Get ready to celebrate with us!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

Poland’s longest weekend is approaching an end – and judging by the paucity of traffic on Warsaw’s hot streets, I guess most of the nation has headed off for the działka to do some grylowanie. Those of us left holding the fort are seeing few e-mails roll in and hearing fewer phone calls!

At the BPCC we’re getting ready for British Week, a celebration of the fact that 20 years ago, the British Chamber of Commerce in Poland (renamed BPCC in 1997) was just getting going. We will be celebrating with many activities, having kicked off the year with our special pre-première screening of Iron Lady in February. But British Week will be the culminating point in the activities, and will be an excellent chance to wave the British flag here in Poland, talk about the successes of British-Polish economic relations over the past two decades – and consider what lies ahead over the next 20 years.

The full British Week events listing is here. There are four high-profile events, focusing on investment, food, business, motors and then – to end the week in style, the Diamond Jubilee Ball.

So do use the events to network, gain new insights and – enjoy yourself as we celebrate 20 years together.

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PFI projects in sports and leisure – UK lessons for Poland

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

I’m back after a week in the UK, visiting a number of sports and leisure venues with representatives of Kraków’s sports infrastructure board. As well as visiting Wimbledon, Wembley and the O2, we saw four local sports centres which are PFI projects – namely, built and operated by private-sector companies for local authorities.

The centres – in Solihull, Wolverhampton, Willesden and Bromley – were of a similar size (£10m-£17m), and were all Design-Build-Operate-Transfer projects with 25 to 32 year contracts. Essentially, councils’ crumbling sports centres and swimming pools were demolished to make way for modern facilities financed and run by private firms, which are now attracting typically ten times more users than the old ones. The PFI model ensures that the project is delivered on time, because the private-sector operator does not receive a single penny until the centre is operational.

Typically, the private sector operator is paid somewhere between £1m and £1.7m a year for the duration of the contract (indexed to RPI), from which the lion’s share goes to paying off the bank loan for the construction. The rest is spent on ensuring the terms of the contract is met – and of course the operating company’s profit – which motivates it to take part in the project.

Crucial to the project’s success is the PFI contract – this has to encompass all the possible issues likely to crop up over the 30-plus years. Maintenance is crucial – who is responsible for the building and its fixtures and fittings – should this be outsourced, and on what terms? How much revenue will flow into the private-sector operator’s account from the local authority for school swimming lessons, and how much from the NHS for doctors’ referrals for fitness courses? This latter point is must instructive for Poland – the NHS can see the cost-benefit of spending money to get its patients fit.

We learnt much from our hosts – at each centre, we met with representatives of the operator and the local authority; it was clear that the relationships all worked well, with no friction visible between public and private sector. First-rate advice is essential; in every case, lawyers advising both parties were all well experienced in preparing PPP contracts.

We were also impressed by our meeting with sports venue car parking operator, CSP Ltd. The Wembley-based company is responsible for the smooth operation of parking at the stadium and other major venues, including the O2. CSP’s chairman David Butler talked us through how his firm would deal with car parking at a major sporting event such as an FA Cup Final. The level of planning, information, staff training and preparation was an eye-opener; nothing happens by chance. The briefing booklet issued to all car parking personnel on event days covers every eventuality, from short-wave call signs to pricing, venue maps, customer care, fire and evacuation procedures, disabled person awareness, first aid, and of course vehicle manoeuvring.

Poland has much to learn from the UK in terms of organising major sporting events – with the UEFA 2012 championships about to kick off, just ahead of the London Olympics, it will be interesting to observe the contrast between the spectators’ experience in Poland and the UK…

The UK has much experience in sports and leisure management – in particular when it comes to the private sector working together with the public sector. Poland – whose economy is growing at a respectable pace while the UK shrinks – offers plentiful opportunities for British know-how and capital.

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Reforming Poland’s labour offices

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

Poland’s economy is growing at a respectable clip (4.3% in Q4 2011), yet unemployment remains uncomfortably high at 13.5%. Germany’s economy is growing at a more sedate 1.5% (Q4 2011), but somehow unemployment is half of Poland’s at 6.2%. Why is Poland’s powerful economy so inefficient at creating new jobs?

Many years ago, economist Jan Winnicki, pointing to the inefficiencies in the Polish labour market, said that Poland’s economy had to grow at a pace faster than 5% before there would be any net growth in jobs. The US needed only to show 0.5% of growth for new jobs to start to be created.

