Business West – India Delegation
Eighty-eight meetings, ten UK businesses, two-cities, all a part of one delegation. Join us as we post frequent updates on this page as to the progress of our South West business delegation all next week.
South West Business Delegates ahead of their visit to Mumbai and Delhi
What is Business West – India Delegation?
The UK India Business Council is working closely with Business West, DIT South West, and DIT India to support the ‘Extend Your Global Reach’ (EYGR) programme. EYGR is a unique project to help South West businesses understand and enter the India market through UKIBC support both home and away.
As part of this programme, UKIBC’s very own Regional Head, Siddharth Mukne, will be taking a bespoke delegation of ten South West businesses to India between 8th – 12th October. In just one week they will participate in eighty-eight warmed-up meetings across Mumbai and Delhi in eight different sectors.
Join us on this page for a window to their progress, insights, and deals in the pipeline. Could you see yourself in their shoes?
For information on ‘Extend Your Global Reach’ visit www.export4growth.co.uk
Day 1
Good afternoon from India!
Yesterday we arrived in Mumbai for the first day of our India delegation, whilst most of us headed off to a briefing session with the other delegates, Chipside has already had a very productive afternoon of meetings before joining us later in the day. Our delegates were addressed by Richard McCullum, MD -India, UK India Business Council and Ameeta Virk, BW, ASA Associates, DIT India to discuss the upcoming programme and get to know one another.
Afterwards all the delegates got together to relax before the kick off of their busy schedule from tomorrow. I’m excited to say that all the delegates are charged up for their upcoming meetings and they are very positive about the outcome of this India visit.
Day 2
What a busy second day this has been for us! 
All our delegates got stuck into productive meetings with very promising updates.
Scanning Pen visited a university that provides training teachers and secured an agreement with the University to include their product information in the syllabus. Not only that, but the University invited Scanning Pen to an international conference they are organising in January 2019.
Beyond the Beans had a good first day and have strong opportunities to work with one of the largest coffee chains in India.
Chipside, who got off the block as soon as they arrived, reported great second-day meetings. They are carrying out further discussions with an Indian company on a pilot deployment with their systems.
Dekomte and Tracklement also reported a good first meetings. Dekomte are actively looking forward for future meetings to finalise decisions with potential partners whilst Tracklement achieved a very good view of demand for their products in bricks and mortar stores.
At the end of a promising day at the discussion table, delegates got an opportunity to engage with Mr. Tom Mottershead, Deputy Director DIT and Richard McCullum, UKIBC, ASA & Associates, India based UK companies, CII deputy director & head of International Division during a relaxed joint dinner. Bring on day three…
Day 3
Today has been full of marathon meeting sessions and great promises. Here are just some brief snapshots illustrating what our delegates have achieved in just one day…
Beyond the Beans had an exceedingly busy day fitting in five constructive meetings starting at 8.30pm and carrying all the way through to 8.00pm. One potential partner has even agreed to visit their site in Bristol at the end of this month for next round of discussions which they are very excited about. They also had an excellent meeting with Taj Hotel who requested Beyond the Beans’ products for reopening of the Hotel’s lobby bar.
Tracklement also held great meetings with two clients who fully understood the retail and current policy landscape, offering very useful insights for future business.
Likewise, Dekomte had a good meeting with senior management at Hamon who have several projects in progress and have agreed to send Dekomte their requirements at the earliest opportunities.
Outcomes from Chipside’s meetings with two companies today, saw great opportunities to set up more meetings with one company, whilst the other with a huge global presence very much liked Chipside’s platform and would like to assist them in entering the market.
Finally, Online Book Company had some very positive meetings. They visited a large conglomerate whose CSR programme involves encouraging girls to re-join schools and complete their education. They absolutely loved Online Book Company’s idea of a book to chart the stories of girls and encourage others to join them. Not only that but they also met a CSR consultancy who were very complimentary about their online books and want to introduce them to some of their potential clients.
Each day is proving more promising than the last for our delegates who are right in the thick of it before heading to Delhi at the end of the week.
Day 4
As we move into the second half of the week, the delegates are faced with another busy day full of promises and encouragement.
Sparkol have had a great meeting with a corporate marketing and e-commerce team, who due to their busy schedules could originally only meet for an hour but the meeting ended up continuing and it seems there is great potential for business.
S C Nutrition are also seeing a lot of positive outcome and huge potential from the meetings they have been to so far, they have even organised a return visit to India in December to continue these discussions further.
Finishing their time in Mumbai, Scanning Pen have had meetings with India’s leading Dyslexia association who they will be able to work with on multiple projects over the coming years. Not only that but they met with a distributor who specialises in special needs products, were able to visit their Mumbai offices and learn more about taxation, logistics and stock management across India.
Another great day for Dekomte, who generated two new significant inquiries from their first meeting of the day and engaged with a strong candidate for partnership in another meeting.
With some of our other delegates such as Beyond the Beans meeting major coffee chain companies (with over 200 outlets), the delegation has seen great success in Mumbai and are excited to continue their journey to Delhi this afternoon.
Day 5
It’s been an astonishing India visit for all of the delegates so far, not only have they had a number of productive meetings but they have also gained insight into the Indian market.
Chipside have been asked to be a part of an upcoming smart city initiative after meeting with India’s largest supplier of traffic lights. They also met another company who is responsible of 1/3rd of tolling systems in India and have developed their own parking platform, the company feels that Chipside’s product would fill the gap in their offering and both parties are arranging to meet again in December to take the discussions further. 
Tracklement had another good day of meetings and took the time to visit a few independent grocers where they were delighted to see their products on the shelf.
The trip has also helped our delegates realise the great potential for their products in India, S C Nutrition as an example have met with large corporate and medium size businesses, all of which have shown a keen interest. Beyond the Beans met a large restaurant and bar group (with over 50 establishments) who are interested in working with them. Also, Online Book Company have found that Indian companies see limitless opportunities within their organisations for their online books.
Finally, we are delighted that Dekomte have taken very decisive steps today after meeting with a potential partner and are now ready to move forward with their India strategy.
Day 6 – Final Day
As we reach our final day of the delegation, there is no time to rest yet! We are delighted however that our delegates are ending their week with such positive outcomes.
Beyond the Beans had yet another great meeting, this time with a distributor of International blender, who have shown a keen interest in their products. Whilst Dekomte are pleased to be ending their week in India with not one, but 3 productive meetings.
The Online Book Company also ended their week with a great meeting with one of the largest charity organisations in India who would like to feature Online Book Company’s books on their 40th anniversary, they have now planned their next round of discussion’s on this.
“I could not have wished to have a better meeting on the last day of the trip” – Jonathan Haward, Online Book Company
We celebrated the end of our successful week by organising a dinner in Delhi with Rhiannon Harries – Director, Trade & Innovation, South Asia (DIT), who addressed the delegation and congratulated them all for a successful mission.
