CEO in 2008. 

Prior to this, he had been with Smiths Group PLC since 

1989, holding a wide variety of senior roles, including a 

number of Managing Director positions. 

Tim holds a BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, is a 

felow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 

England and Wales (FCA) and is a non-executive 

director of Drax Group PLC. He is married with three 

children 

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22 

Francis McAuley 

International Director, Debenhams 

Francis McAuley is the International Director for 

Debenhams plc, CEO for Magasin du Nord and Non 

Executive Director for Ermes Group. Debenhams 

operates 242 Stores worldwide with 155 in the UK, 11 

in the Republic of Ireland, 6 Magasin du Nord stores in 

Denmark and 70 stores in other International markets 

including Europe, Eurasia, Near East, Middle East and 

Far East. 

Francis joined Debenhams in 1999 at the outset of 

Debenhams’ moves to trade in International markets 

and he led the Strategic Review which underpinned 

the last 10 years growth. His International Division is 

charged with doubling its business to 150 stores by 

2017/18. 

John Scott 

Head of International Business Development, 

Debenhams 

John Scott is Head of International Business 

Development for Debenhams. Currently Debenhams 

has 70 franchise stores in 26 countries, with 17 

partners, across markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and 

Europe. 

The aim is to double the international business over 

the next 5 years: with our franchise partners; with new 

partners in emerging markets; and by developing the 

international multi-channel model still further. 

John has over 15 years’ experience in international 

retail. 

Vassi Naidoo 

Vice-Chairman, International Markets, Deloitte 

Vassi Naidoo is Vice-Chairman, International Markets, at 

Deloitte UK. Vassi currently advises some of Deloitte’s 

largest emerging market clients including a number of 

major Indian and African corporates. 

Vassi previously served for two terms as CEO of the 

South African firm. He regularly commentates on 

growth in Africa and India, as well as investment 

between the two. 

Paul Walsh 

Chief Executive, Diageo PLC 

Paul Walsh is the CEO of Diageo plc. He was appointed 

to this position in September 2000, having held a 

number of senior roles since he joined the business in 

1982. 

He is a non-executive director of FedEx Corporation, 

Unilever plc, and Avanti Communications plc. He is also 

the lead Non-Executive Director at the Department 

for Energy & Climate Change and has recently been 

appointed by the UK Government as a Business 

Ambassador for the food and drink industries. 

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24 

Ian Wright 

Corporate Relations Director, Diageo PLC 

Ian Wright is Corporate Relations Director of Diageo 

plc, the world’s leading premium drinks business. A 

member of Diageo’s Executive Committee he heads a 

global team of more than 200 corporate affairs 

practitioners working across these disciplines. 

Ian joined Diageo in May 2000. His earlier career 

included ten years in PR consultancy and five years 

in-house at The Boots Company. He spent a decade as 

a council member of the Chartered Institute of Public 

Relations and was its President in 2001. His 

contribution to Public Relations has been recognised 

with lifetime achievement awards from the CIPR and 

Sabre. 

Anthony Angel 

Senior Partner, DLA Piper 

Tony Angel is Joint Global Co-Chairman of DLA Piper 

and Senior Partner of the International firm. He works 

with the senior management of the firm to refine and 

execute DLA Piper’s global strategy with a principal 

focus on developing capabilities in key markets, and is 

also actively involved with client development in EMEA 

and Asia Pacific. 

Tony is widely credited with transforming Linklaters 

into one of the world’s largest and most profitable 

law firms during his tenure as Managing Partner from 

1998-2007. From 2008 to 2010 he served as Executive 

Managing Director and Head of EMEA at Standard & 

Poor’s where he was a member of the global operating 

committee 

Anil Gupta 

Managing Director (Commercial), 

DMC Healthcare 

Anil Gupta is the co-founder of DMC Healthcare and 

DMC Healthcare International. Having been raised in 

a family of GPs, Anil has combined his love of medicine 

with valuable business skills gained through working as 

a chartered accountant and in the audit and tax teams 

of Pfizer and BDO Binder Hamlyn. 

Having successfully brokered a deal with his father to 

manage the family practice, Anil and his brother, Ravi, 

have transformed the family business from a small 

single-site operation to a successful international 

operation that is embracing change by bringing new 

primary care services and walk-in centres closer to 

people’s homes. 

Ravi Gupta 

Managing Director (Clinical), DMC Healthcare 

Alongside brother Anil, Ravi Gupta is co-founder of 

DMC Healthcare and DMC Healthcare International. 

As clinical director he is responsible for ensuring 

patients receive safe, quality care. 

Ravi has extensive experience of redesigning clinical 

care pathways to bring better health services to the 

doorstep of patients, introducing physiotherapy, 

dermatology, ophthalmology and COPD services. 

With brother Anil, Ravi has successfully grown DMC 

Healthcare primary care services and currently 

operates five practices and four walk-in centres across 

London and the South East, treating approximately 

45,000 registered patients and over 90,000 walk in 

patients per year, employing 200 staff and clinicians. 

25

26 

Robin Southwell 

CEO, EADS 

Robin joined EADS in 2003 as CEO of Airtanker Ltd 

during which time he secured the largest military PFI 

in history. In July 2005 he was subsequently appointed 

CEO of EADS UK responsible for EADS activities in 

the UK and representing some 18,500 employees. 

Robin’s career has mainly been in the aerospace 

industry, initially joining BAE Systems upon leaving 

university in 1981. His early career included marketing 

and negotiating contracts for commercial and military 

aircraft worldwide. Robin is Chairman of Quest 

Aviation Services, Concord Ltd and Airbase Group Ltd. 

Furthermore, he is President of ADS, a Trustee of the 

RAF Museum and a NED of Farnborough International 

Ltd. He was appointed by the Prime Minister, David 

Cameron, as a UK Business Ambassador. 

Tony Deep Wouhra MBE 

Chairman, East End Foods 

Tony Deep Wouhra MBE is Chairman and founding 

member of East End Foods plc, one of the UK’s 

premier manufacturers of spices, lentils & rice. His 

company imports raw materials from around the world, 

and processes & value adds the produce for UK 

national & international markets. 

The company now employs 320 people with an annual 

turnover of £165m in 2012. Tony’s philanthropic 

interests include his ‘Healthy Hearts Charity’, which 

provides the local community in Sandwell with free 

health screening aiming to prevent diabetes and 

cardiovascular diseases. 

East End Foods will open the UK’s largest ‘Urban Farm’ 

visitor centre this year, which will cultivate crops via 

hydroponics, promoting Tony’s vision of purity in food. 

Paul Deep Wouhra 

Sales Director, East End Foods 

Paul Deep Wouhra is Sales Director for East End Foods 

plc; being responsible for both UK national and 

international sales. He has been working for the 40 

year old family business since 1993, after graduating 

with a Degree in Business Studies & Marketing from 

the University of Birmingham City. 

Paul has been instrumental in developing East End’s 

spice & lentils business with major UK Multiple 

retailers such as Tesco, Wal-Mart, J. Sainsbury, 

Morrison’s, Waitrose & the Co-Operative. East End 

Foods currently exports mainly within Europe, 

however Paul is keen for the company to engage 

in export partnerships with successful food 

distributors in India. 

