The commercial team in Warsaw deals with around one thousand British companies each year, providing essential information and delivering tailored services to help companies explore and take advantage of business opportunities overseas. For readers not familiar with us and our work, here’s a brief insight into the work we do and the people who make up the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) team in Warsaw. To start with, a few words about the Embassy we are proud to work in.

The British Embassy in Warsaw

 A British legation was first established in Warsaw in 1919. During the Second World War, the British Embassy moved to Romania and then France, returning to premises in Warsaw in 1945. From 1945 to 2009, the Embassy occupied a beautiful nineteenth-century building on Aleje Roz plus space in the Warsaw Commercial centre on Emilii Plater where the UKTI, visa and consular teams were sited. In July this year we made yet another move – relocation to a new, state of the art Embassy in Warsaw’s Kawalerii Street.

 The building was officially opened on 16 October 2009 by former Polish President, Lech Walesa and Her Majesty’s Ambassador, Ric Todd. It Her houses all 90 or so staff in mainly open-plan accommodation.

 UK Trade&Investment, Poland - the Embassy’s Commercial Section

 UKTI is the British government organisation’s which helps British based business to succeed in international markets. For every £1 that UKTI spends, £17 is generated for the UK economy. UKTI’s estimated total financial benefit to British business is around £2 billion per year. UKTI has a wide range of tools that businesses can use to gather information on target markets and also helps to match British products with the right overseas buyers and partners.

 The first port of call is our website www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk, which provides content tailored to the chosen business sector and market. This is a great source of up-to-date market and contact information, business opportunities, country-specific sector analysis and advance notice of forthcoming events.

 OMIS – the Flagship Service

Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) is a chargeable package of bespoke services designed to support both British-based companies wishing to enter the Polish market as well as British companies that already operate in Poland. OMIS is usually commissioned via local international trade teams in the United Kingdom and is delivered by UKTI teams worldwide. Through this service, the Embassy’s Trade & Investment Advisers in Warsaw, who have wide local experience and knowledge, can identify and provide the support and advice most relevant to the a  UK company’s needs in the Polish market. This flexible service can include:

• providing market information, validated lists of agents or distributors, key market players or potential customers in the Polish market
• establishing local interest in working with British firms
• arranging appointments with potential partners in Poland

We can also organise seminars or other events for the British firms to meet contacts or promote their companies. Last year, the UKTI team in Warsaw delivered OMIS services to 92 customers.

Meet the Team

The Team in Warsaw consists of 17 officers: our Director, Liz Basing, plus 16 Polish Trade and Investment Advisers. Between us we have specialist knowledge and contacts in almost every sector of the economy and we have clocked up a total of 173 years experience working for UKTI Team Warsaw.

We have varied backgrounds in educational disciplines ranging from European studies, engineering, economics and cultural and educational animation to applied linguistics. Many of us have worked in the private sector and among the team we have a Chevening scholar, an MBA and a qualified pilot as well as a number of tertiary level and postgraduate qualifications in a range of subjects. This combination of skills, experience and knowledge enables us to deal with almost any topic professionally, imaginatively and effectively.

Of course we have lives outside work, and here our interests are varied too.  Mountain hiking is high up on the list for Marzena, Halina, Slawek, Sylwia, Kasia and Robert. Ania, Trade & Investment Adviser and PA to the Deputy Head of Mission, has a virtual menagerie at home with two parrots, mice, a rat, hens, ducks and cats. Kasia, our OMIS Manager and team Deputy, has lived in Egypt and Agnieszka in Malaysia, while Malgorzata spends weekends and holidays travelling in Europe. Darek takes pleasure in reading Remarque while listening to chill-out music. Hala likes shopping at Marks & Spencer. Monika and Mariola enjoy embroidery, Sylwia can organise the best parties and Paulina is an interior design enthusiast. Iwona’s gardening and Robert’s and Mariola’s culinary skills have had prizewinning results and, last but not least, Liz is developing a taste for opera.

Helping to Grow Your Business

We pride ourselves on offering a professional and impartial service, tailored to your individual company’s needs. Get in touch with us now to find out how we can help your business develop in Poland.

Further Information

 UKTI Team Warsaw

ul. Kawalerii 12

00-468 Warszawa

Tel: +48 22 311 0000

Fax: +48 22 311 0316

warsaw.commercialsection@fco.gov.uk

www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk

Success Stories

There are numerous cases where the UKTI team in Warsaw has played a part in helping British businesses to expand into Poland. Here are just a few examples:

 Jumbotugs, the UK’s leading manufacturer of zero emission airport tow tractors, is enjoying significant sales in Poland, following a successful trade mission. The British Embassy in Poland played a key role in arranging meetings for Jumbotugs with airport operators and airside ground handling companies across the country. It has resulted in sales totalling approximately £400,000 of over 25 units to airports in Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Szczecin and Wroclaw. Embassy support for Jumbotugs included help involving airports in the trade mission, plus marketing and translation support.

The Jumbotugs airport tow tractors, or tugs, are 100% battery powered, helping to reduce airport emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. They are used for a variety of ground handling and aircraft maintenance roles, but principally for towing baggage trains. Roger James, Sales Manager for Jumbotugs, said: “The British Embassy not only opened doors for us in Poland, but provided a high and extremely focused level of logistical and practical support. “The resulting sales we achieved speak volumes about the success of this mission for us.”

The UKTI team in Warsaw has also helped Notts Sport, a leading UK supplier of artificial turf surfaces, to enter the Polish market. After commissioning OMIS services in 2007 and 2008, Notts Sport appointed several Polish distributors. One of them, Hemet, has placed orders with Notts Sport worth €20,000, with a further €30,000 of business expected to follow within the year. Andy Carter, CEO of Notts Sport, has praised the support provided by the UKTI team in Warsaw, saying,“the work of the embassy team over the last few months in connection with our OMIS project has been exemplary. We would strongly recommend other organisations to use their service for market access research and organisation in Poland.”

Haskell Engineering, manufacturers of high pressure liquid gas and equipment, commissioned a market research report with the UKTI team in Warsaw. The UKTI team delivered a report that included warmed-up lists of potential end-users, potential distributors and key competitors. Paul Harrison, System and Distributor Manager at Haskell Europe Limited, had this to say about the services he received: "We commissioned OMIS reports in Poland, the CzechRepublic and Russia. The UKTI teams provided an excellent, professional service in all three markets and the reports they did for us helped the company make some key business decisions.  I would recommend this service to any company looking for impartial advice on entering a new overseas market.”  

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