The largest Polish business centre is home to the giants of the IT sector and related services. Why are Gdansk people what are the benefits of operating in such business hubs as Olivia Business Centre?

One of the biggest magnets is Gdańsk itself, which is recognized in numerous rankings as one of the best Polish cities to live and do business. On the other hand, well-known travel portals emphasize its still undiscovered potential, attracting the attention of tourists from Europe and many other regions of the world. However, global business did not need to confirm the potential of Gdańsk in the reports and located its headquarters in the capital of Pomerania a few years ago. Amazon, Intel, Epam, Sii and InfoShare are among the European and global leaders in their sectors, and they have their offices in Olivia Business Centre in Gdańsk.

Why Gdansk?

The growing attractiveness of the city is important for companies opening their offices in Gdańsk. What matters is not only the available human resources, but also the image of the city in the eyes of employees thinking about relocation. Such a positively received Gdańsk is a magnet, definitely facilitating the acquisition of qualified employees from other regions of Polish, but also for expats moving to Gdańsk from many European cities.

The location of the city and its main spatial assets are also important. Employees from the IT sector are often young people who appreciate modern, big-city life, but very often combined with sports passions. Gdańsk has the advantage of being close to both the sea and the towering hills of the Tri-City Landscape Park, which is a mecca for lovers of mountain biking, jogging, Nordic walking and orienteering. – says Maciej Kotarski, Director of the Commercialization Department at Olivia Business Centre, who admits that these arguments are of great importance during business negotiations: For future employees, the location of the workplace in the city center and its good communication are also of great importance. This is exactly what Olivia Business Centre can boast of, providing access to virtually all forms of urban transport along with the PKM railway, reaching deep into Kashubia, and thus enabling quick and comfortable access for residents of towns located even 60 km from Gdańsk. In the case of Olivia, the proximity of the highest rated districts of Gdańsk in terms of quality of life: Oliwa and Przymorze, as well as the proximity of the university campus are also of great importance. This makes life much easier for graduates, who are not obliged to look for a new place of residence in connection with their first serious job.

The same is emphasized by Olivia’s residents: A great advantage for us is the location, which means that almost every employee has exactly the same commute time despite living in different towns – says Bartosz Badzioch from Predict X. I myself commute about 70 km to work. Access to many services such as a car wash, sewing room, hairdresser, restaurants and many others makes life much easier. This is an advantage that allows us to attract new employees. In addition, thanks to Olivia we met many people working in IT, thanks to which we got to know the Polish job market in the IT industry much better.

The importance of promoting Gdańsk is also emphasised by Grzegorz Borowski , since 2007 the organiser of InfoShare – the largest IT conference in Central and Eastern Europe, based in Olivia Business Centre, and some of whose events also take place in the Gdańsk office centre. Olivia is definitely a good location for the development of companies in our sector. We have a lot of IT companies here, starting from the largest global brands such as Intel and Amazon, through large service providers such as EPAM or SII, ending with a whole host of smaller local companies, also extremely important for the entire ecosystem. This is important in the context of access to human resources, but also their circulation. However, Gdańsk and, more broadly, the Tri-City is, on the basis of many rankings, the best place in Poland in terms of quality of life. This helps in relocation, in attracting talents from outside the region to the Tri-City. This is strongly supported by the local authorities, as well as the regional development agency – Invest In Pomerania (with its “Live More Pomerania” program).

InfoShare has also established an academy for IT staff training, whose CEO, Andrzej Kiesz , also sees other factors that make the Tri-City a kind of hub for the IT sector: Tri-City is definitely a space where the IT segment is developing extremely dynamically. And it’s not just about the fact that we have a lot of attractive office space here, or the fact that the Tri-City is a great place to live and relax. It’s about the entire IT ecosystem. There is a full cross-section of IT companies operating in the Tri-City, from global giants (Amazon, Intel, Nordea, Acoustic, Nike), through service providers (SII), to local and dynamically growing ones, e.g. SentiOne, GetResponse, and Speednet. There are also companies whose IT is not the core of their business, but they have very extensive technology departments, e.g. LPP, Hapag-Lloyd, and Wirtualna Polska. Virtually every IT engineer will find something for themselves. The development of the IT ecosystem is additionally actively supported by Invest in Pomerania, which helps companies start their operations in the Tri-City. In addition, it attracts talents to Gdańsk and helps such people in relocation.