John Griffith-Jones 

Chairman Designate, 

Financial Conduct Authority 

John is Chairman Designate of the Financial Conduct 

Authority and joined the FSA Board as a 

Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chairman in 

September 2012. He worked at KPMG since 1975 and 

spent 11 years in Audit. John subsequently spent fifteen 

years in Corporate Finance, joining in 1986. He made 

Partner in 1987 and was acting as a midmarket M&A 

practitioner and government advisor on privatisations 

and PFI before running the function in the UK and 

chairing the European network. John spent four years 

as CEO of the UK firm and in 2006 he became the 

Chairman and Senior Partner of the UK. In 2007 John 

became Joint Chairman of KPMG Europe. He has been 

Chairman of the Every Child a Chance Trust and is 

currently Vice Chairman of the National Numeracy 

Trust. 

27

28 

Nigel Lang 

Managing Director, Flitabout 

20 years ago, British entrepreneur Nigel Lang founded 

Catalist from home in Bristol to provide services to 

the retail petroleum industry. The business grew across 

20 countries including India where he learned the 

practical challenges for a British SME to service this 

diverse market. After selling the company to Experian 

in 2006 he identified the massive opportunity for 

entrepreneurship in India. 

He knew that in order to do business in India he would 

need to be in India so moved to Mumbai where he has 

since founded two rapid growth Indian companies, so 

far employing 30 local staff. He divides his time 

between India and the UK. 

Mike Coveney 

Sales and Marketing Director, 

Griffon Hoverwork 

Mike Coveney has worked in the defense, engineering 

and marketing services industries for over 25 years in 

general management, sales and operational roles. As a 

chartered engineer and marketer, with experience as a 

management consultant with A T Kearney, he has 

successfully turned around two businesses and latterly 

has focused on sales and marketing process 

improvement. 

Mike joined the Griffon Hoverwork team in 2009. He is 

passionate about customer service and is keen to 

ensure that the company builds on its status as the 

World Leader in the design and manufacture of 

hovercraft. 

Mark Ridgway OBE 

Managing Director, Group Rhodes 

Mark Ridgway is Managing Director of Group Rhodes, 

a Wakefield headquartered group of seven engineering 

companies. Mark currently sits on the Advanced 

Engineering Sector Advisory Board to UKTI. He was 

the Advanced Engineering ‘Sector Champion’ for the 

London Olympic Games and in 2012 joined the 

Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative 

Investment Board. Mark is the current President of the 

Manufacturing Technologies Association and is a 

Council member of the Metalforming Machinery 

Manufacturers’ Association. Mark also represents 

manufacturing businesses on the Board of the Leeds 

City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and served 

as a Director of Wakefield First (development agency) 

from 2004 - 2011. He now Chairs the Wakefield 

Enterprise Partnership. 

Joshua Cooper 

CEO, Hildebrand Technology 

Hildebrand is a technology company specialising in the 

energy/clean tech sector with its “smart” platform; 

instrumenting demand combined with an intelligent 

analytics engine. This is used for real-time consumption 

prediction, billing and applications to drive behavior 

change. It is behind the world’s first integrated smart 

grid project, Ausgrid’s Smart City Smart Grid, advanced 

heating schemes for Camden Council and visible at 

www.energyhive.com. Josh directed DEHEMS (a £4MM 

FP7 R&D project), Shoreditch Digital Bridge and was 

CTO of Spinvox (raised over $200MM in investment 

and awarded the prestigious GSM Association Mobile 

Innovation Award). Josh founded two technology 

companies that reached the Times Tech Track 100 

including Boltblue that created the global ringtone 

market and boasted 15 million subscribers. 

29

30 

The Hon. William Beckett 

Director, Hip Impact Protection 

William Beckett was in the computer, communications 

and multimedia business for 40 years before starting 

this business to provide hip protectors in late 2009. 

He designed, programmed and marketed health 

administration systems to hospitals and in the 1990s 

the first educational multimedia systems in the UK. 

He produced a virtual travel website on the Taj Mahal 

in 2000 – www.taj-mahal.net whilst running a previous 

company called Armchair Travel. 

Robin Phillips 

Co-Head of Global Banking, HSBC 

Robin is Co-Head of Global Banking, and Head of 

Global Banking and Markets,Asia-Pacific. Mr Phillips 

was appointed a Group General Manager in 2010. Over 

the years, he has led the merger of corporate and 

investment banking functions, as well as spearheaded 

the broader development of the bank’s equities 

strategy. 

Mr Phillips has over 20 years of experience in 

Corporate and Investment Banking with 15 years of 

sector experience in Transportation, Services and 

Infrastructure. He has been involved in many of the 

leading transactions throughout the Americas, EMEA 

and Asia-Pacific, including privatisations, acquisitions, 

disposals and structured financings, in addition to 

leading client relationships and transactions in other 

key sectors. 

B.G. Srinivas 

Head of Europe and Global Head of Financial 

Services and Insurance, Infosys 

B.G. Srinivas (BG to his colleagues) is a Member of the 

Board of Directors of Infosys Limited, Head of Europe 

and Global Head of the Financial Services and 

Insurance Unit. BG joined Infosys in 1999 and has 

played a central role in establishing 3growth engines 

at Infosys, each of which now contribute over a billion 

dollars in revenue. 

In addition, BG is the chairman of Infosys Lodestone, 

the management consulting arm of Infosys. He holds 

a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore 

University, and has participated in executive programs 

at IIM Ahmedabad and Wharton Business School. 

Natalie Harper 

Business Development Director, 

Innovative Physics 

Natalie Harper is Business Development Director for 

Innovative Physics, and has had a wealth of experience 

working abroad. 

Her cross-cultural experience has allowed her to 

communicate and interact with other cultures in a 

business environment. Recently she has worked with 

start-ups to explore ways in which to expand business 

overseas, she leads the Business Development Team in 

Innovative Physics Ltd. 

31

32 

Jan Smits 

CEO AMEA, 

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 

Jan Smits is IHG’s Chief Executive Officer for Asia, 

Middle East and Africa. He is responsible for the 

company’s operations and expansion in a geography 

that covers over 100 countries and territories. 

Jan started his career with IHG in 2002 and has held 

a number of senior management positions. From 2004 

to 2009, he led the performance and operations of the 

Southern Asia and Korea region for IHG. Jan has almost 

30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. 

Helen James 

CEO, Investis 

Helen was Head of Pan-European Equity Sales at 

Paribas prior to her becoming a founding director of 

Investis in 2000. 

Investis’ Managing Director since 2000, Helen became 

CEO in October 2012, following the management 

buyout led by Gresham Private Equity. In this role she 

continues to oversee all of our client relationships and 

drives company strategy and growth. 

Tim Tatton 

Managing Director, Invotec Group 

Tim took over as Managing Director of Invotec 

following the retirement of the previous MD in June 

2012 having previously served as Operations Director 

for the Group. 

A graduate of Loughborough University and a 

chartered engineer he has spent his whole career in 

the electronics manufacturing industry with Marconi 

Space & Defence Systems, International Computers 

Limited, Forward group, Viasystems and Invotec since 

its formation as an MBO from Viasystems in 2001. He 

has held a number of roles within technical & process 

engineering, including Technical Management ahead of 

moving into Operations Management, then joining the 

board of directors in 2007. 

Ranjit S. Baxi 

Managing Director, J & H Sales International 

Ranjit S Baxi founder chairman of J & H Sales 

International Ltd, one of Europe’s leading exporters of 

recyclables, which received a Queen’s Award for 

Enterprise (International Trade). 

Mr Baxi, a recognised expert in the Recycling business, 

contributes regularly to International Trade journals 

and has a keen interest in the Waste-to-Energy sector. 

Mr Baxi is President of Paper Division of Bureau of 

International Recycling (BIR) and Trustee of Northwick 

Park Institute of Medical Research. 

