Date:21/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/21/stories/2008022155821900.htm

Business

Ma Foi forges alliance with U.K. firm

Special Correspondent

Tie-up will help expatriates to work in India whose number is expected to touch 3,000

U.K. firm
has huge
data base
Alliance has a sharing arrangement

K. Pandia Rajan

CHENNAI: Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd., a staffing and HR solutions provider, has inked a strategic alliance with the U.K.-based recruitment consultancy firm BBT Worldwide to address the manpower needs in construction and retail industries.

The alliance is expected to mainly facilitate expatriates to work in India. A booming construction and retail industries have already seen the flow of expatriates into India. “This flow is bound to get accelerated in the coming days,” said K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director. Close to 1,800 expatriates are believed to be working in India across all verticals. According to Mr. Pandia Rajan, this number will rise to 3,000 this year. The alliance with the U.K. firm should help Ma Foi to position in the ‘interim solution model’ around 120 expatriates in these two verticals this year, he said. The U.K. company would bring to the table its huge database built across 15 countries. The alliance would work through a ‘sharing arrangement’ and function as an independent division under the ‘energy and infrastructure’ vertical, he said.

Ma Foi reported gross revenue of Rs. 432.20 crore and an operating profit of Rs. 17.50 crore for 2007. Fielding a range of questions, he said Ma Foi was planning to take its nascent subsidiary at Shanghai in China into a joint venture to help get into ‘flexi staff’ recruitment space. China, according to him, is an accreditation-sensitive country. A local partner, he said, would help Ma Foi get over the regulatory glitches to enter the ‘flexi staffing’ arena. Currently, Ma Foi subsidiary in China was helping to place permanent people for Indian companies operating in China. Over a period, Ma Foi would look at recruitment options for multinational players operating in China also, he added.

Mr. Pandia Rajan said Ma Foi Consulting Solutions Ltd., a group outfit, was also in the process of upgrading its BPO (business process outsourcing) operations to become a recruitment back-office for its parent Vedior of the Netherlands and others. For 2008, Ma Foi would be aiming at gross revenues of Rs. 600 crore. It would also spread its presence to four more countries and increase the number of offices to 150 from 104 now, he added.