British telecommunications conglomerate, BT, is the next company to look East when it comes to opportunities to scale up. In a plan to boost their acceleration in digital innovation and transformation, BT plans to add around 1000 new roles around their Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Ipswich and London hubs, and 1800 new hires based around Bengaluru and Gurugram in India. This comes as the business looks to remain on the right side of cutting-edge technology, and ensure that the company’s ambitions align with the future of digital innovation. As British tech companies continue to struggle with the worst skills shortage on record, BT’s move demonstrates a clear desire to look further afield and embrace the global surplus of talent to fill this dire gap. This announcement is not an anomaly, as some of Britain’s biggest names are similarly looking to India – whether it’s for funding or digitalisation opportunities – to scale up and ultimately, expand onto the global stage.

JPIN, the biggest investment banking platform between the UK and India, has commissioned a unique study into the severity of the UK’s skills shortage, finding that a staggering 26% of the UK workforce feel that specifically, a lack of tech capabilities is hindering their growth opportunities. Further to this, almost a third (31%) of the workforce believe that they are currently facing a shortage of workers in the IT sector, once again demonstrating a worrying figure for the future of the UK’s growth and productivity. Whilst Britain has long been known as one of the most diverse and talented tech hubs, a looming recession and catalysing effects of “stagflation” have emphasised the need to lean on other thriving ecosystems. 54% of senior executives have stated that the implementation of AI has increased company productivity – according to Semrush – suggesting that Britain’s lack of skilled talent in this area is consequently stunting business growth across the nation.

Dubbed as Asia’s Silicon Valley, India’s young and dynamic population has made the country one of the most sought-after to assist with scale-up operations. In what has been one of the worst withdrawals for the private equity sector since the 2008 global financial crisis, India has already proven to be an anchor to help and transform flailing UK businesses in a post-Brexit world. Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries, recently announced a franchise partnership with Pret A Manger to launch and build the British chain across India. This comes after the Indian firm also made a binding bid with American corporation, Apollo Global Management, to acquire high street chemist, Boots.

India presented as one of the top 10 economies in terms of FDI inflows in 2021, and the country has continued to break records in business activity in the past year alone. Earlier this month, India recorded a record $82.3bn in mergers and acquisitions in the last quarter, despite global volume being down 8.7% – according to Bloomberg. The appetite of strategic investors from India has continued to fuel the nation’s economy and now, UK businesses have also taken notice of their significant pool of capital and talent, which could help in providing valuable scale-up opportunities. The economic powerhouse has given birth to some of the world’s most successful CEOs, and a relationship between both countries will likely be integral to lift Britain out of the current economic slump.

Nayan Gala, founder of JPIN, explains why UK businesses are beginning to look East for rapid scale-up opportunities:

“India has continued to show signs of real development with record growth in exports, foreign investment, and innovation. In comparison, the UK has long been a global leader in terms of tech innovation, but is currently facing one of its toughest challenges in terms of the lack of talent. In a world where automation and AI are becoming increasingly important, companies need to have access to a large talent and capital pool that can assist in fulfilling these roles.

“BT’s search for tech innovation in India is a great example of this, and I expect to see many more companies following suit in the coming months and years.

“With the pandemic having created a unique and arguably, challenging landscape for British businesses, India presents itself as a key driver in providing the ingredients that are currently missing. As one of the leading hubs of IT and technology, I expect to see an increasing number of startups turning East in search of not only investment, but also digital service opportunities that can assist with their scale-up efforts in such a bleak socio-economic landscape.”