Mr Baxi, FRSA, holds a Bachelor of Science degree, BSc 

and a Master of Business Administration – MBA and 

was voted Asian of the Year in 2008. 

33

34 

Philip Bouverat 

Director, JCB 

Multi-disciplined executive with a broad range of 

international market entry experience including 

mergers, acquisitions and listings. Having travelled 

extensively on a global basis he has dealt with 

numerous hands-on international trade and finance 

scenarios, specializing in infrastructure solutions. 

Philip joined JCB in 2002 to bring the Chinese market 

into JCB’s global strategy. Currently based in London 

covering international diplomatic liaison, with particular 

emphasis on India and Global account relations. He is 

a Director of the UK India Business Council, 

China-Britain Business Council. He also sits on the UK 

Gov Asia task force and the ASEAN Task Force. 

Hiro Aso 

Director of Urban Infrastructure Unit, 

John McAslan + Partners 

Established in 1996, John McAslan + Partners is a 

leading architectural and design practice with a broad 

portfoilio of award-winning British and international 

architecture generated by offices in London, 

Manchester and Edinburgh. Completed projects include 

the award-winning redevlopment of the Stanislavsky 

Factory in Moscow, the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, 

the Roundhouse arts venue in Camden, the British 

Embassy in Algiers and the restoration of the Iron 

Market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Major ongoing projects 

include the transformation of King’s Cross station, 

Crossrail Bond Street Station, the Northern Line 

Extension, twin residential towers in Istanbul, major 

residential and commercial schemes in Moscow, the 

British School in Rio, and several projects in Doha. 

Simon Collins 

UK Chairman and Senior Partner, KPMG 

Simon Collins is KPMG’s UK Chairman and Senior 

Partner. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 

1986. Simon founded KPMG’s Debt Advisory practice 

in 1998, joining the firm from NatWest where he was 

Global Head of Debt Structuring. Prior to that, he 

worked in the financing business of SG Warburg. 

Recently he led KPMG’s Transactions and Restructuring 

practice for three years globally and was EMA head of 

Advisory. Simon is a member of the KPMG Global 

Executive Team and Board and the KPMG India 

Oversight Board. He is also a member of the UK 

Government’s Industrial Development Advisory Board, 

the India UK CEO Forum and the UK-UAE Business 

Council. 

John Nelson 

Chairman, Lloyds 

John Nelson was appointed Chairman of Lloyd‘s – the 

world‘s leading market for specialist insurance and 

reinsurance, in 2011. This follows a long career in 

banking - at Kleinwort Benson until 1986, before 

joining Lazard, whose Vice Chairman he became in 

1990. He served as Chairman at Credit Suisse First 

Boston Europe until retiring from banking in 2002. He 

is an advisor to Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP and 

a Trustee of the National Gallery. 

Until 2011, he served as Deputy Chairman of 

Kingfisher plc, and as Non-Executive Director of BT, 

Woolwich plc, JP Morgan Cazenove and Cazenove 

Group. He will step down as Chairman of real estate 

company Hammerson plc in May 2013. In 2012, he set 

a long term vision 2025, for Lloyd’s to expand into 

developing economies. 

35

36 

Subhash Thakrar 

Chairman, 

London Chamber of Commerce & Industry 

Subhash Thakrar is a chairman of London Chamber of 

Commerce, a first Ugandan Asian Gujarati to achieve 

this. He is very keen to push the case for British 

business in India. He has been involved in doing 

business in India for 16 years in the infrastructure 

sector and is a joint promoter of two funds investing 

in India in the listed companies sector as well as real 

estate. He is a senior partner of Blackstone Franks LLP. 

The firm specialises in inward investment, corporate 

finance, high level taxation and financial services. 

Subhash has extensive experience as principle and as 

an advisor in establishing joint ventures between UK, 

South Africa and Europe and India. 

Professor Craig Calhoun 

Director, London School of Economics 

Professor Craig Calhoun is Director of the London 

School of Economics. He is a social scientist whose 

work connects sociology to culture, communication, 

politics, philosophy and economics. He took up his post 

on 1 September 2012, having left the United States 

where he was University Professor at New York 

University, director of the Institute for Public 

Knowledge, and President of the Social Science 

Research Council. 

Professor Calhoun took a D.Phil. in History and 

Sociology at Oxford University and a Master’s in Social 

Anthropology at Manchester. 

Alexander Justham 

CEO, London Stock Exchange 

Alexander Justham (“JJ”) is CEO of London Stock 

Exchange plc. Between 2008 and 2011, JJ served as 

Director of Markets at the FSA. During this period, he 

also represented the UK on the Board of the European 

Securities and Markets Authority, and its predecessor 

CESR. He also co-chaired the G20 IOSCO task force 

on commodities and chaired the OTC Derivatives 

Regulators’ Forum. 

Prior to joining the FSA in 2007, was a Managing 

Director at JP Morgan, having worked there in a variety 

of roles since 1989. JJ has an MA in Mathematics from 

Cambridge. He is married with three daughters. 

David Waboso 

Director of Capital Programmes, 

London Underground 

David is an internationally renowned engineer and 

project manager, and is currently the Director of 

Capital Programmes at London Underground, where 

he is accountable for delivering the biggest upgrade in 

LU’s history. Born in London, David chose an 

engineering career going on to gain a BSc in civil 

engineering and an Msc from Imperial College. David 

has advised governments and agencies around the 

world on Railway Strategy. He is a recent President of 

CoMet the international railway benchmarking group. 

A Chartered Engineer, he is a Fellow of the Royal 

Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of 

Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Institution of Railway 

Signal Engineers, and a Fellow of the Association for 

Project Management, and also holds a Fellowship to the 

City and Guilds Institute. 

37

38 

Robert Marshall 

Group Chief Executive, Marshall Group 

Robert Marshall is Group Chief Executive of the 

Marshall Group. Marshall is a fourth generation family 

company with annual sales of £1.1bn and over 4,000 

employees. The company owns and operates 

Cambridge Airport and has extensive activities in 

aerospace design, military aircraft maintenance, military 

ground systems and motor retail. 

Robert attained a 1st Class Degree in Engineering at 

Cambridge University and retains a strong interest in 

the Cambridge University Engineering Department. He 

is an Alumni of Harvard Business School and a fellow 

of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Robert is also a keen 

aviator and holds a Private Pilots Licence. 

Steve Wadey 

Executive Group Director Technical, and 

Managing Director UK, MBDA 

Steve Wadey has been Managing Director of leading 

missile system company MBDA UK since 2003, having 

joined in 1989.With extensive experience in delivering 

complex, high-technology projects in an international 

environment, he has been integral to the 

transformation of the UK missile sector to deliver 

greater military capability at reduced cost. 

Steve is also Group Director Technical of MBDA, 

responsible for technical capability, industrial policy, and 

research and technology investment, and the Industry 

Representative to the UK Ministry of Defence’s 

Research & Development Board, since 2010. At the 

beginning of 2013 he took up the co-chair of the 

Department for Business Innovation and Skills-led 

Defence Growth Partnership. 

David Montague 

Sales and Marketing Director, 

Mitras Automotive 

David Montague, Sales and Marketing Director, at 

Mitras Automotive is an experienced sales professional 

with 25 years experience in the automotive and off 

highway sectors. 

David has worked at some of the largest 

automotive tier 1 companies, operating on a global 

basis. He presently heads the sales and marketing, 

programme management and design functions at Mitras 

Automotive (UK) Ltd. 

Peter Simon 

Founder Director, Monsoon 

Peter Simon is the Founder Director of global fashion 

high street chains, Monsoon and Accessorize. 

