Fp Advert Gala TKbpcc.org.pl/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/12486/BPCC...committed to working even more closely together to make what has been a 'good' relationship a truly 'great' one

Fp Advert Gala TK

2

BPCC’s quarter century 3

Table of contents

4 Editorial Note

8 Our economies are intertwined

9 Bilateralbenefits

10 Human Resources

14 Professional associations

17 Education

20 Culture and creative

22 FinTech

24 Finance

28 Economy

32 Retail

36 CSR

38 Standards

40 Manufacturing

42 Construction

48 Real estate

50 Infrastructure

52 Shared services

54 Special economic zones

55 Communications

56 Healthcare

60 Advisory

62 Travel and tourism

66 BPCC Trade

68 Members list

70 CEO's note

ISSN 1425-1779No. 30 (125) 2017

British Polish Chamber of Commerceul.Zielna 37, 00-108 Warszawawww.bpcc.org.pl

Publisher:British Polish Chamber of CommercePawełSiwecki,CEO

Editorialoffice:[email protected],chiefadvisorDorotaKierbiedź,membershipdirectorMartaChmielewska,communicationexecutive

Production&printing:Biznespolska.plDesign:JolantaOżdżyńska

BPCC patrons:

4 BPCC’s quarter century

Editorial Note

Welcome to this special print version of Contact Magazine to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the British Polish Chamber of Commerce.


by Michael Dembinski, chief advisor and Dorota Kierbiedź, membership director

Established in 1992, originally as the British Chamber of Commerce in Poland, the chamber merged with the London-based British Polish Chamber of Commerce in 1998 to become a truly bilateral organisation, fostering trade and investment linksbetweenourtwocountries.

Over the years, the BPCC has grown in size and reach, created a dozen policy groups that meet regularly to discuss issues of greatest concern to members with representatives of the Polish state, and has built a trade teamtoworkonbehalfofexporters,findingthemsuitableagents and distributors.

Today, the BPCC has 360 members, representing British, Polish and international capital across Poland and the UK. In this celebratory issue, we focus on UK investment in Poland, on the British contribution to the Polish economy, and how that contribution is reciprocated in terms of thewayitbenefitstheUK.Lookingacrossindustryandcommerce, the aim of this magazine is to showcase British manufacturers, retailers, professional service providers, in sectors such as healthcare, ICT, real estate & construction, education and travel & tourism.

The many iconic British names, the FTSE 100 and 250 companies that are present in Poland, have a rich history. Lookingoverthepagesofthismagazine,youwillcomeacrossBritishcompanieswithrootsstretchingbacktothe19thoreven18thcenturies.ThereflectBritain'senviablecontinuity and strong traditions of industry, commerce and free trade.

Contact Magazine has been published continuously since 1992; in 2011 a decision was made to move from a printed to an online format. Normally, Contact online features around 20 articles. For this special issue, we're featuring nine interviews and 65 short pieces about selected members' activities. The magazine is laid out in sector-

focused sections, bringing interviews with BPCC members, companyprofilesandsectorinsight,allwithaUK-Polishperspective. We intend this special printed version of Contact Magazine to be a snapshot, a time-capsule of British-Polishbusinessrelationsatthisspecificmomentin time when our chamber celebrates its Silver Jubilee; the nextsuchcelebrationwillnotoccuruntil2042–itwillbeworthholdingontothismagazineforthenext25yearsasahistoricaldocumenttolookbacktofromthen!

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Note from Antoni F. Reczek OBE, chairman of the board

Twentyfiveyearsago,therewasajokegoingaround–“Thereareonlytwowaysinwhich the Polish economy can come right. The normal way, or the miraculous way.

In one, the Blessed Virgin Mary descends from Heaven, raisesupHerarms,andtheeconomystartsworking.Inthemiraculous way, the Poles do it themselves.” In the end, it turned out to be a bit of both. Yes, Poland was fortunate andhadsomegoodluckthatevadedmanyofitsneighbo-urs.Inessence,thePolesdidmuchoftheworkthemselves.Theytookthetoughdecisions,theyworkedhard,theyshowed great determination.

AnyonewhoremembershowPolandlookedatthebeginning of the long road to economic transformation cannotfailtobeimpressedbytheprogress.Inflation,once consuming people's savings at an annual rate of over 500%, is now 2%. Unemployment, at around 20% beforePolandjoinedtheEU,isnow,accordingtoEurostat,4.8%,justslightlyhigherthantheUK's4.4%.GDPhasnotmissed a single quarter of growth since 1991. Now, with year-on-yeargrowthat4.0%inthefirstquarterof2017,Polandiscurrentlyoutpacingallmajorwesterneconomies.

The presence of foreign capital and foreign investors –includingthosefromtheUK–havehadaprofoundlypositive impact on Poland's development. Privatisation was the way forward, but there had to be rules. State-ow-ned enterprises needed capital and new management. WiththehelpofPwC,astockexchangewascreated,companieswerefloated,sharesweretraded.ThisneededprofessionaladviserswhocouldguidethefledglingPolishinstitutions into acting transparently in the best interests ofsociety.Manyofthefirstwaveofaccountants,auditors,lawyers and consultants who helped create Poland's capitalmarketwerefromtheUK.Britishprofessionalsdidmuch to train a new breed of Polish professionals, who would ensure the solidity of the foundations upon which Poland's economy would develop.

It'snotjustprofessionalservicesthathelpedbuildmodernPoland. It was manufacturing, retailing, construction , infrastructure, agriculture and food production; it was tourismandleisure.Poland'sremarkableeconomicsuccessstory of these past 25 years is not based on one single sector,butisbroadlybased.Andhere,Britishfirmshaveplayedtheirpart.BP,forexample,hasrevolutionisedfuelretailing in Poland, introducing modern forecourts and conveniencestorestotheoffer.PolskiBus.com,createdbySirBrianSouter,hasshakenupPoland'slong-distancetravel. GKN Driveline's Polish factories deliver essential

components to dozens of car plants across central and easternEurope.Twining'steafactoryoutsidePoznańmanufacturesandexportsfourbillionpremiumteabagsayearto90countries.AcrossPoland,Tesco'ssupermarketsoffer consumers value and choice. Millions of Poles now have their lives and livelihoods insured by Aviva, or have their private savings plans managed by Prudential.

British companies not only brought professionalism and best management practice with them, they also imported notions of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. In these politically uncertain times, we should recognise the huge leap that Poland has made over the past quarter century,andthebenefitsthatthecountry'stransformationhas brought to the everyday lives of its citizens.

The BPCC's Silver Jubilee is an occasion to celebrate those British businesses and institutions that have contributed so much to the success of Poland's economy. We will also have numerous occasions this year to remember and thankallthosewhohavecontributedtothesuccessofthechamber over the last 25 years and I will be doing so at ourmanyeventsoverthenextmonths,culminatinginourSilver Jubilee Gala Dinner on Thursday 19 October. I hope toseeyouthere!

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Our economies are intertwined

In1989Polandembarkedonajourneythat will surely be recognised by historians asoneofthemostsuccessfulexamplesof economic and political change in modern history. As the Polish economy emerged from decades of state control, market-basedcompetitionenabledprivateentrepreneurship toflourish,resultingin nearly three decades of uninterrupted growth. Throughout this period, the UK and Poland remained thestrongestofallies,furtherdeepeninga relationshipthatdatesbacktoWorldWarIIandbeforethat. Thestrategic nature of our partnership is deeply rooted in existingcooperationacrossanumberofareas,embracingdomestic and foreign policies, defence, civil society, business, energy, law enforcement, research & innova-tion. Even as the UK leave the EU, our governments have committedtoworkingevenmorecloselytogethertomakewhat has been a 'good' relationship a truly 'great' one. I am proud to note that in the recent months we have made somemajorstridestowardsachievingthatgoal.

InNovember,theprimeministersandkeycabinetmembers from Poland and the UK met in London for whatwasthefirsteverUK-Polishintergovernmentalconsultations, establishing a new format for structured and comprehensive dialogue between our governments. Another milestone event was March's inaugural Belvedere Forum in Warsaw, which brought together a diverse group of non-governmental representatives from all areas of PolishandBritishsociety,includingthink-tanks,academia,business, cultural institutions, the media, parliamentarians, andthePolishdiasporaintheUKtodiscusstheexistingrelations between our countries and prospects for the future. Britain and Poland cooperate closely on security anddefence.AfewweeksagothesmalltownofOrzyszinnorth-east Poland welcomed 150 light dragoons from the UK as part of NATO's enhanced forward presence.

But what underpins all of these recent political initiatives aredeeplinksbetweenourpeopleandourbusinesses.UKcompanies have been active in Poland since the beginning of its transformation and the BPCC, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, has been instrumental in developingtheflourishingbilateraltraderelationship.Their contribution has received widespread recognition, including by the Council of British Chambers of Commer-ce in Europe (COBCOE) which named the BPCC the best British chamber of commerce four times in its history, and thisyearpresentedtheBPCCteamwithanexcellenceaward for trade development for the third time in a row.

SinceJuly2013,theBPCChasbeenworkingwiththeDepartmentforInternationalTrade tohelpBritishcompanies trade with Poland as part of the Overseas

BusinessNetworkInitiative,whichwillseemoreBritishcompanieshelpedtoexportforthefirsttimeortoanewmarket.TheBPCCTradeteamhashelpeddoubleUKexportstoPolandoverthepastdecade,bringingthevalueofbilateraltradeinexcessof£15billion,represen-ting an important contribution towards the Government's goaltoincreaseBritishexportstoatrillionpoundsby2020.Withtheirmarketexpertise,BPCCtradeconsul-tantsare successfullyencouragingsmallandmediumUKcompaniesandnewUKexporterstoexplorenearshorebusinessopportunitiesinthePolishmarket.Lastyearalonetheyhelpedover1,400companies, workinghandin glove with the British Embassy's commercial team in supportingbusinessesoperatingacrossthetwomarkets.

By the end of 2015, the UK was the fourth largest foreign investorinPolandwitha6.2%shareintotalFDIstock,with UK investors supported by BPCC and the Embassy team.BritishbrandbrandslikeTesco,BP,Shell,Aviva,GlaxoSmithKline,AstraZenecaarehouseholdnameshere,eachmakingapowerfulmarkontheirrespectiveindustriesas beacons of innovativeness, quality and corporate responsibility. They continue to invest in Poland, with Rolls Royce'sAprillaunchofagreenfieldengineplantnearRzeszowbeingjustonerecentexample.Britishprofessio-nalinstitutions,suchasRICS,CIPS,CIMA,orACCA–tonamejustafew—havehelpeddevelopanewgenerationof Polish professionals.

Our societies and our economies are thus deeply intertwi-ned, putting in place the components for the commercial relationshipbetweenPolandandtheUKtolikewisemovefrom 'good' to 'great,' bringing even more prosperity for our people. Our countries are champions of free trade and greatplacestodobusiness.WewantourtraderelationshiptocontinuetodevelopfurtherafterBrexitandwefirmlybelievethatagoodsettlementcanbefoundenablinggoodsandservicestokeepflowingsmoothlybetween the UK and Poland. We've made much progress over the last 25 years. There's so much more to come.

By HMA Jonathan Knott


In May 2004 Poland and nine other countries from our regionjoinedtheEU.Wedidsobecauseitwasanaturalplace for us to be. We carried out the necessary reforms and in less than a decade, built a democracy and a free marketeconomy–twopillarsofaunitedEurope.Weproved that by staying on course it's possible to turn the tide of history.

The2004enlargementbroughtbenefitsnotonlytoPoland and the other CEE countries, but also to the EU-15 economies. The biggest winners were those who increased tradewithourregionandopenedtheirlabourmarketssooner rather than later. Prominent among those countries standstheUK–todayPoland'ssecondlargestexportdestinationandoneofthetop10exporterstoPoland.The way Poland is perceived has changed greatly in the yearsafteraccession,notleastbecausethecountryenjoysuncommon economic stability. Poland has seen uninter-rupted GDP growth since 1992), and secondly because of auniquePolishfeature–ourextraordinaryhumancapital.Poland has achieved great economic success in recent history,movingfromabankruptcommunisteconomyto23rd place on the list of top world economies. The recent economic crisis has enabled Poles to demonstrate their common sense and optimism. Dynamic economic growth, sensible business decisions, and wise management of publicfinanceswerecrucialtoPoland'ssuccess.When discussing the economic co-operation between Poland and the UK, one should mention another important aspect: Polish entrepreneurs and companies in the UK. Poles come to the UK, as others do, because it is their individual right to decide where, at a certain stage of theircareer,theywanttolive,learn,workorconducttheir business activity. Some of them feel they need a moreglobalenvironmenttofulfiltheiraimsandfindnewopportunities. They come to the UK as citizens of a united Europe, seizing an opportunity given by the free movement ofpeoplewithinthesinglemarket.

Over these years, Polish entrepreneurs have made a name for themselves across the UK, successfully building their businesses. Tens of thousands of companies have been set up in Britain by Poles. These include construction and repaircompanies,networksofretailersandwholesalersofPolishfood,Polishbakeries,cafes,restaurantsandvariousbusinesses offering other services. And there are the Polish doctorsandnurses,dentists,psychologists,stockbro-kers,architectsandphotographers.Professionalservicesproviderssuchaslawfirmsoraccountingofficesthatsupport Polish entrepreneurs have also been set up as part of the process. Poles have demonstrated their entrepre-neurialskillsandtheirabilitytoadapttonewconditions.What we also observe and support is growing diversity ofthePolishpresenceintheUK.Agoodexamplearethehighly motivated and outstanding Polish students and academicsatBritishuniversitiesfromallfieldsofartsand

sciences.Thankstothedevelopingimportanceofpoliti-cal, economic and social ties between our two countries, PolandenjoysgrowingresearchinterestfromtheleadingUK universities as well as more and more British students undertakingPolishstudiesandlanguagecourses.The British business community recognises numerous directbenefitsitcangainfromrelationshipswithPolishenterprises in the UK. Successful Polish companies are the onesthatdon'tjuststrivetomeettheneedsofthePolishdiaspora in the UK but who reach out to British customers. There are about 30,000 Polish companies registered in the UK,whilearound70,000Polesworkasself-employed.The Polish Embassy in London strongly supports the integration of the Polish business community in the UK. The Embassy and its Trade and Investment Promotion SectionworkcloselywiththeBritishandPolishbusinesscommunity–oneofourmaintasksistopromotebusinessand economic co-operation between companies from both countries.IndoingsoweveryoftenjoinhandswiththeBPCC, our natural partner. This year will see the Fourth Congress of Polish Entrepreneurs in the UK and we greatly appreciate the role of the BPCC in this event.

HavingacknowledgedtheroleofBPCCoverthepasttwo and a half decades in raising British-Polish economic co-operation to a new level, I must note, however, that today we are in a quite different situation than last year. The result of the referendum is undoubtedly an event that willinfluencethecourseofEuropeanhistory.Regardlessofthe scale of their business, entrepreneurs from the UK who operate in Poland and Polish entrepreneurs in the UK will face many changes and will need to adapt themselves to therealityafterBrexit.ThepreciseimpactofBrexitisveryunclear at this stage and we have to prepare ourselves for challengingyearsahead,butIstronglybelievethatdifficultand uncertain situations can bring new opportunities. No matterwhatthefinaloutcomeofBrexitwillbe,thereisstilla lot of potential to further develop economic co-operation between businesses from both countries.

Bilateral benefitsBy HE Arkady Rzegocki


Human Resources

Finding those specialist professionals

Hays Poland is a leading professional services in recruitmentandexecutivebusiness, part of the international Hays plc group, which is listed on the LondonStockExchangeand is the world's largest specialist recruitment company. Hays is a FTSE 250 company, and it has been in the recruitment marketforalmost50years. Present in Poland for 15 years Hays has built up and strengthened its positiononthelocalmarket,becomingthe undisputed leader in specialist

recruitment. Today Hays offers profes-sional services in specialist recruit-ment, HR consulting, outplacement, executivesearch,recruitmentprocessoutsourcing, IT contracting, digital & creative, temporary recruitment and interim management.Thankstothespecialisationofindivi-dualdivisionstoaspecificsegmentofthemarketandprofessionalservices,Haysisaleaderinitsfield.Knowledgeofthelocalmarket,customercareandemphasis on quality training for its consultants enables Hays to achieve long-term business relationships with leading companies, public sector organisations and local businesses.Hays provides services in the private and public sectors, implementing projectsforpermanent,temporaryandcontractwork.

The unique feature of Hays is the recruitment system for high-end professionals, managers and senior staff based on specialised divisions, focusing on servicing the individual labourmarketsectors.Haysprovidesprofessional services tailored to the needsofitscustomers,findingthebestqualifiedexperts.


Tabs on trends

By remaining in daily contact with employers and candidates, Antal, one of the majorplayersonthePolishrecruitmentmarket,hasaccess to the most reliable information concerning current labourmarkettrends.

AntalMarketResearchisaspeciali-sed division responsible for preparing labourmarketanalyses,includingsalaryreports, employer image reports and human resources investment potential reports in selected sectors and regions. » With20yearsofexperiencein

operations and conducting research inthelabourmarket,Antalisfamiliarwith the challenges faced by HR departments,thoroughitsknowledgeofthecandidatemarketandabilityto best reach accurate sources of information.

» Antal's operations are international inscopeandtakeintoaccounttheculturalcharacteristicsofeachmarketand sector. It has access to 140,000 professionals and managers, as well as 230,000 individuals that specialise in human resources management.

KEY FACTS FROM HUMAN CAPITAL VIEW

Poland's economic potential

» Most attractive FDI destination in CEE according to EY's European Attractiveness Survey 2016

» 14 special zones where economic activity may be run in favourable conditions.PolishSEZsofferattractivetaxexemptions,employmentincentives and well-prepared investment lots.

» 4,280złaveragegrossmonthlysalarypluscompetitive employer's costs

Poland's educational potential

» 400,000 graduates yearly including: » IT–20,000graduates » finance–27,000graduates » foreignlanguages–33,000graduates

Recruitment potential

» 64 new investment decision in 2016, worth €1.7 billion » 593 number of companies with business services centres

in Poland (including 461 foreign investors). » 30%ofspecialistsandmanagersareactivelyseekinganewjob » Economic activity of the population aged 15 and more (2016)–9,514,000

INTERESTING NUMBERS ABOUT POLISH LABOUR MARKET FROM ANTAL SURVEYS

10

36%

64%

10.8%

41%

22%

average number of joboffersreceivedbyprofessionals yearly

of professionals base their perception of the employer on opinions online

professionals aren't actively lookingtochangejobs,butwould consider an offer from a headhunter

is the average attrition rate in Poland

consider a valued emploer brandasthethirdkeyargumenttochangejob

is the average salary increase expectedatajobchangeinthe SSC/BPO sector


Demographics vs automation in the labour market

“It'sanemployees'market–thisisgoodnews… Good news for employees, but also for employers, naturally pushed towards improving the quality of their human resources management. Yes, there are challenges for HR in an candidate-driven market.Thevolumeofavailabletalentisreducing. But Warsaw alone produces 70,000 graduates a year.

“Universitiesproposediverseprogrammesreflectingmostof the core needs of organisations, such as information technology, engineering, economy and law.

“Poland'sunemploymenttodaystandsatarecordlowat7.7%. Within that situation, companies have to change the way they operate talent-attraction tools. It pushes them to act against retention challenges whilst innovating topullnewtalentsin.Forexample,byinnovativeonlinecampaigns, using AI to better connect to new candidates.” says Mr Coulange.

IpointoutthatemployersacrossPolandarefindingrecruitmentandretentionincreasinglydifficult,towhichMrCoulangepointsoutthat“inotherEUcountrieswithhighunemployment,companiesalsocan'tfindcandidates.Recruitmentfirmshelptobridgethatgap,buttheymustchangethewaytheyapproachthemarket.Theyalsoneedto reinvent themselves as talent-service companies that support both the organisation and the candidate.”

“Ifanothershared-servicescentreannouncesthatitwillcreate2,500jobsinaservicecentreinWarsaw,creatingopportunities for graduates and for high-level profes-sionalslookingfornewchallenges,largeorganisationsalreadyherewilllookattheirowntalentpoolandseethisas a threat. They will have to create a more compelling employeevaluepropositiontotheirexistingandfutureemployees. It will push human resources, leaders and CEOstobebetteremployerstooffermoreflexibleworkingconditions.Sothemessagetocorporationsrightnowis–be better employers!” says Mr Coulange.

Brexitisclearlyaffectingthelabourmarket,especiallywhenitcomestotransferrablejobsintheservicesandmanufacturingsectors.“Everythingthat'shappeningaroundBrexitisaimedatraisingasenseofsecurityandcalming down its impact and uncertainty. Our candida-tesneedtheconfidencetomovejobsandourclientstheconfidencetomakehiringdecisions.”saidMrCoulange.

Demography vs automation is an interesting topic for the worldofHR.“Therearejobsthatdidn'texistbefore–tenyearsago,companiesdidn'thavepeopleworkingontheirsocialmedia.Youngpeopleenteringthelabourmarketaredoingjobstheirparentsdidn'tdo–IT,mobile,digital.Technology is also changing the face of recruitment. WhenIstartedworkinHR,CVscameintotheemployerbyfax.NowAIandalgorithmsarescanningCVs,allowingautomatic pre-selection. AI will also become increasingly usedtoextractskills.Behavioursandvalues,however,areonlysubjectiveaspectsthatstillrequirehumaninteraction.HR can be helped by robots, but not replaced by them. Innovation will create the need for services that don't currentlyexist,”saysMrCoulange.

