Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Today's weather     
Outsourcing optimism

23rd March 2009

Bookmark and Share
£ód¼ is trying to attract BPO investments, but analysts say a lack of modern office space could pose an obstacle

As companies tighten their belts to take account of the financial crisis, £ód¼’s chances of further developing as a business processing outsourcing (BPO) center are growing.

Source: Jones Lang Lasalle
£ód¼’s 2007-2015 strategy calls for it to develop as a European BPO center, thus creating employment, according to Teresa Bia³ecka-Krawczyk, director of the entrepreneurship and workplace development department at £ód¼ City Hall.

She said the relatively low office rental costs, a highly-qualified work force and £ód¼’s central location made it well-placed for outsourcing operations.

“Attracting new investors is our priority,” Bia³ecka-Krawczyk said at a conference entitled “£ód¼ as a BPO center.” She said Lód¼ was willing to support investors in a number of fields.

Krzysztof Witkowski, president of the board at Virako, a developer operating in £ód¼, said the financial crisis could force firms to focus on rental costs, to the city’s benefit.

“The crisis may become an important spur for the development of the city. The main asset will be the cost of maintaining an office, which in £ód¼ is one of the lowest as compared to major Polish cities.”

Source: Jones Lang Lasalle
Analysts from Jones Lang LaSalle stressed that the main factor limiting £ód¼’s development as a fully-fledged BPO center was a lack of office space. £ód¼ currently has 48,000 sqm of class B+ and class A office space.

City Hall officials stressed, though, that the city has many former factory buildings, which could be transformed into modern office space.
 


From Warsaw Business Journal by Zuzanna Napiórkowska


Advertisement
CEE Policy Watch
Redrawing the European property map
BY Ewa B³aszczyńska
Throughout the past decade, Central Europe's real estate market was one of its fastest growing and most lucrative investment sectors. ... READ MORE
Corporate Finance/M&A Corner
Managing risk to build corporate value (Part III)
BY Les Nemethy
Parts I and II of this mini-series dealt with the concept of risk as it applies to the valuation of ... READ MORE
Our partners