Sales at Jaguar Land Rover have surged annually since the two ailing British brands were united under the ownership of the Tata Group in 2008.

The purchase by Tata of both Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford for just over £1bn was described as reverse colonialism almost six years ago, but manufacturing at its West Midlands bases has thrived ever since.

Losses in 2009 were reversed as turnover trebled by 2013, and Jaguar Land Rover has recorded billion pound-plus annual profits for the last three years, adding around nine thousand employees to date with plans to recruit 1,700 more.

While Tata's takeover was seen a shift in power from west to east, the firm's historical roots and tradition of employment rights sit alongside those of the most enlightened Victorian British industrialists.

The Tata family, of the Parsee religion, started on the path to owning today's industrial giant by opening a textile mill in 1868, where workers were offered pensions and compensated for accidents. The multinational conglomerate – whose divisions spread across IT, energy, communications, materials and chemicals – has assets worth around £50bn, is headquartered in Mumbai, and with two-thirds of its shares owned by charitable trusts.