Much of the blame for this job-market friction rests with Poland’s labour offices (urzędy pracy) which still work mostly as form-fillers and box-tickers. Germany’s Arbeitsamts have undergone a revolution over the past decade, where the bureaucrats are held to account by how they help the long-term unemployment find work. And this reform has helped keep German unemployment at a low level despite the economic downturn.

The Polish system badly needs reform. The government here in Warsaw has been looking at the UK model, where the JobCentre Plus network of public sector functions alongside private-sector welfare-to-work organisations that are paid by the state to train those with greatest difficulty in re-entering the labour market.

Given the structure of Poland’s unemployment – concentrated in regions with failed collective farms or state enterprise, low labour market participation among the over 50s, there is huge need for focused work on retraining the long-term unemployed. The urzędy pracy have failed to tackle this, as a result unemployment remains stubbornly high and a drag on the Polish economy.

Despite the glaring need for reform, fully appreciated by the government coalition, the Ministry of Labour is expected to drag its feet when it comes to implementing any meaningful changes in the way urzędy pracy work.

The BPCC supports the introduction of private-sector agencies to step in and help the long-term unemployed into the labour market. The Chamber’s HR Policy Group will continue pushing for reform, with meetings with the Ministry of Labour planned at which the British model will be presented.

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BPCC for Polish entrepreneurs in Scotland

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

Polish entrepreneurs who have set up businesses in Scotland are likely to give their new host country an economic boost – and the BPCC will help them by providing practical advice on growing their businesses and by networking.

Last week, I was at the BPCC’s first event aimed at Polish entrepreneurs  in Edinburgh, attended by no fewer than 104 people.

Bartek Kowalczyk, owner of Picklemedia.com, an advertising and recruitment agency that allows British business reach the Polish migrant community across the UK, said “there’s a difference between the old Polish notion of kolesiostwo (cronyism) and open networking.” It is the latter that the BPCC wants to facilitate. The large turnout for the first Polish entrepreneurs’ meeting in Scotland proved that the demand most clearly exists for what the BPCC can offer. Among the participating firms were many dynamic young start-ups with great business ideas, as well as more mature businesses that have already been growing strongly. The BPCC is here to help them exchange best practice, ideas, contacts – with a view to helping micro-businesses to grow into sustainable small- and medium-sized firms. Indeed, I’m sure that in 20-30 years time, Scotland will have a Polish Brian Souter or Richard Branson.

Tomasz Trafas, the Polish Consul-General in Scotland, welcomed the entrepreneurs, and while praising Poland for its current economic growth, mentioned the potential that Polish migrants offered the UK economy.

Presentations from Polish entrepreneurs active in Scotland shows that they are focused on growth. Deli Polonia, a Polish delicatessen and restaurant, founded by Lucyna Ellis and her husband Kelvin. The business, which grew faster than expected, now employs nine people, and there are plans for further growth in the direction of outside catering.

I spoke to several Polish entrepreneurs and was impressed by their courage, vision and ability to succeed in the Scottish market. Native Scots entrepreneurs tend to shun nuts-and-bolts business ideas, leaving the market wide open to more energetic newcomers. But Scotland’s gain is Poland’s loss. Everyone I talked to couldn’t believe just how easy it was to start and grow businesses in the UK. Bartek Kowalczyk told me how easy he found it paying VAT in the UK compared to Poland.

The BPCC plans to focus on delivering more events for Polish entrepreneurs in the UK.

Polish entrepreneurs in Edinburgh listen to the welcome speech by Consul-General, Tomasz Trafas

Our Scottish experience proves that there’s demand not just in London, but around the country. There is a need there for high-quality business information, delivered in Polish, as well as a platform to meet and exchange experiences and contacts with other Polish entrepreneurs. The BPCC is the natural facilitator for insight and networking in the British-Polish business space.

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Another record year for UK-Polish trade

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

The figures look good – UK exports to Poland in 2011 up by 13% compared to 2010, while Polish exports to the UK grew by 16%. Bilateral trade between the two countries now tops £11.4 billion. During 2011, the UK overtook Italy and then France to become Poland’s second-largest export market (after Germany).

But the UK is missing a trick, the trade gap is growing and now stands at £2.8 billion. Poland’s surplus with the UK is larger than with any other trading partner. While 13% growth is respectable, the UK’s export performance could have been a whole lot better.