IaskhowheseesPoland'suniversitiesandtechnicalandvocationeducation.“ThegreatestneedfortalentisinITinsharedservices,operational,analytic,statisticalskills,”repliesMrCoulange.“Asanationof38millionpeople,withits economy currently growing at around 4% annually, there’salsoaneedforsalesskills.Consumerspendingisrisingstrongly,andPoland'sexportingmore–andsosalespeople are really in demand.”

There's also a demand for customer service people. “Thisisadifficulttopicforemployers.Ifyouhavelanguageskills,ifyou'reeagertocommunicateinaclearmanner,ifyoushowempathy–you'requalified.Customerserviceisajobwithwhichtoenterthelabourmarket,buthowcanemployersmakeitacareer?Giventhehugeimportanceofcommunication, a customer service agent who gets a good responseisnotlikelytostay.It'softenapocket-moneyjob.Andit'sdifficultforcustomerserviceleaderstoproposecompelling career and competency development to their operationalstaff,whichleadssometoleave.Certainfirmsoutsourcecustomerservicetoexternalcompaniesthatknowhowtotrainandtodealwithattrition,processing,on-boarding, training or screening candidates. In any case, customer service is at the forefront of innovation; it's becoming more analytical than transactional. Bots are increasinglyusedtodealwiththemostfrequently-askedquestions, allowing staff to focus on those customer issues thatrequirehumanjudgment,analysisandproposal,” says Mr Coulange.

IaskaboutregionaldifferencesacrossPoland'sHRmarket.“It'scyclical–what'struetodayisnotnecessarilytruetomorrow.WhydidWrocławandKrakówbecomesuch sought-after locations for shared services and businessprocessoutsourcing?Becauseafewyearsago,companieslookingatPolandautomaticallydiscountedWarsawasbeingtooexpensive.Yetwhat'shappened

Michael Dembinski talks to Yannick Coulange, Michael Page


To gain access to the talent pool you need to innovate and use digital strategies

sinceisthatsomeKrakówsalariesarenowthesameasinWarsaw,whilethecityofKrakówhasn'tgrownfastenoughintermsofofficespace,andfindingaflatthereiscomplicated.AndinWrocław,theemploymentisarrivingfaster than the facilities and infrastructure. Warsaw has thetalentpoolandtheofficespace.Butthenit'scyclical–Wrocławwillbecomeattractiveagain–itssuburbsaredeveloping. Poland is a very large country. Demand moves fasterthansupply.Infivetosevenyears,IcanseePoznańbeinguptherealongsideWrocławandKrakówasanSSC/BPO destination; more and more investors are considering placingtheiroperationsinPoznań–it'sabitambitioustoconsideritanewWrocławorKrakówthough.SmalleruniversitytownslikeRadom,Bydgoszcz,orSzczecincouldalsobreakthroughinseventoeightyears,duetoattritionrates and high salaries in the larger cities” he says. “Tocreateancompellingemployeevalueproposition,firmscouldexploreareaswheretheywouldbepioneers.Whichisfineifyou'relookingtosetupacentreofupto60people,butifyou'relookingatseveralhundred,itcanbecome a real challenge.”

When it comes to outsourcing in Europe, Poland is almost systematically in the short list, and is selected in a large proportion of cases. It has the quality of education and languageskills.CompaniesarenothesitatingaboutPoland,” says Mr Coulange.

Wemoveontothetopicofthemultigenerationalworkfor-ce,wherethedifferencesareexacerbatedbytheexperien-ce of the transformation. Each of the three generations havedifferentexperiences,differentexpectations,aroundleadership,aboutuseofITtools.Theoldestemployees–the'babyboomers'stillhaveexperienceofworkinginthecommunist system; then there's the generation born in the early1970swhoenteredthelabourmarketaroundthetime of economic transformation; and then the youngest generation, the Millennials, who are digital natives, open tothenew.“Theworldofworkisbecomingincreasinglycomplex,withever-changingprocedures,newtechnolo-gies rapidly displacing old ones,” he says.

Summing up, Mr Coulange is optimistic about Poland's prospects.“It'sayoungeconomydevelopingverywell,itsconsumermarketisgrowingorganically,there'sagrowing

interest in Poland as a European location for European and non-European companies. I can see French and German students,hereinPolandontheirErasmusexchangeprogrammes,thinkingaboutstayingon.Andlabourmobili-ty across Poland is improving; people offered high-level jobsarenowreadytoleaveWarsawtomovetootherlargePolishcities;asthelabourmarketbecomesmorecomplex,sopeoplewillbecomemoreflexible.PageGrouphasaround20regionalofficesacrossFrance;currentlyinPolandwehavethreeoffice–Katowice,Wrocław,Warsaw and we could foresee a 50% growth by 2020, upto150people—maturemarketscannotexpecttoseesuchgrowth.APoznańofficeisforeseeable,questioniswhen?There'severyreasontobeoptimistic!”

It's a young economy developing very well, its consumermarketisgrowingorganically, there's a growing interest in Poland as a European location for European and non-European companies.


Accountancy for managers

Founded in 1919, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world's leading and largest professional body of management accountants, with 232,000 members and students in 177countries,workingatthe heart of business.

Getting better at buying

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) is the world's largest procurement and supply professional organisation, with a global community of over 115,000 members in 180 countries, It's the worldwide centre of excellenceonprocurementand supply management issues.

The activities of procurement and supply chain professionals have a majorimpactontheprofitabilityandefficiencyoforganisationsprivateand public, and CIPS offers individual andcorporatepackagestoimprovecapabilitiesandprofitability.CIPSappearedonthePolishmarketin 2015, and since then has been consistently introducing best worldwi-de procurement and supply practices. TheexclusivePolishCIPSPartner—ProfitiaManagementConsultants

British roots, high standards and reputation have enabled CIMA to growrapidlyinPoland–acountryseen as a leader in the CEE region in terms of favorable investment conditionsqualifiedstaffandpotentialfor further growth.

Thankstothis,forthepastsixyearsthe institute has remained the most preferred provider of educational services for employers recruiting educatedfinanciersandbusinessleaders. In particular, CIMA's growth has mirrored the spectacular rise of shared services and business process outsourcing in Poland over the past decade. CIMA, which entered

–operatesonbehalfofCIPSatthecorporate and individual level.ProfitiahelpscompaniesinPolandgaintheCIPSCorporateCertifica-tion Standard. There are only four companies in Poland so far, (leaders in theoilandgasandfinancialsectors)that have succeeded in obtaining this distinction so far. The process is demanding and requires a complete adjustmentofexistingprocurement,procedures, processes and tools, bringing them up to the best worldwi-de levels. Apart from supporting in corporatecertification,Profitiaorgani-ses comprehensive procurement training programmes and facilitates access to the great procurement knowledgeofCIPS.

thePolishmarketin2007,worksclosely with employers and sponsors innovative research, continually updatingitsprofessionalqualificationsand vocational trainings schemes.

CIMA's values are founded on professionalism and ethics, and every member and student is obliged to adhere to its code of conduct. Such a modelcombineshonesty,knowledgeandexperiencewithawell-thought-out vision of development.

CIMAmembersandstudentstakekeypositions in the business world. They workinindustry,commerce,thepublicsectorandnon-profitorganisations.

Profitiarunsspecialcoursesforprocurementexecutives.Theexecuti-ve programme helps to structure andrefreshtheirknowledgeandlearn new, innovative procure-mentframeworksandtools.Mostof attendees decide to apply for the highest individual procurement distinction–MCIPS.PolandisarelativelynewmarketforCIPS, but has a rapidly developing economy and the importance of purchasing departments is growing. The change of the Polish procurement markethasonlybegun,butthankstoCIPS'sinvolvementitwillexpandinthe right direction.

Professional associations

CIPSappearedonthePolishmarketin 2015, and since then has been consistently introducing best worldwide procurement and supply practices.


Excellence in real estate

RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) is an independent and self- regulated professional body established in London in 1868 that serves the public interest by setting and upholding global professional standards of excellenceandintegrityin land, property and construction.

Over 125,000 property professionals around the world are accredited by RICS, including over 400 in Poland. RICS received its Royal Charter in London in 1861. Its purpose then, as it is now, is the promotion of education and standards within the profession tothebenefitofsociety.

RICS promotes and enforces the highestprofessionalqualificationsand standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. The brand promises the consistent delive-ryofstandards–bringingconfidencetothemarkets.

RICS in Poland was established in 1991byagroupofexperiencedsurveyors. They saw the need for regulation in a young and developing realestatemarketundergoingarapidperiod of transformation.

Ian Scattergood, RICS' chairman inPoland,says:“Webelievethatstandardsunderpineffectivemarkets.With up to 70% of the world's wealth bound up in land and real estate, our sector is vital to economic develop-ment, helping to support stable, sustainable investment and growth globally.Withofficescoveringthemajorpoliticalandfinancialcentresin the world, we're ideally placed to influencepolicyandembedprofes-sionalstandards.Weworkatacross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will supportasafeandvibrantmarket-place in land, real estate, construction andinfrastructure,forthebenefitofall. We are proud of our reputation andsustainit,soclientswhoworkwith an RICS professional can have confidenceinthequalityandethicsofthe services provided.”

"Weworkatacross-governmentallevel, delivering international standards thatsupportasafe,vibrantmarketpla-ce in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure,forthebenefitofall.”


The UK is famous for its universities; top students from around the world clamour tostudythere.Polandisnoexception.Educationallinksarestrong.

Photo: Mat Wright


Developing managers

The Institute for Business Development (IBD) Business School's history is intertwined with Poland's economic and political transformation.

Having been established in the early 1990s as the International Founda-tionforCapitalMarketDevelopmentandOwnershipChanges–CentreforPrivatisation, IBD has been instru-mental in developing managers forPoland'snewly-createdmarket

Educating children the British way

The British School Warsaw is also celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017. It's a school with a rich heritage ofprovidingafirstclasseducation to English-speakingpupilsaged2½to18, from both Polish and expatriatefamilies.

Theschoolisaheadymixofnationa-lities(56atlastcount!)withthemajorityofchildrenabletospeakatleasttwolanguagesfluently.Situated across two campuses, the school offers the convenience of city schooling,closetomanyaffluenthousingareasfavouredbyexpats,whileenjoyingfacilitiesthatcontinueto be developed with the opening ofthenewfour-floorstate-of-the-

economy. It has also helped in establishing similar institutions in other eastern European countries. Over the past quarter century, IBD has evolved into a leading manage-mentandexecutivedevelopmentinstitution in Poland. Today it offers a wide range of management training programmes, coaching, organisational research, business consulting services and MBA degrees. It has the status of an academic institution granted by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

A milestone in IBD's history was forging a partnership with the UK's premierexecutivedevelopmentinstitution–AshridgeExecuti-ve Education (formerly Ashridge Business School) in to provide in PolandBritish-modelledExecutive

-art International Baccalaureate (IB) centre, a new (third) gymnasium and excitingfuturedevelopmentplansdemonstrating the school's commit-ment to remain at the forefront of British education in the region. The school follows the principles of the English National Curriculum, enhanced to stretch the high academic potential of its pupils. Consistently the highest performing

MBA education. This was followed by establishing a partnership with BuckinghamshireNewUniversityin2016tojointlyofferanInternationalMBA in Poland, according to British standardsandleadingtoaUKqualifi-cation. By partnering with these two Britishinstitutions,IBDistakingMBAeducation in Poland to new levels.

IB diploma school in Warsaw, it recently celebrated the highest IB diploma average score of any school in central and eastern Europe.

Thisexcellentperfomanceallowsitsgraduates to access the very best universities worldwide, including among others Cambridge, University College London and Imperial College London.

Education

Dr Jan Nowak, MBA programmes director, IBD


You've started up a business back in 2004, grown it from a micro- to a small- to a medium-sized enterprise; you currently have over a quarter of a million customers and 80 employees. Were you planning to become an entrepreneur when you first moved to Britain?

I came to the UK during my university gap year to study business English at West London University; at that stage IknewIwantedtofocusonbusinessratherthanstudying.Whilethere,Iidentifiedamarketneed.AfterPolandjoinedthe EU, large numbers of Poles had moved to the UK to work.Iquicklyrealisedthatmostofthemweresendingmoneybackhometotheirfamilies.ThecompaniesonthemoneytransfermarketdidnotregardservingPolesas their mission, only as additional business. The was no personal service dedicated to them, neither was anything likeacompetitiveproductbeingofferedtoPoles.Thecostwashigh,upto15%infeesandexchange-ratespreadsonthemoneywhichtheytransferred;andtheytookuptotwoweekstoeffectthetransfer,earninginterestonthemoneydeposited.Icouldseeagapinthemarket.

What came first – the IT solution to safely transfer money, or the marketing, or the network of outlets?

I realised I could not go for scale until I'd got the IT platform right. At the same time, I had to understand the needs of mypotentialcustomers.Itwasnotjustaboutprice.Mygoal was to ensure that the money reached its recipients safely, that the complaints rate would be less than 1% –nowit's0.2%onourmostpopularproducts.Iwantedall the procedures to be in place, with a special team to handle complaints, so that customer loyalty would be built on trust. I wanted our customers to become the ambassa-dors for the brand.

How has Sami Swoi grown since starting up?

Atfirst,scalingupwasaboutopeningnewoutlets–findingPolishshopsaroundtheUK,whichwouldactasagentsforus.Withhardwork,weimplementedover200physicaloutlets,butwe'vereallyexpandedbygoingmultichannel since then. Today it's much easier to send money to Poland with us over the internet, by mobile phoneapp,atphysicalbranches–eitherourownoragentlocations,overSkype,orthroughourbusiness-to-businesschannels. I aimed at sustainable growth of around 10% to 15% a year; we've actually been growing at up to 30%.

Brexit will be an issue for One Money Mail Ltd/Sami Swoi. We can expect that far fewer Poles will migrate to the UK, and that many of those who are currently in the UK will return to Poland or move to other countries. What's your strategy for maintaining growth after Brexit?

Well,notnecessarily.At presentwehavea20%marketshare in the UK-to-Poland money transfer channel. The first20%isalwaysthehardest!Ourfocuspost-Brexitwillbeonfightingtogetafarlargershareofwhatwillprobablybeashrinkingmarket.

PolesintheUKdeservetohavetheirownfinancialinstitu-tion whose mission is to serve them reliably, to respond quicklytotheirneeds;largercorporateinstitutionsseePolesasjustoneofmanycustomergroups.Andwe'reconsideringotherfinancialserviceproducts.Ifwemainta-in a good brand and continue to deliver a quality service, we'll be able to develop something of which we can be proud. We certainly will not become aggressive to win new customers, offering 'honeymoon' deals which soon become disadvantageous to them.

Wemaypartnerswithbankstooffernewservices. Thekeythingistoknowhowmanycustomersyou'llneedto launch a new product successfully. 900,000 Poles in the UKisahugemarketforus–it'snotsobigforthebanks.Different areas offer different business opportunities.

The companies on the money transfermarket[backin2004] didn't regard serving Poles as their mission, only as additional business. I could seeagapinthemarket.Is Sami Swoi considering using blockchain technology?

Blockchainisatoolwithwhichfintechbusinessescanmakeproductsmorecompetitive,moreusefulforcustomers. It will certainly lead to more competition with theestablishedbanksfromnewcomerswhowillchallengetheminspecificareasoftheirbusiness,ofwhichmoneytransfer is one.You went through a difficult period back in 2012-13, when the UK banks pulled the plugs on many money transfer businesses that held their accounts with them. How did you survive?

That'scertainlytrue,butweworkedveryhardtofindother solutions for our customers as this was happening. Thiswasthetimewhenthebankswerede-riskinginthewakeofthefinancialcrisis;theywereseekingtoreformthemselvesandcrackdownonmoneylaundering.Around90% to 95% of all UK-based money transfer companies

Adjusting to exciting, upcoming marketsMichael Dembinski interviewed one of the most successful of the new wave of Polish entrepreneurs in the UK, Paweł Mes, founder and CEO of fintech company One Money Mail Ltd, which trades as Sami Swoi.


went out of business at that time. We survived for three reasons. Firstly, we are single-channel, UK-to-Poland, whichisnotajurisdictionassociatedwithmoney-laun-dering,terroristfinancing,corruptionordrugtrafficking.Secondly,wehavealwayshadstructuredexternalauditsofourbusiness.Thirdly,wehaveagoodtrackrecord,goodvolumes. It pays to be honest, to be passionate about delivering a quality service to our customers, and to do good for the community. As a result, when times were tough, a lot of people helped us.

I'd like you to get your view about the importance of external consultants to a medium-sized business owned and managed by its founder. What is your opinion about such advisers?

Many Polish business owners are reluctant to bring in externaladvisorsbecausetheyseethereturnontheirinvestment as questionable. Consultants who are used to workingformultinationalcorporationsthatemploymanythousands of people offer solutions that don't deliver an ROI when scaled down to the medium-sized business. But at the same time, many Polish business owners run theirmedium-sizedbusinessthinkinginexactlythesameway as they did when it was still a micro business. The owner-manager still has everything in his own head, rather than formalising it into a robust structure that can survive on its own. Yes, Poland is under-consulted, but there's a shortage of consultants who can add value to a medium-sized business. Such consultants need to demonstratetheirproventrackrecordofworkingwithmid-sized owner-managed Polish businesses. They should not be learning as they go along. In many cases, the mid-sized business is too small for a full-blown HR team.Itisthemiddlemanagers–thesergeants,whoinbattlearemoredecisivethanthegenerals–thatneedtohavestrongHRskills.Ifyouemploythousandsofpeople,yes,youneedacompetencematrixandcomplexpayscales.Butit'sdifficulttomapcompetenceswhenyou'vegot fewer than 250 people. You then need a good manager whounderstandsprocess–notthebigpicture,butthedetailsofthesmallpicture.Inmybusiness,forexample,thatwouldbesomethinglikethedifferentcut-offtimesineachofthebanks–bywhattimeofdaydoesmoneyneedtoreachacertainbanktobesuretoitreachestherecipient at the other end at the time we promise it. That'swhatyouneedtoknow.

You're a Pole, running a business in the UK; a signifi-cant part of your workforce is either British or migrants

from other countries around the world. How do those cross-cultural aspects affect the day-to-day manage-ment of your firm?People should have basic standards of behaviour, which aresimilarworldwide. Britishcommunicationisspecificinits understatement, in coded messages, in meanings that are often hidden between the lines, where Poles are very oftentheopposite.Weareexpectedtobemoredirect.

“If I were you, I'd do it this way” is how a British manager would often instruct a member of his staff to do something. A Pole would think, “Well, I'm not you, so I won't do it that way.”

Exactly!Thereisadifferenceinthebusinessmentality.Polesaremoredirect;Britishpeoplewouldthinksuchdirectness as rude. The thing I've learned is the need to be able to tell people off in a positive way; spin what you say so that you give a positive point of view, as well as seekingtoeducate.

It pays to be honest, to be passionate about delivering a quality service to our customers, and to do good for the community.


Culture and creative

Best of British TV for Polish homes

In December 2007, Poland becamethefirstmarketacross Europe, the Middle East and Africa to receive BBC Worldwide's new thematic portfolio including BBC Entertainment, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Knowledge and CBeebies.

Since then, much has changed for BBC Worldwide in Poland. The local officeinWarsawhasopened,thechannel portfolio has been enhanced by BBC HD and transformed by genre globalbrands–BBCBritandBBCEarth–whichlaunchedinPolandforthefirsttime anywhere in the world in 2015.

It'sthankstothechannelsbutalsogrowing content sales distribution that the company brings the best of

British TV to Polish homes. Polish viewerscanenjoyDancing with the Stars, a BBC format that is one of the longest-running foreign entertainment formats in the country, but also be amazed by the achieve-ments of Sir David Attenborough and thebestofnaturalhistorycontent,likePlanet Earth and Planet Earth II.

BBC Worldwide owns an impres-sive portfolio of over 50,000 hours of programming including drama, documentaries,lifestyleandkids'programmes that are distributed to and highly appreciated by broadca-sters in Poland. Among the BBC's biggest brands are Sherlock (above) and Top Gear.

Photo: Barrie Britton


Sound reasons why London will remain a global city for technology start-ups

London is one of the world's leading technology hubs, the largest start-up ecosystem in Europe and renowned as a global capital of innovation. Since the EU referendum vote, some of the world's leading tech companies includingGoogle,Facebook,Appleand Snap Inc have demonstrated their long-term commitment to investing in London. Their announcements of expansionsandheadquarterswereavoteofconfidence.ButwhatsustainsLondon'sroleasaglobalcityfortech?Europe's largest tech ecosystemWith an estimated ecosystem value of $44bn, London is Europe's largest tech ecosystem, home to over 40,000 tech businesses. Tech hotspots are thriving across the capital, spanning cybersecurity,fintech,edtech,software, gaming, business process outsourcing, media, telecoms and more–supportedbyavastnetworkof professional services, incubators, acceleratorsandco-workingspaces.

World-class tech talentWith four universities in the World Top 50, and a total of 48 fully accredi-ted universities, London attracts and retains young talent. There are more university degrees per capita than any other city of its size and more than 240,000 digital technology employees.“Noothercityintheworldhas the level of international talent as London,” says Martin Mignot of IndexVentures,theventure-capitalfirmthathasinvestedin11Europeanbillion-dollarunicorns.“Thisiswherethetalentthatenablesfirmstoquicklyscale up lies.”

Funding landscapeAstheworld'snumberonefinancialcentre, London offers unparalleled access to angel investors, crowdfun-dingplatforms,banks,venturecapitalfirmsandcorporateventureswhoprovide access to capital. More than £6.7billioninventurecapitalandprivate equity was invested into UKtechfirmsin2016,withLondonaccounting for more than a third of that total. London & Partners is the city's inward investment body; its business development manager, Sura Hussein, business develop-ment manager, can help you set up there.

