ProcurePoint

ProcurePoint | Birring & Bagri Insights

The UK-India trade agreement, signed in July 2025, is more than a tariff-slashing exercise. While news headlines focus on whiskey duties and automotive exports, the deeper story lies in how procurement and supply chains will be reshaped. This deal, projected to add £4.8bn annually to the UK economy, is a moment for procurement leaders to act with strategy and foresight.

Headline Opportunities

• Access to India’s £38bn public procurement market.
• Tariff reductions in technical textiles, IT services, EVs, and luxury goods.
• Mobility provisions for professional visa, enabling smoother talent flow.

Why procurement leaders must pay attention

• SME opportunity: Small and mid-sized firms could ride tariff cuts into India but only if procurement teams understand compliance and regulatory differences.
• Risk management: Dual market access brings exposure to exchange rate volatility, political shifts, and evolving standards.
• Education and skills: Institutions and providers can step into India’s growing demand for digital skills and vocational training, but need supply partnerships to scale.

Strategic lens for procurement

Procurement is not a back-office function in this deal, it is the frontline. Who we partner with, how we contract, how we measure sustainability, and how we build supplier resilience will shape whether the benefits are felt widely, or concentrated in a few sectors.

A call for action

This agreement should encourage procurement professionals to think beyond short-term cost and toward long term value creation. Partnerships, innovation, and capability building will be the differentiators.

The UK-India trade deal is historic, but history will judge it not by tariff schedules, but by the resilience and inclusivity of the supply chains it creates. Procurement leaders have a pivotal role in shaping that outcome.

ProcurePoint will be sharing more practical insights and creating a space for procurement professionals to explore this together. Watch this space.