The BPCC has been networking Polish entrepreneurs in the London since 2006 and in Scotland since March this year. For the first time, the chamber, together with Picklemedia, organised a business meeting for Polish entrepreneurs from across northern England. The event proved extremely popular, with over 70 people attending – some coming from as far afield as Bournemouth.
The aim of the event was to provide high-quality information about finding funds for the growing business. Graham Niven, from the Access to Finance Group, talked about the numerous government grants and loans available for SMEs in Manchester and the North-West. Mark Whitaker from law firm Begbies Traynor spoke from the perspective of an ex-banker about what banks want when they are lending money to SMEs – and gave many useful 'do's' and 'don'ts' when it comes to dealing with your bank manager. David Wright from Enterprise Europe Network North West explained how EEN helps SMEs take their businesses abroad. Again, government grants, subsidies and loans are available, and Mr Wright explained how these can be accessed.
There were two case studies of firms set up by Poles in the UK – Justycja Ltd, a translation and interpretation firm set up by Jakub Hiterski, focuses on Central and Eastern European languages, working for law firms and courts. And Jan Ozdoba, a Polish dentist, talked about his business, Poldent Dental Care, which as well as treating Polish migrants in Wakefield, also offers medical tourism to British patients, offering cosmetic and orthodontic dental surgery in Poland at highly competitive prices.
The presentations were followed by networking, which started by every participant introducing himself or herself to everyone else. The networking part of the evening was popular with participants; during the course of the evening, many useful new contacts were made. Feedback from the event was entirely positive, with participants eager to attend the next such meeting.
The event was sponsored by MoneyGram and eleMedia.
