Sunil Mohindra

Mohindra Maini Founding Partner, Sunil Mohindra has been elected to the Board of Trustees of one of the world’s leading entrepreneur organisations, TiE. Sunil was President of TiE Manchester from 2008. His work at his law practice at Mohindra Maini includes advising clients on inward investment into the UK and outward investment from the UK, in particular to India. Sunil says:“As India continues to expand its industrial and commercial bases, and in the process is developing its infrastructure, it is becoming an increasingly important market place. My new role, which encompasses TiE Chapters in 57 countries, gives me the platform to develop business opportunities through the TiE global network of 2,700 business leaders. Charter members offer their services to grow and develop businesses along the TiE principles and guidelines. My practice will benefit from working with such world class leaders”.

Sunil’s new appointment with the TiE Global Board will also involve him working closely with TiE’s expansion into Europe, having already opened chapters in Brussels, Stockholm and Frankfurt. At the heart of TiE’s excellent work are established entrepreneurs, mentoring young aspiring businessmen and women who have a passion for starting their own enterprise. In Manchester, TiE has been doing this for the last 6 years and for the past 3 years has won Global Awards including two Global Mentoring Awards.

For further information please contact Ann Jordan on 07710 500802.

Louis Doyle, Kings Chambers

Mohindra Maini law firm was delighted to be joined at its December Round Table Discussion by Louis Doyle a leading Barrister from Manchester’s Kings Chambers.

A hugely experienced commercial Barrister, Louis brought with him a wealth of knowledge to impart to the invited company directors around the table.

With recent clients including several Football League clubs, large corporates, banks and high net worth individuals, Louis was able to talk knowledgably and succinctly about how directors must exercise their duties, the pitfalls, and indeed how to avoid them. Louis centred specifically on various areas including the duty to promote the success of the company and how directors must be accountable for their decision making, whether through a third party or not.

Louis was joined in the Mohindra Maini boardroom by chair for the day Roger Thompson, Senior Commercial Lawyer at Mohindra Maini, Senior Partner Sunil Mohindra and a host of company directors from a wide range of industry.

Sunil Mohindra explained after the event, “To have a Barrister of Louis’ calibre, take the time out to speak at one of our events was greatly appreciated. All of our guests found the interactive approach and straight talking hugely beneficial and in such a complex area of law I think they were pleased to learn more about their responsibilities as directors.”

Louis added, “It is always a pleasure to be asked to an event such as this. The arena the Directors currently find themselves in is complex and it is important that they understand the risks of their actions as directors. Good directors make good decisions on behalf of the company and that is the simplest way to avoid the pitfalls.”

For further information please contact Gareth Glynne-Jones on 07833 148562

Mohindra Maini Solicitors’ Commercial department recently provided support to Halewood International’s in-house legal team in connection with the sponsorship of Scottish Premier League team, Hibernian FC, by its highly successful Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer brand.

Roger Thompson of Mohindra Maini Solicitors provided sports-specific legal and commercial advice to complement the specialist IP and drinks industry knowledge of Halewood International’s legal team (led by Peter Horsfall, Legal & HR Director). Roger was pleased to be involved in such a positive deal and stated:

“The greatest challenge was to ensure that this long-term sponsorship agreement was able to benefit both the Crabbie’s and Hibernian brands. Fortunately, the deal worked both commercially and emotionally and, acknowledging both brands’ nineteenth century roots in Leith, the historic port of Edinburgh.”

“The parties worked together to ensure the agreement complied with both the spirit and letter of the relevant regulations covering the promotion of alcohol. Uniquely, the parties agreed that it would be responsible for junior replica shirts to utilise a non-alcoholic brand.”

“I am sure the relationship, which formally commences on 1 July, will be a success for both Hibernian and Crabbie’s.”

Pictured (from left) Iftakhar Gillan, Tariq Marfani, Walli Ullah, Sunil Mohindra and Ashok Kallumpram

At the recent 2nd TiE Global Awards Ceremony hosted by Ashok Rao, Chairman of TiE Global, TiE UK were honoured to be presented with the Award for the Most Successful Collaboration with another Chapter.

Of the 56 chapters worldwide, 8 were recognised at the Awards ceremony held in the United States. The Award highlights the outstanding work and development of TiE UK over recent years and to be recognised at global level is an exceptional achievement amongst a variety of well established and powerful chapters.

Sunil Mohindra Senior Partner at Mohindra Maini Solicitors, President of TiE Manchester and TiE Global Board Trustee says “Awards are a very important way of keeping high standards within an organisation. TiE Manchester works with entrepreneurs from all business sectors who give their time to mentor the up and coming business leaders of tomorrow. Therefore, it is vital that we aim for the highest standards of performance across our global chapters. This award follows our receipt of the Global Award for Mentoring in 2009.”

For further information about TiE Manchester please contact Jean Drinkwater on 0870 890 9834.

Manchester law firm Mohindra Maini was delighted to be able to send one of their key clients, Tariq Marfani of Esteam Europe Ltd, to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) CEO Business session with Mr Anand Sharma Minister for Commerce and Industry in India, held in London on the 4th February.