Contributing to UK's 'soft power'

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportu-nities.Itcreatesfriendlyknowledgeand understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. Itdoesthisbymakingapositi-ve contribution to the UK and the countriesitworkswith–changinglives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

TheBritishCouncil'sWarsawofficeopened in 1938, and since then it has cooperated with a wide range of

government, corporate and third-sec-tor partners in Poland. After 1989, it played an important role in supporting economic transformation in Poland with a range of programmes funded by the UK's Know How Fund. This laid the foundations for the British Council'scurrentworkinthecultural,scientificandeducationalsectorsacross Poland.

Central to its contribution is its English languagelearningandcertification

offer, delivered through its reputable language centres and partner schools inWarsaw,KrakówandWrocław,andexamcentresthroughoutthecountry. Everything the British Council does contributes to its mission of building dialogue, opportunity and trust between the people of Poland and UK, and embodies its core values of open society, equality, diversity and inclusion.


“ThePolishlabourmarketistoughforcompanies, it's hard to recruit and retain good employees. Actually, this is good newsforSage!”saysPiotrCiski.“Ourpayroll software lets HR managers focus on those vital 'soft' areas relating to human development, career progression and good atmosphereintheworkplace.It'sherethedifference can be made in terms of staff attrition.The'hard'areasofHR–payrollandremuneration–canbelefttooursoftware, so that HR staff can concentrate on recruitment and retention.

“Ifwelookataccounting,therearecommonworldwidestandards, it's easy to transfer a software solution from onemarkettoanother.Butpayroll–thisisverycountry--specific.Verylocal.Foreverygovernment,itslabourmarketisveryimportant;unlikeaccountingstandards,labour law directly affects a great number of voters. So labour laws are very often changed, as governments try to tweakthelabourmarketorjustfightunemploymentwithlegislation.Interpretingthatlawisdifficult.Lawmakersthinkit'squitestraightforward,butifyoulookfor one interpretation, you'll get contradictory answers,” saysMrCiski.

Ifyouareinthemarketwithpayrollsoftware,ithastobekeptuptodate,sothatclientsarealwayscompliantwith the ever-changing law. Sage employs lawyers and analysts to anticipate regulatory outcomes from the ebb andflowofdiscussionsaroundemploymentlawinSejm,the Polish parliament.

“Wecanpredictthedirectionofchangesinthelabourmarketandthepoliticalsituation,”saysMrCiski.“Welearntounderstandthetaximplicationsofdraftamendmentstothelaw.Whenthelawispassed,ourITguyshavetoworkfasttoensurethatoursoftware,inuseacross70,000firmsin Poland, remains compliant. We don't compete with the biginternationalsystems,wecomplementthem.“hesays.Sagehastwolinesofsoftwareproducts–Symfonia2.0andSymfoniaERP,thetwointeractallowingsmallfirmsto grow their business seamlessly. Symfonia 2.0 is for businesses employing up to 50 employees. Symfonia ERP is for larger companies. Sage added Symfonia to its productportfolioafteritacquiredMatrix,thecompanythatoriginallywrotethePoland-specificaccountingandpayrollsoftware,backin2005.Sincethen,Sagehasdeveloped

Symfoniaandkeptitup-to-date.“InMayweintroduceda new version of payroll product called Sage One Payroll. This is a hybrid product so our customers don't have to decide between cloud or on-premise (installed on their server or computers). They start with on-premise and gradually evolve to cloud by enabling cloud functions. Thisisoneofthekeyelementsthatdistinguishesusfromtherestofcompetition,whereyouhavetotakeoneorthe other option but never both. Our business in Poland is verysuccessful.Wegrew20%onrevenueduringlastsixmonths,”saysMrCiski.

Sage also has a cloud solution for entrepreneurs dealing withthenewly-introducedSingleAuditFile–Tax(SAF-T,or in Polish, jednolity plik kontrolny, or JPK) called Sage eAudytor.Ratherthansubmittingadumbfiletothetaxauthorities,customerscanreadandcross-checktheirbusinessdatabeforetheysubmitthefile.Bydoingthat,they can eliminate errors that can potentially result in taxinspectionorevenafine.TheintroductionofJPKforlargefirmsinJuly2016andforsmallandmedium-sizedbusinesses from the beginning of this year has resulted in manybillionsofzlotysoftaxrevenuetobeclawedbackfromtax-dodgingtraders.

Software must keep pace with legislationPiotr Ciski, country manager of Sage Polska talks to Michael Dembinski

FinTech


“Thepressureon[deputypremier,ministerofeconomicdevelopmentandministeroffinance]Morawieckiishighto narrow the VAT gap still further. SAF-T has already gonethrough,leavingusastheleaderinthefieldofcompliant accounting software; we have many new clients, new partners. But for many clients, this is new. SageisfindingitselfinthepositionofhavingtoeducateusersinhowSAF-Tfunctions,wearetakingontheunpaidrole of educators and interpreters. Large companies have theircorporatelawyers.Smallcompanieshavetolookfor answers on the internet, especially those based in smaller Polish towns. There should be a bigger focus in the Ministry on education and information. Business does not liketobetakenbysurprise,itcanadapt,butitdoeshavetobeinformed,”saysMrCiski

Another change in VAT is due soon. It is split payment where VAT revenues are automatically directed at point of sale to a special account that can only be used to pay taxes.Soifacustomerbuys,say,ahatfor123zł,100złgoes to the vendor, 23% goes to the special account. “Whatthismeansisatthevendorcannotusethemoneyforupto45days,”saysMrCiski.“Let'ssaytherewasatransaction on 2 May. The vendor would have had to pay the VAT by 25 June. Until then, they could have done with themoneywhattheylike.Butwithsplitpayment,23złislockedawayonthedayofthetransaction,soliquiditycanbe a problem. Split payment will be voluntary; a compul-soryschemewouldneedEUagreement.“ThePolishvoluntary scheme proposed by Ministry of Finance, can be tricky–thereceiverofthegoods(inotherwordsthepayer)will decide how he settles the invoice. He may pay it in full (gross amount) as he used to do in the past, or he may pay the net amount to the seller's regular account and the taxtoaspecialaccount.SplitpaymentisalreadyinuseinItaly, but only for companies that do business with govern-ment and local authorities. The Czechs have introduced it to using a voluntary approach. This will be another big challenge for Poland's small businesses to deal with,” says MrCiski.

We have a high-tech, high--performance team with a flatstructure.That'swhywehave no problem with staff retention.Returningtothelabourmarket,Sageisonecompanythatcanboastlowattritionrates.IaskMrCiskiwhySagehasnoproblemwithstaffretention.“Ourrecentofficemoveispartofthestory.Theofficeneedstofitofficeculture–flatstructure.WhenIjoinedtwoandhalfyearsago,oneofmygoals was to change the company's culture, to create a high-tech,high-performanceteamwithaflatstructure.

Innovations come from the bottom, not from the top; a creativeofficehelps.We'vechanged the paradigm from 'mydesk'to'myworkspace'.

Innovations come from the bottom not from the top; a creativeofficehelpsinamodernway.Youhavetochangeparadigmfrom'mydesk'to'myworkspace'.Wehavecubes where you can sit and concentrate, silent rooms wherenophonesareallowed,likeinalibrary;thisstimula-tes cooperation, communication and innovation. The culturedifferenceisimportant–thereareonlythree-fourlevelsbetweenmyselfandjuniorprogrammers,weworkasteams,wehaveassignments,nottitles–that'showtostimulate people in high-tech companies.

ThediscussionmovesinevitablytoBrexit.“Polandisinaverygoodposition.DeputypremierMorawieckiiskeenonattracting higher-value services from the UK to Poland. Wehavethelabourmarketforit,goodPolishcompanies,IT.It'shappening.Thebankingsectorhasstrictrequire-ments when it comes to locations. For Poland, this is not a problem.Wehavealargelabourmarket,withgooduniver-sities,wecanbenefitverymuch.MyfeelingisthatBrexitwill accelerate a process that was happening anyway. LookatGermany.UnliketheUK,whenPolandjoinedtheEUin2004,GermanykeptitslabourmarketclosedtoPolish citizens for the full seven years of the transition period.Sowhathappened?RatherthanPolesmovingtoGermanytoseekworkinGermanyfactories–theGermanfactories moved to Poland. The same thing will happen afterBrexit.InternationalcompaniesareconsolidatingtheirsharedservicesforEuropeandworldwide–andthisisagreatopportunityforPoland,”saysMrCiski.

GermanykeptitslabourmarketclosedtoPoles.Rather than Poles moving to Germanytoworkinitsfacto-ries, the German factories moved to Poland.


A digital disruptor in a traditional industry

Aviva started business in Poland in 1992 as Commercial Union, and rebranded in 2009. It enteredthemarketattheearly stage of economic transformation, a pioneer of modern life insurance. Its trust in Poland's success proved to be farsighted.

Now, after 25 years, Aviva is one of the leading insurers and asset managers in the country, and also the largest UK investor in Poland's financialservicesindustry.Numbertwo in life insurance and pension funds with strong general insurance and mutual fund businesses, Aviva serves over 3m customers in Poland andmanagesover50billionzłotysof customer assets. It has 1,400 staff and co-operates with 2,200 insurance agents. Omni-channel distribution and customer service capabilities are

key;thecompanyaimstobeadigitaldisruptor in an industry dominated by traditional paper-based sales and communications models. Aviva in Poland was second within the group's global business to launch the Aviva CommunityFund–aprojectallowingcommunities to nominate and vote for localprojectswhichAvivafunds.Aviva plc, the parent of Aviva Poland, is a London-based FTSE-100 company, in business for 320 years. Thegrouphas£450billionofassetsunder management globally.

Bringing liquidity and cash-flow to Polish exporters

British business brings to Poland capital and employment—andnewsolutions. Factoring, which offers liquidity to smaller exporterswho'dotherwisewait many months for payment, has let many Polishbusinessestoexportwithconfidence. Bibby Financial Services Sp z o.o. providesfinancialservicesforSMEs.It has been operating on the Polish market,independentofanybanks,for

15years,andbelongstothefinancialdivision of a British company, Bibby Line Group Ltd, established in 1807. Over200yearsofexperienceandthe maintenance of the highest management standards have made thecompanyamajorplayerineachfieldofitsactivity.ThecompanyhasofficesintheUK,Ireland,theUS,Canada, Hong Kong and India. Close cooperation of the Polish company with its parent company facilitates access to the best solutions. Bibby Financial Services helps its clientsimprovetheirfinancialliquiditythroughefficientliabilitiesmanage-ment, including protection against their

clients' insolvency. It aims its services to manufacturers, traders and service providers who sell their products or services on the basis of deferred payment. Bibby's service involves the financingoffrozenassetsfromunpaidinvoices, and the management and recovery of liabilities. It offers domestic andexportfactoring,recourseandnon-recourse factoring and reverse factoring. Its offer ensures transpa-rency of procedures and personal contact with advisors. Bibby Financial Services has branches in Warsaw, PoznańandKatowice.

Finance


Lloyd's of London takes on Poland's specialist risks

Lloyd's of London, the specialist insurance and reinsurancemarketfoundedin 1686, has been well recognised as a reinsurer in Poland for decades.

However, as an insurer, Lloyd's entered thePolishinsurancemarketin2004.Today Lloyd's has full access to Polish insurancemarketasabranchofaforeigninsurer,basingontwolicences–freedom of services, and freedom of establishment.

Lloyd'sPolskaSp.zo.o.,setupin2008, located on ul. Emilii Plater 53, operates as a general representative of Lloyd's underwriters and the Society of Lloyd's in Poland. As well as carrying out its formal functions towards the Polishregulator,Lloyd'sPolskaalsosupports Lloyd's underwriters and brokersinaccessingthePolishmarket.Lloyd'sPolskaissteadydevelopingtheLloyd'scoverholdersnetworkinPoland.Coverholders—localentitieswith underwriting authorities from Lloyd's underwriters, offer specialist insurance products, adapted to Polish lawandinsurancepractice,likeD&O

(directorsandofficers),bloodstock,fineart,extendedwarranties,lossofincome due to accident or ill health, smallaircraft,cyberattacksandothers.Eleven Lloyd's-approved coverholders operatied in Poland,.There's growing cooperation between Lloyd'sandlocalbrokersandinsurers,transfering or sharing with Lloyd's difficultorspecialistriskswheremoreadvancedunderwritingskillsorinsuran-ce capacity is needed. In this way, many Polish clients in mining, construction, energy, marine, aviation, oil and gas and others are directly or indirectly protected by Lloyd's policies.

Specialist insurance for corporates

DualPolskaLtdanditssister company, Donoria S.A., are parts of the largest independent British-based international insurance intermediary group in theworld–theHyperionInsurance Group.Donoria is a member of Howden BrokingGroupLtd.,aninsuran-cebrokernetworkwithover90insurancebrokerofficesin30countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Donoria is one of the largestindependentPolishbrokers,offering its Polish and internatio-nalclientsafullarrayofbrokerageservices in co-operation with other Howden companies worldwide.

DualPolskaisamemberofDual Group, the world's largest underwriting agency and Lloyd's largest international cover-holder. In Poland, Dual performs two functions –multi-agency,servingindividualcustomers within personal insurance (car, home, travel, accident & health, medical, life), offering products of leadingPolishandnetworkinsurers.

DualPolskaisalsoadistributorof corporate speciality insurance products from various London (and overseas) Lloyd's insurance carriers, co-operating with Dual cover-holders.

CurrentlyDualPolskaofferstoitscorporate clients two transactional insurance products:

» Title insurance, for real estate and construction/development customers, enables buyers/sellers of commercial development real estate totransferriskrelatingtolegaloradministrative problems with the land and infringing clear title of future ownership.

» Warranty & indemnity insurance for real estate and M&A transactions, aimed at real estate and private equitymarkets–coversbreachesforunknownrisksinrepresentationsand warranties given by parties in the sale of a business.

Additionally,DualPolskaandDonoriaco-operate with over 100 Hyperion companies worldwide, to give their customers access to specialty insuran-ceproductsinmultitudeofmarkets.

Prudential's return to Poland after 74 years

Part of the historic British insurance group founded in 1848, Prudential offers life and health insurance protection as well as saving for the future.

After closing its Polish business at the start of WWII, the company made a successful return to the Polishmarketin2013.

Sincethen,it'sexpandedrapidly,andnow sells products through three distributionchannels.Asalesnetwork

of 700 agents in 18 branches use proprietary technology to provide clients with the service and products that best meettheirneeds.Prudential'smarketingcampaigns have been widely recogni-sed as among the best in the industry, andhavewonboththeEffieandGolden Arrow awards several times.


Focused on the corporates and institutions

Given that this is a 25th Anniversary publication for the BPCC, let's go back in time to HSBC's first steps in Poland.

HSBC has been present and actively engaged in Poland's keyeconomicmilestonesoverthelast25years.Intheearly 1990s, the British Know-How Fund was involved in advisingonPoland'sfirstprivatisations,whichweretoalargeextentmodelledontheUK'sprivatisationexperien-ces from the Thatcher years. Trade sales to strategic buyersandthenascentIPOmarketwereimportantinthemid-'90s. A number of British advisers were coming to Poland,andthat'showHSBCtookitsfirststepshere.

You mentioned a number of milestones that marked Poland's development – as well as HSBC's support of that development.

Growth in the '90s was driven by consumer spending and Polish consumer spending and aspirations. As part of this, HSBCboughtaconsumerfinanceplatformwithabankinglicense(in2003),andthis–followingarebrandingin2004–wasourfirstofficialstartasabankinPoland.Priortothat, we'd been operating in this country as an investment company.

AkeymilestoneforPoland'seconomywasitsaccessiontothe EU in 2004, which had a dramatic impact on opening Europe'smarketsforPolishcompanies,andsupportingtheexpansionofforeigncompaniesintoPoland.

Havingwitnessedgrowingconnectivityofthemarketoninbound and outbound basis, in 2007, we launched our corporatebankingproposition.AsPolandgrewwealthierinthisperiod,wewerebuildingupourretailbankingandwealth-management/premier-bankingservicesaswell.

Thecrisisof2008/2009hadanimpactonglobalbanks,andwewerenoexception.WesoldourconsumerfinancearminPoland(toAliorBank),whichallowedtheat-that--timestartup-banktoinheritanationalconsumer-financeplatform.ThenHSBCdecidedtocloseitsretailbankingand wealth management arm in Poland, and focus on corporate and institutional customer segment. We came out of the crisis with a much sharper focus.

Wecontinueconcentrationonthissegmentand–beingaspecialisedbank–wehavethecomfortofbeingabletofocusalloureffortsoncorporatesandinstitutionsunlikeuniversalbanks.Recently,wehavebecomemoreinvolvedwith Financial Institutions and the public sector, supporting them in realising their needs and ambitions. In 2016, for example,wehelpedthePolishgovernmentonfourbondissuances, including two innovative transactions: 'panda' bonds and green bonds.

InAugustHSBCactedasjointbook-runnerandjointleadunderwriterforPoland'sfirsteverChinesecurrency(RMB) bond issuance. The transaction made Poland the firstEuropeansovereigntoissueanRMBdenominatedonshorebond,alsoknownasapandabond.ThisallowedPoland to diversify its funding sources, gave Chinese investors an opportunity to diversify their portfolios and it demonstrated the growing importance of the RMB as a global investment currency. It was a milestone in creating firstlinksbetweenPolishandChinesefinancialmarkets.In December 2016 HSBC acted as sole green structuring adviserandjointbookrunnerforPoland'sfirstevergreenbondissuance.ThetransactionmadePolandthefirstsovereign in the world to issue a green bond and allowed thecountryto–again—diversifyitsfundingsources,asinvestors are increasingly focused on integrating environ-mental factors into their investment processes. HSBC is proudtohavecontributedtotheselandmarktransactions.

Here we are in year 2017. What has surprised you on the upside about Poland's development? And what areas/issues are yet to be resolved, or remain unfulfilled?ThePolisheconomygrewat4%inQ12017.AkeystrengthofPoland'seconomy–unlikeinthecaseofmanyotheremergingmarkets–isthatitisbalancedandnotover-reliantonanyonesector,whichisareflectionof the reforms implemented by Poland over the last 20 years or so. And it is now running on multiple engines:

Michał H. Mrożek, president of the management board, HSBC Bank Polska talks to Thom Barnhardt


domesticconsumptionisstrong,exportsarestrong,andinfrastructure spending and investment are boosting the economy. EU funds have been a big boost to the economy. Unemploymenthasfallensignificantly,andweareseeingnew investment coming. Anecdotal stories show us that investors who may have been sitting on the fence are now going forward with investment plans, and we are hearing aboutnewprojects.Inthepublicsector,infrastructureprojects–especiallytransportationandrail–areenginesof growth also. Companies focused on the infrastructure sectors are busy.

Ontheexportside,we'reseeingstronggrowth,andnotonlytothetraditionalEUmarkets,butalsotonon-EUmarkets.That'swhereHSBCisparticularlywell-positio-nedtohelpcompaniesexpandtonewmarketsincludingAmericas, the Middle East and Asia.

Weaimtobetheleadinginternationalbank.OurfocusoninboundandoutboundcorporatebusinessfitswellwithPoland's recent emphasis on supporting Polish companies intheirforeignexpansion.

Polishmid-sizedfirmsarebecoming successful in takingoverforeigncompe-titors and in establishing brandsonforeignmarketsWhat are priority sectors for you? Where do you think HSBC has a strategic advance over its competitors? Which sectors do you not want to be involved in?The Polish government has made support of foreign expansionofPolishcompaniesoneofitskeyeconomicpriorities.WeatHSBCaresupportingexports,acrossarange of sectors, including agriculture, furniture, pharma-ceuticals, chemicals, automotive and consumer goods. What's very encouraging is that some of the Polish consumerandB2Bplayersareabletotakeoninternatio-nal brands, and they have very good business models. And as we can observe, cross-border mergers and acquisitions are not reserved only for the biggest companies, the so called 'national champions'. Mid-sized companies are successfulintakingovercompetitorswithestablishedbrandstoexpandtoforeignmarketstoo.Someofthemareunknowntothepublic,wecallthem'hiddenchampions'–a term invented by German professor and business consul-tant Hermann Simon.

Sectors that we would rather avoid are those, generally, thathavefailedtofullyexecuteonneededrestructuring.OnesectorIworryabout,forexample,isthepowersector,which remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels at a time whenfinancialinstitutionsarebeingpressedtopullbackfrom supporting fossil fuel-based energy generation. We're a member of the HSBC Group, which has policies to restrict

lending to companies that cause deforestation or operate in the coal sector.

ThesizeandglobalreachofHSBC'snetworkmeansthatthere are people who try to use our services for the wrong reasons. But our scale and global footprint also put us in auniquepositionwherewecanmakeapositivecontribu-tionandbeattheforefrontofthefightagainstthisthreat.HSBC is committed to implementing the most effective globalstandardstocombatfinancialcrime.Insomecases,this means we stopped selling certain products and ended relationships with customers where we felt that the financialcrimerisksweretoogreattomanageeffectively.

Tell us about the state of Poland's capital markets.Boththeequityanddebtmarketsaregaininginstrengthright now. As yields on Polish sovereign bonds continue to narrow, corporates are following, and are also getting interestfrominternationalinvestors.Forexample,we'veseen recent strong interest from Japanese investors in Polish sovereign debt. Poland is being assessed very positively by international investors.

What advice would you give to an 18-year old about to enter university in Poland?I'dsuggesttheyfindanareathattheyareparticularlyinterested in, and develop this passion into a profession. That said, there are many interests or passions that are difficulttobetranslatedintoajobthatenablesmaking a living.

