From Mersea Island to Mumbai: Building Global Operations from the Ground Up

Every great business has a humble beginning. For PE, that beginning was a modest office in Mersea Island, Colchester, with three staff and a vision to do things differently.

“When that first piece of business came through the door, we were jumping around in excitement,” recalls Steve Daniels, Group Chief Sales Officer. “We didn’t come from a corporation. We started from zero — just like many of our SME customers.”

That foundational experience shaped the way PE grew: organically, intentionally, and with an eye for efficiency. One of the key pillars of that journey? A strategic operations hub in India, led by Group COO Vipin Pathania.

“We built teams in India with a 24-hour model across three shifts,” says Vipin. “Our offices in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai each bring a unique strength to the business.”

Chandigarh was chosen for its strong talent pool in operations and administration.

Ahmedabad became the hub for finance and tech, thanks to a supportive local infrastructure and government support for technology companies.
Mumbai, with its diverse and highly skilled professionals, offered superior language skills and experience from large corporates — making it the ideal place to strengthen customer-facing services.

Today, PE’s Indian operations represent more than just cost efficiency — they are a competitive advantage, powering a business that’s agile, responsive, and scalable.

Even as the business scales, the early values remain: stay lean, build smart, and put the customer experience.

Part two of our founders series. Read part one.