Interviews

Each subsequent year brought Katowice unprecedented transformation – an interview with Marcin Nowak, Managing Director of Ammega Business Services

Each subsequent year brought Katowice unprecedented transformation – an interview with Marcin Nowak, Managing Director of Ammega Business Services

Recently, you have been honored with the title of “Meritorious for the City of Katowice”. What does it mean to you?

I accepted the title with humility, pride, but also with reflection – was it really someone else who had not been omitted from the list of candidates, who had definitely contributed more to the development of the city. Listening to the content of the laudation, I was surprised myself that over the years it was possible to create so many opportunities for the development of the Katowice agglomeration together, but I would not be myself if I did not ask myself, and what else can we do more. It is customary to award the title to people from the area of ​​politics and culture, so the award of a business representative was double joy.

You have been associated with Katowice for many years, how do you perceive the city from the perspective of the last two decades?

Two decades of changes in Katowice are like trying to compare two separate realities. Unfortunately, my beginning of professional life did not expand in Katowice as we had limited development opportunities here. However, each subsequent year brought Katowice an unprecedented environmental, economic and visual transformation boosted by businesses strongly supported by contemporary technologies.

This year, Ammega Group opened the Global Business Service Center. Why did you choose Katowice?

In location strategy process, there were several cities through CEE Countries that met the specified list of criteria. Two factors in the “hard” statistics spoke in favor of the Katowice Agglomeration: the region population and broadly understood economical attractiveness. However, it was also be aligned to the general profile of the Ammega Group’s operations, in its core business focused on manufacturing, which makes region more attractive leveraging development plans in many areas of Ammega’s operations.

What could you, as an employer, offer to Katowice’ Talents? How do you want to attract and keep them?

In the post-pandemic period, job offers and the entire recruitment process underwent a significant transformation. The recruitment area has not only gone beyond the neighboring city, which was a rule for Katowice Agglomeration, but also beyond the regions or voivodships. Currently, employers must diverse the job attractiveness considering both office location in the city and also component of logistic in the hybrid work model, attracting talents commuting from other regions. The Katowice location selection meeting both requirements: the office is located in the heart of Katowice, in close proximity to the train, bus and tram stations, and at the same time the city of Katowice is one of the best-connected agglomeration capitals in Poland. However, on top of that , for all employees, the “after work-hours” offer is developing more and more: the Culture Zone or entertainment area next to Mariacka and Dworcowa Streets, but also the possibility of relaxing by the lakes, rocks or in the mountains.

The decision to invest in Katowice was made during the pandemic time. How, in your opinion, will this influence efficiency of investment growth in Katowice?

It may be hard to believe, but the pandemic period was one of the minor decision barrier to the investment development SSC/GBS industry sector in Poland, in Katowice. Surprisingly, the global pandemic in many areas leverage sector development in the CEE countries, with visible focus on Poland. On the other hand, the exponential development of work technology and remote communication tools has improved the recruitment and organization processes of the company, which undoubtedly supports and increases the range of activities. However, an important factor is that local authorities supporting business development in the city have also adapted the possibilities of cooperation by following the technologies available on the market.

You are a manager, valued in the structures of global business and the business services sector. How do you see the future of this sector in Katowice?

Statistically, Katowice remains the capital of the most populous region in Poland and has been going for years through the transformation process very efficiently and actively, supporting development of business services industry sector based on global technologies. Katowice, according to industry reports from ABSL or ProProgressio, defined as “Tier 2” cities, perfectly fits GBS/SSC needs for medium and large global enterprises. However, Katowice should constantly take care of multidimensional attractiveness development, promote its offer for business, use the strong regional assets and acting as an integrator for the future development of the city’s business perspective.

Source: https://invest.katowice.eu/