Monsoon started as a stall on Portobello Road and 

then a single shop on Beauchamp Place, launched 1973. 

The original focus was on clothes with ethnic origins, 

which were sourced from India, Afghanistan and the 

Far East buying from local producer groups wherever 

possible. 

Today, there are over 1400 Monsoon and Accessorize 

branches globally, still trading with some of the 

original suppliers. Monsoon Accessorize won the 

Queen’s Award for Export in 2007. In 1994 Peter 

founded The Monsoon Accessorize Trust, a registered 

charity that funds education, healthcare and income 

generation projects for disadvantaged women and 

children in India and Asia. 

39

40 

Keith Howells 

Chairman, Mott MacDonald 

Keith graduated in civil engineering in 1974. He joined 

Mott MacDonald that year and spent the first 10 years 

of his career in infrastructure design and project 

management, mostly in the water and transport 

sectors. In 1998 he became Managing Director of the 

Group’s water and Environment business, and became a 

member of the Group Board in 2002. In 2004 he was 

made Group Managing Director, responsible for 

world-wide business operations. He became 

Chairman of the Mott MacDonald Group at the 

beginning of 2011. Keith has an MBA from Cranfield 

University. He is Chairman of the Association for 

Consulting and Engineering and is also on the CBI’s 

Construction Council and its London Regional 

Committee. 

Tim Stonehouse 

Malt Sales Director, Muntons 

Tim graduated in Classics in 1981 and after spending 

five years as a commodity trader in the City, he joined 

Muntons plc in 1988. He was appointed Group Malt 

Sales Director in1997. Tim has represented Muntons 

at the Maltsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB) 

on the Trade Committee and now sits on the Executive 

Committee. 

Tim also represents the UK Malting Industry at 

EUROMALT in Brussels, the EU malting industry’s trade 

body and lobby group to the EU Commission, and is 

currently one of the Vice Presidents of the EUROMALT 

Presidium. Tim has worked in the malting industry for 

25 years all with Muntons plc. Outside of the industry, 

Tim’s interests include rugby, skiing, reading and 

occasionally golf. 

Amarjit Basi 

Principal & Chief Executive, 

New College Nottingham 

Amarjit Basi is Principal and CEO of New College 

Nottingham, a founding member of the 157 Group 

of Colleges. He is also a Board member at Pearson 

Education Ltd, Cogent (the UK sector skills council for 

Chemicals, Nuclear, Oil and Gas, Petroleum and 

Polymers), and also Engineering UK. He has practised 

as an inspector, chief moderator and consultant on 

curriculum and quality matters for key national 

agencies over the past 20 years. 

In January 2012, Amarjit became one of the founding 

members of Gazelle – an innovative development 

committed to creating the first generation of FE 

Entrepreneurial colleges. 

Peter Armitage 

Chairman, OCS Group 

Peter Armitage was finance director of the Group until 

2002 when he then became managing director of OCS 

Group International until 2005. 

Peter took on his current role as chairman of OCS 

Group in 2005 and is the first non-family member to 

be appointed to this position in the Group’s history. 

41

42 

Martin Bean 

Vice-Chancellor, The Open University 

Martin Bean became the fifth Vice-Chancellor of the 

Open University in 2009, bringing to the role a 

distinguished track record at senior executive level in a 

number of fast growing global education and 

information technology organisations in North 

America, Asia Pacific and Europe. 

Before joining the OU, Martin was General Manager 

within Microsoft’s Worldwide Education Products 

Group where he focused on developing solutions to 

help the global education community address its 

challenges. Martin is heavily involved in shaping 

education in the developed and developing world and 

is currently a Board Member of The British Council 

and the Commonwealth of Learning. 

Andrew James Jeffreys 

CEO, Oxford Business Group 

Andrew Jeffreys is the Founder and Chief Executive 

Officer of the Oxford Business Group (OBG), the 

global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which 

produces an authoritative series of annual country 

reports across 35 countries and territories in Asia, the 

Middle East, Latin America and Africa. 

An internationally regarded analyst, he is a regular 

guest on television and radio, including the BBC and 

CNN, and writes often for the regional and 

international media. He founded OBG in 1994 after 

leaving Oxford University, where he graduated from St 

Catherine’s College with an honours degree in 

Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Over the last 19 

years the firm has built up a staff of almost 250 across 

four continents. 

Dr Niti Pall 

Chair Person, Pathfinder Health India PVT Ltd 

Visionary senior clinician who combines clinical 

practice with an entrepreneurial edge to design and to 

the delivery of new models of health care in the UK 

and India using an open, inclusive and creative style to 

raise investment and ensure buy in from teams. Highly 

skilled at building sustainable networks for improving 

patient care across traditional boundaries, particularly 

with secondary care and the voluntary sector and 

businesses. 

She has recently been recognised by the Royal college 

of GPs by a special commendation for outstanding 

contributions to the discipline of primary care, the first 

such award by the college. 

David Giampaolo 

CEO, Pi Capital 

David has been CEO of Pi Capital since 2002. Pi Capital 

is a unique investor network that finds growth equity 

and alternative asset investment opportunities for its 

members and negotiates participation in select private 

equity deals and funds. David previously founded, built 

up and sold several businesses and health club chains in 

the US and the UK. He has financial interests in several 

other businesses and industries and has been involved 

as an investor, advisor and board member of some of 

the largest and most successful fitness companies in 

world including Fitness First, 24 Hour Fitness and 

Zumba Fitness. He is currently on the Board of 

Directors of Zumba Fitness, Globalfit and numerous 

other UK and US companies. David is an active 

member of the CEO and YPO/WPO, a member of the 

British Airways International Business Advisory Board 

and a Trustee on the board of Speakers4Schools.org 

43

44 

Bikash Mathur 

Partner & CEO, Polaris FT Europe 

Bikash has over 20 years experience in driving business 

transformation in the global banking and financial 

technology sector. As partner of Polaris Europe, he 

spends a large part of his time managing and 

developing global client relationships with European 

banks and financial service providers. Prior to his 

European appointment, Bikash was based in Singapore 

and spearheaded Polaris’s APAC growth and expansion 

for over five years. Bikash’s leadership mantra centres 

around ‘sales-driven transformation’ to achieve 

business goals and build strong teams. After graduating 

with an MBA from The Wharton School, University of 

Pennsylvania, Bikash founded Maveric Systems, a 

software testing company, and also served as 

Operations Director at Whirlpool. 

Richard Scudamore 

Chief Executive, Premier League 

Richard Scudamore was appointed Chief Executive 

of the Premier League in 1999 with accountability for 

all aspects of the competition and business. His core 

responsibilities include regulatory, legal and political 

matters and the negotiation of key commercial rights 

across 212 international markets. 

Richard is a founding Trustee of the Football 

Foundation – a charity funded by the Premier League, 

The FA and Government which has supported over 

7,000 grassroots football projects and community 

programmes worth over £1billon during the past 12 

years. 

Prior to joining the Premier League, Richard was Chief 

Executive of the Football League. 

James Soane 

Director, Project Orange 

James Soane is a qualified architect, teacher and writer 

based in London and runs Project Orange with 

Christopher Ash having previously been a Design 

Director for Terence Conran. The studio of 10 people 

has a broad and original portfolio of work that spans 

hotels, retail, residential and offices.They are currently 

working throughout the UK and Ireland as well as India, 

Switzerland, Morocco and Russia. 

James has taught architecture at the Bartlett, UCL, and 

Kingston University and is the chair of the RIBA New 

Courses Committee. He recently wrote a book 

entitled ‘New Homes’ published by Conran Octopus. 

