Events Coverage

Meeting up face to face – Nice to See You Again, Kraków

The 2021 series of Nice to See You Again mixers came to a conclusion in Kraków on 9 September. The event, held at the Mercure Hotel, was sponsored by real estate agents Savills and recruitment firm Michael Page.

After an introduction and welcome from the BPCC’s CEO Paweł Siwecki, a panel discussion opened the evening, with a chance to hear about how the local economy is emerging from recession.

James Hughes, minister-counsellor, economic affairs at the British Embassy, was joined on the panel by Tomasz Buras, CEO of Savills, and Sebastian Smołucha, senior manager at Michael Page. Guests heard how the Kraków economy is booming because of new inbound foreign investments, primarily in shared-service and business-process-outsourcing centres. Mr Smołucha said that Michael Page has had two record quarters in terms of numbers of people recruited. This is mirrored by demand for office space, remote work notwithstanding, said Mr Buras, who added that although Kraków is not a logistics hotspot, some new warehouse space along the A4 motorway corridor and in the city centre is being developed. There was concern that salary increases and inflation may make the local economy uncompetitive, although the high quality of people may still prove attractive to investors even as wages equalise with the West. New investments are coming in from the US, UK and Germany, with a strong focus on IT jobs, said Mr Smołucha. Mr Buras talked about the future of office space, with a shift toward some form of hybrid work (three days in the office, two days working from home). Demand for employees means that office space has to be more appealing.

James Hughes spoke about the UK-Polish economic relationship, pointing out that UK investors in Poland are still expressing strong sentiment about the Polish market, with the majority still looking to increase their investments. Mr Hughes reminded guests of the United Nations’ climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow in November, where innovation in sustainability would be an important theme. He also mentioned the relatively new phenomenon of Polish firms investing in the UK economy, in many cases businesses that sought to expand globally via the UK.

Kraków’s status as a location for global shared services and business process outsourcing is borne out by the fact that 18,000 foreigners now live and work in the city, according to its deputy mayor, said Mr Hughes. A new trend being observed is the clustering of legal process outsourcing in Kraków, said Mr Smołucha.

After the panel discussion, guests moved in to the lobby for food and wine, with a Pernod Ricard displaying a selection of finest single-malt whiskies; Scotland’s trade envoy to Poland, Martyn O’Reilly was on hand to explain the regional differences between the distilleries.

Discussions continued until late in the evening, the need to meet up and talk business having been bottled up for so long.

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Back to work - BPCC's late-summer mixer, 2 September 2021

An annual fixture in the BPCC's social calendar, pandemic notwithstanding now for the second year in a row, is the end of summer-holiday mixer at Warsaw' Mamaison Hotel Le Regina. Thanks to our partners, Hays Poland and Pernod Ricard, members and guests could make the most of the fine late-summer weather and open-air courtyard to mingle safely, chat and swap business cards.

Brexit and export of Polish food to the UK

From 1 October, the UK government is introducing new border checks on animal and plant products; these will make export of food from Poland to the UK more complicated. This webinar, held in Polish for Polish food exporters, looked at what the new border checks would mean, and how to prepare for them. Michael Dembinski, the BPCC’s chief adviser, opened the meeting saying that for the most determined exporters, prepared to deal with all the new paperwork, there would be many new opportunities. As exports from western European trade partners falter, more and more companies are withdrawing from the UK market, and so gaps appear that Polish firms could enter. Having the right strategy and marketing plans is key, he said.

International Oktoberfest returns to Wrocław

After a break last year for the pandemic, Wrocław’s International Oktoberfest made its return on 10 September 2021. Back for the 16th time, it was held this year for sanitary reasons in the fresh-air surroundings of the Toya Golf and Country Club, a little way north of the city. The event was organised by the BPCC, the Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Poland) and the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce. Traditionally, the International Oktoberfest draws the largest business crowd from across the region, but this year, numbers were limited because of Covid-19. Nevertheless, after a year’s absence, it was good to meet in person and the event was enjoyed by all.

Nice to See You Again event series complete its Poland summer roadshow