Poland is forecast to be among Europe’s fastest growing markets in 2012. Inside the EU yet outside the eurozone, politically stable, with a robust, diverse economy, Poland offers UK exporters huge opportunities – if only they were to look more closely.

Last week, we met companies from the East Midlands in Poland on a trade mission. The ones I talked to – producing hydraulic lifts, solar heating and horizontal access hatches – all make outstanding products that could find buyers in Poland. They all share one problem, namely finding the appropriate agent or distributor that could sell, install and provide after-sales service for their products.

Practical steps to finding the right distributor include visits to trade fairs, UK-based desk research in the UK employing a native-speaking Pole, or ordering an OMIS report from the UKTI team at the British Embassy here in Warsaw.

Once you’ve shortlisted your potential agents or distributors, it is worth calling upon the services of BPCC members – locally-based law firms – to help put a contract together.

Poland is not the easiest of markets to enter, but the rewards can be significant, especially if your company is in a niche competing with products from the eurozone. The BPCC, its members and the Embassy team are here to help you make the most of the Poland opportunity.

Let’s hope that this time next year, bilateral trade between Poland and the UK will have grown further – but that British exporters have gone some way to pull back that gaping balance of trade deficit

 

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A tribal approach to doing business

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

A fascinating article in the Economist’s Schumpeter column – The power of tribes - made me stop and think about Poland’s position in a world divided into cultural spheres of influence.

The article focuses on the work of geographer Joel Kotkin and research conducted in the World Values Survey, which divides the world into big cultural zones. Put simply, we have an Anglosphere (UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), Sinosphere, Indosphere – and within these spheres, far more trade and investment is done than between spheres.

And indeed. The UK – the world’s second largest foreign investor after the US, exports its capital mainly to other English-speaking countries. In Poland, the UK is only the eighth-largest foreign investor.

Reading the article suggests that Britain is under-represented as an investor in the Polish economy because the two countries are not in the same cultural sphere.

As anyone who’s done business in the Arab world, or in Korea, for example, cultural differences play a huge part in whether a deal goes ahead or not and how it gets to be executed. But are cultural differences between the UK and Poland so great?

Probably not. Cultural spheres overlap and change over time. Thirty years ago, Poland was clearly in the Soviet sphere; in a short space of time Poland has come a lot closer to Western Europe, a sphere that British business understands reasonably well, though not as well as the Anglosphere. Even with the downfall of communism and the planned economy, doing business in Poland in the early 1990s was quite different to how it is today.

Business meetings that began with a morning cognac and ended with huge quantities of vodka are a thing of the past in Poland, as is the notion that a signed contract is only the beginning of ‘real’ negotiations. Although it’s not the easiest place on earth to do business, things are much, much easier than it was before Poland joined the EU. Corruption has fallen markedly since its high-water mark in 2005, according Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index.

As the Economist article infers, mutual trust and affinity are key when it comes to doing business successfully with an international business partner.

If you’re new to the Polish market and want to make the most of the opportunities of this low-risk emerging market that offers high growth compared to western Europe, don’t do so with your eyes shut to cultural differences.

The BPCC has many members that can guide you around potential pitfalls; let us know what puzzles you and we can steer you to the relevant expert.

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Return to the ECU – Deputy Premier at BPCC breakfast

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

Waldemar Pawlak, Poland’s deputy prime minister, addressing a BPCC breakfast at the British Embassy on Monday 30 January, suggested that the EU return to the European Currency Unit as a way out of the eurozone crisis. (The ECU, replaced by the euro in 1999, was a basket of the currencies of the members of the European Community.)

A return to the ECU would have two major advantages. Firstly, it would allow the currencies of the countries within the eurozone to find their own level without the zone having to break up irreconcilably. Secondly, it would allow non-eurozone countries to have a greater influence in the EU as a whole.

Describing it as ‘half a step backwards and two steps forward’, Mr Pawlak said that the internal inconsistencies of the eurozone were now so great that a more radical solution was needed than simply hoping to muddle through somehow. ‘Over the past ten years, Germany’s inflation has totalled 24%. Greece’s has totalled 64%. Internal contradictions have come to a head,” said Mr Pawlak.

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Poland is NOT Hungary!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

The blue (upper) line represents the movements of the Polish zloty over the past 12 months. The violet (lower) line represents the movements of the Hungarian forint over the past 12 months.