Nick Wood 

Head of Operations, Red Gate Software 

Nick Wood is Head of Operations at Red Gate. He was 

the first employee over twelve years ago, working with 

the CEO in his spare bedroom. Nick had a strong 

background in sales, and was brought in to sell Red 

Gate’s tools. The 299-person company now has over 

600,000 users, and achieves 90% of sales as exports. 

Red Gate creates ingeniously simple tools for 

developers, database developers and DBAs. 

Nick’s role includes international expansion, and Red 

Gate currently has offices in Cambridge UK, Pasadena 

US and Singapore. 

45

Dr Simon Galbraith 

CEO, Red Gate Software 

Dr Simon Galbraith is the co-founder and CEO of Red 

Gate Software, founder of the Cambridge Leader’s 

Academy and holds a PhD in Physics from Cambridge 

University. In thirteen years, Simon has been part of 

Red Gate’s growth from a two-person firm operating 

out of a spare room to today’s 299-person outfit with 

hundreds of thousands of users. 

Red Gate creates ingeniously simple tools for 

developers, database developers and DBAs. Since 

piloting Red Gate’s international expansion in 2011, the 

company has opened offices in the United States and 

Singapore, and Simon is presently looking for further 

overseas opportunities. 

John Rishton 

Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce 

Roy Newey 

CEO, Roy Newey 

Roy has worked in India for the last six years 

developing market entry for a skills and education 

company which now trades in six northern states. 

He is also developing market entries for other 

companies including Hydroponics, Land 

Decontamination and Skills Franchising. 

Chris Hyman CBE 

Chief Executive, Serco 

John Rishton was appointed to the Board of 

Chris Hyman was appointed Chief Executive of Serco 

Rolls-Royce as a Non-Executive Director in 2007. He 

in 2002. During this time Chris has overseen a period 

succeeded Sir John Rose as CEO on 31 March 2011. 

of outstanding growth and performance of the 

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, John was CEO of Royal 

company. Chris graduated from Natal University in 

Ahold. 

Durban, with a B.Comm (Acc) degree and PgHDip 

(Acc). From there he went on to qualify as a Chartered 

He began his career in 1979 at Ford Motor Company 

Accountant with Arthur Andersen. He later joined 

and held a variety of positions both in the UK and 

Ernst & Young London. He joined Serco in 1994 as the 

Europe. In 1994, he joined British Airways Plc where he 

European Finance Director, before being appointed 

was CFO from 2001 to 2005. He is a former 

Group Company Secretary in 1996, Corporate Finance 

Non-Executive Director of Allied Domecq. He is 54. 

Director in 1997 and Group Finance Director in 1999. 

Chris is the Chairman of HRH The Prince of Wales’s 

charity In Kind Direct and in 2008 was appointed 

National Ambassador and Trustee for Business in the 

Community. He is also a Trustee of Africa Foundation. 

He is an Honorary Chartered Director of the Institute 

of Directors. 

46 47

48 

Seraj Taiyeb 

Group Chief of Staff, Serco 

Seraj joined Serco in 1999 as Director of Serco 

Investments. Since then he has held a variety of senior 

strategic posts, including Chief Executive of Serco 

Consulting, MD of Serco Investment and Corporate 

Development Director. 

Seraj’s role is Group Chief of Staff where he is 

responsible for the Group Corporate Plan, Group 

Strategy, New Markets, Group Transformation and 

Group Corporate Affairs. He is a member of the 

Executive Committee and is also the Senior 

Independent Director for the UK & Europe and 

Global Services Boards. 

Amarjit Singh 

Co-Chairman, Solent India Business Network 

& Head of India Business Group, 

Dutton Gregory Solicitors LLP 

Amarjit Singh is Co-Chairman of the Solent India 

Business Network Limited (SIBN), an independent not 

for profit organisation promoting trade and investment 

relations between the UK & India. He is an award 

winning commercial lawyer, and Head of the India 

Business Group at Dutton Gregory Solicitors LLP, and 

an advisory board member to the All Party 

Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship. 

Amarjit facilitates inbound and outbound business 

opportunities between the UK and India markets. As 

a nationally recognised legal expert in Indian business 

affairs, Amarjit offers counsel to trade bodies, investors, 

businesses and entrepreneurs in both India and the UK. 

Peter Sands 

Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered 

Peter Sands was appointed Group Chief Executive of 

Standard Chartered PLC in 2006 following four years 

as Group Finance Director with responsibilities for 

Finance, Strategy, Risk, Technology and Operations. 

Prior to this, Peter was Director and Senior Partner at 

McKinsey & Co. Before joining McKinsey, Peter worked 

for United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth 

Office. 

Peter is the lead non-executive board member of the 

Department of Health in the UK, Co-Chair of the India 

UK CEO Forum and member of Monetary Authority of 

Singapore’s International Advisory Panel. Peter 

graduated from Oxford University and holds Masters in 

Public Administration from Harvard University. 

David Nish 

Chief Executive, Standard Life 

David Nish is Chief Executive of Standard Life, which 

has significant joint ventures in India partnering with 

HDFC. His previous roles include CFO and 

subsequently Executive Director, Infrastructure 

Division at Scottish Power and a Partner at Price 

Waterhouse. 

David is a Deputy Chairman of the Association of 

British Insurers and chairs its Long Term Savings & 

Life Insurance Committee. He is also a Non-Executive 

Director of the UK Green Investment Bank plc, and a 

member of both The CityUK’s Strategy Committee and 

the Financial Services Advisory Board of the Scottish 

Government. He was previously a non executive 

director of Northern Foods plc, THUS plc and the 

Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 

49

Robbie Swales 

Director, Steps Drama 

Robbie Swales was a professional actor for 25 years 

before founding Steps in 1992. He has a BA in 

Education and Training and an MSc in Organisational 

Development. In 2007 he was elected as a Fellow of 

the Royal Society of Arts for his contribution to the 

growth of drama based training. 

Steps entered the vibrant Indian marketplace three 

years ago. Blending their twenty years of experience 

with the talents of local Indian actors has proved an 

exciting and rewarding combination. Robbie’s career 

highlights (apart from Steps): Screen testing for James 

Bond. Acting in a 100 Pipers Scotch Whisky commercial 

for Indian television in 1994. The commercial was set in 

Scotland but filmed in Tamil Nadu. 

Surinder (Max) Mongia 

Managing Director, Strongfield Technologies 

Surinder (Max) Mongia is the managing director and 

chairman of Strongfield Technologies Ltd, a specialist 

supplier of high-tech components and equipment, and 

provides Engineering Design and Consultancy 

support for world-wide Aerospace, Defence and 

Security programmes. 

Max is an active member of the community, a key 

leader in a number of charitable organisations including 

Consortium for Street Children and as Ambassador of 

Goodwill for Lions Clubs International. 

In recognition of outstanding achievement in Business 

and the community, Max was Awarded “Asian of the 

Year” by Asian Who’s Who in 2009, in conjunction with 

live BBC World service. 

Torquil McIntosh (Architecte DPLG) 

Director, Sybarite Architects 

Sybarite are an architecture and design practice formed 

in 2002 by Simon Mitchell and Torquil McIntosh, who 

met whilst working at the renowned practice ‘Future 

Systems’. The practice specialise in retail architecture 

and interiors and over the past 10 years have created 

a niche market where their designs can be regularly 

realised. As a Chartered RIBA practice having executed 

over 600 projects in diverse locations worldwide, 

Sybarite has demonstrated ability to deliver both 

local and international projects. Torquil studied at the 

University of Edinburgh and the Beaux-Arts in Paris, 

gaining fluency in French and graduating in 1998. Before 

setting up Sybarite Architects with partner Simon 

Mitchell in 2002, his practice experience included Denis 

Laming Architectes in Paris and Future Systems in 

London. 

