Business

£4m office lease for Indian software firm

By Paul Robins
November 05, 2009

Indian technology giant Wipro has strengthened its presence in Reading with the opening of a £4 million office.

The software supplier has expanded its development centre in Kings Road which was established in the town 10 years ago.

The improved facility employs 270 people and will be used to deliver customer projects and employee training.

Wipro says operations at the centre, which has been purchased on a long-term lease, will be project-based, with around 30 people travelling between the UK and India each month.

It will also serve as the main point of contact for Wipro’s UK customers and manage the firm’s finance, IT, sales and software development.

Wipro chief Laxman Badiga said: “Taking on the ownership of the facility at Reading is the first of its kind for Wipro overseas.

“The Reading centre started with just one floor and had a little over 30 employees when we began a decade ago.

“The expansion in Reading and opening of a new office in London has only reinforced our commitment to the region.”

Ayan Mukerji, head of Europe operations, said the Reading site would be a key hub for recruiting, training and would give Wipro a chance to give onsite development centre premises to more customers.

The centre was recently inaugurated by Mayor of Reading Councillor Fred Pugh, who said: “It is very encouraging that an international company is ready to invest in Reading in these difficult times.

“Wipro is a major employer in Reading and a major player in the business community the council is pledged to support.”

Shaun Whittaker, chief executive of Thames Valley Economic Partnership, said Wipro has been impressed with Reading’s attributes.

“We’re delighted to see that Wipro have increased the scale of their commitment to the region,” he said.

“It is a great endorsement for the tremendous skills base we have here in the Thames Valley.”

Wipro is India’s second largest IT company and has offices in key markets around the world.

| Submit Comments | View Comments (18)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 15 of 18

1 | 2 | Next Page Show 15 | 25 | 50 per page

Statement: World Bank Group Discloses Debarments under Corporate Procurement Program Move is in interests of transparency and fairness Press Release No:2009/198/EXC Contacts In Washington: Carl Hanlon +1 (202) 473-8087 chanlon@worldbank.org InDelhi: Sudip Mozumder +91-11-24 61 7241 smozumder@worldbank.org

January 11, 2009, Washington - The World Bank Group has decided to make public the names of all companies that have been debarred from receiving direct contracts from the Bank Group under its corporate procurement program. This change was made in the interest of fairness and transparency.

This change aligns the disclosure practice for companies that provide goods and services directly to the Bank with the current policy governing procurement on Bank financed projects in developing countries. In parallel with the Bank's disclosure of the names of companies and individuals debarred on Bank financed projects from now on, the Bank Group will publicly list the names of companies debarred from its corporate procurement.

(For a complete list of the 111 companies and individuals currently debarred from participating in Bank financed projects, please click here.)

There are currently three companies that have been debarred along with their affiliates under the Bank Group's corporate procurement program.

Ineligible firms are:

Satyam Computer Services, Ltd. Term: 8 years Date: September 2008 Reason: Providing improper benefits to Bank staff and failing to maintain documentation to support fees charged for its subcontractors.

Wipro Technologies Term: 4 years Date: June 2007 Reason: Providing improper benefits to Bank staff

Megasoft Consultants Ltd. Term: 4 years Date: Dec 2007 Reason: Participating in a joint venture with Bank staff while also conducting business with the Bank

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org.

Victoria
11/11/2009 at 21:23

And what exactly do the company do?

Victoria
11/11/2009 at 20:20

Interested to see Trevor Nixons and Stephen B's comments here. So they ship in workers from India then? Do all the workers come over from India, then take their savings home again? Doesn't sound like a positive gain for Reading at all to me.

Victoria
11/11/2009 at 20:18

You get what you pay for.

In my experience at a Reading financial services company (guess who) they are absolutely shocking.

They were only used because all our resources were used but the quality of the work we got from them was appalling at best. The UK dev team then got to fix it all after 3 failed attempts by Wipro to do the same.

By this time it actually cost more to outsource than it would to have brought in extra resources.

I wouldn't work for them if they were the last IT company in the world...

Stephen B, Praha
11/11/2009 at 12:48

You all need to get a grip, investment into the area is always welcomed. rather than the negative comments be a little more positive. So what if its a call centre, those people will add massive value to local businesses such as coffee shops/lunch houses, local transport, housing, the list is almost endless. It’s the same miserable individuals that moan all day long. Fair play for free speech and all that but please gents be a little more positive!

loyalroyal78, Berkshire
9/11/2009 at 18:11

The alarming situation is that as many agency workers know staff are sent out for a days work only to be told after four or five hours that there is "no more work today" and sent home.

I Ron
6/11/2009 at 12:08

Symposium. If you're an IT worker in Reading you're very likely to find yourself undercut by Wipro people who have been shipped in from India at very low rates of pay. It's already happened to some of us who now have plenty of time on our hands.

Mountain Cat, Tilehurst
6/11/2009 at 11:29

An on-call centre, then !

I Ron
6/11/2009 at 11:01

This is great news. As an IT worker in Reading, we use Wipro when we have a peak in demand for IT resource. No company can afford to have IT staff sitting around doing nothing, so will usually resource based on average demand. When demand outstrips supply, you go for a company like Wipro. The fact that they'll have so many staff onshore and so close at hand is very good for IT and other companies in Reading.

Symposium, Maidenhead
6/11/2009 at 10:30

Oh it's a call centre, I didn't realise.

:-)

rogerjolly, reading
6/11/2009 at 10:29

Must work there, Hugh !! Pity local people can't get work.

I Ron
6/11/2009 at 10:09

World Bank confirms Wipro is on contractor blacklist Alert PrintWipro sharing Satyam doghouse till 2011 The World Bank has revealed the full list of companies banned for bidding for future contracts because of alleged malpractice.