Vira International founded in 1970 is a Government of India, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs registered and ISO 9001:2000 Certified company with business interests in International Recruitment, Training,  in the Hospitality and Healthcare domain, and our clients include some of the best and biggest names in their industry.

From its inception in 1970 to date, the company has successfully recruited thousands of Indians, from various different professions, to several countries around the world. The client base ranged from Global construction companies to Hotel & Restaurant chains as well as Hospitals .

In July 2001, we registered Vira International Limited and opened our UK Office. The huge demand for Healthcare personnel in the UK and USA inundated Vira with a large number of enquiries. The management at Vira, conducted extensive research and made the decision to focus its resources in sourcing and recruiting Indian Nurses internationally.

Our strategies to enter into a partnership with key companies in the Health care staffing industry, around the World has proved very successful and now have partners globally.

Vira International is now a leading name in the Hospitality Industry, recruiting Chefs and hospitality staff from India into Hotels and resorts all over the world.

Management

Vira International is now in its third decade of being in business and has remained privately owned over the entire period, managed by members of the family who are assisted by experienced and qualified personnel.

Akbar Rajan (Chairman)
akbar@virainternational.com
Vira International is headed by Mr. Rajan who is the founder of the International recruitments division. Mr. Akbar Rajan brings with him 35 years of international trading and business experience. He remains closely involved in the companies business and is the guiding force for the entire team.

Ravi Sharma (CEO)
ravi@virainternational.com
Ravi Sharma is one of the founder directors of Vira International UK. Ravi has lived and worked in the UK for over 25 yrs and brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in successfully managing a business venture
Ravi has excellent interpersonal skills that make him popular with candidates in the country who look for his advise an guidance in placements as well as all matters relating to immigration and work permits. Ravi is a registered advisor with the OISC and heads the department taking care of all the work permit applications.
In this capacity Ravi also assists new clients and old alike with any queries they may have in employing Non Eu nationals.
For all queries relating to work permits and new business set up pls contact ravi@vira.co.uk.

Ms Anjum Rajan (Managing Director-Vira International Limited)
anjum@vira.co.uk
Anjum heads the UK Operations. The UK office is primarily responsible for liaising with our US and European Clients. With a presence in the UK, the clients have an option to deal with a UK registered company.
Our Focus for the areas of Business in the UK is Hospitality and Healthcare.
The company is now successfully placing Candidates Nationally & Internationally at leading Hotels and Resorts in  UK, Ireland, Canada & USA
Nursing remains the core business of the group and we continue to work closely with the NHS as well as Private Hospital groups and associates.
Anjum brings with her 22 years of experience of working in the UK in manufacturing, trading and management consultancy.

Alijan Rajan (CEO & Director)
ali@virainternational.com
 

Vira International is now recognized all over the world for its excellent recruitment and training set up for the ongoing Nurse Recruitment program for USA as well as UK and Ireland.

Alijan heads the India operations from the head office in Mumbai where Vira International is training Nurses for the NCLEX & IELTS and soon plan to start bridge courses for Hospitality Industry.
The Company is a leading recruiter of Hospitality Staff to  UK, USA, Canada & The Gulf and aims to expand in this area.

Ali has been with the Company for 10 years and has been responsible for the successful growth of the International recruitment and taking it from Shore to shore. Ali’s interpersonal skills rate him very highly with all clients.

Vijay Sharma (Operations Director)
vijay@virainternational.com

Vijay has more than 15 years experience working in hospitality commencing his career in hospitality in India with leading Hotel chains such as The Oberoi & Radisson Hotels at Senior positions prior to his move to the UK.

In the UK Vijay was General Manager for over 5 years for Best Western Hotel’s, where he implemented several key changes, including the launch of a successful Indian Restaurant as well as building a large banqueting facility.

Vijay has a broad breadth of knowledge working both with multi-national groups as well as independent hotel companies at senior level covering all areas of management including recruitment and training.

