Companies from the modern business service sector lease over one million m2 in Poland, according to Jones Lang LaSalle calculations. The sector is responsible for most of the lease contracts in regional cities. It is especially growing in Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Łódź, Poznań and Katowice. The investors take the sector’s potential into account and they more and more often decide to adapt realised places for the needs of BPO and SSC companies.
Office space market outside Warsaw clearly belongs to clients from modern business service sector, who locate and quickly develop their offices in Poland. Many of the companies choose Skanska offices – in Wrocław, two full buildings are leased by companies from that sector, and we are planning negotiations with other companies for our projects – says Waldemar Olbryk, Managing Director at Skanska Property Poland.
Nobody belittles the role of business service sector in the context of office spaces.
We are estimating that companies from modern business service sector lease about 1 million m2 of office space. We get the data from the information concerning the size of the employment in service centres. We calculate the amount of space needed for a specific number of employees. What is interesting, in Kraków and Łódź these companies have about 40% of the total office space in the cities – comments Mateusz Polkowski, Senior Research Analyst in Jones Lang LaSalle.
In 2012 employment in the business service sector became higher than 100,000 people. Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland, ABSL, estimates, that in the next year it will rise to the level of 115-120,000 people.
Business service sector has been developing in the recent years in two-digit pace. We are also expecting a stable rise in the following years. Even now, the centres have signed contracts for another 3 to 5 years, because outsourcing contracts are signed for several accounting periods. It is stemming from the fact that the best effects are made by long-term cooperation, when the supplier of outsourcing services has good knowledge of acquired processes and can propose next optimisations – says Krystian Bestry, Administrative Director in Infosys BPO Europe – The second condition of the sector’s stability in the country is the ability to take up more and more advanced tasks, which need specialised knowledge, access to talented human resources, knowledge of many foreign languages, understanding of Western culture and a localisation near to crucial clients. These conditions cannot be met by other countries of the region or even of the world. The tasks, taken currently by Polish centres cannot be easily moved to India or China. On the contrary, Poland being more and more specialised will surely draw more investments.
What are BPO and SSC tenants looking for?
Companies from business service sector need modern, comfortable offices who can meet their expectations concerning the security of the data and the representativeness of the place. What is important, more and more companies are looking for green solutions. The philosophy of sustainable development is becoming a part of the strategy of BPO/SSC companies, as it makes them more responsible and allows them use different economical and effective solutions – says Waldemar Olbryk.
Skanska Property Poland company analysed the needs of business service sector and described them in the report „BPO/SSC Biura na miarę usług”. In the report, guidelines for the office spaces devoted to these clients were included.
Buildings for BPO/SSC sectors have to be thoroughly considered and balanced in every way. The companies are looking for a good design without exaggerated, useless solutions. The expect high quality materials and workmanship, but put functionality, durability and energy-saving solutions before impressive realisation. They want to influence the design and value the elasticity of the developer, who is able to adapt building’s plan to dynamically changing needs of the company – informs Arkadiusz Rudzki, Leasing & Asset Director in Skanska Property Poland.