The UK India Business Council, a premier membership-led organisation supporting the UK Government in the promotion of trade, business and investment between the two countries, announced the appointment of Jayant Krishna as new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective from 3rd August.
Prior to this role, Jayant was with the Tata group, India’s largest conglomerate, for over two decades. A British Chevening Scholar, he held various leadership roles at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), including Director, Life Sciences & Healthcare (UK & Europe), Regional Director (UK & Ireland), Regional Manager in London, Global Delivery Centre Head in India, and Global Relationship Manager for one of TCS’s top five accounts worldwide, while based in London.
Earlier, Jayant was a management consultant at a division of Tata Sons. More recently, he has been Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC and Executive Director, Public Policy at the Wadhwani Foundation, focusing on Indian economic reforms and US-India bilateral business ties. He has chaired and served on multiple committees of the Government of India, chaired several taskforces of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and is an Independent Director on the Boards of various companies.
Jayant, who will be the first UKIBC Group CEO to be based in India, will be replacing the current Group CEO, Richard Heald, OBE after a term of 10 years. Richard will step up to the role of Chair from 1st September 2020, succeeding the current Chair, Lord Davies of Abersoch, CBE who will retain a close association with the UKIBC by assuming the position of President of a new UKIBC Senior Leadership Council.
Over the past years, UKIBC has grown in size, scope, impact, and sustainability, expanding its presence in both the UK and India through the development of a range of advisory, support and consultancy services supporting both Indian and UK companies operating in the UK-India economic corridor. At the same time, UKIBC’s role of supporting the UK and the Indian Governments by providing the business voice in G2G deliberations remains core to its mission to further the UK-India relationship.
Chair, Lord Davies of Abersoch, CBE said, “I’m delighted to announce the appointment of Jayant Krishna as the new Group CEO of UKIBC. I have no doubt that with Jayant as CEO and Richard as Chair, supported by the UK and Indian teams, the UKIBC will rise to new heights in support of our members, clients and stakeholders.”
Group CEO & Chair (Designate), Richard Heald, OBE said, “I’m really excited that Jayant has agreed to join the UKIBC and I very much look forward to supporting and working with him into the future. The combination of his insights of India, his extensive networks within government in India as well as his knowledge of UK and Indian corporates are unique.”
“The appointment of our Group CEO in India underscores our ambition to make the UKIBC more bilateral in nature. It is also, I believe, a sign of the growing maturity of UKIBC and can only help us enhance our existing advocacy, consultancy and support services in the UK and in India,” Richard added.
Jayant Krishna, new Group CEO, said, “I’m pleased to accept this extraordinary opportunity to work towards further strengthening UKIBC’s support to UK and Indian industry, encouraging bilateral investment, and helping businesses succeed. This transition is taking place at a stage when both countries’ economies have grown to a comparable size in terms of nominal GDP, and we are at the threshold of a vibrant phase in our economic ties. UKIBC will continue to bolster two-way trade and investment flows between UK and Indian businesses.”
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