The success of local businesses further promotes the city

However, it is not only the support of local institutions that plays a role in creating synergies. Business is also doing its part to attract the eyes of programmers to Gdańsk. InfoShare, becoming a meeting place for experts from virtually every corner of the globe, also contributes to the promotion of the capital of Pomerania. A huge number of participants from outside the region and abroad take part in our events, thus getting to know the offer of companies from the Tri-City, whether in terms of potential jobs or possible new investments (building their branches here) – says Grzegorz Borowski. In 2020, 672 startups from 50 countries took part in our startup competition. For many of them, this is their first encounter with our region, and the information we receive from them clearly indicates that it will not be the last. Through our activities, we also try to develop the competences of employees of local IT companies, giving them access to recognized global experts (the last Infoshare was attended by over 180 speakers representing all continents). Recent years have seen not only the implementation of the largest technology conference in this part of Europe (over 6,000 participants in 2019 and over 7,500 as part of an online conference this year), but also many other projects (e.g. Pipeline Summit, Future3, Tech3Camp, Poland Prize) supporting the development and education of programmers, managers, startup founders, as well as promoting the potential of Pomerania.

The IT segment is characterized by the dynamic development of enterprises, but also by periodic needs resulting from project orders, which is why it is so important for them to have a bank of office space available in the place where they locate their companies.

We started our operations in Poland in 2018. We were looking for a very small space with the ability to expand it over time. – says Bartosz Badzioch from Predict X. This was due to the lack of knowledge of the Polish market. We didn’t know if we would be able to find the right specialists. The obvious choice was Coworking O4 in Olivia. For us, the key condition was the ability to expand the office as the company grew. Perhaps in the future we will also lease space directly from Olivia Business Centre. It all depends on the development of the Polish branch and the number of projects carried out for our parent company located in London. Despite all the possible office moves, the address will remain the same. Only Olivia in the Tri-City gave us such an opportunity. – emphasizes Bartosz Badzioch.

Synergy helps you grow

A well-conducted promotion of the city contributes to attracting investors, but in itself it is not a factor that allows the business to develop dynamically. Representatives of the IT sector emphasize that one of the key factors that allow them to expand their capabilities is moving in the environment of much larger companies with which they enter into cooperation. This is confirmed by the founder of InfoShare, Grzegorz Borowski: Having been residing in Olivia for several years, we can see a lot of benefits from functioning in this environment. We already cooperate with many companies that have their offices in the center, but this environment itself also makes it easier to establish new relationships, including business ones. Some of our events, such as Tech3Camps, are organized here, knowing that this location is very convenient for many of their participants. Bartosz Badzioch from Predict X sees it no differently: We are currently working with 6 companies. We work with most of them during the recruitment process for our company. We also use the services of PR companies as well as a law firm. Certainly, easy access to these companies has made it easier for us to grow. We can efficiently discuss all matters on the spot. The very presence in Olivia has also resulted in greater recognition of our company on the IT market.

Develocraft, a company that develops applications, mainly for the Scandinavian market, also emphasizes that by locating its headquarters in a business hub, it achieves measurable benefits. According to Michał Bułakowski, who is responsible for the company’s marketing, the place where the company has its headquarters allows the company to be properly positioned in the eyes of customers: The location itself and the modern office complex build trust with customers with whom the company has not had contact before. Being present here certainly helps to broaden horizons and the possibility of easy access to people with different skills. In particular, O4 – Cowroking provides us with favourable conditions, and in Olivia we cooperate with about 10 companies. One of our local projects is the Olivka app, which we have prepared for the Natka restaurant. Michał Bułakowski also admits that their company cooperates with about 10 companies based in Olivia. Also in this case, these are not only their customers, but also the companies to which Develocraft outsources the services.

An old saying says that if you want to catch a big fish, you can’t fish in shallow waters. The reputation of Gdansk, which has been built for years, makes it easier for companies to acquire customers and employees, but when analysing the statements of successful entrepreneurs from the IT segment, the right choice of the place where the business will be located is also of great importance in success.