Note how the movements of the zloty have tended to follow those of the forint. Source: Stooq.com

Poland is being punished by the FOREX markets for Hungary’s misdemeanours. When things go wrong in Budapest, the zloty falls too.

This is despite the fact that Poland’s deficit- and debt-to-GDP ratios and growth prospects are significantly better than Hungary’s. Sadly, the currency dealers are still unable to tell apart those CEE economies with robust fundamentals and those going nowhere fast.

There is an upside to this picture. If you are a foreign investor looking to expand your business into CEE, Poland will still offer you a growth market, 38.2 million consumers, a regional hub, skilled employees – and all for 12% less than you would have paid a year ago!

 

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Crisis? Not something one feels in Poland…

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

Conventional wisdom says that it’s only a matter of time before the Global Economic Crisis catches up with Poland. The PIIGS, Hungary… the noose draws ever closer. So in the closing months of last year, economic analysts were busy revising their forecasts in a downward direction.

My own forecast, posted on my own blog at the end of 2011, looks very pessimistic from the perspective of just two weeks on.

There have been no new sets of data, just observations made across Poland that things are actually going rather well. Here in Warsaw, I’m not the only one to feel that the beginning of 2012 is a lot busier than the same period of last year. Shops are busier, more events are happening, companies are more willing to invest in marketing – and everyone I talk to is noticing the same.

This morning, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Marek Belka, revised his forecast for Poland’s GDP growth upwards to 3.1%.

Foreign direct investment is still pouring into Poland – according to the inward investment agency PAIiIZ, it’s up 39% in the first 11 months of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010. Investors are giving Hungary and Czech Republic – traditionally seen as more attractive than Poland – a wide berth. Poland, not being a one- or two-city economy, has a more robust economy diversified between exports, domestic demand and capital investment.

Polish exports are growing faster than imports, and the prospects for getting inflation and the public deficit under control are both good.

It’s the BPCC’s 20th Anniversary Year, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the year of the London Olympics and EUFA 2012 – all this and an economy that will surely see out this year as one of the EU’s fastest growing. We believe there are many reasons for optimism, many reasons why more investors will chose to move into Poland this year, and many reasons why they will turn to the BPCC for advice and assistance.

So – for BPCC members and prospective  members reading this blog and wanting to reach new clients – why not make use of our 20th Anniversary Patron Package? Let us make your experience and expertise more visible on this, a very special year for the British-Polish economic partnership. [For details, contact Paweł Siwecki - pawel.siwecki@bpcc.org.pl]

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2012 in Poland – a BPCC calendar for employers and marketing

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Michael Dembinski

1 January (Sunday)

Do siego nowego roku! (Don’t ask for a translation – few Poles can explain what this traditional Polish New Year’s greeting means). New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday in 2012. Note: A public holiday falling on a weekend does not mean (as in the UK) that a working day be taken off in lieu. Monday 2 January is a normal working day.

6 January (Friday)

Three Kings’ – the twelfth night. Since 2011 a public holiday. The quid pro quo in brining in this new public holiday was that public holidays falling on weekends would no longer be replaced by days off in lieu during the next week. You can take your office Christmas decorations down today, or, like more traditional Poles, keep them up until Candlemass Day on 2 February (see below).

Carnival

The New Year signals the beginning of karnawał. While the Rio carnival or New Orleans’ Mardi Gras last but a few days, Poland has the longest carnival in the world – a fact that its tourist promotion body has failed to exploit. Carnival here lasts all the way from 1 January to Shrove Tuesday (21 February in 2012), the ideal antidote to long, cold, dark nights, when spring still seems a long, long way off. This is the time to party, to dance, to feast – for businesses the ideal excuse for press launches, off-site staff events, mixers, mingles and anything else involving people, music, drink and a party atmosphere. Caution: It can be difficult hiring function rooms for business events at hotels during this time – plan ahead.

Finał WOŚP

The Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, (Great Christmas Orchestra of Help) comes to an end in mid January, with volunteers shaking collecting boxes everywhere. This ‘Band Aid’ style charity event organised by Jerzy Owsiak every year since 1993 has become a landmark on the way to Poland becoming a civil society. Each year, tens of millions of zlotys are gathered in and passed onto children’s hospitals. The least you can do is to stuff a large bill into a collecting box and wear your large, red, heart-shaped badge on your warm winter coat with pride.

