Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin secures 1,000 jobs for region after trade mission in India

The investment is being made by global technology and business process outsourcing company Mphasis, which already has a 500-strong workforce and a UK Centre of excellence for its insurance clients in Leeds.

It has been stated by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority that the investment will be worth tens of millions of pounds to the West Yorkshire economy.

The announcement comes after the Mayor of West Yorkshire visited Mphasis’ global headquarters in Bangalore and met with senior representatives to discuss the project and partnership opportunities.

The West Yorkshire Mayor said: “I was delighted to lead this trade mission to India over the past week to champion our brilliant region, its people and businesses.

“I’m delighted that Mphasis has chosen to invest millions of pounds here in West Yorkshire, and proud to have them as part of our business community and partners in driving the region forward.

“These 1,000 new jobs will have a transformative impact on our economy and create exciting career opportunities for the people of West Yorkshire.

“During my meetings with the firm, I was delighted to have met so many inspiring female leaders. Mphasis embeds diversity as a core part of its culture and has a strong focus on supporting and developing its people. I look forward to supporting their growth in the region and seeing the positive impact on our communities.”

Applications have been opened up for new jobs across a range of digital skillsets, including technology and engineering services.

Anurag Bhatia, the senior vice president and Head of Europe at Mphasis, has said the company hopes to support the “next wave of talent” in the local business community and beyond.

He explained: “It has been an honour to welcome Tracy Brabin and her team to Bangalore during their trade mission visit to India. We are proud to invest in West Yorkshire, and to build on the launch of Mphasis’ first insurance domain-onshore centre in the UK in Leeds last year.

“We are setting out to create a thousand jobs to drive economic growth in the West Yorkshire region, to actively address the UK’s digital skills shortage and support the next wave of talent in the local business community and beyond.

“We look forward to working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, as well as schools and universities, to inspire many more promising candidates of all backgrounds to embark on long-term careers across key digital skillsets that will help create a more diverse and stronger tech sector.”

Mphasis is also keen to strengthen links with local universities in order to attract, develop and retain staff, whilst also exploring opportunities to create innovation and entrepreneurship partnerships.

They have also outlined a commitment to driving diversity and inclusion in the technology community.

While the West Yorkshire Mayor was in India, she also met with the head of the Sparkle Innovation Ecosystem, a programme created my Mphasis in order to support and scale innovative start-ups which solve real-world industry challenges.