Phiroz Vandrevala 

Managing Director & Vice Chairman Diligenta 

Ltd and Director on the Board of 

Tata Consultancy Services 

Phiroz Vandrevala is the Vice Chairman and Managing 

Director of Diligenta, a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy 

Services (TCS) focusing on the Life & Pensions 

Industry, where he is responsible for driving the 

business strategy and operations of the organisation 

globally. Phiroz is also an Executive Director on the 

board of TCS since 2007. With over 25 years of 

consulting and leadership experience with TCS, 

Phiroz was an Executive council member of the 

National Association of Software Companies 

(Nasscom), India’s apex IT industry body and Co–Chair 

of the Indo-British Partnership (IBP). Phiroz graduated 

from Calcutta and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. 

He currently lives in London with his wife Shashi. 

50 51

52 

Phil Smith 

Chairman, Technology Strategy Board 

Phil Smith is the CEO of Cisco UK & Ireland - the 

worldwide leader in networking for the internet. He 

was appointed Chairman of the UK Technology 

Strategy Board in 2011. An advocate of technology 

and innovation, Phil has a thirty year track record in IT, 

advising international leaders and organisations on how 

to drive transformation, productivity and 

sustainable growth. His recent innovations include the 

British Innovation Gateway (BIG) which drives growth 

through technology entrepreneurship. Phil chairs 

e-Skills UK and sits on a number of boards including 

Young Enterprise, The Business Disability Forum, The 

Foundation for Science and Technology, CBI, Critical 

Eye and the Council for Industry and Higher Education 

(CIHE). In 2012, Phil was voted Leader of the Year in 

the Orange National Business Awards. 

Victor Chavez 

Chief Executive, Thales UK 

Victor Chavez was appointed Chief Executive of Thales 

UK in January 2011, prior to that he had been 

fulfilling the role of Deputy Chief Executive since 

October 2008. Thales UK has a turnover of circa 

£1.4B and employs 7,500 people across a range of 

sectors including defence, security, transport and 

aerospace. 

Victor is also the Deputy President of the Intellect 

trade association and the industry co-chair of the joint 

MOD-Industry Capability Management and Acquisition 

Group. He is also a member of the Advisory Board for 

the University of Exeter’s Strategy and Security 

Institute. 

Michael Queen 

Chairman, Thames Bridge Capital 

Formerly Chief Executive of 3i Group plc where after 

25 years he retired in 2012 having developed 3i’s 

activities in India particularly in the infrastructure 

sector. Currently providing strategic advice to UK and 

Indian companies on growth opportunities. 

Non Executive Director of PA Consulting; Member of 

the Advisory Board of Cheung Kong Graduate School 

of Business in Beijing; & Member of the India-UK CEO 

Forum. 

Gerry Grimstone 

Chairman, TheCityUK 

Gerry Grimstone is Chairman of TheCityUK, the 

representative body for financial and related 

professional services in the UK. He is also Chairman 

of Standard Life, one of the UK’s largest savings and 

investments businesses. Standard Life has two major 

joint venture businesses in India, HDFC Life and HDFC 

Asset Management, both in partnership with HDFC. 

He was previously a senior investment banker at 

Schroders and ran businesses in London, New York 

and Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was an official in HM 

Treasury where he was responsible for privatisation 

and policy towards state owned enterprises. He is Lead 

Non-Executive Director of the UK Ministry of Defence 

and is an Independent Non-Executive Board Member 

of Deloitte LLP. 

53

54 

Ewan Campbell 

Director, The Clinical Trial Company 

Ewan studied Biochemistry in London before joining 

the NHS. He has a fellowship of the Institute of 

Biomedical Sciences in Blood transfusion. He was a 

PhD student at the Royal Free Hospital and in 1988 

won the Margaret Kenwright award of the British 

Blood Transfusion Society for research. 

He has worked in the industry for over 20 years and is 

a Qualified Person for investigational medicinal 

products. Ewan has been involved with 2 start-up 

biotechs, both of which floated on the LSE. After the 

Cardiovascular Division of Biocompatibles was sold 

to Abbott he joined Intercytex Ltd. to develop Cell 

Therapy products. 

Frank Hester 

Managing Director, 

The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) 

Frank Hester was originally a technical architect in the 

financial industry. Inspired by his wife’s work as a GP, 

Frank had the idea of developing a better computer 

system for the NHS. He recognised that clinicians 

needed to be connected and that computer systems 

needed to be patient centric. From this came 

SystmOne, a joined up electronic patient record 

solution. 

Frank’s passion flows through the company under his 

leadership and TPP is dedicated to achieving his 

vision. SystmOne’s success over the last 15 years 

means it now joins up nearly 30 million electronic 

patient records and assists 150,000 NHS staff to 

deliver first class healthcare. 

Geoff Vaughan 

CEO, Trans Data Management 

An experienced CEO; Geoff is committed to his Board 

Members and believes that results are achieved through 

help, co-operation and motivation. Strategic, 

commercial and operational experience has been 

gained whilst working within businesses with an EMEA 

customer base. 

In 2000, after a successful career managing the Security 

Solutions Division of Ascom UK Limited, Geoff formed 

Trans Data Management Limited, and has successfully 

delivered operational solutions and business growth 

which has seen a consistent increase in the company’s 

revenue. Geoff served his apprenticeship with the GPO, 

gaining an HND in Engineering. He is a Chartered 

Director and a member of the IoD. 

Stephen Sargent 

Director of Emerging Markets and Product 

Strategy, Triumph Motorcycles 

Working for Triumph for the past 19 years, initially 

in the UK procurement function before moving to 

Malaysia in 1999 to establish a regional office. In 2002 

I moved to Thailand to set up Triumph Motorcycles 

(Thailand) ltd. and thereafter to have operational 

responsibility for the company as Managing Director. 

Over a period of 6 years we built 3 factories and built 

up a workforce of over 900 people. I moved back to 

the UK in 2011 to work as Director for Emerging 

markets and product planning. Most recently I have 

had responsibility to setting up CKD manufacturing in 

Brazil. 

55

56 

David Havelock 

Chief Executive, UK Export Finance 

David Havelock joined UK Export Finance in October 

2005 as Director of Credit Risk Group and a member 

of the Management Board. He took over as interim 

Chief Executive on 15 November 2012. 

David entered the Civil Service after a long career in 

the corporate banking and corporate finance world 

including 9 years in Asia and reached the senior 

position of Head of Credit in corporate banking 

services at NatWest Bank. Following his career of 34 

years with NatWest he has also been a Director at 

Close Brothers Corporate Finance and a Director at 

both Arthur Anderson and Ernst & Young. 

Dr Joanna Newman 

Director, 

UK Higher Education International Unit 

Dr Joanna Newman represents the International Unit 

on the International Education Advisory Forum, is a 

Board Member of the School of Advanced Studies and 

represents the UK higher education sector on national 

and international platforms. She was formerly Head 

of Higher Education at the British Library and taught 

history at University College London and Warwick 

University. 

Joanna is an Honorary Research Fellow at the 

University of Southampton and a Fellow of the Royal 

Society of Arts. 