Ferie

The Polish education system has two semesters rather than three terms (trimesters) that the UK has. Christmas and Easter are shorter breaks than in the UK, there are no half terms (but then summer holidays are longer). Instead, there are ferie (pron. FERRY-eh) – a two-week break half-way through the school year. This occurs from mid-January to late-February, corresponding with the peak winter sports season. To avoid massive ski-queues and overcrowded resorts, the ferie breaks are staggered province by province, and rotate each year.

Expect parents with school-age children to take their skiing holidays during the ferie. This year, there’s just one full working week (9-13 Jan) before ferie kick off.

Dates for ferie for 2012 below:

Monday 16 – Sunday 29 January

Mazowieckie (Warsaw), Dolnośląskie (Wrocław), Zachodniopomorskie (Szczecin), Opolskie (Opole)

Monday 23 January – Sunday 5 February

Podlaskie (Białystok), Warmińsko-Mazurskie (Olsztyn)

Monday 30 January – Sunday 12 February

Łódzkie (Łódź), Pomorskie (Gdańsk), Lubelskie (Lublin), Śląskie (Katowice), Podkarpackie (Rzeszów)

Monday 13 – Sunday 26 February

Malopolskie (Kraków), Świętokrzyskie (Kielce), Wielkopolskie (Poznań), Lubuskie (Zielona Góra/Gorzów Wielkopolski), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Bydgoszcz/Toruń)

Matka Boska Gromniczna

Our Lady of the Candles – Candlemass Day – on 2 February (Thursday) marks the traditional ‘end of Christmas’ when all Christmas decorations, external lights etc., must finally come down (those not taken down on 6 January). The preceding Sunday is the last day that carols are sung.

St Valentine’s Day

Walentynki is one western tradition that has been eagerly adopted by Poles since the free market took over from communism. 14 February is the one day of the year when you can guarantee that all restaurants are full. Falls on a Tuesday in 2012.

Studniowka

Lit. “The Hundred Dayer” – a hundred days before taking their matura, (equivalent of UK ‘A’ Levels – exams taken at the end of secondary education), pupils party big time. This happens in late January or February

Tłusty Czwartek (16 February)

While the rest of the Catholic world has Mardi Gras or ‘fat Tuesday’, Poland has a ‘fat Thursday’ (tłusty czwartek) in the week preceding Shrove Tuesday, noted for the consumption of doughnuts and other baked products. Bring a large number to the office to share.

Ostatki

Shrove Tuesday (21 February). Literally “The Lasts”. Not content with binging on doughnuts and other deep-fried cake products on Fat Thursday, Poles also do Shrove Tuesday. Ostatki was the final, final binge before Lent, when the last of meat, cakes, ale, mead, etc was consumed. Expect sore-headed employees in the office on Ash Wednesday!

Lent

From Ash Wednesday (22 February) to Easter Saturday (8 April). Taken far more seriously than in the UK. Not a good time for product launches, office parties etc; many Poles will be giving up alcohol, cakes, confectionery, dancing and loud music for the duration. Calendar Lent lasts 46 days. According to the Church however, it is only 40 days. The difference is Sundays, during which eating of meat, consumption of alcohol, etc, is permitted. [But given that the liver is the only human organ with the ability to regenerate, Lent is a great occasion to give up drink, as well as being a good time to get in shape for the beach!]

8 March: Women’s Day

A leftover communist-era celebration which in those days would be marked by female employees getting very, very drunk. Today becoming more of a feminists’ day. Celebrated rather with potted plants, daffodils (modern) or red carnations (traditional). This year it falls on a Thursday…

17 March: St Patrick’s Day

For some reason, Ireland’s national day has become very popular with students in Warsaw. Irish expats will find a large number of Warsaw pubs and restaurants putting on Celtic dancing, folk singing and extra barrels of Guinness on the night. Despite it being the middle of Lent. This year it falls on a Saturday, so no interruption to the working week! And a question for our Scottish readers – why is St Andrew’s Day (celebrated as Andrzejki in Poland – see below) not on a par with St. Patrick’s Day? You’d have thought the Scotch Whisky industry would use this as a great occasion to shift crates of Single Malt!