Theworldischangingsoquicklythatitisdifficulttoforeseewhatsortofskillsandknowledgewillguaranteeemploymentinfiveortenyears.Someprofessionsthatarepopularnowadayswereunknownfiveortenyearsago.But one trend that's clear is the unprecedented techno-logical advancement across all sectors. IT specialists are already among the most sought-after employees and I'd expectthistrendtostrengthenincomingyears.Butit'snotjustIT.Companiesarelookingforpeoplecapableofinnovations that would allow them to gain a competitive advantage,byintroducingnewproducts,findingnewapplicationsforalreadyexistingproductsornewwaysof'doing things'. Another trend that is already very visible in some parts of the world and will soon become more evident also in Poland are ageing populations. The elderly willconstituteagrowingshareoftheconsumermarket.Andit'snotjustaboutmedicalservicesorspecialisedcare,it's about all sorts of services and products that customers aged 65+ may need.

Cross-border mergers and acquistions are no longer reserved for the biggest companies


Will factors that helped Poland succeed be enough to maintain growth in future?

“Maybewecanstartwithabitofpersonalhistory– I left Poland in 1981 on holiday and stayed in England ratherlongerthanplanned–becauseMartialLawwasintroduced. So I studied at the University of Manchester, and became a chartered accountant and then moved to Londontoworkinacorporatefinanceteam.AftertheRound Table and the beginnings of economic transforma-tion,IhadtheopportunitytotakepartinsomeprojectsinPolandonafly-inbasis.Ifirstcamebackin1989.Itwasquiteashocktoseewhatastatetheeconomywasinbackthen–queuesforeverything,dilapidatedinfrastructure,thesadstateofindustry.Thinkingbacktothosedays,Ican'thelp but say 'wow' when I see the contrast with today.“Ithinkthissuccesscomesfromthreefactors.Firstly,theearly reforms of the 1990s. It was a very courageous path thatPolandtook.Thetransformationofthebankswascritical–inparticularthewaytheywereprivatised. ItinvolvedtheinvestmentofWesternfinancialinstitutions,butthePolishbankshadtobelistedhere,ontheWarsawStockExchange.ThisbuiltupPoland'scapitalmarkets.ReputableWesterninstitutionsbroughttheirknow-howandenabledthesecondfactor–Poland'sstrongentrepre-neurial spirit. As a result, Poland has a great mittelstand –allthosesmallandmedium-sized,privately-ownedbusinesses, which now account for 70% of employment and 50% of GDP.

"These reforms, properly carried out, encouraged people to start their own businesses, and borrow from reputable financialinstitutions.Insomeothercountriesinourregion,thereformofthebankingsectorhastakenlonger-andfromasimilarGDPpercapitatoPoland’sbackin1989,today we see some very different economies.

“Poland'smittelstandwasbuiltupbyagenerationofentrepreneurswhotravelledaroundlookingforopportu-nities.Backthenthingsmovedreallyfast.Theywereagile,responsive,hard-working.Theydidn'thaveiteasy. Polish enterpreneurs continue to be very dynamic, determined people.

“Ontopofthesetwofactors,therewasalsothepromiseofPolandjoiningtheEU.Onepositiveconsequenceofthiswas that some $10 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) annually moved into Poland before and after accession, modernising the economy. With the FDI came technology transfers. Yes, foreign companies brought money, but they also brought best business practices.

They trained our people, they created our managerial cadre. Today, there are Poles in senior managerial roles for corporates with responsibility for the whole EMEA regionandbeyond.Polessoakeditup,andmadethemostof it. They developed best practices, and by interacting between the private and public sectors, between business andgovernment–createdstronginstitutions.Poland'sgovernment–itspublicadministration–hasimprovedgreatly,” says Ms Grygier-Siddons.

IaskedheraboutthechallengesfacingPoland.“Therewillbe a generational change in the leadership and ownership of Poland's private businesses. There will be a transitional challengeasthisfirstgenerationofowner-manager--foundersretire.Ownersarelookingatexitsindifferentways.Somewillselltoprivateequity,otherswillfloattheirbusinessesonthestockexchange,whilststillotherswillretainownership,butwillbringinexternalprofessionalmanagers,” said Ms Grygier-Siddons.

Thentherearetheculturalchallenges.“PwC'sglobalCEOsurvey shows a trend typical of Poland and this part of Europe.OurCEOsarekeentodothingsalone.Theydon'tlikeworkinginpartnershipsorjointventures.Tobeagile,they have relied on their own resources. But a business that remains independent is limited to a certain size. Itisdifficulttogetbigger,toexpandthemodeltoaglobalscale, without forming alliances”.

There will be a generational change as the founders of the businesses that tranfor-med Poland retire Polesarenotthebestteamplayers,Isuggest–verygoodindividually,butwithouttheethosbornoftheplayingfieldsofEton.“Yes,culturaldifferencesareimportant.Iconsiderthe most important difference to be lower levels of trust; they are lower here because of the historical legacy. Entrepreneurs will trust their own family, but not beyond. In the UK, the default is to trust someone until they abuse that trust. In Poland, the default is to distrust everyone unless there's a reason to trust them. Trust is only gained once individuals have proved themselves to be a decent

Economy

Olga Grygier-Siddons, chief executive of PwC in Central and Eastern Europe, talked to Michael Dembinski about Poland's transformation and the challenges ahead


person.Poland'spublicinstitutionsthinkthiswaywithregards to business; this distrust engenders unnecessary bureaucracy. If you're submitting a public tender, the CEO has to personally sign every page of every photocopy of each document. But it is improving. Interestingly, levels of digital trust are higher than in the West. Poles tend to trust digital more than we trust human beings.

In the UK, the default is to trust everyone until they abuse that trust. In Poland, the default is not to trust anyone until there is a reason to trust them.“Thereformofbureaucracyneedstocontinue.PolandhasgenerallydonewellintheWorldBank'sDoingBusinesssurvey over recent years, but there are still four areas holdingthecountryback–startingabusiness,dealingwithconstructionpermits,payingtaxes,andenforcingcontracts.Lookatthecurrentfiscalenvironment,andthewaythegovernmentmonitorsthepaymentoftaxes.Compared to many European countries Poland has had an incredibly successful 25 years when it comes to building acultureofpayingtaxes.Taxidrivers,marketstallholders,collectandpassontheirVAT–therewereprotestswhenVAT-recording cash registers were introduced, but today this is entirely normal. There should be a quid pro quo fromthegovernment–itshouldbeeasiertopaytax. The infrastructure will be changed by technology. The cost of setting it up will be a high one-off cost, but then, with adequate systems in the ministries, it should become easyandcheaptopay.InPayingTaxes(componentofDoing Business), Poland has moved up to 47th place from 125thin2008–there'sstillalotofroomforimprovement.Anomaliesandabsurditiesthatneedtobetackled.”

AlthoughPoland'seconomicengineisfiringonallcylinders, it faces other challenges, says Ms Grygier-Sid-dons.“WemustmakesurewearenotasdependentonFDIaswehavebeen–wecanseethatFDIintotheEUis dropping. In 2005, 50% of global FDI went into the EU, now it's less than 25%. Europe is not as attractive, and we're part of that geography. We have to become more self-reliant for investment capital. We've really benefitedfromEUfunds.Butweneedbetterfundingofcapitalmarkets,weshouldencouragemoresavingsandprivate investment. Poland's economy is reliant on cost competitiveness. Technology is disrupting everything. We have a great possible advantage .

In the International Olympiad in Informatics, Poland is right up there with China, Russia and Taiwan. We havethebestpeopleandabreadthofmarket.”Wearetraining fantastic numbers of IT, science, maths, robotics and engineering graduates. Poland has 500,000 profes-sional IT people; companies are setting up R&D centres here in Poland, there's the opportunity to play off that. It'sbenefitingoutsourcinghere,andthenextphasewillbeautomation.Thisshouldnotbeaboutexportingjobs,butaboutallowingallthosegraduatestoworkhere.PwChascreatedaPolish-Britishjointventure,investingin an IT company based here, with 350 talented IT specialists serving Poland, CEE and the UK. There's a shortageofITskillsintheUK,butratherthansendourpeopletotheUK,theycanworkonchallengingexcitingglobalprojectshere.Theprerequisiteforthatistohavethe right technology infrastructure.

But we can do better still. Polish universities need to improve their collaboration with business. Higher educationalltoooftenworksinsilos;there'salackofwillingness to collaborate because of low trust. Too many elderly professors see academia as pure, while business is about money, therefore tainted. The universities that aresuccessfulworkwellwithbusinessandleveragestateassistance,it'sjustthattherearenotthatmany.Poland,spending around 1% of GDP on R&D, is currently 46th outof141countriesintheglobalinnovationindex.Ifthecountry is to continue to do as well economically over the nextquartercenturyasithasdonesincetheearly1990s,it must get more value out of innovation,” says Ms Grygier-Siddons.

If Poland is to perform better, collaboration between academia and business must improve radically


communist countries, only Estonia has a lower level of perceived corruption than Poland. And Poland is seen as less blighted by corruption than western European countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece or Portugal.IntheUN'sHumanDevelopmentIndex,Poland'sscorehasincreased from 0.712 to 0.855 between 1990 and 2015. Overthoseyears,lifeexpectancyatbirthincreasedby6.7 years, schooling increased by 4.1 years, while gross national income per capita increased by 150.9%. Poland is ranked36thintheworldbytheUNinits2016report.

EducationatsecondaryschoollevelisrankedintheOECD's triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the attainment of 15 year-olds in science, maths and reading. While Poland slippedbetweenthe2012and2015ranking,itssecondaryschoolsremainintheworld'stop20(inthe2012ranking,itwas in the top ten). Nevertheless, foreign investors praise the qualityoftheworkforce,citingitasthemostimportantfactorwhytheyaresatisfiedwiththeirpresenceinPoland.Whenitcomestolocationsforspecificsectors,Poland'swell-educated labour force helps in attracting shared services centre and business-process outsourcing. In rankingsconductedbyA.T.Kearneylastyear,PolandisEurope's number one country for BPO activity (ahead of Bulgaria),whileKrakówisEurope'sforemostcity(aheadofDublin),accordingtoTholon's2016ranking.WhilePolandcan't compete on price with India or the Philippines, its location within the EU and the multiplicity of languages offered give it the edge for many investors.AnothersurveythatexplainsPoland'shighshowingininvestorpreferenceisEF'sEnglishProficiencyIndex,whichrankscountriesbytheirpeople'sabilitytospeakandunderstandEnglish.Ofthe71non-nativeEnglishspeakingcountriesinthe2016ranking,Polandagainmadethetopten–surpassingBelgium,SwitzerlandandCzechia.Suchrankings–especiallythoseconductedregularlyoverdecades–giveinvestorsagoodideaofacountry'sdirection of travel. Not every country moves forward at the same rate.

Poland's progress – global rankings highlight succes

In a global economy, no country is an island. It's a competitive world; businesses want to operate in countries that are well-governed, stable and transparent and where the legal environment is predictable.

Societies where business is regulated wisely with clear rules are wealthier and happier. Since Poland's political and economic transformation, it's become an increasin-gly attractive place to do business. Compared to other countries across the region with a similar history, Poland hasamuchlargerdomesticmarketandacentrallocation.But this isn't enough to ensure that foreign investors will come; the business environment has to be right.

Overtheyears–inparticularsincePolandjoinedtheEUon1May2004–themajorannualrankingsofcountriesconfirmthatPolandhasindeedcomealongwayinthisrespect.Alookatsomeofthemajorrankings,usedbycorporations when selecting investment locations, shows why so many have decided on Poland.

TheWorldBank'sDoingBusinessindexrankstheeaseof conducting such activities as registering a company, payingtaxes,obtainingplanningpermission,orgoingtocourt to enforce a debt in 185 countries around the world. Poland'srankinghasbeenimproving.Inthe2007report,Poland was in 75th place; in the latest report, for 2017, Polandhasclimbedto24thplace,overtaking51countriesoverthatdecade.Polandisnowrankedaboveallotherformercommuniststates,withtheexceptionofEstoniaand Latvia; Poland is an easier place to do business than France (29th), Spain (32nd) or Italy (50th).TransparencyInternational'sCorruptionPerceptionIndexhasbeenrankingthewaythatcorruptionisperceivedaroundtheworld.SincePolandjoinedtheEU,the'C'word(asformerBritishambassadorSirMichaelPakenhamcalled it at his farewell meeting with BPCC members in 2003) has been in retreat. Today, among former

Poland’s climb up the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, 2007-2017

Poland is perceived as the second-least corrupt post-communist economy (100= totally clean, 0= totally corrupt)

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20 years of growth for Castorama Poland and Kingfisher

CastoramaPolandfirstopeneditsdoorsin1997,withonestore in Warsaw. Since then it's grown to 75 stores across Polandwithannualsalesofover£1billion.CastoramaispartofKingfisherplc,whichoperatesnearly1,200storesin10countriesacrossEurope.SebastienKrysiak(right) has been in the business for 22 years, two of them as CEO of CastoramaPoland.Helooksatsomeofthekeymilestonesthat have shaped its success in Poland over the years“Itstartswithourcolleagues.CastoramaPoland'steam,now around 11,500 employees, is a foundation of the company's success. In 2016, we were recognised as an Investor in Human Capital by the Management Observa-tory Institute of Poland for our employee engagement policies. This is demonstrated by our customers citing how highly they value the professionalism and approachabi-lity of our store colleagues. We celebrate our own 20th anniversary this year, and to do that we're focusing on the positive relationship between our colleagues and customers. I'm proud of what our colleagues do for us every day, and what they continue to achieve.

In 2012, we launched a programme to provide in-store lessons for school children. Over 100,000 children have takenpart(upfrom3,000attheendof2012).Bydevelo-pingyoungpeople'spracticalskills,theonesthey'llbeableto use later when they have homes of their own, is one ofthewaysthatwedemonstrateourpurposeofmakinghome improvement accessible to everyone. Our colleagues get much satisfaction from it, and build a great connection with their customers.We've made strides with our digital offer. We launched our firstwebsitein2005,anditbecamefullytransactionalin2015withaclick-and-collectservice.Lastyearweaddedahomedeliveryoption.AsKingfisher'sdigitalstrategygathers pace, we'll be able to offer more digital solutions to our customers in years to come.

Our stores continue to drive growth and we saw sales increaseto£1.2billioninthe2016/17financialyear,up 10% on the previous year. We'll invest in opening one new store and relocating one other in the 2017/18 year, and a second distribution centre (DC). The new 100,000m2distributionfacilitywillbebuiltinStryków,thesize of more than 20 football pitches. This investment will enablemoreefficientstockdistribution,andmaximiseavailability for customers. When it opens, the new DC will alsobeahubforsupplyingKingfisher'sotherEuropeanmarkets.WorkonthesitestartedinAprilandisschedu-ledtocompleteinNovember. Itwillcreateupto300jobs.

PolandisakeysourcinglocationforKingfisher,andouroperationsaregrowing.AstheKingfishertransformationplan progresses, particularly in the area of unifying our customeroffer,CastoramaPolandhasakeyroletoplay.TheaimistostreamlinetheproductrangethatKingfisherstocksacrossall1,200storesinall10countries,reducingduplication.Forexample,weusedtostock516kitchensinksbetweenus.Thishasbeenreducedto113.Thecustomer still has plenty of choice, and we have better visibilityofourrange.Thismeansworkingmorecloselywith a smaller number of suppliers, in a simpler supply chain,toleverageKingfisher's£7billionbuyingscale.For our suppliers, this reduces duplication and costs, and increasesvolumes.PolishsuppliersworkingwithusonourUnifiedOfferrangesincludeBenoxonscrewanchors,Bayersystem on shelving and Cersanit on bathrooms.

OurPolishcustomerswillfindthisyearexclusivelydesignedproductsinourstoresthattheywon'tfindelsewhere. ThefirstoftheserangeswillbeOutdoor(includingsheds,garden furniture, watering systems and fencing) and Bathro-om (including storage units, and shower enclosures). We'reexcitedaboutthearrivalofthesenewproducts,; they'llhelpourcustomersmakehomesthey'retrulyproudof.

Retail


Changing the way a nation's motorists buys their fuel

BP Poland is a part of a global company, present onthemarketformorethan a century. BP started in Poland in 1991, initially only selling automotive and industrial oils.

In1995,BPopeneditsfirstfillingstation in Gliwice. Since then, the networkexpandedbyaround20-30stations each year, bringing BP to the top position among foreign oil companies in Poland, where it has remained until now. Currently, BP operatesanetworkofover520fillingstations.Thecompanyhasaworkforceofover3,500employees.It has won numerous awards and distinctions, it's listed among 15 largest companies in Poland and has invested $1.5 billion in this country. BP has paid 15 billion zlotys to the state budgetinVAT,excisedutyandfueltaxoverits25yearsinPoland.

All BP sites are conveniently situated premium stations. They maintain high standards of service and offer a wide range of products and services. All fuels sold at BP retail sites (including unleaded petrol, diesel oil and LPG) conform to the quality standards currently applicable in Poland. Apart from fuels, BP offers convenience shoppinground-the-clock,carwashstations equipped with the world's mostmodernandefficienttypeofwashing equipment, and Wild Bean

Cafés, setting standards for station--based catering since 2005.

Castrol,amajorengineoilandlubesmanufacturer, developing products based on research, advanced techno-logies and innovative solutions, operates as part of BP Poland.

ThankstotheLotos-AirBPjointventure, the company has also established its presence on the aviationfuelmarket.

BP pioneered changes on the Polishmarketsuchasdiscontinuingleaded fuels and launching premium fuels,providingfumeextractionon all stations, using double-wall fueltanksasastandardsolution,implementing HACCP, building thelargestnetworkoftouchless,automatic car wash stations, offering the BP Plus fuel card with an increasing number of options to fleetoperators,servingexcellentcoffee and a variety of dishes at Wild Bean Cafés and selling fresh flowersaroundtheclockatselectedstations. All these changes have hugely contributed to improving the standards of service across the entire fuel industry.

Being a member of several industry organisations, BP strongly supports initiatives targeting the issues affectingthePolishfuelmarket,includingthemajorissue–thegreysector, trading in illegal diesel.

BP is also a leader in social initiatives, consistently pursuing its CSR policy, workingwithorganisationsthatrelyon collaboration, including Polish Humanitarian Action, the Wiosna & Siemacha Associations, Saint Lazarus Hospice–SocietyofFriendstoPeoplein Disease and the TOPR Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue Service. BP supports the initiatives underta-kenbytheseorganisations,includingPajacyk(mealsforchildrenfrompoorbackgrounds),SzlachetnaPaczka(aidfor struggling families at Christmas), Academy of the Future (educational programme for children) and Fields of Hope (money collection for terminally ill). BP has spent over $10 million on such initiatives.

BP has been recognised for its commitment to social issues and received many awards, including three Benefactor of the Year awards. In 2012, it was honoured with the CSR Golden Leaf, and in 2014 it receivedtheJózefDietlEntrepreneuraward for outstanding accomplish-ments and outreach programmes benefittinglocalcommunities.Themost recent award received was Most Sought-After Employer of 2015 by specialists and managers in energy, gas, fuels and chemistry category.

BPislookingtosignificantlyincreaseitsmarketshareinPoland,byadding more sites to its portfolio and continuing to improve the quality of service to Polish drivers.


British lamb makes it onto Polish supermarket shelves – and restaurant tables

The UK's Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board(AHDB)takesalong-term strategic view when developingexportmarketsfor British lamb and beef.

AHDB appointed the Food Team at the BPCC as its partner in Poland, and over the past three years, the team has been systematically developing thePolishmarket.Theplanhasdeftly combined consumer and trade promotional activities in retail and across hotels and restaurants.

CookingwithlambisstillrelativelyunknowninPolandandtoraiseawareness of British lamb and its great quality led to the sponsorship of Okrasałamieprzepisy('Okrasabreaksthe rules/recipes') culinary program-meonpublictelevision.KarolOkrasa(above, right) is Poland's leading celebrity chef and is also the face of Lidl.Thefirsteditionwasbroadcastin January 2016 and, with repeat episodes, reached 4m viewers.

The second edition, which aired on 13 May this year, focused more on the easeandversatilityofcookingwithlamb,shownwithinaBritishcontext.

The promotional campaign has been multi-faceted with AHDB sponsoring top culinary competitions for Polish chefs,takingpartintradeshowsandorganising visits to UK farms and meat producers for Polish buyers and journalists.There'salsobeentacticalsupport for retailers with customi-sedpackagingandin-storeproductsampling with a recognised British faceonPolishTV–KevinAiston.

This strategic approach has resulted inlistingsinmajorAuchanstores,Leclerc in Warsaw, regular promotions inLidlandBiedronkashopsacrossPoland and with on-line retailer Frisco.

Leading restaurants across the country have also begun including British lamb on the menu. And now discussions with Tesco have started across the CEE region…


A charity that links Britain and Poland

The Sue Ryder Foundation supports the needy and disadvantaged through its assistance to the 80 care- homes built by Sue Ryder around the world. Today her workcontinueswithcarefor the elderly in homes, in hospices and in oncology and neurology units within hospitals.

During WW2, Sue Ryder volunteered for military service as a teenager and was assigned to the Polish section oftheSpecialOperationsExecutive,

alongside the Polish Cichociemni, (theSilentandUnseen–Poland'scommando units). After the war, she workedtirelesslyforPolandandfordisadvantaged Poles. She was a great friend of Poland, so much so that she isquotedassaying'WePoles'!Whenwas made a life peer for her services to charity in 1979, she chose the name Baroness Ryder of Warsaw.

The Sue Ryder charity shops are a highly effective way of engaging with the local community in contributing to theworkoftheFoundation.Bringorbuy high-quality clothes, ornaments, books,orwhatever'sworthexchan-

ging, and you will help the foundation to sustain its activities.