Rt. Hon Patricia Hewitt 

Chair, UK India Business Council 

Ms Hewitt has long and distinguished experience in 

Parliament and Government, including as the longest 

serving Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the 

last fifty years. In that role, she gave top priority to 

promoting closer business links between the UK and 

India. Ms Hewitt also served as Cabinet Minister for 

Women (2001-05) and Secretary of State for Health 

(2005-07). Ms Hewitt is the senior independent 

director of BT Group plc, non-executive director of 

Euro Tunnel Group and a member of the UK 

Government’s Asia Task Force. She also works closely 

with the Delhi-based charity, Katha (www.katha.org) 

supporting education and women’s empowerment in 

the most disadvantaged communities. 

Rakesh Sharma 

Chief Executive, Ultra Electronics 

Rakesh Sharma, 51, started his career as an electronic 

design engineer at Marconi in 1983 before moving to 

Dowty as Chief Engineer of Sonar & Communication 

Systems in 1989. He was appointed Marketing 

Director of that business in 1993 when Ultra 

Electronics was formed. From 1997 to 1999 he worked 

in the US as Ultra’s Operations Director. After 

returning to the UK he was Managing Director of 

PMES and then of Sonar and Communication Systems 

before taking his first divisional role in 2005 as 

Managing Director, Tactical and Sonar Systems. In 2008 

he moved to run the Group’s Information & Power 

Systems Division before being appointed Chief 

Operating Officer in January 2010 and was appointed 

to the Board in April 2010. He became Chief Executive 

in April 2011. 

57

58 

Fraser Brown 

Managing Director, Ultra PRT 

Fraser was appointed MD of Ultra in April 2011. His 

remit is to continue the successful development of 

Ultra by growing the potential new business 

opportunities across Europe, North America and 

through partnerships in India. 

He was previously Head of Travel Services for BAA 

at Heathrow and was responsible for all non-terminal 

retail activity. Prior to this Fraser worked for Exxon 

Mobil for 10 years across five key managerial business 

roles in forecourt fuels marketing, commercial vehicles 

cards business and operations support, before 

moving on to become Head of Commercial Transport 

at Gatwick. 

Nigel Clarke 

Non-Executive Director, Ultra PRT 

From 1985-2003 Nigel was a partner of GJW, then 

Europe’s leading government relations firm. In 2003, 

he created Learned Lion Partners to set up, invest 

in and advise projects in business areas with strong 

public policy influence. He was an early investor in 

ULTra Global. Other projects include medical research 

through Vidapulse Ltd., home healthcare through 

SureCalm Healthcare Ltd, and social media analysis 

business Trufflenet. Nigel served on the General 

Osteopathic Council from its inception, being chairman 

from 2001-2007; and on the Council for Healthcare 

Regulatory Excellence, a UK Government body, from 

2003-2008. He also chairs the charity Self-Help Africa 

UK. 

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz 

Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge 

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz was installed as the 

345th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 

on 1 October 2010. Sir Leszek was previously Chief 

Executive of the Medical Research Council (2007-10). 

From 2001 to 2007 he was at Imperial College 

London, as Principal of the Faculty of Medicine and 

later as Deputy Rector, responsible for the overall 

academic and scientific direction of the institution. He 

led the development of inter-disciplinary research 

between engineering, physical sciences and biomedicine. 

He was a founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical 

Sciences in 1996 and a member of its Council from 

1997 until 2002; and a Fellow of the Royal Society since 

2008. 

Professor Colin Riordan 

President & Vice-Chancellor, 

University of Cardiff 

Colin Riordan was appointed as President and 

Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff University in 2012. 

Previously he was Vice-Chancellor of the University 

of Essex. A former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Provost 

of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at 

Newcastle University, he taught at the then University 

of Wales, Swansea, and Julius-Maximilians 

Universität-Würzburg in Germany. He is a Board 

member of Universities UK, the Edge Foundation, 

NARIC, the Leadership Foundation for Higher 

Education and the Equality Challenge Unit.As Chair 

of the International and European Policy Network of 

Universities UK, and Chair of the International Unit, 

he is active in promoting and advancing the role of UK 

universities abroad. 

59

Professor Sir Steve Smith 

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, 

University of Exeter 

Professor Sir Steve Smith has been Vice-Chancellor and 

Chief Executive of the University of Exeter since 

October 2002. In August 2009, he was elected 

President of Universities UK (UUK) for two years, 

representing all UK universities. 

His previous posts include: Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor 

(Academic Affairs) and Head of the Department of 

International Politics at the University of Wales, 

Aberystwyth; Director of the Centre for Public Choice 

Studies at the University of East Anglia. Sir Steve holds 

a BSc, an MSc, and a PhD in International Relations 

from the University of Southampton. He has served as 

President of the world academic body in his field from 

2003-2004. 

Professor Donald Nutbeam 

Vice-Chancellor, University of Southampton 

Professor Don Nutbeam is Vice-Chancellor of the 

University of Southampton and a Professor of Public 

health, a position he has held since 2009. His career has 

involved senior positions in universities, government, 

health services and an independent research institute. 

Between 2000 and 2003 he was Head of Public Health 

in the UK’s Department of Health, leading policy 

development within the Department. From 2006-2009 

he was Provost of the University of Sydney. 

His research career, which spans 30 years, has included 

public health intervention research in schools and 

communities, as well as studies of health literacy and 

adolescent health behaviour. 

Professor Nigel Thrift 

Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick 

Nigel Thrift is Vice-Chancellor and President of the 

University of Warwick. Prior to this he was the 

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Head of the 

Division of Life and Environmental Sciences at the 

University of Oxford. Professor Thrift is one of the 

world’s leading human geographers and social scientists. 

His current research spans a broad range of interests, 

including international finance; cities and new forms 

of political life; non-representational theory; affective 

politics; and the history of time. 

Professor Thrift has been the recipient of a number of 

distinguished academic awards and is a Fellow of the 

British Academy. 

Manmohan (Moni) Chander Varma 

Chairman, Veetee Foods 

Although born in India, Moni Varma grew up in Malawi, 

where he ran a successful steel business. Moving to the 

UK in 1982, he set up the Veetee rice milling and 

packing business which is the largest rice supplier to 

the UK retail trade, exporting to over 50 countries 

around the world. Part of the investment was the 

establishment of milling facilities in India. 

Wanting to make the Veetee Group truly global, in 

2005 he established a new factory to cook and 

preserve superior quality microwave rice, using an 

innovative technology. Following phenomenal success 

with the rice, future plans include microwave pasta. 

60 61

62 

Maria Sebastian 

Director of Worldwide Sales, Virgin Atlantic 

Appointed as Director of Worldwide Sales, Virgin 

Atlantic in July 2012, Maria has joined the airline’s 

management board and is responsible for the airline’s 

passenger revenue performance of approximately £2bn. 

In addition to the company’s global sales teams, she is 

responsible for the airline’s contact centres, customer 

relations and overseas country management. 

Prior to Virgin Atlantic, Maria held the position of 

Managing Director, Worldwide Advertising, Promotions 

& Product Marketing for American Airlines, and Vice 

President & Managing Director of Sales and Marketing - 

Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. In this role Maria 

was responsible for revenue generation spanning eleven 

online countries and 21 offline countries. 

David Dews 

Director of Sales, Wadaro 

David has 20 years global sales experience across 

multiple markets sectors including Fixed and Mobile 

Telecoms, FMCG, Financial Services and IT. He has an 

impressive record within a very wide range of overseas 

cultures and able to adapt quickly to deal with the 

issues and accelerate sales cycles. 

