2014 has been another period of dynamic growth for the business services sector in Poland. Last year saw business services centres with foreign capital lease 268,000 sqm on major markets outside Warsaw. This accounted for more than 60 percent of overall demand for office space on the biggest regional markets in Poland. International advisory firm JLL summarized 2014 on major office markets outside Warsaw regarding activity of tenants from the business services sector.
Anna Młyniec, Head of Office Agency and Tenant Representation, JLL, commented: “According to JLL, in 2014, business services centres with foreign capital signed lease agreements totalling around 268,000 sqm on major office markets outside Warsaw. This accounts for more than 60 percent of overall take-up recorded in regional markets, and is also higher result than the 200,000 sq m leased in 2013. Tenant activity maintained its upward trend which stems from the employment growth in business services centres with foreign capital located in the biggest Polish agglomerations. Companies, along with gaining new contracts, the transfer of more complex processes to Polish units and development of their structures, are also systematically increasing their volume of occupied office space and, therefore, significantly contribute to the office market’s growth.”
Piotr Dziwok, General Manager, Shell Business Operations Krakow, Country Chair, Shell Polska Sp. z o.o., Vice President of ABSL, said: “According to ABSL, business services centres with foreign capital employ over 130,000 workers in Poland. Amongst the 325 investors that operate in more than 470 centres throughout the country are such companies as: Shell, IBM, Capgemini, Samsung, Luxoft and BNY Mellon. For several years, seven Polish cities, namely Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław, Tri-City, Katowice, Poznań and Łódź, have been listed as the most attractive locations for investments from the sector. The biggest location for business services sector is still the capital of the Małopolska region. Kraków occupies the leading position in terms of employment in the sector. Business services centres with foreign capital located in the city employ around 33,500 specialists.”
The capital of the Małopolska region leads in terms of employment and, as a consequence, the city registers the highest office space take-up by the business services sector.
Anna Bartoszewicz-Wnuk, Head of Research and Consultancy, JLL, explained: “The largest amount of office space – almost 100,000 sqm – was leased last year by the business services sector in Kraków, followed by Wrocław with nearly 78,000 sqm. Interestingly, in terms of the business services sector share in overall office demand in the city, Wrocław leads the way with over 81 percent share, followed by Kraków with 69 percent and Łódź with over 65 percent.”
In 2014, the biggest lease agreements signed by companies from the business services sector were: Infosys in Łódź (21,000 sqm in Green Horizon), HP GBC in Wrocław (16,400 sqm in Dominikański) and Nokia Networks also in Wrocław (14,000 sqm in West Gate).
The share of the business services sector in overall occupied office space in regional cities totals around 54 percent in Kraków, 47 percent in Łódź and 40 percent in Wrocław.