But it's not only the elderly who benefitfromherlegacy.Sheinspiresthe young to follow her passionate commitment to help the helpless. Her message of compassion for all victims is preserved in the new Sue Ryder Museum in Warsaw (below). Here visitorscanwitnessherlife'swork.There are few such role models who have dedicated their lives for charity so fully; her inspirational story will be told through educational programmes.DiscoverSueRyder–philanthropistextraordinaire!

CSR


Caring passionately about society and the environment

Cognifide'stechnologyhasbeen powering over 400 websites worldwide since 2005. Among its clients are such global brands as GSK, Virgin Media, Ford, Barclays and Telegraph Media Group.Thename'Cognifide'bringstogether the words 'cognition' and 'fidelity',reflectingthenatureofthefirmsrelationshipswithitsclientsandpartners and the values that underpin its business.

Cognifide'sdevelopmentcentreislocated in Poznan. It's a young and creativeoffice,witharound200staffand room for more. A crucial element inthefirm'sidentityisitsstrongcommitment to corporate social responsibility.AlicjaMarcinek,officeandCSRspecialist,says“Cognifi-de cares passionately about the communities and the environment

that we live in. We actively promote the idea of sustainability and encoura-geeachandeveryCognifidertomakea difference with their own initiatives.

“Cognifide'svolunteerschangetheworld in the area of education, environ-ment, inclusion and diversity. We're alwaysreadytoshareourexpertise,we encourage children, women and studentstotakefirststepsintonewtechnologies. We support initiatives

suchasRailsGirls,whichaimstomakeIT more accessible to women and Scottie Go, which introduces children tothebasicsofcoding.SpeakersfromCognifidegivelecturesatschoolsanduniversities. We believe that creating shared value is the best contribution thatwecanmaketosociety,that'swhywe spread the idea of sustainability in collaboration with our social partners,” saysMsMarcinek.

Responsible lending, promoting ethical attitudes

ProvidentPolskahasbeenoperating on the Polish consumerloansmarketfor20 years.

The cornerstone of its business activity has been, and remains, ethics. Provident's activities are carried out with the following values in mind: respect, responsibility and straight-forwardness.Thefirmconsistentlyimplements and supports initiatives aimed at promoting responsible andethicalattitudes—withinthecompany, and across the entire lending sector. Provident strives

toachievethisobjectivethroughdialogue, promotion of best practi-ces,knowledgesharingandinitiationof self-regulatory solutions within the sector. The company's internal mission is ethical management and promotion of responsible attitu-des both among its employees and customer advisors. The code of ethics isthekeydocumentactingasasignpost indicating the right course of action. It includes ethical norms and rules of behavior adopted by the company, applicable to internal company relations and when dealing withexternalshareholders.

Employees of Provident repairing school equipment.


Helping Polish exporters trade confidently with the UK

“Wedon'tknowthewholesituationyet,whetherthere'llbeahardBrexitorasoftBrexit.ThefutureofstandardsandcertificationontheUKmarketwillbehighlyrelatedtothat.Ifit'sahardBrexit,theUKwillleavetheEUregulationzone.AllCEmarkingswillnolongerbevalidinUK.We'llneedasuccessortoCEmark.TheeasiestwayistogowiththemostfamousstandardontheUKmarket– theKitemark,”saysMrSzopa.

Conceived in 1903 to identify products that met British Standardsspecifications,theBSIKitemarkisrecogni-sed by 83% of British adults. Given that the UK is Poland'ssecond-largestexportmarketafterGermany,theimportanceoftheKitemarkwillgrowafterBrexit–especially if the UK decides no longer to accept the CE marking,themandatoryconformitymarkingforproductsaccepted for sale across the European Economic Area.

MrSzopasays:“We'llbeabletodeliverservicesdedicatedtoPolishexporterswhocanapplyforKitemarkmarkinghere in Poland. We deliver via BSI laboratories in the UK, althoughwearethinkingaboutofferingnotificationforPolish labs based on BSI regulations. The approach would beeasier–nothavingtosendproductstoUK.”

TheKitemark,createdin1903, is recognised by 83% of British adults. It means 'safety' and 'quality'.CertainsectorsalreadyrequireKitemarksiftheyaretobesoldintheUK–“woodenproducts–furniture,windowsand doors, any products relating to gas installation, there's anewEURegulationcomingintoforcenextAprilreplacingtheexistingGasAppliancesDirective.Also,fireequipment–sprinklers,controlpanels,extinguishers,personalsafetyequipment,needKitemarks,”saysMrSzopa.“CEmarkingswillstillavailablefromtheBSI–iftheyarenotifiedintheEU.TheBSInotificationunitthatcertifiesmedicaldevices,forexample,willmovefromtheUKtoNetherlands.Notifiedbodiesmustbetreatedthesameacross the EU; if a medical device is to be offered on sale, ithastohavenotificationintheEU.Criticalequipmentmustbetestedinlaboratories,otherwiseself-certification

applies.Thereisaspecificglobalnormformedicaldevices–ISO13485.Wecandeliverboth–withPolishandUKauditors and laboratories.”

“Itdoesn'tmatterifUKremainsornot,thereshouldbenodifference for BSI customers, regardless of whether it's asoft,hardormixedBrexit.EconomicallyandfinanciallyhardBrexitwouldnotbegood–standardregulationsareagoodthing,whyshouldweabandonthem?Destroyingthem would be pointless. But it will be an opportunity forKitemark.Itislesswell-knowninPoland;giventheUK's economic importance to Poland, we will ensure that Polishexporterslearnaboutit.We'recreatingadedica-tedmarketingprogramme,withroad-shows,webpages,marketingcollateral,allaimedatmakingtheKitemarkknownonthemarket.OurintentionisthetransferofknowledgefromourHQtoourcustomers,ensuringthattheycangathertheinformationinPolish–thisiscriticaltounderstanding.”

AhardBrexitmaymean thattheCEmarkingwillno longer be valid in the UK, Poland's second-largest exportmarket.Thereisaneasysolution—gowith theKitemarkLookingatthefoodbusiness,Brexitwilldonoharmatallwhenitcomestocertification,saysMrSzopa.“ISOstandards apply worldwide, no matter whether UK is in theEUornot.AndtheexistingstandardsetbytheUK'smajorfoodretailersisBRC–createdbytheBritishRetailConsortium.BSIcandeliverBRCcertification,forfishandmeat anywhere in the world. BRC is a British standard –itisthebestoption.TosellfoodtotheUK,thebasicisHACCP, which is obligatory for the food industry in Poland. HACCPisfreecertification,noformalaccreditationisrequired. Globally, there is ISO 22000, FFSC 22000, of which HACCP is one element. These are standards that arecertifiedeverystepofthewayfromfieldtofork.BRC

Standards

Marcin Szopa, BSI Group commercial branch manager Poland, talked to Michael Dembinski about the challenges facing the British Standards Institution after Brexit.


worksinasimilarway.Bigretailers,suchasTesco,oneofthefoundersofBRC,willallaskforvalidcertificates.BRCauditsarenotsoexpensive,theyareshortandeasytoaccess; our system is the best option for Poland's smaller producers. ISO 22000 is more complicated. There are subtledifferences–therequirementofthebignetworksto have ISO 22000, but implement it your own way. These are things you have to do for retailers to enter their whole chain,” says Mr Szopa.

Is your business robust enough to survive should something goes badly wrong?BSIGroupcancertifya resilient organisation

Therearestandardsandcertificateswhichyoumusthave, there are also those that are good to have. How dothesediffer?“Today'sresilientorganisation–evenasmallcompany–isonethatwillsurvive,itwon'tcollapse,if something goes wrong. UK customers today generally knowtheycanexpectproductsthataresafe.BRCcanassure them of that. But they want more. They want to be sure that the product is not damaging the environment, thatit'snotbeingproducedbyexploiting,forinstan-ce, child labour. If well-educated consumers feel that a company is doing these things, it may lead to its collapse; it is not resilient, hence the need for building resilience into the business model,” says Mr Szopa.

FromfoodtoITsystems,BSIhastheexpertiseandexperiencetosupportbusinessaroundtheworld.“BSIisthemostfamouscyber-certificationbodyworldwide–wehavededicatedlegalentities,suchasCSIR (cyber-security incident response) consulting; we canadvisehowtomakeacompanysafer–wecandopenetrationtestingof'hard'security–buildings,software,cloudcomputing,certificationforbigdatainthecloud.Butwealsoofferbehaviouraltraining–havingacleandesktopon your computer, how to create the proper mindset within theorganisation,soyourpeoplewillknowwhattheyshould do, and what they shouldn't do.

“WithISO27000,BSIhelpedcreatethemostpopularcertificateforinternetsecurity.Wecanconsult,train,implement… and certify. But implementation is part of whatwecertify,soifweimplement–wecan'tcertify.

“There'salotofupsideinthePolishmarket–alotofservices that we can offer at the same time. We're a reliablepartnerintermsofcertificationproducts,ISO27000, one-stop shopping at BSI; I'm really proud to becreatingpartnershipswithourcustomers,notjustdeliveringcertification,butbeingonhandasaproviderof solutions to business problems; we see ourselves as business partners rather than as service providers.”


Moving to where industry makes things

Bodycote plc, a FTSE 250firm,istheworld'slargest provider of thermal processing services, which formavitallinkinthemanufacturing supply chain.

Established by Arthur Bodycote in 1923, the company today operates intwomajorareas:theaerospace,defence, power generation and oil & gas industries, whilst the automotive & general industrial (AGI) business serves sectors including automoti-ve, construction, machine building, medical and transportation. Bodyco-te has been listed on the London

StockExchange(symbolBOY)since1972. Bodycote has over 180 plants around the world in 23 countries and employs 5,473 people globally. The group's turnover in 2016 amounted to£600.6mand92%ofitsrevenueisderived outside the UK.

Poland is one of the country in central and eastern Europe where Bodycote has operated since 2005. Bodycote started in Poland through acquisition and by investing in modern equipment andtechnologiesinexistingplants.Thenitbeganconsideringgreenfieldinvestments in Poland, so as to become more competitive and to increaseitsmarketsharesonthe

heat-treatmentmarket.Bodycoteopened an facility in Siechnice in Lower Silesia in 2015, and in Rzeszow in May this year to support companies associated in Aviation Valley.

BodycoteisagoodexampleofaBritishcompany which has been successful-ly developing its business in Poland, where it now has seven plants. Today it has a strong position as the largest provider of heat-treatment services in Poland, serving many manufacturers on thePolishmarket.Bodycoteattributesthistotheskill,experienceandpassionof its employees.

Making bin-bags by the millions

The origins of CeDo can be tracedbacktotheformationof Poly-Lina in the UK in 1965 and Paclan in Belgium in 1977.

Today CeDo household products including food and freezer bags, cling films,aluminiumfoil,binliners,refusesacks,hygienedisposalandbio-de-gradable bags are used by millions of people on a daily basis.

CeDo employs over 2,000 people across Europe and, Asia operating from four different manufacturing sitesandfiveregionalsalesoffices.Its fully integrated manufacturing and logisticsnetworkcombinesmanufac-

turingefficiencyandflexibilitywithsupplychainexcellencetocompetiti-vely serve Europe's leading retailers.

CeDo's products are sold by retailers under their own private labels as well as CeDo brands including Poly-Li-na,Paclan,NappySacks,Pop-ins,Landsaver, Big Green Rubbish bag andSavedfromLandfill.

For over 20 years, CeDo has been committed to recycling and has invested heavily in the development of new, leading-edge recycling capabi-lities to radically push the boundaries ofwhatispossible–allwiththelowest overall carbon foot print. CeDo hasover40yearsexperienceservingtheneedsoftheEuropeanmarket

throughwhichthefirmhasdevelopeda reputation for quality, service and innovation.

CeDo has two manufacturing sites locatedinKątyWrocławskie,whichemploy over 500 people and process hundreds of tons of polyethylene and aluminium every day. CeDo sp. z o.o. is present every year in the annualRzeczpospolita500rankingofPoland's biggest companies.

Manufacturing


Turning the wheels of the automotive industry

GKN is a global engineering business, with roots that go allthewaybackto1759and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. Every time you travel by road or air almost anywhere in the world, it's likelythatGKNishelpingyouonyourway. One of GKN's three divisions, GKN Driveline is the world's leading supplier of automotive driveline components and systems. GKN Driveline develops, builds and supplies

anextensiverangeofautomotivedrivelinecomponents–foruseinthesmallest ultra low-cost car to the most sophisticated premium vehicle demandingthemostcomplexdrivingdynamics. GKN Driveline operates in 23 countries at 49 locations employing 28,100 people.

Founded in 1996, GKN Driveline PolskaSp.zo.o.initiatedtheconstruc-tionofanewplantinOleśnica,towhich all production was moved three yearslater.Theplantexpandeditsproduction area through the building's

successiveexpansion.Specialmoments in its history were the launch of the forging facility in 2005, and the opening of the second driveline production facility in 2016.

GKNDrivelineOleśnicanowproducespropshafts and a portfolio of sideshaft solutions and associated components forfront-wheel,rear-wheeland4x4passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. GKN Driveline's solutions are supplied to most European-based automotive manufacturers and also as original service parts.

Advanced manufacturing needs precision measurement

If Poland is to progress higher up the value-added ladder, its manufacturers will have to use the latest, most high-tech equipment available. Fortunately, through Renishaw, Polish industry has access to some of the most advanced precision measurement and process control equipment for manufacturing.

Renishaw, a FTSE 250 company, is one of the world's leading engineering andscientifictechnologycompanies,

withexpertiseinprecisionmeasure-ment and healthcare. The company supplies products and services used in applicationsasdiverseasjetengineand wind-turbine manufacture, through to dentistry and brain surgery. Itisalsoaworldleaderinthefieldofadditive manufacturing (also referred to as 3D printing), where it is the only UKbusinessthatdesignsandmakesindustrial machines which 'print' parts from metal powder.

The Renishaw Group currently has morethan70officesin35countries,with over 4,000 employees, of which 2,700 people are employed within the UK.Themajorityofthecompany's

R&D and manufacturing is carried out in the UK and for the year ended June 2016 Renishaw achieved sales of£436.6millionofwhich95%wasduetoexports.Thecompany'slargestmarketsareChina,USA,Germanyand Japan.

Renishaw started its operations in Polandin2002,settingupanofficeinWarsaw focused on the automotive, aviationandmachinerymarkets.

Over the past 15 years, Renishaw Sp. z o.o. has grown to 25 employ-ees covering all the product groups and offering comprehensive techni-cal support.


Re-imagining the built environment

Broadway Malyan is a global architecture, urbanism and design practice, established in 1958. It opened its Warsaw studio in 2001 as part of the practice's rapid international expansionattheturnofthemillennium and since then has become an integral part of its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

Located in the heart of the Polish capital's commercial district, the studiohascontinuedtoexpandalocalteam of design specialists as part ofanintegratedglobalnetworkofstudioswithexpertiseineveryaspectofaprojecttoensureitcandeliveracomplete service to its clients.

Over the past 16 years, the studio has designed and delivered a diverse

portfolioofprojectsforarangeofblue-chip clients across Central and Eastern Europe including retail, workplace,residentialandmaster--planningandiscurrentlyworkingonanassortmentofhighqualityprojects.Recentcompletedprojectsincludethere-imagining of the Turzyn shopping centreandtheextensionofGaleriaOstrowiec, a new-build shopping centreforImmochaninPushkino,Russia,a30,000m²builtoffice-spa-ce including a 'command centre' for oneoftheworld'sbiggestfinancialinstitutions,ahotelandofficecomplexand a long term master-plan for the WarszawaGłównasiteallinWarsaw.

Currentprojectsincludetherefurbish-ment of the historic Dom Towarowy BraciaJabłkowscydepartmentstorein central Warsaw, a 100-unit holiday apartmentcomplexinZegrzeanda residential scheme in an historic industrialcomplexinŁódź.

Batteries for tools, bikes and tomorrow's mobility needs

The Johnson Matthey Group, with Johnson Matthey Battery Systems as a member, is a UK-based company operating around the world for nearly 200 years.

It has reached a world-leading position in the manufacture of advanced chemicals and selling sustainable technology solutions. Johnson Matthey Battery Systems (JMBS) was founded in 2013, followingtheacquisitionofAxeon,a leader in battery systems, by the Johnson Matthey Group.

Currently, Gliwice-based JMBS is among Europe's top suppliers of lithium-ion batteries, producing nearly

3mbatteriesayearformarketsaround the world. JMBS' products are intended for the following sectors: automotive (lithium-ion battery systems for hybrid and electric vehicles), power tools (batteries for cordless medium- and large-size powertools),e-bike(rechargeablelithium-ion batteries). The company alsoexcelsatproducingmobilesolutions that enable operation beyondtheelectricitynetworkandwithout a power cord. Such solutions aredesigned,forexample,formedicaldevices, industrial diagnostic monito-ring, products for disabled people, and sports equipment.

To meet the growing demand and judgingtheprospectsoffurtherdevelopment, JMBS decided to expanditsexistingmanufacturingand

back-officefacilities.InAugust2016the company moved to a brand-new site in the Gliwice Subzone of the Katowice Special Economic Zone, employing 700 people.

Johnson Matthey's main driver of success is R&D. In 2015/16, the groupallocated£188mtoR&D,6%of its total annual revenue; it has around1,600peopleworkinginR&Daround the world. The R&D facility in Poland will focus on lithium-ion batteries for power tools, e-bicycles and light e-mobility solutions. The team'sobjectiveswillrevolvearoundthe development of battery manage-ment systems and the mechani-cal design of products designed in-house.Theteamworksinastate-of-the-art prototype and test lab.

Construction


British standards, Polish realities

Chapman Taylor is a multi-award-winning practice of global architects and master-planners established in the UK in 1959. It specialises in retail, leisure, hospitality, workplaceandresidentialdesign and, in particular, the combination of these uses intolarge-scalemixed-useenvironments.

Chapman Taylor Warsaw opened in September 1999. It has the resour-ces,rangeofskillsandexperienceto successfully carry out a wide spectrumofarchitecturalprojectsthrough all stages, from feasibility studies to completion.

ChapmanTaylor'sfirstmajorBIM project,startedin2009,wasTrinityLeeds in northern England. This city-centre regeneration development was winner of the Best of the Best Design and Innovation Award at the Global ICSC Awards 2015.

Chapman Taylor today now uses BIMforallnewprojects.BIMdeliversmanybenefitstoitsclientsinthedevelopmentofaproject.ChapmanTaylor's BIM standards are based on the latest UK and international best-practice guidance and are updated regularly. There's a dedicated in-house Chapman Taylor Group BIM management team to ensure good managementofprojectdatawithineach studio worldwide.

WarsawofficestarteditsBIMjourneyin 2008 and is now fully capable to

executeprojectsateachstageofdevelopment using British standards adopted to Polish realities.


The future of construction

BIM–buildinginformationmodelling–isthefutureof the construction sector. Embraced by the UK government, BIM offersmassivebenefitsfor developers, owners, contractors, civil engineers, architects, facilities managers–everyoneinvolved in real estate and infrastructure.

BIM is not so much a technology as a philosophy. It's about merging 3D graphical information with non-graphical information, such as technicalspecifications,cost,instruc-tions, maintenance schedules etc. Hover your mouse over a 3D picture of a door or window in a wall and you'll see detailed information from its manufacturer, how much it cost, themaker'sguarantee.Thedaysofbuilding plans being delivered on paper in two dimensions, accompa-nied by dozens or ring-bound folders stuffed with documentation are drawing to a close.

TheBritishgovernmenttookthedecision that all buildings and infrastructure that it procures shall be designed in BIM from 2016 onward. ABIMTaskGroupwassetupbytheCabinetOffice,ensuringthattheBIMmessage be spread to all govern-ment departments and agencies, not justthosedirectlyconcernedwithconstruction.TheBIMTaskGroupworkedoutthatusingBIM,newinfrastructure can be delivered some 16-20% cheaper than using traditio-nal methods. Hence the slogan, Buy fivehospitals,getonefree!Butthat'sonly part of the BIM advantage. Over a building's lifetime, the reduced

operating and maintenance costs becomesignificant,sotakingtheseplus building costs together, the whole-life costs can be cut by up to 30%.

ForBIMtowork,itneedstobeimplemented by everyone. Today in Poland, an increasing number of architects and consulting engineers are using BIM. But unless developers, contractors,subcontractors,finalusers/owners (private and public) and their facilities managers don't adopt BIMaswell,thefullbenefitswillnotbeenjoyedbyallstakeholders.Thisinvolves investment in software, in training,butaboveall–understandingand accepting BIM as the way ahead.

Many BPCC members in the construction sector are already using BIM. RICS–theRoyalInstitutionofCharte-redSurveyors–isactivelypromotingBIM in Poland (see page 15). Poland has the opportunity to become a hub forBIMoutsourcing–youngPolesare eagerly embracing the idea and working,eitherabroad,orincreasinglyinPoland–onBIM-basedprojectsaround the world. But that talent requiresinstitutionalsupport–Polishtechnical universities and vocational schools need to be teaching their

students, across a range of specia-lisations,howtoworkwithBIM.And above all, Polish public-sector bodies–governmentministries,localauthorities, the highways agency, therailinfrastructureoperator–mustprepare for BIM.

The UK has paved the way here; the German government has set itself a deadline for catching up with the UK. But while the Polish parliament has set up a special committee to discuss BIM, it is still a long way behind the European leaders. The UK, and UK firms,havemuchbestpracticetoshare with Poland.

The BPCC has organised several seminars in Warsaw and around Poland to help spread the word about BIMtostakeholdersfrompublicandprivate sector, and will do more .


Designs for infrastructure

Mott MacDonald is a UK-headquartered multidisciplinary consultancy providing engineering, management and development services internationally, with 16,000 staff in 150 countries.

Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world;itsrootsgoback115yearstowhen the partnership of Mott and Hay was set up in 1902.

OnthePolishmarketsince2003 MottMacDonaldfromtwoofficeslocatedinWarsawandGdańskandwith over 60 full time employees has been active across several areas, such asprojectmanagementandconstruc-tion supervision (of highway, railway and port infrastructure), infrastructure advisory services (in the energy and waste sectors), water and environ-mental services, and infrastructural design (for roads, railways and ports).

MajorprojectsonwhichMottMacDonaldhasworkedinPolandinclude: » Projectmanagementandconstruc-

tion supervision of several sections of the country's motorways, expresswaysandnationalroads,several railway sections and two PortofGdańskterminals (the Westerplatte Ferry and the Duty Free Zone),

» Infrastructure advisory services such as lender's technical advisor (LTA), due-diligence (DD) and technical-assistance(TA)projects(LTAStalowaWolaCCGT—450MW,LTAENEAKozienice—1075MWcoal-firedpowerplant;LTEPGEOpole—2x900MWcoal- firedpowerplant;TAforthreemajorwaste-to-energyprojectsinPoznań,BydgoszczandBiałystok,DDofRybnikPowerPlant,DDofJastrzębieCHPPlant,DDofKortowo Heat Plant, DD of Linowo Wind Farm),

» Waterandenvironmentalprojects(master plans for the Vistula and Odra river basins; updating of

Poland's river-basin management plans; drought management plans for regional water management authorities (RWMAs) in Warsaw andWrocław;watermaintenan-ce plan for the Wroclaw RWMA; improving asset-management capabilitiesforAquanetinPoznań

» Infrastructuraldesignprojects (A4motorwayandS19expresswayjunctiondesign;designingtheTrasaSłowackiegoinGdańskandul.CzechosłowackainPoznań;ŚwidnikAirportrail-accessdesign,feasibility study and basic concept design of the second Metro line in Warsaw; DCT Terminal design in Gdańsk,designontheportinPolice;as well as participation in a great manymajorprojectsoutsideofPoland such as High Speed 2 from Manchester to Leeds, Glasgow's subway modernisation in Glasgow, the Northern Hub Modernisation ProgrammeinManchester,TramlinkinCroydon,Wokingstationcapacityupgrade,MubarakPortraildesignin Kuwait, New Orbital Highway design in Qatar.


Iconic designs coming to life

Arup is an independent globalfirmofdesigners,planners, engineers, and consultants offering a broad range of professional services.

Established in London in 1946, by Ove Arup, the group has over 14,000 employees based in more than 100 officesacross40countries.Itisthecreative force behind many of the world's most innovative structures, technologiesandengineeringprojectssuch as the Sydney Opera House, Heathrow's Terminal 5 and London's Shard.

Present in Poland for over 18 years, AruphastwoofficesinWarsawandKrakowwithmorethan160staff,offering building, consulting and infrastructureservices. Itsdesignaimis

todeliverprojectsthataresensitivetohuman needs and the environment and yetprofitfromadvancedtechnology.

Operations here started with the Opel car production factory. Arup has been involvedinmanyprojects,suchasZłoteTarasywithitsiconicglassroof,theZłota44Tower,congresshallsinKrakówandKatowice,theNationalForumofMusicinWrocław,theMedicover hospital in Warsaw, two paediatric hospitals in Warsaw, the firstPPP-financedhospitalinŻywiec,thePiłsudskiMuseuminSulejówek,Kraków'sAviationMuseum,thePolinMuseum in Warsaw, retail centres and officebuildingsacrossthecountry.

In infrastructure, it started with wastewatertreatmentplantsforKrakówand Olsztyn. Arup carried out environ-mental impact assessments and the concept for a new dam and hydropower

plantontheVistularivernearWłocła-wek.DuringthepeakofthePoland'sprevious large road and rail building programme,thefirmwasinvolvedinseveralprojectsandadvisingPKP.

Then there is the consulting sector: technical advisory and transaction advice services. Arup was involved in Poland's biggest waste-to-energy plantinPoznańandpreparedthemaster plans for the airport cities of WarsawandGdańsk,andiscurrentlyengagedontheKrakówairporttoo.

AllofArup'sprojectsreflectatotalarchitecture philosophy, responding to the opportunities presented by client andsiteandexpressingthetechno-logies and materials from which they aremade.Throughitswork,andbybringingglobalexperiencetoPoland,Aruphasbeenmakingapositive–andvisible–changetothiscountry.

Professionalism and hard work win trust of market

Gleeds is one of the world's leading global property and construction consultancy companies. Established in the UK, and independent since 1885, Gleeds today has66officesworldwide,employing 1,700 staff and delivers award-winning projectsaroundtheglobe. GleedsPolskawasformallyestablished,justliketheBPCC,in1992and,asoneofthefirstBPCCmembers, has been an active member of BPCC since the beginning.

GleedsPolska,togetherwiththeBPCCand RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) have contribu-ted to the current strong condition of thePolishrealestatemarket.TadeuszJachowicz, regional director CEE and

directorofGleedsPolska,says:“Eventhough we started when the realities were inchoate, we have managed to createavibrantdevelopingmarketwith a high culture and quality, leading in CEE region, appreciated all over theworld,andwhatsoimportant—attractivetotheInvestors.Thankstoour best practices, British standards and innovative solutions we have managed to change investors' and developers' approach to consultancy services in Poland.

“Throughouttheseexcitingpast25years,GleedsPolskahasbeencommitted to achieving sustainable growthandhavemadesignificantsteps in investing in our internal infrastructure and teams in order to provideourclientswithafirstclassservice. Now, through more than 100 employees, over 50 regular sub-con-structorsandfromsevenofficesinPoland(Warsaw,Kraków,Katowice,

Poznań,Wrocław,ŁódźandGdańsk)we provide our clients with innovative solutions and creative approach. Also, sustainability and corporate social responsibility are deeply rooted in our approach, recognising the important part we play in the future of the built environment. With our 130-year heritage comes great responsibility, and it is only through acting respon-sibly that we earn and retain the trust of our clients and our people,” says Mr Jachowicz.

“Ourreputation,professionalismandhardworkhavebeenappreciatedbyprofessionaljurymembersofpresti-gious real estate awards organisers likeEuropaPropertyorEurobuild,aswe're the winners of 12 prestigious awardsinarow–includingarecentaccolade–DevelopmentServicesCompanyoftheYeartitle—intheCEEQA Awards organised with the Financial Times,” he says.


Engineering sustainable outcomes

Arcadis is proud to have been a member of BPCC for much of the last 25 years. ECHarris,asitwasbackthen,became involved in Poland in 1994 with the construction of the Cadbury chocolatefactoryinWrocław.

Overthenext20years,ECHarris–aUK-headquarteredpartner-ship with international operations, founded in 1911 by Edward Charles Harris–becamewellknowninthePolishmarketasoneoftheleadingbuilt-asset consultancies with a strongportfolioofcommercialprojectssuccessfully completed.

In 2011, the EC Harris partners voted tojointheArcadisgroupandfollowinga period of integration has since traded as Arcadis, a Dutch design, engine-eringandconsultingfirmwhoseoriginsdatebackto1868,andacompanyengaged in building canals and polders. It is now a global business, covering buildings, environment, infrastructure and water with 27,000 people around the world. Arcadis delivers solutions and programme management for private and publicly--quoted clients, and help to engineer sustainableoutcomesformajorpublic--worksprojects,ensuringabetterquality of life for the communities in whichwework.

The Polish business employs over 200 engineers, architects and other sector specialists,allworkingtothesamehigh standards and using the latest technologies to meet the challenges ofthefuture.Arcadislooksforwardtocontinued cooperation with the BPCC andthewiderPolishmarketoverthenext25years.

Warehouses and factories for Poland as growing road network creates new logistics hubs

SEGRO, a leading owner, manager and developer of modern warehouses and light industrial property, with almost a century of experienceintheUK,wasestablished in the Polish market11yearsago. In the UK, SEGRO is associated with the Slough Estates Group, which set up the Slough Trading Estate in the 1920s,oneofthefirstpurpose-builtindustrial estates in the world.

When SEGRO, a FTSE 250 company, started operations in Poland in 2006, thePolishindustrialspacemarketwasdevelopingslowlyduetothelackofessential transportation infrastruc-ture. The situation has dynamically changed over the recent years with the rapid economic growth powered byincreasingroleofmajorurban

centres. Poland's strategic location and easy access to important transit routesprovidedexcellentconditionsfor logistics and supply chain advancement, enhanced by a simulta-neous increase of demand on modern warehouse space. SEGRO has grown organically, in line with the Polish economy and infrastructural develop-ment in main regions.

Today SEGRO owns eight high quality logisticparksinkeylocationsacrossPolandincludingWarsaw,Poznań,Stryków,Łódź,Gdańsk,Wrocław,Gliwice and Tychy. The size of SEGRO's Polish portfolio represents the second largest amount of total industrial and logistics space under management in Poland. One of the main areas of focus is on delivering anecologicalBREEAMcertificationfor every new SEGRO development. SEGRO'sclientsincludeseveralmajorBPCC members such as Tesco, whose distributioncentrenearPoznań

was opened late last year, Johnson Matthey Battery Systems and KingfisherGroup(tradingas Castorama in Poland).

Magdalena Szulc, business unit director, Central Europe


20 years on the Polish real estate market

Monika Rajska-Wolińska, managing partner, Colliers International in Poland:

“2017isspecialyearforColliersInternational in Poland. We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our presenceonthePolishmarket.Despite its global character, Colliers inPolandwasfoundedbyjustafewenthusiastic, goal-oriented people operatingfromasmallofficeinWarsaw. Today, we employ nearly 300professionalsinsevenofficesacross Poland. This demonstrates

the demand that has grown over the years for services such as the leasing ofoffice,retailandindustrialspace,property management, property val- uation and construction consultancy. “TheexpansionofColliersintoregionalcities,suchasKraków,Wrocław,Poznań,Gdańsk,Łódźand Katowice shows that the Polish propertymarkethasmaturedandisincreasingly attractive to investors and tenants, especially from the BPO/SSC sector. “Itisnoticeablethatovertheyears,officespacehaschangedtobetterservetheneedsofitsusers.Experts

from the recently launched Colliers WorkplaceInnovationservicelineadvise clients on how to arrange officesthatsupporttheirbusinesses.

Cushman&Wakefieldisaleading global real estate servicesfirmthathelpsclients transform the way peoplework,shop,andlive.

Around the corner and across the world,Cushman&Wakefieldisatthe centre of retail, from urban high

streets to suburban centres, retail parkstofactoryoutlets.Thisyear,thefirmcelebratesits100thanniversary.OnthePolishmarketCushman&Wakefieldhasbeenoperatingsince1991.ThefirmseesthestablegrowthofmodernretailstockinPoland,including all formats and types of developments, as the result of steadily increasing retail sales, driven by Poles’

every-rising disposable income. With an impressive 66% growth in retail sales per capita since 2004, Poland stands second to none in Europe.

Forecasts forthenextdecadeshowafurther 40% growth of retail spending per capita, demonstrating the growing affluenceofPolishsociety.

Disposable incomes boost retail

Real estate

Large acquistions driving the transaction market

Savills is a global real estate services provider withanetworkofmorethan 33,000 employees inover700officesacrossthe Americas, Europe, AsiaPacific,Africaandthe Middle East, offering a broad range of specialist advisory, management and transactional services to clients all over the world.

Savills Poland was established in 2004 and serves clients throughout thecountryfromofficesinWarsaw,Wrocław,PoznańandKraków.In2016 Savills was recognised as Gazela Biznesu (Business Gazelle 2016) as one of the most rapidly developing companies in Poland. “SavillsisdevelopingdynamicallyinPoland–in2016thecompanyrecorded 49% growth in revenue y-o-yandstrongprofitability,surpas-sed symbolic number of 100 employ-ees,openednewregionalofficeandadded a new business line to the range of services. Among our most

recent successful transactions we can list the largest acquisition in the historyofthePolishmarket–theacquisition of 75% interest in Echo PrimePropertiesonbehalfofRedefi-ne Properties; and the largest single asset transaction in Poland in 2016 –theacquisitionofBonarkaShoppingCentreonbehalfofRockcastleRealEstate. Savills also advised Publicis Groupeintakingnearly14,000m2 in Warsaw's Platinium Business Park,whichwasthesecond-largestleaseofficetransactioninWarsawin2016,” says Tomasz Buras, managing director of Savills Poland.


Adding value to real estate deals

MonikaDębska-Pastakia,chairman of the board and partneratKnightFrank:“KnightFrankhasbeenconnectingpeople and property since 1896. EstablishedinBritain,KnightFrankenteredthePolishmarketnearly20years ago . The Polish team, however, beganworkingtogetherin1991,pioneering the local commercial real estatemarket.Fromtheoutset,we'vebeen committed to providing services for our clients in a much wider capaci-tythanjustadvisory.We were the forerunners in establishing and running a wide range of property-related services. We were amongthefirsttoshapethefaceoftherealestatemarketinPolandbyproviding tailor-made services to our clients in various sectors, including raisingfinancefordevelopmentprojectsandcommercialpropertymanagement since 1996, both locally unknownatthetimestheywereintroduced. We continue to have an appetiteforout-of-the-boxsolutions

incorporating innovations in the real estate industry.

“Anexampleofthisisournewestserviceline–PropertyManagementCompliance, which we introduced at the beginning of this year, inspired bythedynamicmarketchangesinfluencingpropertymanagementservices. Until now, typical compliance serviceshavebeenofferedtobanksor insurance companies. We're the firsttointroducesuchservicestotherealestatemarketinPoland.Weofferprospective property investors a full review of the property management provisions as part of the due diligence process. We also assist tenants in verifying their lease agreements in the contextoftheirinternalrequirementsand procedures, in particular relating to operating costs and reconciliations.

“WewerethefirstpropertyteaminPoland to introduce and promote the RICSstandardsandqualificationsintothelocalmarketandfrom2011to2014, I held the role of chairman

ofRICSPolska.Wecurrentlyworkclosely with the RICS to introduce mediation services into the Polish real estatemarket.WestrictlyfollowtheRICS professional code of conduct and the adhere to the highest standards of serviceswithinthelocalmarket.We'reextremelyprivilegedandproudthatwe have had the opportunity to shape thepropertymarketandsetupthebest practices in Poland by sharing ourglobalexperience.”

Poland's attractiveness to foreign investors drives market

Jones Lang Wootton, wasBritishfirmoriginallyfounded in 1783, merging with LaSalle Partners, a US company to form Jones Lang LaSalle in 1999.

JonesLangopeneditsWarsawofficein 1994, specialising in the corporate realestate.ItseesPoland'sofficemarketasthelargestandmostrapidly developing in the CEE region.

MateuszPolkowski,headofresearchand consulting, JLL Poland, says: “Totalofficestockintheninemajorcities(Warsaw,Kraków,Wrocław,Tri-City,Katowice,Poznań,Łódź,Szczecin and Lublin) adds up to more than 9,000,000m2, with over 5,000,000m2inWarsawalone. This

rapid development is mostly genera-ted by foreign investors who consider Poland as an attractive business destination. The country has become one of the most sought-after locations for business services centres in the world.ExamplesofnewinvestmentsincludeStateStreetandSwarovskiinGdańsk;CreditSuisse,Dentons,DLAPiper and Goldman Sachs in Warsaw; RedEmbeddedandUBSinWrocław;ZFandWhirlpoolinŁódź;Guidewire,UberandZurichInsuranceinKrakówandRockwoolinPoznań.Businessservicescentresoccupyalotoflofficespace. As they develop, they generate demand for more space, forming the growthenginefortheofficemarket.

“Consolidationsandgrowthofcompanies already operating on the marketgeneratetheneedfornew

offices.Asaresult,demandforlargespace is often focused around buildin-gs that are either under construction or are scheduled for development. Therefore,officedeveloperscontinueto launch new investments, even if it's isonaspeculativebasis,expectinginterestamongmajormarketplayers.“Manyinternationaldevelopersare active in Poland, proving that itsmarkethashealthyfundamen-tals and good prospects for further development. As of the end of Q1 2017 there was 1,660,000m2ofofficespace under construction across the country.Officeschemesarecharac-terised by the high quality of space, interestingarchitecture,and advancedtechnicalsolutions.ThePolishofficesectorisnowfinallyonaparwiththemore developed western European markets,”saysMrPolkowski.


Preparing the legal groundwork for Poland’s motorways

CMS Cameron McKenna wasoneofthefirstinternationallawfirmsinthePolishmarket.Sincetheearly1990s,thefirmhas played an active part in Poland's political transformation and the consequential changes of the economic and legal system.

CMS was a forerunner of dividing law firmsintohighlyspecialisedpracticegroups in which lawyers would also havespecialistindustryknowledgeand thus be capable of more accura-tely diagnosing their clients' problems and needs to provide them with tailored legal advice.

Since the early stages of the country's transformation, it has been particu-larly valuable for Poland to be able to draw on good and proven UK models in various aspects of law. In spite of the obvious differences in the functio-ning and the nature of the UK legal system, these models have mainta-ined an international standard and a universal dimension. Naturally, each of these norms must be appropriately adapted to the legal and economic

conditions prevailing in Poland. Nonetheless, they are frequently used as a valuable source of inspiration or, quite often, provide ready solutions of complexlegalproblems.

Oneexampleistheinfrastructureand transportation sector, where the needs for development have been and remain enormous. In this sector, CMSlawyersinPoland,workingtogether with their colleagues from theCMSLondonoffice,havehadanopportunity to participate in Poland's motorway construction and operation programme since its earliest stages. Over 20 years have passed since the programme's inception and some of the lawyers are still available in CMS LondonandWarsawofficestosharetheirexpertise,whichthefirmregardsas a sign of success.

In the early 1990s, few people in Polandknewhowtolegallystructurean administrative decision awarding a motorway concession to a selected privatepartner,orwhattheexactwording of such a decision should be. The concession-awarding decision was subsequently replaced by a multipage agreement for motorway construction and operation, which would be thoroughly negotiated between representatives of the Polish

government and the selected private concessionaire. In this regard, CMS found it convenient to rely on proven standard solutions that had already been successfully tested on UK motorways.

Motorwayprojectshavealsoprovidedan opportunity to more broadly propagate the practical application of the public-private partnership (PPP) idea in Poland. CMS lawyers have actively supported the use of the PPP formula in infrastructure projectsinPolandfromtheoutset.Wadim Kurpias, partner and head ofInfrastructure&ProjectFinanceatCMS,says:“Wehopethatthefirm'sexperienceofnumerousconferences,training initiatives and, above all, tenderproceedingsforPPPprojects,willnotgotowaste.Weexpectinsteadthat,workingtogetherwithotherexpertsinthePolishmarket,we'll be able to contribute to a further dynamic development of large-sca-leinfrastructureprojectsspanningmultiplesectorsandhavingamajorsignificancetoPoland. We also hope that a large portion of theseprojectswillbedevelopedusingthe PPP formula.”

Infrastructure

In the early 1990s, few people in Polandknewhowtolegallystructurean administrative decision awarding a motorway concession to a private partner, or what the wording of such a decision should be.


Moving bulk cargo off the roads and onto rail

The restructuring of Poland's railwaysysteminthewakeof EU accession created new opportunities for private-sector train operating companies to enter the market.

Britain's Freightliner began operating inPolandin2007,quicklybecamingasignificantproviderofrailfreightservicesonthePolishmarket.Sofar,the company has transported over 10 milliontonnesoffreight,mainlybulkcargo such as coal and aggregates.

An innovative and dynamic rail freight company providing the highest quality of transport services in Poland and Germany, Freightliner Poland (FPL) is part of the Freightliner Group and stands for high customer service standards,reliabilityandefficiency.

The company was the only one in Poland to start activity with comple-telynewrollingstock.FPLoperatesmodern Class 66 diesel locomotives equipped with Polish and German safety systems. These modern interoperable locomotives are being successfully utilised by many carriers, among others by Freightliner in Great Britain. The locomotives can be used not only to haul cargo trains, but also tocarryoutshuntingworkswhenthefreight is loaded and unloaded. New Eamnoss FPL E04A coal wagons makeitpossibletoincreasethecarrying capacity of FPL's trains. Thankstothehighlevelofservices,prompt deliveries and innovative solutions Freightliner PL is ready to meet the needs of its most demanding customers. In 2016 FPL started operating new heavy electric Dragon locomotives, equipped with an additional diesel engine so they can

beusedonnon-electrifiedlinesandsidings. These were built by Polish rollingstockcompanyNewag

Identifying and mitigating environmental risk

International environmental, health and safety consultancy RSK created a new operating company, RSKPolskain2011,joiningthe BPCC in 2014.

In 2016, RSK received the prestigio-us Queen's Award for Enterprise in international trade. The company currently employs more than 1,600 staff worldwide.

Aspartofitskeyofferings,RSKPolskaworkstoensurethatitsclients,which include international petroleum companies, identify and mitigate environmentalrisks.

“OurknowledgeofthelatestPolishregulationsmeansthatwecankeepclients one step ahead of the constan-tly evolving regulatory requirements,”

saysTimCoutts,RSKPolska'smanagingdirector.“Ourexcellentrelationship with the local authorities across Poland aids this process.

“Forexample,wereviewedoneclient'sretail fuel sites individually to identify theactualrisks,basedonasource,pathwayandreceptorrisk-basedapproach. We liaised with the local authorities and successfully reduced the number of sites at which our client hadtoundertakegroundwatermonito-ringtofulfilpermittingrequirements.Thisresultedinsignificantannualcostsavings for the client.”

AleksanderSpiewak,operationsdirector,andLukaszWarzec,centraland eastern Europe director, lead RSK Polska'steam.

