From vision to implementation

Marcin Cichy joined BPCC as managing director at the end of May this year. In an interview with Michael Dembinski, he talks about the mission, vision and goals of the chamber as well as how his experience can support their implementation in coming years.

On your Linkedin in profile, you write that you are an engineer by education, an analyst by profession, and a manager by vocation. Which of these roles is most important from the point of view of working for a chamber of commerce such as BPCC?

From my experience, I know that combining the experiences of all these roles gives the best results. An engineer is attached to facts and figures, and to a decision-making process based on reliability within the organisation. An analyst processes information and data from the environment to forecast in a specific time horizon. A manager, on the basis of the results of the work of predecessors, makes decisions and manages the directions of the organisation’s development. As a chamber of commerce, BPCC constantly evaluates the strength of the actions of its members and its own, as well as the business environment in which we all operate; hence it’s a challenge across all the aspects indicated above.

And that was the main reason you decided to join the chamber?

Yes, but only up to a certain point. I received an offer from Michael Page and the board of the chamber to participate in the recruitment process, which turned out to be very demanding. The next stages were based on getting to know the organisation, developing short- and medium-term action plans, mapping stakeholders and solving selected problems. At the end of the process, I told the board that whoever they chose, they had a guarantee of hiring someone who was already very familiar with the subject. It turned out that they chose me.

You have been in BPCC for half a year now. How do you see this organisation?

The BPCC has a large potential resulting from both external factors and its own capabilities. In the first case, I am thinking about trade relations between Poland and the UK. Annual trade turnover reaches over £30 billion, and our member companies have created over 200,000 jobs in Poland. This means that an industry body representing British capital in Poland must have and – in practice has – the ear of economic decision-makers in the country and in the international arena. In the second case, based on substantive cooperation, the relationship between the chamber and its members creates a capital of knowledge and experience for the development of trade relations based on purely business or regulatory mechanisms.

However, there are a dozen or so bilateral industry chambers in Poland, and dozens of sectoral chambers, and companies increasingly often choose membership based on business prospects rather than the origin of capital or national patriotism. That’s why in the BPCC we conduct annual satisfaction surveys of our members, we also have good environmental intelligence on the effectiveness of activities conducted both on a global scale – mainly from the headquarters in Warsaw, and on a regional scale. On this basis, we have revised the assumptions of the strategy that the board adopted in September of this year.

What are the new directions of the chamber’s strategic activities in coming years?

The BPCC should be the first point of contact for all investors who see Poland as a convenient location to start an investment as well as for businesses interested in expansion to the UK. That is way our mission is to create favourable conditions for a two-way trade and investment between Poland and the UK. We believe that this approach will bring us much closer to the BPCC vision as one of the most influential and efficient organisations in Poland.

The first strategic goal is to be an efficient knowledge-sharing platform for members. Looking at the commitment of our members, there is great potential in the area of the public policy group, led by our colleague Marta Zawilska-Florczuk, our regulatory affairs manager. Also, Michal, your economic expertise as chief advisor presented mostly during moderated discussions as part of substantive events are enjoying growing interest among members and external stakeholders.

The above-mentioned activities also allow us to achieve the second strategic goal, which is an active support for our members’ activities in front of external stakeholders.

We also put emphasis on the third goal which is strengthening the BPCC’s reputation and the forth one regarding growing our network. In the latter case, our colleagues, Dorota Kierbiedź, membership director, and Ilona Chodorowska, regional director, deliver a number of events ensuring effective social and business networking, as well as disseminating insight, know-how and best practice, creating content-marketing opportunities for our members. It’s about expanding a network to help raise members’ profiles.

Work for the chamber members also includes daily promotional activities for their activities, for which Jakub Piegat, marketing manager, is responsible. Paulina Sierańska, office manager, oversees the correctness of processes and the administration area.

Historically, the chamber has been dominated by companies with British capital, and Polish firms providing services to them on the local market. With the increase in Polish exports and investment in the UK market, do you see potential in the BPCC delivering new services to Polish firms entering the UK?

Export itself is the sale of surplus production outside the country. We see potential in expansion into the UK market understood as a conscious entry with products, services or investments. We are receiving more and more inquiries from Polish SMEs but also from companies with capital from other countries, whether we can support them in export processes. We have already consulted with both the embassies: British in Warsaw and Polish in London, as well as with PAIH, the Polish investment and trade agency. Also talks with the community of Polish entrepreneurs in London convince us of the need to build an offer in this market segment. We are in the process of preparing a comprehensive service allowing interested companies to audit their readiness to enter the British market, prepare a suitable strategy, and take their first steps in the area of starting a business and searching for business partners. The service should be launched in the first quarter of 2025.

Can companies operating on the Polish market also count on any new products in the BPCC offer for 2025?

Definitely yes. Together with the new version of the strategy, we announced a new membership offer in October, which will be rolled out when renewing membership over the coming year. We have systematised the scope of services provided to our members in all four groups: Enterprise, Business, Chairman and Patron, with the ability to pay extra to join a higher group for additional benefits. We have also introduced new services, which can be found on our website. We have offered members in the SME sector an expanded spectrum of communication services, access to knowledge and regional networking and sales events. In the case of chairman and patron clients, we have designed dedicated services focused on meeting personalised needs, mainly around the areas of ​​public policy and regulatory affairs. We are receiving positive feedback and we believe that the offer will enjoy great interest in the coming year.

What can we wish the BPCC and its new managing director in the coming year 2025?

All the best! And business-wise for the coming be economically better than this one, though it was a good year for business relations between Poland and the UK, as well as in Poland and the UK taken individually. Because then our members maximise their benefits, and such a goal function is the driving force of BPCC’s activities.