MUMBAI: Manish Porwal, former Percept Talent Management (PTM) CEO, has bought a controlling stake in HR and talent solutions company Alchemist.
Having quit PTM in January, Porwal will move into a new role as managing director of Alchemist. He is also an advisor in communications, on the board of a large infrastructure company.
Says Porwal, “The huge role of people in our industry and the ironic lack of investment in them, always boggled me. Where my MNC jobs gave me respect for processes and roles in an organisation, Percept prepared me in relating with the power of individuals, the needs of top end celeb talent and for thinking like an entrepreneur. Bringing these learning together, I am determined to make Alchemist the leader in talent solutions, in the entertainment, media and communication industry.
We shall start with value adding in the verticals of MARS [Marketing, Advertising (Creative and media), Research and Ad-Sales]. I believe the relationships and skills I have developed over the last 15 years will allow me to set a world class company which shall finally be run by people who work in it and are not just employees but stake-holders. Alchemist will also allow me the width to look at other avenues that I have also wanted to be a part of.”
Adds Alchemist founder and COO Anujita Jain: “The team at Alchemist is glad that we now have a leader and strategic driver to give shape to our dreams. We are already excelling in the area of Executive search and vocational education & training, and given Manish’s ability to incubate and execute big plans, we would be talking bigger scale and scope. I am personally excited because Manish has been my mentor early in life and I look up to him for his integrity and passion and ability to give quality product to his clients.”
While Anujita will continue to be at the helm of affairs, Porwal will play the role of a mentor and chief strategist and also have time to pursue other consulting engagements in his individual capacity.
Alchemist is expanding its team and offices. The company announced appointments of Sweta Jhaveri as associate managing consultant and Nidhi Thakkar, Sumita Kevalramani and Jigna Upadhyay as senior consultants.
Outside Mumbai, Alchemist will have offices/affiliates in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Singapore and London.
Porwal was earlier MD of Starcom India. After his MBA at NMIMS, he started his career at FCB Ulka and has also worked with BBC World, Everest and Vijay TV. At PTM, he briefly held an additional portfolio as CEO of Bollywood Corporation. He created CelebTrackTM, which measures celeb power across genres.
