Cushman & Wakefield has helped Lloyd’s List Intelligence take a significant step in its global expansion by setting up the company’s first Global Capability Centre in India. The Chennai-based facility marks a strategic shift for the maritime intelligence leader, which has been strengthening its data and analytics platform as demand for real-time maritime information grows across global trade, logistics and security networks.
For Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which is headquartered in the UK and traces its roots to one of the world’s oldest maritime publications, the new centre is central to its long-term growth strategy. The team in Chennai will manage the daily cleaning and processing of more than one billion maritime data points, a scale that underpins the company’s core service offering. The new centre is designed to operate as a high-precision engine that keeps global clients updated on vessel movements, port operations, trade flows and risk intelligence.
Chennai’s appeal was hard to miss. As a historic port city, the region has always been linked to shipping, trade and marine expertise. Its academic strength, anchored by institutions like the Indian Maritime University, gives it a talent base few other cities can match. Over the past decade, it has also emerged as a global engineering and technology hub, home to a fast-expanding ecosystem of GCCs across industries including automotive, financial services, logistics, retail and technology. For a company that works at the intersection of maritime analytics and advanced digital systems, the combination of domain knowledge and tech talent played a decisive role.
Cushman & Wakefield’s GCC Advisory Services team led the end-to-end journey, from identifying the right location to managing the design and build process. The firm also continues to oversee operations at the new centre. According to V.S. Sridhar, Executive Managing Director for Tamil Nadu & Kerala and Head of GCC Advisory, Lloyd’s List Intelligence came in with a clear mandate: build a strategic offshore centre with a capacity of around 200 professionals, with scalability for the long run. Chennai stood out for its depth of skilled professionals and its established ecosystem of large and emerging GCCs.
“This was about more than just finding office space,” Sridhar said. “It was about supporting a full-fledged capability buildout, backed by the right infrastructure, delivery model and growth environment.”
The Tamil Nadu government has also taken note of the company’s entry. Lloyd’s List Intelligence received a formal commitment of support through a memorandum of understanding signed on 3 September 2025, underscoring the state’s intent to strengthen its position as a global hub for analytics, digital engineering and maritime research.
Parvin Conners, Chief Operating Officer at Lloyd’s List Intelligence, said the Indian capability ecosystem has become essential to the company’s long-term plans. The Chennai centre, developed in partnership with Cushman & Wakefield, reinforces its commitment to innovation in maritime analytics and gives the company a scalable foundation for future product development and operational resilience.
Cushman & Wakefield’s multidisciplinary advisory approach played a key role in ensuring a smooth launch. Arpita Srivastava, Managing Director for GCC Advisory and APAC Tenant Representation, said the goal was to deliver a seamless market-entry strategy, starting from location assessment and business case validation and extending all the way to workspace delivery. She added that Chennai’s mix of strong infrastructure, deep talent and competitive costs continues to position it as one of the most attractive GCC destinations in the region.
The collaboration has resulted in a workspace designed to promote collaboration, digital innovation and high-performance workflows. The centre is expected to deepen Chennai’s standing in the Asia-Pacific GCC landscape, adding jobs and strengthening the city’s advanced analytics talent pool.
The launch of the new office was marked on 21 November at DLF Cyber City, where global and India leadership from Lloyd’s List Intelligence and Cushman & Wakefield came together to celebrate the milestone. Conversations at the event focused on maritime intelligence, the rapid evolution of data-driven decision-making, and the growing strategic role of India’s GCC ecosystem in global operations.
With the new centre now operational, Lloyd’s List Intelligence has positioned itself to tap India’s expertise at scale, while Chennai adds another global name to its expanding GCC roster.
