About Rajesh
Rajesh Agrawal served as the Deputy Mayor of London for Business from 2016 to 2023.
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During his tenure, he was a dedicated champion for London’s business community, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, attracting tens of billions in international investment, improving the working conditions of hundreds of thousands of Londoners and delivering a six-fold increase in Londoners receiving Living Wage.
As chair of London & Partners, he promoted London across the world; attract overseas organisations, events and visitors to the capital; and help retain and grow London companies. He chaired London's Jobs & Skills Partnership Board advising the Mayor on how to improve and better align skills provision including specialist, industry-relevant and higher level skills provision to meet skills needs in London. As the Deputy Chair to the Mayor on the board of London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP), he helped identify and implement strategic actions to support economic growth and job creation in the capital. He was Board member of TheCityUK championing UK’s financial and professional services industry.
Prior to that, Rajesh cofounded and scaled up a payments platform revolutionizing international money transfers, making them more accessible and affordable for small businesses and individuals. He was Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Asian Whos Who and was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Public & Political Life Awards by Baroness Betty Boothroyd in the Parliament.
His dedication to creating opportunities for young people, championing economic growth and addressing inequality has been a driving force throughout his career. He has served as the Chair of Oxfam’s Enterprise Development Programme, a board member of The Indus Entrepreneurs UK, a Trustee of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and a Patron of the Prince’s Trust,
Rajesh is the chair of Labour Friends of India, which works to strengthen the relationship between the UK Labour Party, the British Indian community and India.
Rajesh is a Freeman of the City of London, Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Honorary Fellow of the University of East London and is a member of the Young President Organization (YPO).