21 March: First Day of Spring

Celebrated in rural Poland with Topienie Marzanny (the drowning of Marzanna), in a straw figure of a woman, dressed in white robes, symbolising Winter, is paraded around the village and thrown into the nearest river, pond or lake. This is also Dzień Wagarowicza – traditionally “bunking off school day”; it falls on a Wednesday in 2012. Don’t cast off your overcoats – weatherwise, it can still be snowy for a few weeks yet…

Last Weekend of March

Clocks go back one hour at 02:00 on Sunday 25 March. At the same time as the UK switches to British Summer Time, so Poland, on Central European Time, is always one hour ahead of the UK. See also Last Weekend of October. There may still be anomalous weather – heavy snow in mid-April, but generally, drivers can replace their winter tyres with ordinary rubber.

Palm Sunday (1 April)

Church processions will be seen in the streets around churches, people will carry branches of willow to get blessed by the priests.

Easter

Good Friday (6 April), Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday (8 April) are the culmination of the religious year. Barely visible in the UK, taken seriously in Poland. Shops decorated accordingly (chicks, lambs, spring greenery). Paradoxically, Good Friday is not a public holiday in Poland – though it is in agnostic UK. On Saturday, many people will go to their church to have a basket of food (traditionally a hard boiled egg, some bread, salt and sausage) blessed by the priest. In larger towns there is also the tradition of going from church to church to visit the Tomb of Jesus. Easter Sunday traditionally begins with the Resurrection Mass, which should begin before day-break, can last even three hours, includes the singing of all 14 verses of the Te Deum and a litany to all the Saints, burning of candles and incense and much ringing of bells. At home afterwards, Easter is celebrated with a large breakfast meal, including much meat (sausages and hams, blessed the previous day, salads and the sharing of the symbolic egg). Note: You may expect egg-sharing in the office too. If so, you will receive a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, and go from person to person pinching off a bit of theirs and wishing them all the best.

Easter Monday

9 April is a public holiday. Warning: It is also ‘lany poniedziałek‘ or ‘śmingus dingus‘ – the traditional Polish water-throwing festival. What was once a rural fertility ritual, with young men chasing the girls with buckets of water drawn from the well, has become an urban soak-fest with plastic drinks bottles full of puddle-water which can engulf the unwary. Wear your raincoat even if it’s sunny!

1 May (Tuesday)

Another communist-era celebration, marked with a day off work. 1 May regularly sees city centre clashes between old-fashioned communists and old-fashioned nationalists.

3 May (Thursday)

Trzeciego maja – a real national holiday celebrating Poland’s (and indeed Europe’s) first written constitution, back in 1791 – three years after the USA. Usually coinciding with the first hot days of the year, a time to rejoice in sunshine by leaving town and communing with nature in forests, by lakes and rivers or walks through the blossoming countryside. Having said that, on 3 May 2011 – it snowed. National flags will be flown.

Note: these two days, splitting the working week asunder, may well result in massive holiday-taking; by using only three days’ leave, you can get nine days’ holiday.

Zimni Ogrodnicy, Zimna Zośka 12-15 May

“The Cold Gardeners” St Pancras, (Pankracy – 12 May), St Servatus (Serwacy – 13 May), St Boniface (Bonifacy -14 May) and St Sophia (Zofia – 15 May). These four days are usually accompanied by a sudden cold snap after the first few weeks of beautiful spring weather. Avoid outdoor events (as the author can vouch, having shivered through several barbecues held during this time). Zofia’s name day is commonly celebrated by Zosias all over Poland.

First Holy Communion

Eight year-olds will have their first Holy Communion throughout May and into June; an occasion to dress daughters in fine expensive white dresses and to buy children bicycles – now increasingly laptops. “Second best time of year for computer sales,” said one dealer, “after Christmas”.

26 May – Mother’s Day

Taken seriously by Poland’s children of all ages, a day to remember that Matka Polka (the Polish Mother) is the single most important factor in keeping the nation and society together. Mothers may wish to take a few hours off work to hear their offspring on stage at primary school singing songs and reciting poems praising motherhood.

British Week (Monday 28 May – Friday 1 June)

A series of events to celebrate British-Polish economic relations, which have been growing in size and intensity over the past 20 years. Celebrate with us – this is the ideal opportunity to promote British products here in Poland. Details from tessa.mciver@bpcc.org.pl.

