Member Article

London festive focus: Paresh Davdra, RationalFX

With the end of a topsy-turvy year in sight and this year’s festivities about to begin, we’ve asked some of London’s business leaders to reflect on the year gone by and give us an insight into their festive traditions.

In the spotlight today is Paresh Davdra, Chief Executive Officer of RationalFX, to share his thoughts on the year gone by, the year ahead and what’s most likely to get him boogying at this year’s Christmas shindig.

What have been the most notable highlights for your business this year?

It has been a fantastic year for the RationalFX group with over 60% increase in revenue. Aside from the growth of the company, seeing my business partner Rajesh Agrawal get appointed as the Deputy Mayor of London for business was an amazing achievement. This also meant I became CEO, which I take great pride in. We also opened offices in Spain, Germany and India.

It’s been a year of highs and lows, can you tell us some of the biggest challenges your business has faced?

This year, apart from expanding overseas, we increased our space in our HQ here in Canary Wharf. I am very lucky to have a great team around me who have been exceptional in handling all of the logistical challenges and paperwork coming with the move.

We have also seen a big year in tech developments and can now send money to Brazil for both individuals and businesses in the same day.

If there’s one lesson you’re going to take away from 2016, what is it and why?

Continue to be a nimble company that will allow us to keep pace with the bigger players and still grow organically. As the company continues to grow, you can easily let decisions and the implementation of those decisions take longer. I think it is key to ensure that there is ownership over tasks and that deadlines are adhered to – we don’t want to be a company where things don’t get done or processes don’t improve because someone is not taking ownership.

Which London business do you most admire right now?

Some companies stand out to me because they are thought leaders or have launched some really cool products. For example GoHenry, which allows parents to provide an allowance to their children using pre-paid cards and apps – you can set weekly tasks so they have to earn their allowance.

Despite the Brexit vote, we’ve still plenty of businesses setting up shop in the capital. What do you think makes the city so special?

I think that it’s the cultural diversity and pool of talent that makes London so attractive. Don’t forget that it is still the bridge between the US and Asia with the largest volume of currency traded during UK hours.

We are still yet to see what impact Brexit will really have. I think that although businesses are optimistic we are seeing some worrying trends – it was great to see that Austria didn’t vote far right but we have the French election next year where we could have some uncomfortable news.

We are starting to see the weak pound now play a part in inflation and this could get a lot worse next year as the increased cost of importing is passed on to your everyday household goods.

Who’s your business idol, the person you find most inspiring and look up to?

There have been many legends from Dhirubhai Ambani who founded Reliance Industries in India, to our very own Richard Brandson. But I think that you can only really be inspired by people that you have close contact with and I have been very lucky to have Rajesh Agrawal by my side, who has guided me though my journey and always provided sound advice.

Everyone has their Christmas day routine, what’s yours?

We have a big family and on Christmas Day we all get together. There are about 40 of us, and we all bring a dish, open presents – it is a lot of fun and a tradition we have kept since I was a baby!

And most importantly of all, what’s the cheesy Christmas single that’s most likely to get you on the dancefloor?

Hahaha it changes every year… I am sure it was Gangnam Style last year and it’s looking like it will be Honey G this year.

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