Warsaw is no longer Poland’s destination of choice for investors in the business services sector. In a new business environment study carried out by Antal, Cushman and Wakefield, and Vastint, Lublin and the Tri-City (Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia) take the top spots.
“Lublin has once again proven its status as one of the most investor-friendly cities in Poland,” said Agnieszka Gułaś of Cushman and Wakefield. “Lublin is a great choice for companies that wish to lower operating expenses as it is approximately 20-30 per cent cheaper to do business there than in Central or Western Poland. Yet, prospective investors usually expect more than just being able to operate on the cheap. Business environment, office quality and availability of amenities that have a positive impact on the quality of living are all considered important and I am happy to say that Lublin delivers in all of those areas.”
“The business environment has a big impact on the growth of organisations,” added Artur Skiba, chairman of Antal and vice president of the Association of Employment Agencies. “Factors such as infrastructure and office space potential translate directly into financial performance. Availability of human capital, high competitiveness, a well-developed business environment, innovative solutions and products are no less important. All of the above factors come together to create a new investment environment that is outlined in our 8-part series of reports on the investment potential of Polish cities.”
Out of the eight cities looked at by the study, Lublin is in the top three in several categories: real-estate, educational opportunities as the supply of future employees, and employment potential.
“Our data shows that Lublin has the highest employment potential out of all Polish regional cities. That is due to the fact that Lublin’s inhabitants are reluctant to move in search of work. One in five of the city’s inhabitants have only changed jobs once throughout their careers, and one in three have been working for the same company their entire life. Contrary to Warsaw, where demand for talent exceeds supply, Lublin has plenty of qualified workers who are ready to accept new job opportunities,” reads the study.
“The modern business services industry, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Polish economy, plays a very important part in developing the urban architecture of Polish cities. That is why investors often choose locations with an ample supply of finance professionals with foreign language skills and IT professionals,” added Karolina Korzeniewska, account executive CEE at Antal.
According to my experience, Lubliners are not reluctant to change, or to new opportunities. In fact Lublin region has one of the biggest Polish diasporas in the world, seamlessly Lublin City itself is the second most internationalized city of Poland, just right after Warsaw. Moreover, it is estimated circa 20% of total immigration to Warsaw capital region comes from Lublin area.
What was not spoken, a rootcause of behavior depicted by Mr Shakhil, is the work ethics of Lubliners, which may be summarized with following sentence: “Fidelitatem et Constantiam”. Loyalty, and constant striving for shared goals, these are encapsulated there deep in the roots of this region. Hence plethora of new quality investment knocks to the City Hall doors. This city is able to handle and wield both “updation”, and “update” seamlessly, and they do it good.