London: Information technology businesses run by non-Europeans, mostly Indians, in Britain are growing at a fast pace and can emerge as major enterprises, Lord Swaraj Paul, leading non-resident Indian (NRI) industrialist, has said.

"London has become the largest base for Internet firms and has the greatest concentration of software companies in the UK, with an output of over five billion Pounds," he said.

If the growth continues as predicted, the companies owned by ethnic communities in Britain would no longer be categorised as small or medium sized enterprises, the chairman of the Caparo Group said on June 6 addressing the Economics Faculty of the University of Naples.

An interesting trend in recent years is minority businesses' diversification into mainstream markets. "Many ethnic communities are exploiting international connections to penetrate financial, business services, IT, food manufacturing and hospitality markets in Britain and abroad," he said.

Stating that Britain has a truly multi-cultural society, Lord Paul said, "In Britain today, more than 300 languages are spoken; 25 per cent of people working in London alone were born overseas and there are resident communities from over 90 different countries."

Lord Paul said that their contribution was also remarkable in terms of cumulative wealth, investment in the manufacturing sector, high skill levels and their international connections.

Many members of these communities are exceptionally well educated, he said. "Two- fifths of Chinese and Indian workers in the UK occupy the highest class of professional, managerial and technical staff and possess advanced professional and technological skills and qualifications. These proportions exceed those for the corresponding white population," he added.

PTI