A landmark Byker building has become home to the first Honorary Consul to India in England, and its owners have also revealed plans to establish a 160-bedroom hotel.
The former J T Parrish department store building on Shields Road, owned by the Malhotra family, has been named India House, with a portion of it becoming official offices for the Honorary Consulate of India. The country’s top diplomat, His Excellency Mr Vikram K Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK, opened the 4,000 sq ft space within the property, which will be home to the Honorary Consul.
For 33 years the Malhotras have owned the 1920s building, which latterly become student accommodation. Now, Meenu Malhotra, chairman of his family’s property and leisure business, has revealed plans to turn the remainder of the premises into a 160-bed hotel with the retail units on Shields Road being turned over to food and drink venues.
Read more: Tyneside subsea engineering firm acquired by US ‘ocean health’ business Woocheen
Read more: Drax to pay £25m penalty after watchdog finds misreporting over biomass
Mr Malhotra said the group already has interest from hotel operator Ibis, which has visited the site, and hopes to submit planning for the project next year. He said the plans would help reinvigorate Shields Road and the surrounding area’s economy, which he acknowledged had seen decline.
While the hotel plans will take some time to realise, the Honorary Consulate offices have already been fitted out to the Indian Government’s specifications and will now be used to receive visitors and carry out the work of the Honorary Consul – a diplomatic rank – which includes supporting Indian citizens, building business links and visa services.
The former J T Parrish department store on Byker’s Shields Road, has become India House. (Image: Newcastle Chronicle) Mr Malhotra said: “We were approached by the Government of India, by the High Commission in London, and they wished to have representation in the North East of England, in Newcastle. Being patriotic Indians, we were asked if we could help them find a building. It was our privilege as a family to oblige the Government of India and we made these offices available.”
He added: “It has never happened before now where the Government of India has decided to open the Honorary Consul position in England. And of course, India being the fastest growing economy, they wanted the North East of England to be included in the growth which is wonderful news for both our regions.
“India is the second largest investor in England for the last two years and it will only grow. It brings hope, wonderful opportunities and it will bring people-to-people contact including tourism and students. The North East has a lot to offer and there is a huge opportunity in working with India – that’s the way I see it.”
Mr Doraiswami said that a visit to the North East last year had opened his eyes to the opportunity in the region, which he felt was underserved by the Indian Government and its High Commission in London, consulates in Birmingham and Edinburgh, and Honorary Consulates in Wales and Northern Ireland.
He said: “You’ve got such great stuff happening our of your universities and young people people are coming here and businesses are being created. It’s happening more or less organically but if we have a way of bringing more attention to this – more can be done. In the two years that I’ve been in this country, we’ve focussed on start-ups.
“The Government of India is funding start-ups to come here, to look for partners and funding and in some cases the Government even offers them a small package to stay here for a period and work. We bring them to London and we always bring them to another city. This year the team took them to Belfast and in previous years they’ve gone to Birmingham and Manchester. Now that we have an Honorary Consulate here, we could bring people up to Newcastle.”
Story Saved
You can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.