Grant Thornton hosts first Diwali in Lord’s Long Room

Cricket-inspired celebration highlights India-UK business success

• Amit Roy
• 25 October, 2024

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By: Amit Roy

THERE are countless Diwali parties currently going on across the UK, but Grant Thornton chose a historic location for its annual celebration of the festival of light – the Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

In welcoming guests on behalf of the global accounting and consulting firm, Akshay Bhalla, a senior partner, managed to combine the spirit of Diwali with that of cricket: “As we bask in the cricketing heritage surrounding us, we also celebrate a festival of equal cultural significance – Diwali, the festival of lights. Just as cricket illuminates the spirits of millions worldwide, Diwali lights up homes and hearts across the globe.”

He added: “ln many ways, the spirit of Diwali mirrors the essence of cricket – both celebrate unity, respect, and the joy of coming together. Just as a cricket match brings people from all walks of life to cheer for their team, Diwali unites families and communities in celebration. The twinkling diyas of Diwali remind us of the floodlights that illuminate night matches, turning darkness into a field of dreams and possibilities.”

Guests who entered the ground via the Grace Gate admired paintings of Indian cricketing greats Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar and charcoal sketches of Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. These images were mingled with those of other legends such as WG Grace, Colin Cowdrey, Richie Benaud and Brian Lara.

This is the first time Grant Thornton have held a Diwali party in the Long Room, which was built in 1889, and which generations of cricketers have transited on their way to and from the pitch. Until 1998 women, with the exception of the late Queen Elizabeth II, were not allowed to enter the Long Room which was the exclusive preserve of upper-class Englishmen.

Indians who attended the Diwali party last Wednesday (16) night were amused by the English sense of humour evident in the Gentlemen’s lavatory where the wrong exit was marked “NOT OUT” and the correct one, “OUT”.

On the other side of the ground from the Long Room, people could see the futuristic Media Centre, illuminated for the night. Bhalla’s colleague and head of Grant Thornton’s South Asia group, Anuj Chande, stood by the portrait of Cowdrey, who was instrumental in building the Indoor Cricket School at Lord’s.

Gavaskar was sketched by artist Justin Mortimer in 1997, Tendulkar from life at his home by Stuart Pearson Wright in 2007. Wright was sent to Mumbai by the MCC to paint Kapil and Vengsarkar to mark the 75th anniversary of the first All India Test tour of England in 1932.

“As we gather in this hallowed space,” said Bhalla, “we find ourselves at the very heart of cricket history. Lord’s, often called the ‘home of cricket’, has been a beacon of the sport since 1814. For over two centuries, this ground has witnessed countless moments of cricketing brilliance, from WG Grace’s masterful innings to Kapil Dev lifting the World Cup in 1983, Dilip Vengsarkar being the first overseas player to hit three centuries at Lord’s and various masterful innings by Sachin Tendulkar.”

Not everyone thought this was cricket’s finest hour, but Bhalla urged people “not to forget Sourav Ganguly taking his shirt off at the visitors’ balcony after India beat England in the NatWest series in 2002, symbolising the team’s newfound confidence and aggression which we are used to seeing today.

“2025 is lndia’s year at Lords with them playing the World Test Championship against Australia in June and the much-awaited midsummer Test against England.”

Departing guests took away a box of mithai – probably another first in the Long Room.

In June this year, Grant Thornton, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry, published its annual India meets Britain Tracker report.

The tracker looks at the performance of “Indian-owned corporates with operations headquartered or with a significant base in the UK, with a turnover of more than £5 million, year-on-year revenue growth of at least 10 per cent and a minimum two-year track record in the UK, based on the latest published accounts filed as of 31 March 2024, where available”.

Chande had said at the time: “Our 2024 research identified a record 971 Indian-owned companies operating in the UK, up from 954 in 2023, with combined revenues of £68.09 billion, a strong increase on the £50.5bn reported in 2023. This growth can be attributed, in part at least, to the increasing normalisation of the wider business environment as the long tail of Covid-19 disruption subsides.

“The 971 companies in our research employed 118,430 people, up from 105,931 in 2023, and paid £1.17bn in corporation tax, compared with £944 million in 2023.”

At the Diwali party, Bhalla congratulated Chande “for his excellent leadership of the South Asia Business Group, our industry leading practice focused on lndia and the south Asian diaspora. Apart from being recognised as the best accountancy and advisory firm for the India UK corridor, this year Anuj also received at OBE for his excellent work to promote India-UK business over the last 30 years.

“As an industry first, we also launched our lndia global practice with a focus on India outbound and global lndians with desks in London, Munich, Dubai, Singapore, Cyprus, GIFT City (an emerging global financial and IT services hub, a first of its kind in India) and across all our offices in lndia. I also wanted to take this opportunity to announce that Grant Thornton UK and Grant Thornton Bharat completed a deal ensuring significant, strategic and long-term interest in each other with an expanded international presence through direct economic interests in Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Cayman lsland, BVI (British Virgin Islands) and beyond. Combined we are over $1bn (£766.4bn) dollars in revenue with 1,100 partners and directors and 15,000 plus staff.”

In a conversation with Eastern Eye, Bhalla confirmed many of Grant Thornton’s Indian clients, who were “non-doms”, were considering their investment and residence options in the UK because of the UK government’s plan to tax them on their assets in India.