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For six years the customer satisfaction index in Poland has grown by over 17 percentage points to nearly 78 percent, and it currently exceeds the customer satisfaction levels recorded in the USA and the United Kingdom. Service quality and its growing significance among businesses have had a tremendous impact on customer satisfaction. For the eleventh time the Customer Service Quality Star titles have been awarded to entrepreneurs recording the best results in this field.

When compared to the European market, the Polish market for fairs and exhibitions is rather small but well-developed, and it has been steadily growing for several years. More and more events organised in Poland are congresses and fairs with a global reach, attracting foreign exhibitors and guests. This drives business tourism and commercial real property market. Additionally, the fairs and conferences contribute to the development of companies and the entire economic sectors, which become popular thanks to such events. The base of trade fair and conference centres, however, requires extension and modernisation with a view to ensuring the further growth of this market.

“The activity of foreign investors on the Polish real property market is still growing. In their view, Polish cities stand for stability and guaranteed profit, especially when compared with Western Europe. On the Polish investment market, and more specifically in the commercial property sector, Q1 2018 ended with a record-breaking volume of transactions, reaching EUR 2 bn. The demand is, however, much greater than the supply of good-quality structures, which causes a price hike. When coupled with the increasing construction costs and the shortage of qualified staff, this can slow down investors’ activity,” said Beata Latoszek from Deutsche Hypo.

The record-low unemployment results in the consistently growing demand for human resources from behind our eastern border. The new regulations, in force since January of this year, and the new category of simplified seasonal work permit were supposed to assist employers. However, it turned out that employment agencies are not yet ready to embrace the changes. The number of declarations processed every day can sometimes be ten times lower than before.

The number of vacancies is growing, having reached nearly 120,000 jobs by late 2017. Employees from the East are no longer able to make up for this shortage. That’s why more and more businesses are recruiting employees from such Asian countries as Nepal, India or Bangladesh. But experts suggest we need changes in employment procedures for foreign nationals, e.g. harmonised requirements across government agencies, streamlined visa-application procedures, and the shortened processing of work permits.

Last year the customers of Polish banks made nearly 1.8 bn transfers to a total of PLN 4.7 bn – states the NetB@nk Report by the Polish Bank Association. Among banking services, it is the popularity of instant transfers which is enjoying the fastest growth, with 80 percent more such transfers made in 2017 than in the year before. At the same time the number of ATM cash withdrawals and of ATMs themselves are decreasing. This is accompanied by Poles’ becoming more positive about internet banking.

According to Michał Stępniewski, this trend on the Polish stock exchange, which has been noticeable for at least two years, is a disturbing one. The difficult situation of the Warsaw Stock Exchange was caused by very low turnover, which has arisen from insufficient activity of investors in financial and commodity markets. Education is indispensable for boosting the Polish stock exchange, because, as experts say,Poles’ awareness of capital markets is still low.

Warsaw is catching up with other capital cities in Central and Eastern Europe, attracting a growing number of investors. The city’s advantages include extensive office space, access to qualified staff and the extrovert character of its residents. Warsaw’s authorities are announcing further projects which will help to attract investors, as well as to prevent the consequences of such problems as the insufficient number of flats available on the market.

The value of transactions on the investment land market has crossed the threshold of PLN 5 bn, making this the best result since 2006. Purchases with the highest value involved the housing segment. Investors were particularly interested in land in need of revitalisation, located on the outskirts of large cities and close to the city centres. In 2017 and during the first quarter of this year, we have also observed an increased demand in the hospitality segment. Despite concerns surrounding the new legislation, the current year may be even better than the last one, as assessed by Colliers International experts.

Automation might have a good effect on the level of wages and salaries in the Polish economy. It may also solve the problem of labour shortages which impede the development of businesses. An industrial robot costs from several hundred thousand to million zlotys, but it is an investment with a short payback time – it pays back as quickly as within a year or two, thus increasing efficiency and giving the business a competitive edge. This, in turn, results in lower costs and extra revenues. In Poland, industrial robots are used primarily in the automotive, chemical and steel industries.

Economic cooperation between Poland and the United States is flourishing. 2017 was a record-breaking year in terms of trade, which reached 12.7 bn dollars. The value of American investments in Poland is estimated at nearly 42 bn dollars. Foreign investments are growing in terms of numbers and seeing improvements in quality. They are increasingly often based on latest technologies which find their first use in Poland. Polish companies, too, are becoming bolder and bolder overseas. More than 70 Polish companies and businesses with Polish capital operate in the United States, with a total investment value of more than 2 bn dollars.

With a nearly 16-percent growth, last year was very successful for the leasing sector. The greatest boost could be observed in the segment of light passenger and delivery vehicles as well as in machinery and equipment. The latter segment has also continued to grow at a fast pace since the start of 2018. During the first half of this year we may expect these figures to go up by as much as 20 percent, as assessed by the BZ WBK Leasing experts. This can be attributed to the increased volume of investments made by businesses.

One of the effects of the banking sector consolidation in Poland is that banks are becoming more and more specialised. In the field of mortgage loans institutions are appearing which manage such loan portfolios. And while these institutions are not aggressively fighting for new customers, the example of BPH, a pioneer in this segment, shows that such operations can create new business opportunities. The Bank, whose spinned-off part was taken over in 2016 by Alior, had to build a new business model virtually from scratch. It has based a large part of its new operations on outsourcing.

The development of private equity funds in Poland is gaining momentum. In 2017, the value of investments on our market reached nearly EUR 7 bn. But compared to developed markets we’re still going through the stage of early growth, says Michał Staszkiewicz, Vice-President of the Management Board, Private Equity Managers and MCI Capital TFI. The funds, which invest in private companies, are a good alternative to low-interest deposits and to the volatile stock market. They are more resistant to economic fluctuations, and they rely on long-term strategies and diversified portfolios. But this form of investing is not for everyone.

Digitalisation has become a necessity and a priority for business, regardless of the size of the organisation and the industry. It is a condition for keeping up with the market, making it possible to create new business models and to provide an improved real-time response to customer needs. Digitalisation also impacts consumers themselves, whose awareness and expectations are rising. It exerts the strongest impact on the sectors which are closest to customers: services, retail trade and marketing. Every third business in Poland has already defined its digital strategy.