Vijay will head International Operations and add a portfolio of Hotels that Vira International is hoping to enter in the near future.

Vijay has a Degree in Business & Economic and hold the Post Graduate Diploma in hospitality management.

“Working with Vira International is a delight; the company mirrors my own personal values of honesty and integrity. Clients and candidates can be assured that Vira International Limited will work hard to ensure that cultural fit between the individual and the organisation is met.

Tehseen Banatwala [Tisha] (Sr. Operations Manager)
tisha@virainternational.com

Tisha joined Vira as a Recruitment Executive and very quickly grew to become the Sr. Operations Manager handling Recruitment & Placement for UK, Canada & the newly launched Australia Program. She supervises all areas like Resourcing , Placement, & Referencing, Responsible for Channelizing of all resources to ensure their optimum utilization, Client interaction, Project Management & ensuring smooth flow of day-to –day operations. Her excellent interpersonal skills and industry experience of a renowned 5 star Hotel at the Front Desk & Banquet Sales departments helps her to understand motivate and guide candidates with the right career options.

Laxmi Vikraman (Operations Manager)
laxmi@vira.co.uk

Laxmi joined our Mumbai office in 2002 and worked in all departments assisting candidates with their applications and placement in the UK. Laxmi’s valued knowledge of the company’s working processes and her experience was extremely valued and laxmi was therefore transferred to the UK offices to take of eth day to operations of the business.
Laxmi has varied experience of over 5 Years, across functions like marketing, sales and customer service, she brings in talent, experience and first class service skills. She holds a masters degree and has considerable exposure to the service industry.

Joanna Sogeke (Senior Consultant)
jo@virainternational.com

Joanna joined Vira International in November 2005 as a consultant and has been successfully handling recruitment mandates for our clients in the UK, USA, South Africa and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, Joanna has worked in sales, project administration and recruitment and was a recruitment consultant with a leading UK based firm sourcing candidates from Eastern Europe. Joanna hails from Poland and holds a masters degree in finance.

Kairavi Mehta (Sr. Manager - Process)
kmehta@virainternational.com

A Commerce Graduate from Mumbai University, Kairavi joined Vira International Mumbai operations in August 2004. She started with the Healthcare Department and was later transferred to the Hospitality Division. Being trained in Visa and Travel processing and she now uses her expertise & specialization to counsel and guide candidates through the process right from Offer Letters, Work Permits, Visas & final travel arrangements for a smooth transition to the UK, Canada & USA. She also handles large projects for specific recruitment trips of particular clients.

Abbasali Bagasrawala (Sr. Chef Consultant)  abbas@virainternational.com

Holds an Advance Diploma in Culinary Arts from New Zealand, Abbas brings with him around 4 years of experience in the Culinary Department backed with more than a year in Customer Service industry. Using his varied experience, Abbas technically assesses all applicants for the Kitchen Department. Being an innovative & versatile professional he possesses excellent interpersonal skills which help him work in a unique manner.

Melvin Pais (Business Development Manager) melvin@virainternational.com

Melvin brings with him over 20 years of experience in UAE Hospitality industry as Front Office Manager with leading hotels in UAE. His varied experience includes recruitment of various staff for the Hotel & is an asset to our organization. He is responsible for screening & short listing suitable candidates as per the client requirements. Melvin is a graduate from the University of Mysore.

Valencia Pereira     (Recruitment Executive)val@virainternational.com

Valencia joined the Vira team in July 2006 as a Recruitment Consultant & has progressed to the position of an Executive. A Graduate in Arts from Mumbai University, Valencia leads the Referencing team which is responsible for conducting reference checks & verifying candidates’ documentation while also helping in the Canadian visa procedure. She brings with her vast experience in Referencing from her previous assignment which is a leading Background Screening Company.

Ami Dave (Recruitment Associate)            amidave@virainternational.com 

Ami holds a graduation degree in Management Studies while she is currently pursuing Master’s in Commerce. She is with Vira for over a year and has specialized in Referencing for UK & Australia.