RSK's other offerings in Poland include due diligence, environmen-tal impact assessments and design;

health and safety assessments; waste management; geosciences; geotech-nics; site investigations and remedia-tion; as well as nuclear, asbestos, ecological, corporate responsibility and sustainability services.

Konstantin Skorik president of FPL at the launch of Dragon in Warsaw.


Growing business is about recruitment and retention

GSK came to Poland in 1998, buying Polfa Poznań to manufacture pharmaceutical products. Since then, it's set up a business service centre to deliver IT services across Europe. Starting with 26 employees in 2005, this part of GSK's Polish operation has grown phenomenal-ly, and delivers IT services to GSK globally. How many people work for you today?

Wecurrentlyemploy650people,andweexpectthattoincrease to 700 by the end of August. Since early last year, we've grown by 250 people. We're in-sourcing the most critical capabilities from our IT vendors. The aim istosecuretheknowledgeandcapabilitieswithinGSK.We're also building our R&D and manufacturing-related IT capabilities. GSK pharma and consumer-care operations aroundtheworldassupportedbyITservicesfromPoznań.

The rapid employment growth at GSK coincided with falling unemployment across Poland. In Poznań, it's just 1.8%. Is it tough to recruit and retain people?

Toughermarket?We'rereadyforit.Twoyearsagowebegan building GSK's brand as an IT employer in Poznan andsurroundingareas–alotofpeopleinPoznannowknowweareanITemployerthatcreatesuniquedevelop-ment opportunities. A good employer-branding campaign is about reminding people of our values and what we do. It is not easy to recruit and retain, but it would have been much tougher, had we not started on this process two years ago. Partially because of us, of our continuous growthanddevelopment,it'sbecomehardertofindgoodIT people locally. When we decided we would develop GSK inanewinnovativematrixmodel,Ipromisedtofindtherightresources–tofocusontalentedpeople,onthequalityofpeople.It'stakinglongertorecruit,butIwantthetoptalent. By August, we should have 99% of the people.

Who are you looking for, what skill-sets?

Amixofdifferentcapabilities,notpurelytechnicalroles.Therearewholeareasofourwork,suchasriskandcomplianceforexample,whereknowledgeofITsystemsisuseful, but not mandatory. And I'm particularly proud that wehavedecidedtolookhardforfemalecandidates;35%ofourworkforceisfemale;outstandingforanITcentre!

What's your secret formula to attract young talents?

GSKoffersagreatworkcultures,deeplyrootedinvaluesand concentrated on the continuous growth and develop-ment.Weunderstandwhattoday'semployeeslookforintheirprofessionalcareer—development,newskillsandcontinuousfeedback.Weofferauniquevaluepropositionto our current and prospective employees, because we let themworkinareasthatareinnovative,touchingthelatest

technologies, and are meaningful. We're very much aware we enable people to live longer, feel better and do more. The culture at GSK IT is built mainly by the young people whojoinusafterworkingabroadwithothercultures.They're well travelled, they've collaborated with univer-sitiesabroad,they'reusedtoworkingacrossdifferenttimezones. And most importantly, they have a good understan-ding of how to collaborate with one another. From the culture perspective, some aspects are particularly important.Oneisfeedback.Ouryoungemployeesexpectconstantfeedback.Weinvestheavilyinhumancapital;forsome positions recruits need to spend two or three months intraining–feedbackismuchappreciatedbythem. Many large BPCC members in Poland have established strong links with local universities. How about GSK?

We'representatjobfairs,weparticipateatconferences,oftenwithothercompanies;thesearetalksofinterestforstudentswiththoseITskillsthatwerequire.Andwecooperate with the Poznan University of Technology in the areaofartificialintelligence.We'regettinggreatresultsfrom this collaboration; it's on the agenda of GSK's CIO globally. Our collaboration with universities is more than takingastandatjobfairs;we'redoingmore,strategically.

Over the past few years there's been a shift in the way office interiors are arranged and furnished, so they suit modern working styles and the preferences of the Millennials generation. How do your offices look?

WehavetwoofficesinPoznań–theoldsiteiscompara-bletootheroffices.ButournewofficeinBusinessGardenonul.Kolorowa,lookslikeGoogle'soffice,openandfresh,withdifferentzonesfordifferenttypesofwork,wherepeoplecantalk,learnorfocus;theatmosphereisnurturing,preparedforchallengesandtransition–with200people,theaimistoharnessthatenergyandtoshareknowledge;thishelpsustofindandkeepthepeoplewewant.

You say your current recruitment plans should be realised by August. What next?

The700-peopletargetbreaksdowninto60teams.Weexpectthemtogroworganically.Bytheendof2019,we should be employing between 800 and 900 people, dependingonmarketconditions;wewilltrytoinvestmore.Butthelocallabourmarketwillgettougher.WeexpecttwobignewprojectstocometoPoznań,bothtouchingthe IT environment. Competition is good. As there aren't many global IT organisations present in the city today, so sourcing labour from other companies is impossible now. But there may be the chance to swap talent in the future. Rotation will happen, but we're open to the challenge. We arepreparedforwhatwillhappeninthelabourmarket.

Shared services

Michael Dembinski talks to Sebastian Drzewiecki, head of GSK’s IT business service centre in Poznań


Skilled people allow for an innovative approach to BPO

You have operation in Kraków and Łódź? How many staff do you have in each centre?

In Poland Capita currently employs around 520 people in Krakówandafurther230inŁódź.CapitaUK'sdifferentdivisionsoutsourceworktoKrakówandŁódź,andthestaffworkforCapitaUK'sclients.

Are you worried that Kraków is reaching saturation point – something that I'd heard from UK investors looking to set up outsourcing operations in Poland?

No–Iwouldn'tsayso;fromourpointofview,definitelynot,youneedtolookbeyondyourtypicaloutsourcingtaskstoovercomethis.Westrivetoretainpeoplenotbyjustcompetingonsalarywithotherlocalsharedservicescentres, but rather by offering a structured career path, learningopportunities,thechancetogrowwithus–andimportantlyindifferentfields.

What are your retention strategies?

OurfocusistoattractpeopleandmakeCapitaagoodplacetowork.TheKrakówmarketisdynamic,everyoneseemstobeabletospeakthreelanguages,andkeentodevelopqualifications.We'venotgoneforanactivity--basedworkplace–wedohaveanopen-spacekitchen,butnothot-desking.Rewardingtheteamisabsolutelycrucial–wehavefootballandvolleyballteamsaswellasadedicatedEnglishtrainer,tokeepstaffengaged.

You are increasing the value added by your Polish operations by offering high-end intelligent outsourcing. Example: your service for providers of pet insurance...

Yes!Whenapet-ownerintheUKmakesaclaim,it'spassedtoanEnglish-speakingvetinKrakówwhoreviewsthe claim form to verify that the right veterinary procedu-res were carried out, and decides on the pay out. We are imaginative when it comes to what can be outsourced.

Any other examples?

Wehaveateamthatdealswithcorporatesecretarialworkfortheboardsofdirectorsofexternalclients,ensuringtheirlegalcompliance.ThisishighlyspecialisedworkandthepeopleweemployoftenhavePolishlegalbackgrounds.As the role of 'company secretary' is not typically recogni-sed in Poland; they are trained in the English legal system through the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Admini-strators,theysittheexamsinKrakówandstrivetobecomequalifiedcharteredcompanysecretaries.Thisisagoodexample,wetesteditonCapitainitiallyanditworkedwell.Additionally,wehaveafinancialsharedservicesteam–wehaveaccountantsintheofficecarryingoutmorehigh-endworkinthisarea.AndwealsospecialiseinSAP–wehaveateamof30people–thisisagoodexampleofour near-shoring capability. Our people here offer quality, theyaimtodotheworkmoreefficientlyandenhance

qualitycontrol.AnotherbenefitofbeingclosetotheUKisourclientscancomeoverphysicallyandexperienceouroperationsfirsthand.Ouremployeeshavedirectcontactwith their clients, something that would have been more difficultwithasharedservicescentrefurtherafield.

When our UK colleagues come to Poland, they often come expectingahugecontactcentre–that'snotus.Theworkwe do is much higher value-added. We have SAP specia-lists, vets, accountants, lawyers which shows our diverse knowledgeandexperience.

What are your plans for growth in future?

We'vegrownreally,reallyquickly;wehavecapacityfor600peoplehereinKrakówand360inŁódź ,wewanttocontinue to grow. But the growth will be different. Previo-usly, we were recruiting groups of up to 70 in one go for largeprojectsandsometimescontactcentres;inthefuture,we'reratherlookingathiringgroupsof10orso,tobuildon our front-facing specialist teams, with the intention to retain and develop the people in the business. It won't be the same as it was when Capita Poland started, it'll be more varied and specialist than it used to be.

You also have operations in Łódź...

OurŁódźofficeoffersmoreworkinglanguagesthaninKrakow,wehaveover20languagesusedintheŁódźoperations. Among them are: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese,Italian,Czech,Hungarian,Slovakian,Lithuanian and Latvian. They are very much a client facing, dynamic and customer services team. We offer as well highly specialised accounting services there.

How will Brexit affect your business?

Atpresent–unknown.ButthelinkbetweenPolandandUKisextremelystrong.Fromahighlevel,PolandisinthefuturestrategyofCapita,butpeopleintheofficeoftenaskmeaboutBrexit,Idon'tthinkitwillhinderourgrowth,thoughwemayhavetoreadjust.IcametoKrakowfouryearsagoforsixmonths;sincethenI'vegotmarried,bought a house and grown the business; it's been a positi-ve change for me personally and Capita.

Michael Dembinski talks to Jim Lafferty, general manager, Capita Poland

54 BPCC Title Brochure

Special economic zones

Supporting business, attracting investment

ARPisajoint-stockcompany wholly owned by the state treasury and supervised by the Ministry of Economic Development. It supports businesses in their development and helps them restructure. ARP playsamajorroleinmakingthe Polish economy more competitive.

The broad spectrum of support instrumentsofferedbyARP(AgencjaRozwojuPrzemysłu—orIndustiralDevelopment Agency) includes both financialproducts,suchasloans,andassistance in implementation

ofprojects,byprovidingaccesstoinvestment sites and production facilities within the special economic zonesmanagedbyARP(Euro-ParkMielecandEuro-ParkWisłosan).Thecompanyalsomakesitpossiblefor business partners to liaise in implementing innovative ventures. It also actively supports Industry 4.0 in such sectors as aerospace or video games.

Withyearsofexperienceandaunique set of competencies in the Polishmarket,ARPhasdevelo-ped an individual approach to the evaluationofprojects,duetowhichit is able to recognise business opportunities in areas that others seeasunattractiveortoorisky.

As part of the Polish Development Fund Group (Grupa PFR), ARP cooperateswithmajorPolishinstitu-tions supporting enterprises and provides comprehensive solutions in response to the current needs and challenges faced by businesses.

Euro-ParkMielecwasestablishedin1995,asthefirstspecialeconomiczone in Poland. Over the past two decades, it has proven to be one of the most effective special economic zones. The dominant industrial sectors to be found within the zone are aviation, automotive, plastics and IT. LeadingprojectswithBritishcapitalwithinEuro-ParkMielecareMcBride,Gardner Aerospace Mielec, and Bodycote International.

TheŁódźSpecialEconomicZone(ŁódźSEZ)wasdesignated by the Polish government in 1997 and today is one of the most dynamically developing areas in Poland.

Perfectly located in the centre of the country,withgoodtransportlinks,it offers attractive industrial areas, comprehensive support of invest-ment processes and the possibility ofgainingsignificanttaxallowan-ces. Entrepreneurs who set up new businessactivitywithintheŁódźSEZ are entitled to regional state aid, deliveredintheformofanincometaxexemption.Togetherwiththepresen-ceofmulti-skilledpersonnelandnumerous academic and R&D centres inthecityofŁódź,theSEZprovidesanexceptionalbusinessenvironment.

Thecomplexservicesforinvestors,honouredwithISOqualitycertificateand business awards, as well as a rich investment offer, have attracted manywell-knownbusinesspartners,including some of the greatest global brands.ThisyeartheŁódźSEZhaslaunchedanewprojectStartupSpark,whichaimsatconnectingcreative young entrepreneurs with the infrastructure,experience,andhumanresources of large companies.

At Poland's heart

BPCC Title Brochure 55

The market's becoming more competitive as it matures

Comment:JanSimunek, CEO of Grayling in Continental Europe“GraylinghasbeenpresentonthePolishmarketsince1996–theyearIjoinedthecompany.AlthoughIwasn't directly involved in Grayling's expansionintoPolandintheearlyyears, I followed our progress very closely as many of our clients chose toworkwithusonaregionalbasisastheyexpandedacrosscentralandeastern Europe, with Poland inevitably aprioritymarketbecauseitofferedsomany opportunties. The late '90s and early 2000s were agreattimetobeworkinginourbusiness.Therewasasteadyflow

of new business opportunities as investors from overseas were starting toexplorePolandforthefirsttime.The communications industry was not yet fully mature and there was huge demand for reliable partners who could support growth. As one of thefirstinternationalagenciesintheregion, we were very well positioned. Much has changed since then. Poland has increased in importance –Warsawisunquestionablynowthedominantcityintheregion–andit'safarmorecompetitivemarketthanit was. However, the fundamentals of our business haven't changed and we've remained successful because wehavestucktothecoreprinciples:

Hire and retain great people who are able to help clients address their most business critical challenges. That'salwaysbeenthebedrockofoursuccess in Poland, and it will never change.”

From proofreader to language solutions provider and business partner

Comment: Lawrence Fahrenholz, CEO of Lacrosse ExpertsinTranslation

WhenIfirstarrivedinPolandin1994as a 24-year old teacher of English at a business school, English wasn't widelyspokenandcontactwiththeoutside world and other cultures was limited. Translation was the preserve of a small group of university-trained linguists who'd rarely spent time outside of the country. Whilst techni-cally sound, these translations were oftentooliteralandawkward.Andso as the economy transformed, and foreign investment began to pour in, so did the demand for professional and reliable translation services.

After leaving teaching I spent a couple ofyearsin-houseatamajorlawfirmdoingproofreadingofEnglishtextsand moving into translation, where myworkwashighlyregardedwith

mebeinganative-speakerofEnglish.Asthemarketforourservicesgrewsodidthefledglingbusinessandourexposuretomanysectorsofindustryand different language combinations.

Translation today is ubiquitous. EnglishinPolandisspokenwithever-greaterfluencybyawell-travel-led and globally-minded younger generation.Asmajorexporters,Polishcompaniesneedtheirmarketingand web content to be localised and constantly updated into many languages, trans-created for different targetmarketsandcultures.Polishlisted companies need to report in English to their foreign sharehol-ders, and corporate lawyers need to communicate with their international clients mainly in English.

Over the years Lacrosse has grown into a leading regional language solutions provider, focused on added-value services to legal,

financial,marketingandcorporatecommunications professionals in Poland, Germany and the UK.

Our industry is today worth around $15 billion globally. Future challenges revolve around technology and issues suchasdata-securityandexchange,developments in ever-better machine translation engines and other produc-tivity and quality-management tools. It remains, for now at least, a human businesswherelinguisticskill,accura-cy and trust are crucial factors.

Lacrossehasvastexperienceinhandlinglargevolumeprojectstotightdeadlinesforitslegalandfinancialsectorclients.Suchprojectsareperformed in the company's secure, server-based translation environment by teams of translators, reviewers and terminologists who collaborate and share resources in real time.

Communications


Everything a patient needs to solve their health issues

Why did Bupa look at Poland for its expansion plans? What factors were most important?

Poland is one of the biggest countries in central and easternEurope,andthesixthmostpopulousmemberstateof the EU, with an economy growing at a very good rate. Bupahadwantedforsometimetoexpandintothisregion,and develop its activities here.

Why did Bupa enter the Polish market via the acquisition of Lux Med rather than another private healthcare group?

Bupalookstoacquireabusinessthatcanbuildscale– a company that's either number one or number two in a givenmarket.LuxMed,astheleaderwithover20yearsofexperienceonthePolishmarketalreadyhadanintegratedmodel, with healthcare funding and provision. The funding comesfromsubscriptionandinsurance.BupahadlookedatLuxMedformanyyears,overthattimeithadhadthreechangesofownership.In2013,BupafeltthatLuxMedwas well-enough prepared for partnership. The purchase turned out to be a good transaction for everyone: for Bupa, forLuxMed,foritsemployeesanditsclients.BupawasveryhappytofinallyhaveLuxMedinitsorganisation.It'sagoodbusiness,veryinvolvedinshapingamarketwhichisgrowingwell. Themarketforhealthinsuranceisverysmall,butitwilldevelop,aswillthemarketforsubscriptionhealthcare services.

Could Bupa have built its own network organically?

By2013itwouldbeextremelydifficultforBupatobulidanewnetworkinPolandfromscratch,becausebigcompanies,likeLuxMed,werealreadywellestablished.LuxMedhadbeengrowingboththroughacquisitionandorganically.Therewasamarketconsolidationin2007,whenMidEuropaPrivateEquityFund,LuxMed'sowneratthe time, acquired Centrum Medyczne LIM and Medycyna Rodzinna.Throughacquisitionandorganicgrowth,LuxMed opened new clinics, hospitals, and imaging diagnostic centres.Backin2002,Lux-Medhadfourclinics.Today,it has 194 facilities with 14,000 employees, over 2,500 affiliatesand1.8mlnpatientsacrossPoland.

Is Lux Med's focus on adding more in-patient facilities alongside out-patient ones?

LuxMedhaseighthospitals–in2015,wedecidedtoenterthemarketofmoresophisticatedandcomplexfieldslikeoncology.Strategically,oncologyisveryimportantforus. We want to offer affordable care to improve people's

health.Polandhasahighmortalityrateforcancer–because of low awareness and poor prevention, but most ofall–lowaccessibilitytodiagnosticsandtreatment.And since time for oncological patients is crucial, we want to improve that. We acquired Magodent, a specialist healthcare provider with two hospitals and one ambula-tory facility for this reason. Two years ago, we decided to build a third hospital, with 178 beds, that has been opened recentlyinWarsaw.LuxMedalsoownsanorthopaedichospital,CarolinaMedicalCenter,andPuławskahospital.LiketheMagodenthospitals,thesealsocooperatewiththeNFZ, Poland's national health fund.

What are Lux Med's plans for expansion?

Our plans focus on an integrated healthcare model, on our ability to deliver comprehensive care. We want to give patients holistic care and build a whole patient path. We currently offer a wide range of care from outpatient primary and specialised care, though diagnostics, rehabi-litation, in-patient hospital and long-term care. We focus

Healthcare

Michael Dembinski talks to Anna Rulkiewicz, president of Lux Med


on delivering everything patients need to solve their health issues.The patient should be at the centre of the process. Treatment must be integrated, coordinated so that we can deliver care across different infrastructure. We have the IT systeminplaceallowingdoctorstoknoweverythingaboutthe patient regardless of location; they can help patients solve problems and then understand what happened with thefollow-up.LuxMedistheleaderinimplementingthehighest standards of medical documentation. We were thefirstinPolandtointroduceonalargescaletheHL7CDA standard. We have also developed telemedicine allowing patients to have contact with their doctor not only through a traditional visit. A patient can be in touch with their doctor not only directly in a clinic, but also at home. There'salackofdoctorsaroundtheworld.Medicalcostsare going up too fast, access to doctors via traditional methodsisbecomingmorescarce.Telemedicineisdefini-tely the answer. It also improves people's safety, as we can remotely monitor and follow-up on the patient's treatment.

A patient does not need to have contact with their doctor in a clinic or surgery. Telemedicine means a doctor can be in touch at the patient's home.

What about communication with patients? The 'bedside manner' is something taught in British medical schools, in Poland, healthcare professionals can be offhand with their patients…

This is a very important issue. Medical universities in Polandaremerelybeginningtotalkaboutit,soitremainsa challenge. Private sector has been a standard setter in this area and we are leading the focus on patient communicationatLuxMed.Weconstantlyworkonimproving our communication standards by regular trainin-gsaimedatallgroupsofpersonnel–especiallydoctorsandnurses.Weworkcloselywithpatients'associationsin teaching good habits to our staff. We believe that no one can understand a patient better than those who wentthroughsimilarexperience.Anditisespeciallytruein oncology, where the focus has to be on what a patient feels.Ourhealthcareprofessionalsneedtoknowhowto

listen to patients and how to empathise with them. Our primary goal is to ensure that the patient does not feel alone or lost.

Poland's private healthcare system seems to be under attack from the Polish government at the moment – do you think this is just political rhetoric, or do you fear new legislation can threaten your existing business model here?

Poland doesn't have enough public funding to cover all its healthcare needs. The government is trying to manage a tight budget. I truly hope that the aim of the new regula-tion, coming into force in October, is not to act against the private sector, but to better control spending. It is populist tosaythatthestatewilltakecareofallPoles'healthcareneedswhileknowingthatitcan'ttakefullfinancialrespon-sibility for delivering this. The government should encoura-ge the private sector, and it should encourage citizens to takeagreaterdegreeofresponsibilityfortheirownhealth.The patients should also have a choice.The healthcare marketneedstoberegulated,butthelevelofthisregula-tion should not eliminate competition. The system should promote entities with the highest quality standards, regardless of their ownership form. And there will be no quality improvement without competition.

How will the new regulations work in practice?

Therewillbeanetworkofpreferredhospitals.Anditseems that only a few private ones will be included, which isashame.Forexample,thenewregulationswillaffectprivate hospitals offering one-day and planned surgery. And this is very sad because these procedures had been safer for patients and much cheaper for the National Health Fund. They also have reduced queues, so there's a bigriskthataccesstopublicallyfundedhospitaltreatmentinsteadofimprovingwillgetevenworse.