Experienced in fostering company growth, David has 

developed and successfully executed aggressive 

go-to-market strategies on behalf of several 

organizations to win market share and identify new 

product growth areas. David is currently Director of 

Sales, Business Development and Marketing for Wadaro 

Ltd, a provider of Customer Experience Monitoring 

solutions for mobile operators. 

Sir Mark Walport 

Director, Wellcome Trust 

The Wellcome Trust has a long-established 

involvement with India: we first funded the Vellore 

Christian Medical College and Hospital in 1953. In 

recent years, our involvement has increased 

substantially and now includes major partnerships with 

the Government of India and Public Health 

Foundation of India. Our funding philosophy for India 

centres on supporting the very best researchers and 

giving them the resources they need to undertake 

research and development of the highest quality. 

Alongside our focus of funding excellence in biomedical 

and public health research, we place an equal emphasis 

on capacity building. This is achieved through 

investment in research buildings and equipment, 

training and developing research leaders. 

Asha Khemka OBE 

Principal and Chief Executive, 

West Nottinghamshire College 

Principal and Chief Executive of West Nottinghamshire 

College since May 2006, Asha received Royal 

recognition for her contribution to Further Education 

and was appointed an OBE in January 2009. 

Asha is the Chair of AoC In India Ltd and recently 

took the lead in launching the company with the UK 

Minister for Skills in Delhi. She also Chairs the AoC 

Performance and Quality Portfolio Group and the LSIS 

Leadership Exchange. She is a member of the City and 

Guilds, Indo-British Trade, CBI East Midlands and 

University of Nottingham Councils and the 157 Group. 

63

Accompanying 

Parliamentarians 

64 

Lord Raj Loomba 

Widely known today as the pioneer of widows’ rights 

and the instigator of International Widows Day, Lord 

Loomba’s campaigning achievements are founded on 

a successful business career as the founder of Rinku 

Group, the fashion and clothing company of which he is 

Chief Executive. Lord Loomba feels humbled and 

honoured to have been appointed a Liberal Democrat 

Life Peer on 17th January 2011. 

Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh 

Lord Parekh is Emeritus Professor of Political 

Philosophy at the Universities of Westminster and Hull 

and was earlier Centennial Professor at the London 

School of Economics. He has been a visiting professor 

at several universities including McGill, Harvard, 

University of Pennsylvania and Vienna Institute of 

Advanced Study. He was Vice-Chancellor of the M.S. 

University of Baroda, India, between 1981 and 1984. 

Priti Patel MP 

Priti Patel is the Conservative Member of Parliament 

for the Witham constituency in Essex, in the UK. Prior 

to being elected to Parliament, Priti had an extensive 

career in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs 

internationally. She has been a consultant to a wide 

range of global brands and international business. 

Lord Dolar Popat 

Government Whip, UK Parlimentarian 

Lord Popat is a Government Whip in the House of 

Lords, with responsibilities for Business Innovation and 

Skills and Transport. An accountant by background, he 

built his own corporate finance business in the 1980s 

before moving into the healthcare and hospitality. He 

was ennobled as a Conservative Life Peer in 2010. 

Lord Sir Gulam Noon 

Sir Gulam Noon is Chairman and Managing Director of 

Noon Products Ltd and Managing Director of Bombay 

Halwa Ltd. Sir Gulam received an MBE in 1996 and a 

knighthood in 2002. He was elected the first non white 

president of the London Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry in 2002 for 126 years, and in 2004 won the 

Asian Business Award for Community Services. 

Alok Sharma MP 

Alok Sharma was elected in May 2010 as the Member 

of Parliament for Reading West. He has served on the 

Parliamentary Science and Technology Select 

Committee and as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at 

the Treasury. In September 2012 he was appointed by 

the Prime Minister as a Vice Chairman of the 

Conservative Party. 

65

66 

Paul Uppal MP 

Before entering Parliament, Paul ran his own business, 

and in his time has been a builder, secretary, 

accountant, lawyer and cleaner. He has maintained his 

interest in business during his first two years in 

Parliament as head of the All Party Group for Urban 

Regeneration and has been a vocal supporter for 

additional growth in Wolverhampton. 

Shailesh Vara MP 

Shailesh Vara has been a Member of Parliament since 

2005 and is the Chairman of Conservative Friends of 

India. He was Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of 

Commons from 2006-10 and after the 2010 General 

Election he was made a Minister, serving as a Whip, in 

the Coalition Government. On his appointment as a 

Whip, he became the first Indian origin person to serve 

as a Minister in a Conservative Government. 

Accompanying officials 

Nick Baird 

Chief Executive, UK Trade & Investment 

Nick has been Chief Executive of UKTI since 

September 2011. Nick is a career diplomat who has 

served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Turkey (2006- 

09) and helped many British businesses engage with 

this fast-growing market. From 2009-11, he was the 

FCO’s Director-General for Europe and Globalisation 

and a member of the FCO Management Board. 

Edward Oakden 

Managing Director, UK Trade & Investment 

Edward runs the Strategic Trade Group, where he is 

responsible for UKTI’s international and sector teams; 

for more than 100 campaigns targetting major global 

business opportunities; and for improving support for 

smaller UK companies overseas. He has served as 

British Ambassador to the UAE, the UK’s Ambassador 

for Counter-terrorism, the FCO Director for Defence 

& Strategic Threats, and as Private Secretary to Prime 

Minister John Major. 

Tim Luke 

Prime Minister’s Senior Adviser for Business, 

Trade and Innovation 

Tim Luke is the Prime Minister’s Senior Adviser on 

Business, Trade and Innovation. He has been based 

at 10 Downing Street since June 2011, as part of the 

Policy and Implementation Unit. Previously, Tim spent 

18 years as the Global Sector Head for the top ranked 

equity research team covering the Technology Sector at 

Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. 

67

68 

Sir James Bevan 

High Commissioner, India 

Sir James Bevan joined FCO in 1982 and has held 

various positions including Head of Africa Department, 

Head of EU Department, Director Of Balkans and 

Gibraltar and Director of Africa. During 2007 – 2011 

Sir James held the position of Chief Operating 

Officer (Director-General for Corporate Affairs) at 

FCO, London. He has been the British High 

Commissioner to India since November 2011. 

Peter Beckingham 

Deputy High Commissioner, India 

Peter Beckingham is Deputy High Commissioner in 

Mumbai, with responsibility for the UK’s range of 

business, political, economic and other links with 

Western India. Prior to Mumbai, Peter was 

British Ambassador to the Philippines from 2005-9, and 

Consul-General/DG Trade and Investment Sydney from 

1999-2004. 

Barry Lowen 

Director Trade & Investment, India 

Barry Lowen has been Director of UKTI in India since 

2010. Based in New Delhi, he covers the whole of India 

and all sectors, giving him a comprehensive overview 

of the way in which bilateral business is developing. 

As India contiunes to grow and as Indian companies 

continue to globalise, there are huge opportunities for 

UK-India business partnership. Barry’s previous 

postings have included Director of Asia for UKTI in UK, 

Head of Engaging with the Islamic World Group at the 

FCO and Deputy HEad of Mission and Consul-General 

at the British Embassy in Riyadh. 

Esther Williams 

Head of South Asia Unit, 

UK Trade & Investment 

Esther Williams is Head of the South Asia Unit at UK 

Trade & Investment in London. Since joining BIS in 

2008, she has worked, inter alia, on policy towards 

FTAs, including India, and the digital economy. Prior to 

joining the civil service, she worked for 4 years in Asia. 

69

Notes 

70 

71

UK Trade & Investment, the Government Department that 

helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy 

and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality 

investment to the UK, has organised this delegation trip to 

India. For more information please visit www.ukti.gov.uk

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