The first of the 2022 season of regional conferences and business mixers celebrating the BPCC’s 30th anniversary kicked off on 18 May 2022 in Poznań, at the offices of the city’s Technology and Industry Park. The conference theme was Investment, Development and Management at a Time of Dynamic Change.


 

The event was opened by the BPCC’s CEO, Paweł Siwecki, and Katja Ložina from the City of Poznań.

The first presentation, covering Brexit and the changes to Polish-UK trade, was made by Michael Dembinski, chief advisor of the BPCC.Anna Wierzbicka manager of the foreign trade team at Santander Bank Polska talked about the current disturbances in the global supply chain and dealing with inflation in a time of war. Her colleague, Magdalena Kusa, presented tools that help firms find new business partners in export markets.

Keeping up with Poland’s ever-changing legislative environment, where new laws are rushed through parliament, leading to instability and a lack of predictability, was covered by Edward Nieboj, managing partner of Grant Thornton Poland. The challenging HR market was discussed by Sebastian Szurek, senior executive manager of Michael Page Polska, who set out up-to-the-minute strategies for attracting the best candidates and motivating teams at a time of rapid change.

The real estate market in Poznań and Poland is changing rapidly too! Michał Kuropieska, senior consultant, CBRE Poland, showed the main trends when it comes to new commercial property, availability, rental prices and vacancy rates, as they affect offices, warehouses and factories.

All the speakers then took part in a panel session, moderated by Michael Dembinski, in which they were joined by Wojciech Szafran, director of the Wielkopolska region for Raben Logistics, who answered questions about the current state of the logistics sector, with so many Ukrainian men returning home to fight. He said that before the war, one in three drivers of Polish trucks, vans and taxis were Ukrainian citizens. He also spoke about the impact of Brexit on logistics between Poland and the UK.

Three rounds of questions dealt with inflation and what firms can do to mitigate its impact on the bottom line, ESG and the ever-growing demands of compliance and the corporate imperative to drive green transformation, and finally how the e-commerce revolution is changing the face of the Polish economy.

After the conference, there was a change of venue to the Andersia Hotel for the Nice to See You Again! business mixer. Supported by Wyborowa Pernod Ricard, mixing exquisite cocktails for the guests, and sponsored by CBRE, Grant Thornton, Michael Page and Santander, BPCC members had a chance to sample the hotel’s famous food, swap business cards and talk business until the late evening.

Presentations:

Santander Bank Polska

CBRE

Michael Page

Grant Thornton

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