IbelievethatLuxMedcandrawonworldwidebestpracti-ce which Bupa has. As a Pole and as CEO, I always believe thathavingtheargumentswhentalkingtogovernmentcan improve peoples' lives. This is perfectly in line with Bupa purpose: to help people live longer, healthier and happier lilves.


Poland becomes important hub for clinical trials work

Healthcare R&D company Synexuswascreatedin1992 in the UK. It has developed since then in several European countries, South Africa and India and the recent integration with the US-based Radiant sites makesSynexusthebiggestclinicaltrialsitesnetworkinthe world.

AllSynexussitesarededicatedto perform clinical research. Each one has its own highly-trained and experiencedstaff,whoareinvolvedin, and care for, our patients to deliver thetopclinicalresearch. Synexusaims to recruit and retain patients in shorter time than traditional centres, enhancingthequalityandefficiencyof its customers' drug development programmes.

SynexusenteredPolishmarketin2003with theacquisitionofSCM–oneofthefirstprofessionaldedicatedresearch centres located in Wroclaw. FurtherexpansionandacquisitionhasstrengthenedthepositionofSynexusinPoland.In2012,SynexusPolandbecamethehubforSynexusincentraland eastern Europe with its head officeinSkyTower,Wrocław. Atpresent,SynexusPolandhas sixdedicated research centres, located inmajorPolishcities–Wrocław,Warsaw,Katowice,Poznań,GdyniaandGdańskaswellasinafewaffiliatesites.

Today, the company in Poland employs over 350 employees, including 130 doctors and nurses.Synexushasbeenconductingfree-of-charge prevention and control research for patients for many years. With a 10-year-history, hundreds of completed studies and

tens of thousands of randomised patients, Poland is still growing with furtherplannedcentres.Synexusisconstantlylookingforinnovati-ve ways of cooperating with both doctors and patients.

Its mission statement is to stand for the patient's choice when it comes to clinical research.

AstraZeneca's Polish R&D activities keep on growing

AstraZeneca (AZ) is a global, innovative biopharmaceutical company, focused mainly on discovering and developing newbreakthroughtherapies.

The company noticed Poland's huge economic and human resour-ces potential, allowing it to proceed withmajorinvestments.Overtime,Poland has become one of the most important locations for the company.

In 2011, AZ launched one of its Global Clinical Trial Operations Centres in Warsaw, with an initially plan to employ 100 people for highly specia-lisedglobalroles.Overnextyearsthecentre tripled in size, with more than 300 employees. The beginning of this year brought further investment to Poland.AZannouncedexpansionofitscentreinWarsaw–itwillgrowto

around 500 staff, and will become a significantpointontheglobalmapofits R&D activity.

At the same time, the company decided to locate one of its three globalfinancialcentresinWarsaw.The target headcount of staff is set at 150. The latest investments announ-ced also included launch of a new HR centre in Warsaw.

Thankstoalloftheseinvestments,AstraZeneca's Warsaw headquar-ters will host a staff of almost 1,100 peoplebytheendofnextyear.AstraZeneca has become an important playerinthefieldoflifescienceR&DinPoland and is a great contributor to the Polisheconomy–thecompanyreinve-sts nearly one-third of its reimburse-ment incomes annually, around $37m last year.

www.pwc.pl

PwC has been active in Poland for over 25 years. We have 8regional offices, as well as the Center of Excellence and twoService Delivery Centers. PwC companies in Poland employover 3,500 staff.

© 2017 PwC Polska Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the companies associated in PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL), each member of which is a separatelegal entity and does not act on behalf of PwCIL or other member firms.

katalog_PwC_we advise 17-5-30 15:09 Strona 1


Helping to sort out problems of Polish exporters to UK

Ardens Solicitors: Poland's exportboomfromalawfirm'sviewpointSince Poland's accession to the EU in 2004, legal involvement in bilateral transactions has evolved dramati-cally, going hand-in-hand with the four-fold growth in the value of goods traded bilaterally between Poland and the UK.

Overthelastnine years,ArdensSolicitors,aLondon-basedlawfirmwithPolish-speaking,English-qu-alifiedlawyers,hasbeenassistingcompanies from all over Poland thatexporttotheUK.“Wehavebeen privileged to be part of historic change,” says partner Ivona Supernat (right).“Theobservabledifferenceover time has been in the quality of workthatweareaskedtoexecute.”

“It'snolongerexceptionaltosellsoftwareproducedinKrakowtoUKcompanies, or to install air-conditio-ningunitsmanufacturedinWrocławto multiple sites across England or evendelivercomplexlogisticsolutions,developed by clients in Gdynia, tomultijurisdictionalcorporationsheadquartered in London.

“We'vealsoworkedonsuccessfulacquisitions of UK companies by Polishbusinesses–anunprecedentedsignof structuralchange”,saysMsSupernat. This proves that the Polish economy is moving away from simply exportingbasicagriculturalproductsto one based on more sophisticated andcomplexgoodsandservices. “Weexpectthistobeatrendthat'slikelytocontinue,”sheadded.“Thedistance between our two countries has never been shorter than it is now.

We hope to continue to be instrumen-tal in promoting growth among our clients, whatever the future brings”

Advisory

Worldwide experience + understanding of Polish market

WierzbowskiEvershedsSutherland is one of the mostrecognisedlawfirmsinPoland. It is a member of Eversheds Suther-land (Europe), headquartered in the UK, one of the largest global law brands,withover61officesin29countries and a total of more than 2,300 lawyers in Europe, the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In 2017 Eversheds Sutherland has topped the UKLawFirmBrandIndexforthethirdyear running. WierzbowskiEvershedsSuther-land supports clients in internatio-nalprojects,combiningEvershedsSutherland'sworldwideexperiencewith deep understanding of the Polish market.Formanyyears,thefirmhasbeenrecognisedbyprestigiousrankin-

gs in many areas of law. In 2017 it was announced, among others, a leader in TMT and data protection.

The spirit of innovation has been with thefirmfromitsbeginnings–nowitisa trusted advisor of the most innova-te companies and supports them in projectsbasedonnewtechnologiesand revolutionary solutions.

An important step in building a brand with global reach was the combination of Eversheds and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, based in the US, which happened in February 2017. As the resultofthemerger,thePolishofficehaschangeditsnametoWierzbowskiEvershedsSutherlandSp.k.(previouslyWierzbowskiEversheds).

ThankstothecombinationthePolishofficeisabletorespondevenbetter

to the needs of their clients planning toentertheUSmarketorconducttransactions there, or engaged in disputes with companies in the US.

Below: managing partner Krzysztof Wierzbowski


DariuszBednarski,managingpartner, Grant Thornton, sets out the principles for a trouble-free handover to new leaders

The BPCC has supported relations between Polish and Britishentrepreneursfromthemomentwhenmarket-dri-venreformsbegantotakeeffectinPoland.Nowasthecountryendsthisfirstquarter-centuryoftransformation, it enters a new stage in its development. One of the crucial challenges Poland is facing today is generational change. Entrepreneurs who set up their companies in the early 1990s are approaching retirement age. Those who are operating their businesses within the family are wondering howtopassthecompanytothenextgenerationinaneffective and safe way. Grant Thornton has set out nine principles of safe succession to help those founder owner-managers.

#1

#4

#7

#2

#5

#8

#3

#6

#9

Implementing succession solutions should be done only after performing all the necessary analyses and makingdecisionsconcerningthe start and the course of succession

Parents have to divide family assets fairly, as well as control over those assets and future benefits

The appropriate legal structu-re to optimise the process of passing on the proprietorship andbenefitsmustbeselected

A description of the principles of conduct, organisational proces-ses and responsibilities needs to be prepared

Successors should be designa-tedtojobsaccordinglytotheirexperienceandtheoreticalandpracticalknowledgeandabilities

Creating a family constitution, describing relations between the members of family in thecontextofoperatingitsbusiness

Determining corporate regula-tionswhichdefinewhohastherighttomakedecisions,andreducingtheriskofbringingintothe company people who might act against its best interests

Preparingawill,whichdefinesprecisely a division of family fortune among all the succes-sors in the case of the founder/owner's death

Selecting the optimal moment to give over the full authority when it is certain that the successor will be able to manage all duties.

Nine principles of safe succession


Splendour, tradition and friendliness

Situated in the heart of Warsaw, the Polonia Palace Hotelisalivinglandmarkina prime location, with 206 guest rooms and 650 sqm of function and meeting space.

Historic ambiance and contemporary elegance are blended seamlessly. The Polonia Palace lies within easy reach ofthebusinessdistrict,keyinstitutionsand tourist attractions.

The hotel opened on 14 July 1913 and witnessed many events and celebra-tions throughout the years, among themthefirstandonlyexhibitionoftheleaderoftheavant-garde–Kazimir Malevich. World War II ended with the Polonia Palace being the only

hotel in Warsaw not to be destroy-ed, and some of its suites became the temporary headquarters for embassies of many countries.

After a complete renovation the hotel was reborn to the new splendo-ur. Although some of its parts are protected by architectural herita-ge regulations, behind the historic facade,guestsmayfindmoderninteriors, comfortably equipped rooms and conference facilities, as well as superb dining places with a top-notchbuffetbreakfast.Today, the hotel delights its guests with friendly environment, attentive staff, charm and state-of-the-art technical resources, offering excellentconditionsinwhich toworkandrelax.

Pioneers in Poland grew with the economy

Those sitting in the rented hotel suite that was home to KPMG Poland in 1989 could not have predicted the 1,500-strong organisation coveringsevenmajorcitiesthat is KPMG Poland today.

One of the founding strategies was tobringthefirm'sexpertiseinglobalfinancialsectorstohelpPolandinitstransitionandtodevelopfinancialsystemsthatwouldbefitforaneconomyinmodernglobalmarkets.Thisprocesssawaflurryofactivityandmuchtravelasexpertswereassembled to help Poland privatise itsfinancialsector.

A decade later, KPMG had been involved in shaping many of the country'shighstreetbanks,bringingthemtomarketandcreatingfinancial

systems that could properly serve the flourishingbusinesscommunitywesee in Poland today.

The success and growth of KPMG in Poland is closely paralleled with the incredible advancement of Poland as a member of the EU and with the advancement and success of the BPCC.

Tom Brass, KPMG's senior partner secondedtoestablishthefirminPolandwas,togetherwithFrankJohnson and Nicholas Fielding, one of the founders of the British Chamber of Commerce in Poland, as the BPCC was originally named.

It is a testament to Poland's standing in the global business community today that two of the Big Four in Poland, including KPMG, have resident partners representing Poland at a global level.

Travel and tourism


An icon of transformation revamped

Landmark on Warsaw's skyline

Located in the heart of Poland's developing capital, thefive-starInterContinentalWarsaw hotel is a great place to stay for business or pleasure.

Setinalandmarkcontemporarytower,designed by a group of architects led by TadeuszSpychała,thehotelisclosetoWarsaw's Central railway station and houses 414 rooms. Designed so that daylight would reach the apartment buildings behind it, the cut-out between the5thand20thfloorsgivesthehotelaunique appearance.

The construction of what's now the tallest hotel in Poland (and second--tallest in the EU), started in 2001 and InterContinental Warsaw welcomed itsfirstguestsin2004. At164mtall, its distinctive silhouette forms anunmistakablepartofWarsaw'smodernskyline.VotedPoland'sLeading Hotel and Leading Business Hotel in the 2016 World Travel Awards, the InterContinental Warsaw

has 1,300m² of conference space, including a ballroom and the private 41st-floorClubLounge,whichmakethe hotel a perfect venue for interna-tional conferences or private events.

Sophisticated Polish cuisine is offered in the award-winning Platter restau-rant,whichcombinesfinediningwithcutting edge style and adventurous cooking.CelebritychefKarolOkrasa'smenuisarefinedtakeontraditionalPolish delicacies with an international flavour,alongsidealistofmorethan100 international wines chosen by the hotel'sexpertsommelier.

Another unique feature of the InterContinental Warsaw is its Riverview Wellness Centre on the toptwofloorsofthehotel.Theindoorswimmingpool–Europe'shighest–isonthesamelevelastheclockonthePalace of Culture across the road, allowing guests to swim in the pool with fabulous views, while state-of--the-art gym machines and a dedica-ted aerobics room mean guests never havetomissaworkout.

From its heyday in the late 1990s as the hangout of choice for socialites, head of states and business leaders, the Sheraton Warsaw Hotel has a 20-year history of bringing people together in the heart of Plac Trzech Krzyży.It'salsoafavouritewith well-off leisure travellers. Guests staying at Sheraton Warsaw Hotelnowexperiencefullyrenovated rooms.

The hotel also has its Club Lounge, a privatespacewhereguestscanenjoyfreewi-fi,complimentarybreakfast,drinksandsnacksduringthedayandaneveningcocktailwithwideselection of spirits and canapés. At the heart of the hotel is the modern meeting space, spread over two floors,withthelatestaudio-visualequipment and high-speed internet in 11 meeting rooms. The Sheraton has a 500m² Grand Ballroom, the venue for a great many glittering occasions.

The inAzia Restaurant offers fresh, genuine South-East Asian food in arelaxed,friendlysetting.It'sbeenreviewed as one of Warsaw's best culinary venues . The SomePlace Else restaurant and bar serves a selection ofTex-Mexfoodandcreativecocktails.


The bees that live on the roof of a Warsaw hotel

At Regent Warsaw Hotel each and every guest is providedwithbespokeservice. Esteemed by business guests, diplomats and tourists, the hotel's staff arecommittedinexceedingtheirguests'expectationsfrom the moments they walkin.

Regent Warsaw Hotel is located alongul.Belwederska,inadiploma-tic district of Warsaw, across the road from the beautiful and historic RoyalŁazienkiGardens.Proximitytohectaresofparklandsoclosetothecity centre sustains a unique feature ofthishotel–ithasitsveryownapiary on the rooftops.

ŁazienkiGoldhoney,producedbythehotel's400,000bees,isexclusivelyavailableoneverybreakfastbuffet at the hotel.

The Regent Warsaw Hotel has 246 spaciousandstylishroomsandluxurysuites.Guestsmayenjoyawiderangeof amenities; the Venti-tre restaurant

servingItaliancuisine,theŁazienkiLounge lobby bar, the Q-Club, a rich choice of conference and banquet halls,aswellasfitnesscentreandspa.

The high standards of the Regent Warsaw Hotel and its staff have been confirmedbynumerousawards,provingthat the hotel is one of the most presti-gious facilities in Warsaw. In 2017, the Regent Warsaw Hotel has been awarded once again the Travellers' Choice 2017 award in the category ofTop25LuxuryHotelsPolandand Top 25 Hotels Poland by TripAdvisor. The Regent Warsaw Hotel has also received a Michelin 2017 guide recommendation.

The Regent Hotel has its own beehives, with 400,000 bees producing honey for its guests.


Changing the way Poland travels

PolskiBus.comhasrevolutionised long-distance travel in Poland since it debuted in 2011. Since then,PolskiBus.comhascarried more than 22 million passengers.

Poland's ever-improving road network,highermobility,andthe lackofgood-qualitycarrieronanational scale, who could offer comfortable travelling conditions and attractive prices, were the main reasons which prompted Sir Brian Souter to invest in Poland. Today PolskiBus.comisrecognisedbypassengers and media as the highest qualitycoachcarrier,beingthemarketleader in Poland, setting trends that affect domestic air and rail transport as well as the buses. PolskiBus.comboaststhemostattractiveofferonthemarket,actively

communicating with its passengers viasocialmedia.Thankstothis,thecoachoperatorhasquicklygaineda huge popularity, becoming one of the most recognisable and popular brands in Poland today.

ThePolskiBus.comrevolutionhasproved that it is possible to buy and payforticketsonlineforattractivepricesforjourneysonboardaluxurycoach equipped with comfortable leatherseats,wi-fi,electricsockets,toilets and wheelchair facilities.

LastyearPolskiBus.combegandeveloping its second core activity, a platform that integrates Polish and international coach operators. Passengers now have the largest networkofconnectionsattheirdisposal, which allows them to travel to over 240 destinations across Poland and abroad, on bus lines operatedbyPolskiBus.comand its partners.

InApril2017,PolskiBus.comintrodu-ced the long-awaited new functiona-lity–reservedseating.Thepossibilitytobookpremiumseats,withmoreleg-room or with a better view, is an additionalconveniencethatcanmakejourneysevenmorecomfortable.

Another important system improve-mentisthepossibilitytobookconnec-tedjourneys.Withinonesearch,thepassenger will receive a proposition forawell-adjustedtwo-stagejourneywithin one, attractive price. This functionality connects cities that were not directly connected before.

PolskiBus.cominvitesyouonboardandwishesyouapleasantjourney!PolskiBus.com


The BPCC Trade Team continues to support British businesses that have exportambitionsforPolandandbeyond.Established in 2013 as what is now a DIT Overseas Delivery Partner, the BPCC Trade Team is recognised as the best-performing partnerinDIT'sglobalnetwork.

TheBPCCTradeTeamisofficiallytheoneothercountriesshouldemulate.Thepastfinancialyear,2016/17,wasthe fourth one in a row in which all the targets set by Whitehallwereexceeded.Withover£56minexportwinsregisteredandconfirmed,withworld-leadingresponserateof5:1forexportopportunitiesflaggeduptoBritishbusinesses, the BPCC Trade Team has proved its effective-nessinsupportingUKexporters.

The Council for British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE)hasrecognisedBPCCTradeforExcellenceinTradeDevelopmentforthreeconsecutiveyears–2015 to 2017 inclusive.

The BPCC's Trade Team was responsibleforlanding£56mofexportwinsinthelastfinancialyear.TriumphMotorcycles–aniconicBritishbrand–wasintroduced to a new distributor by the BPCC Trade Team, as a result of which, the company will dramatically increaseitsshareoftherapidlyexpandingbig-bikemarketin Poland. The BPCC's support was so much appreciated by Triumph that the company that sought the chamber's helpin…SouthAfrica.Now,thismarketbeingoutsidethescope of the BPCC's operations, we naturally introdu-ced Triumph to our colleagues at the British Chamber of BusinessinSouthAfrica,whowilltakesimilarlygoodcareofTriumph,basedontheapproachtakeninPolandtoidentifythebestdistributorforthebikes.

RecognitionofthequalityoftheBPCC'sworkinpromotingUKexportsdoesn'tendthere.TheBritishChambersofCommercehassubcontractedtheBPCCtoprovidefivepaid webinars in which the intellectual property of our approach to trade support was shared with other bilateral

The BPCC — the UK government's Overseas Delivery Partner for Poland

chambers around the world who are also DIT Overseas Delivery Partners. Focusing on our operating methods and our unique approach to pipeline generation, we have deliveredourknow-howtoseveralsmallerchambersglobally. In addition, we have been approached by the British French Chamber of Commerce to help them to understand what we do and how we do it, and to prepare them for a bid to provide services to the DIT in France and Germany.

TheInstituteofExportpublishedtheDoingBusiness in Poland guide for which the BPCC created much of the content. It is available online as a download.

ThelaunchtookplaceatthePolishEmbassyinLondonin January as the UK launch of the BPCC's Silver Jubilee Year, an event the BPCC Trade Team co-hosted with Polishambassador,ArkadyRzegocki.TheBPCCwasalsoheavily involved in the production and launch of a publica-tion aimed at the Polish government, opinion leaders and general public.

BPCC Trade

by Russell Towlson, director, BPCC Trade



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Dearmembersandreaders,yourjourneythrough the special edition of Contact Magazine ends here. As it's always the case with 'ends', there's always a beginning or someformofcontinuity:thenexton-lineedition of Contact is scheduled for October 2017 with a focus on technology, media andtelecoms(TMT)–I'dliketoextendaninvitation to all members who are active in thisfieldtocontributeandsupportour nextedition.

The BPCC's 25th anniversary celebrations will go on until endof2017withafinalsplashsetfor19October:agreatline-upofVIPsandspecialguestswillmakethisnightunforgettable,ifyouhaven'tbookedityet,pleasedosoingoodtimetoavoiddisappointment.Placesarefillingfast!

Whatliesaheadbeyond2017isanewprojectthattheBPCCisalreadyworkingon:CommonwealthDay,wherewe want to engage with investors and diplomatic posts from Commonwealth countries that are present in Poland. It'snaturalfortheBPCCtoextendafriendlyhandtoCommonwealth companies and help them with regulatory affairs, business introductions or specialist advice. TheBPCCstaffcanefficientlydeliverallofthis.

We will also focus our efforts on attracting new high-pro-filememberscomingfromtheFTSE100and250,andWarsawStockExchange-listedcompanies.TheBPCCmembershipalreadyreflectstheglobalimpactoftheBritish economy and the spirit of Polish entrepreneurship andwewillworktirelesslytoattractnewinvestorsandsupportexistingones.WiththecommitmentofallourstaffmembersinWarsaw,Kraków,Wrocław,andLondon,wecontinue to build stronger business ties between business

CEO's note

and our family of nations. The BPCC is a winning team and I am certain of more successes.

Finally, all that we've achieved to date would not be possible without the commitment from our members, presidents and friends. BPCC board supervision ensures thatthechamber'sstrategyandthefinancialwell-beingaresetandmanagedwithinaframeworkofthebestcorporate governance practices. Numerous NGO and partneragreementsextendourabilitytosupportallourmembersandstakeholders.Theroleofourhonorarypresidents—ourtwoambassadors—remainscrucialinterms of the great institutional support they provide.

Inaveryshortbutstraight-to-thepointfinalsentence, Iwouldliketosincerelysay:thankyouforbeingwithus!


Documents

Fp Advert Gala TKbpcc.org.pl/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/12486/BPCC...committed to working even more closely together to make what has been a 'good' relationship a truly 'great' one