The success of small firms in Poland continues to improve year-on-year according to new data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS).

In 2005, 211,000 micro businesses were established and today a third of these are still in operation, while of the companies that opened in 2009, 80 percent were still operating one year later, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Małgorzata Starczewska-Krzysztoszek, chief economist at the PKPP Lewiatan business confederation, says the reason more businesses are holding up in the market is because the people who run them are now better prepared, offer higher-quality products and provide good customer service to their clients.

Businesses in Poland are also taking advantage of EU grants which require a firm to produce a clear business plan which is verified by experts, meaning companies are now better structured from the beginning, she added.

Poland AM