Sunil Mohindra, Founder and Senior Partner at Mohindra Maini said “I was delighted to be invited to send along a client to the luncheon meeting which was held for UK CEOs from the manufacturing sector with the Minister. I invited my client Tariq Marfani, Director of Manchester based company Esteam Europe Ltd to attend the event. Our practice has always worked with companies who have an interest in India and as it continues to expand its industrial and commercial base, this seemed a wonderful opportunity to hear first hand from a Minister whose role is head of the commerce and industry sector of India. The majority of the guests were CEOs who had either business ventures in India or were considering trading there.”

Tariq Marfani, Head of Esteam Europe Ltd and MJ Systems said “ the event was extremely useful and I made some excellent contacts. It was also good to hear from the Minister first hand about trading and the sectors which they wished to develop in their country. We have our Head Office in Manchester but also have offices in Mumbai, India.”

Sharon Burnett (Personal Injury Partner at Mohindra Maini) led a team of 5 staff members in the Manchester Legal 10k Walk on 30th September.  Sunil Mohindra commented that he was very proud of their efforts and delighted that they raised £750 for charity.  In terms of fundraising, this placed Mohindra Maini as the third highest law firm in Manchester.  Well done to all concerned.

Mohindra Maini LLP acted for Tritech Rail Limited relating to the disposal of its business to  AECOM Limited.  Tritech is a UK-based market leader in rail services specialising in areas from infrastructure surveying and design to electrification.

Tritech was founded in 1999 as a permanent-way engineering consultancy and has now grown into a multiskilled civil engineering consultancy. High-profile recent projects include East London line (surveying and management); Victoria Line upgrade, London (design); Thameslink programme, London and South East (design optioneering ); Etches Park traincare facility, Derbyshire (survey and track design); Ayrshire platform extensions, Scotland (permanent way and overhead line electrification design support) and surveying for the Dublin Area Rapid Transit railway in the Republic of Ireland.

Ian Rawlinson, director of Tritech Rail said, “This is a fantastic day for Tritech.  Joining forces with AECOM unites two market leaders in rail consultancy and specialist technical services. The synergies between the businesses will bring real benefits to our clients and we look forward to driving innovation and value through all aspects within the rail marketplace.”

The Tritech Rail deal continues AECOM’s growth and investment in its rail consultancy business which included in May this year the acquisition of INOCSA Ingenieria. With headquarters in Spain and a strong presence in Romania and Bosnia, INOCSA extends AECOM’s footprint and expertise in transportation – especially high-speed rail.

Mohindra Maini LLP acted for Manchester-based textile firm Beamfeature Limited regarding its recent investment into Life & Style Retail Limited.  Suresh Ruia of Beamfeature Limited has taken an equity stake in the Life & Style business of Elaine McPherson.  This business was formerly known as Ethel Austin.  Following a sizeable injection of funds into Life & Style Retail Limited, Suresh Ruia joins her as a major shareholder in this entity.  Suresh Ruia commented “Our experience and knowledge of product sourcing complements Elaine retail expertise perfectly”.

This investment remains an integral part of Life & Style’s growth strategy following its previous acquisitions of the business and assets of Au Naturale and Ethel Austin brands.  Suresh Ruia will continue to operate Beamfeature. This Manchester-based company (with factories in India and China) supplies textiles to a number of major players in the UK high street retail market.

Mohindra Maini seminars are now running into the second year of a series of Round Table discussions on popular business topics which are of interest to clients, local professional and advisers such as bankers and accountants.

With a variety of speakers from within the practice and external, the seminars form a useful talking shop over a lunch-time debate around the vast knowledge and experience that sits around the table.

A recent seminar given by local Manchester businessman Vikas Shah on ‘Branding’ gave an insight into how the large corporations position their brand in the market place and how every business whether large or small should be aware of creating a strong brand and the benefits it brings to the business.

The next seminar is being held on Friday 14 May at 12.30pm on ‘All you need to know about Property Fraud’. Presented by Anis Waiz, Banking Litigation Partner at Mohindra Maini.

North West business leaders came to Manchester on the 20 April to an event sponsored by North West India Business Unit and NWRDA at Manchester Town Hall to hear leading speakers talk about the benefits of trade between the North West and India.

Chaired by Manchester lawyer Sunil Mohindra, Senior Partner Mohindra Maini LLP who introduced a range of keynote speakers including Anil Verma, Minister (Economic), Indian High Commission, London and Gururaj Rao, Consul General of India, Birmingham. The panellists included Tarun Ghulati, CEO, UTI International and Amit Dev Mehta, Vice President, Tata Capital Ltd and Farokh Engineer.

Sandra Brusby, OBE, Head of the India Business Unit welcomed all the delegates to the event.

Prior to the event Sunil Mohindra hosted a round table discussion with the panellists, speakers and local bankers at the Manchester offices of Mohindra Maini to discuss the business climate of the North West and India