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14 Feb 2005
British business advisors export know-how to help Poland’s
small firms compete in global markets.
Poland’s business advisory network is to be updated, trained
and better equipped to help the accession state’s small firms
compete in the global economy, thanks to an innovative joint venture
launched this week.
 36
year old, Polish entrepreneur and lawyer, Tomasz Cioska, has linked
with UK business advisor network, Initiatives in Business Development
Group Ltd., (ibd) to establish the venture in Wrocklaw,
South West Poland.
Polish people have a reputation for hard work and Poland is regarded
as the most entrepreneurial of all the nations that joined the E.U.
in 2004. However, Poland’s 18.7% unemployment is the highest
in the European Union and the importance of small firms to Poland’s
economy cannot be overstated. The main source of Poland’s
growth is exporting and particularly exports generated by smaller
enterprises.
The joint venture will focus on improving the quality of Poland’s
existing business advisors and consultancies. Typically, Polish
advisors are highly skilled but with limited resources. They experience
problems reaching clients because of a lack of marketing expertise
and poor linguistic skills. “They often do not possess sufficient
expertise about international markets that Polish companies interested
in entering the E.U. and wider global markets need.” explained
Tomasz Cioska.
ibd, launched in the UK in 2002, is dedicated
to serving the needs of smaller firms and has already helped over
6,000 companies since its foundation. ibd already
has experience of exporting its approach into Europe, having opened
a network in Benelux in 2003. ibd has over 300
self-employed business advisers in its membership network.
As Terry Forrester, ibd group managing director
explained, “In Poland, ibd’s first
task will be to train local advisers to support client firms through
the niceties of open bidding and competitive tendering processes.
We want to build Poland’s existing and new consultancy firms
into an efficient, national network so that they can help Polish
smaller firms grow and succeed.”
“Polish advisors will be trained to offer relevant and high
quality advice to our SME community, our entrepreneurs desperately
lack these services.” Explained Tomasz Cioska, “ Our
research shows that Polish firms want to compete and take advantage
of the opportunities opening for them. They have told us that they
will welcome and pay for an affordable, integrated advisory network.
Our role is to ensure that Polish advisors have the right skills
and understand how to market and communicate their expertise to
small firms.”
Initially ibd anticipates that Polish companies
with a minimum of 10 staff and an annual turnover of at least 250,000
zl will most benefit from the new service. More information about
ibd and its Polish service can be found on the ibd
website at www.ibd-uk.com.
*** Ends ***
Editor’s notes.
Information about Poland
Poland is home to 38,190,600 people and occupies 312,677 km2 at
the cross roads of Europe.
Poland had 2,774,887 self-employed people in June 2004 (1,796,407
in June 1995 respectively) and 190,461 incorporated companies (181,847
limited liability1 and the remaining
8,614 joint stock2)3.
Poland’s unemployment rate, though falling from the worst
in history at 20.7% in February 2003 to (November 2004) 18.7%, is
the EU’s highest.
Poland has the largest working population and one of the youngest
populations in the European Union. 50% of Polish society is under
34, 35% are under 25 years of age.
About ibd
Terry Forrester – now the group managing director- and marketing
director, Alan Ford, founded initiatives in Business Developments
Ltd. (ibd) in 2002. Now a 300 strong membership
organisation, ibd works with start-ups and small
to medium sized businesses offering hands on business development
advice and implementation support.
ibd members typically are experienced, senior
managers who bring maturity and experience and who have previously
held senior level positions in business. ibd operates
throughout the European Union and a South African operation will
be launched in 2005.
ibd has built a number of innovative partnerships
with some of the UK’s largest banks and financial institutions
including HSBC, Nat West, PwC, venture capital providers Angel Bourse
and EurExel. This enables owner managers in small firms more easily
to access specialist expertise when they need it.
ibd provides a high quality, full service to SMEs.
All ibd members have to go through a stringent
recruitment programme, attend comprehensive and continuing training
programmes and adhere to the organisation’s ethical policy.
More information is available from Alan Ford on 01529 413595, from
Rosie Featherstone on 01332 862 073 or from tomasz.cioska@ibd-uk.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Minimum capital = 50,000
zl
2 Minimum capital = 500,000
zl
3 The legal form of a
business very often does not reflect its size – there are
very small joint stock companies and very large enterprises of sole
traders or partnerships. |
