Pilomore-Bedford, who succeeds Bharat Joshi, comes from UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s US Network, where he served as Consul General in the Southeast of the United States for four-and-half years, a press release from the British Deputy High Commission said.

He was earlier head of the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America department in London.

“It is a privilege to represent the UK in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. Tamil Nadu accounts for eight per cent of India’s GDP with annual growth of over 8 per cent, making it the second largest state economy after Maharashtra and second most attractive for doing business,” he said.

He also noted that Kerala was envied globally for its high social development ratings and attracted the largest number of British tourists among the states in the country.

“My immediate priority is to encourage partners from Tamil Nadu and Kerala with interest or expertise in AI (artificial intelligence), future mobility, fintech, cyber security to actively participate in our future tech festival in Delhi,” he said.