1 June – Children’s Day

Poles genuinely love children. Tears well up in their eyes at the very thought of the Little Ones. On Children’s Day, Poles buy them toys, take them on picnics or to the cinema. Many Polish firms will organise family picnics around this day. Warsaw Metro celebrates the day by getting nursery school children to announce the names of the stations. The family is still considered very important in Polish society, as are children.

2-5 June – Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60 years on the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during an extended weekend from Saturday 2 through to Tuesday 5 June. The BPCC will be celebrating! (Official government website here.)

Corpus Christi (Thursday 7 June)

A Holy Day of Obligation and a national holiday. A movable feast, always on a Thursday, which means many staff will want to take Friday off to give them a four-day weekend. Many processions held in towns and villages around Poland, watch out for diversions when driving around in rural parts.

8 June – 1 July: Euro 2012 football championships

Will affect Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków and Wrocław. For more details, see the (mainly) English-language pages of the official website.

27 July – 12 August, 29 August – 9 September – London Olympic and Paralympic Games

The world’s greatest sporting event comes to London – and will act as a significant boost to the British economy. Official website here.

Noc Świętojańska

21 June, St John’s Eve. The longest day is traditionally celebrated coinciding as it nearly does with Johns’ names-days (24th and 26th of June). In rural parts, celebrated by maidens casting floral wreaths into rivers, to be fished out by the man destined to marry the one who cast the wreath. Many prywatki (private house parties) hosted by Jans across Poland. Wish them wszystkiego najlepszego.

End of the School Year

Polish schools have two terms rather than three, with no half-terms and shorter Christmas and Easter breaks. However, they have longer summer holidays, breaking up at the end of the penultimate week of June. This year, the school year officially ends on Thursday 21 June. The last day of the school year is marked by ceremonies, diplomas, flower-giving, speeches, songs etc. Expect parents to ask for part of the day off.

Summer holidays

Ten weeks between 23 June and 3 September. It is a myth that “nothing happens”. Even assuming that all your staff or clients fall into that happy group of Poles able to afford a two week holiday – and take it at this time – during any given time during this ten week period you should statistically still be able to find seven-tenths of staff behind their desks. However, new business is difficult – because two or more signatures are required on most pieces of paper, and most prezesi will be on extended foreign holidays, you may have to wait quite a while for that umowa to come back signed by the other party!

1 August (Wednesday)

Warsaw is decked out in national and city (red-and-yellow) flags commemorating the outbreak of the Uprising in 1944. At precisely 17:00 – H-Hour – all the capital’s sirens sound. Time to contemplate the fact that over 200,000 Poles died (more than the number of Japanese killed by the combined blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and that 85% of the city was destroyed in the two-month long effort to free the capital from the Nazis, while the Red Army watched on from across the river.

15 August (Wednesday)

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Public holiday. Celebrating the bodily lifting into heaven of Jesus Christ’s mother (niebowzięcie, as opposed to Jesus’s Ascension – niebowstąpienie). Always on the same day of the year, no processions. Marks the winding down of the summer holiday season. The day also is also Poland’s armed forces day, commemorating the ‘Miracle on the Vistula’ (Cud nad Wisłą) of 1920, when the Polish army under Marshal Piłsudski saved Europe from the Bolshevik hordes sweeping westwards headed for Berlin and Paris.

New School Year

The school year runs from the beginning of September to the end of the penultimate week of June. The first day (Monday 3 September this year) is marked by formal school ceremonies, pupils dressed in neat white shirts and dark trousers or skirts – in a land where school uniforms are a rarity. Parents of younger children will often ask for the morning off to attend.

Dożynki

The harvest festival, expect to see garlanded politicians breaking bread with peasants. A good time to sell consumer durables to Poland’s rural population.

BPCC’s 20th Anniversary Ball

The Big Night! The highlight of the Chamber’s 20th Anniversary Ball, to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, an event of Glamour and Occasion – the perfect place to be seen – celebrate with us, promote your firm at this Night of Nights.

Last weekend of October

Clocks for forward for winter at 02:00 on Sunday 28 October. Same weekend as the UK goes over to Greenwich Mean Time. Prepare for five months of unremitting gloom. See also Last Weekend of March (above). A good time to switch to winter tyres, as normal tyres’ grip starts deteriorating at around +6 degrees C.

1 November (Thursday) – All Saints’ Day (Wszystkich Świętych)

A national holiday, with 80% of Poles visiting the graves of their departed family members. Cemeteries are ablaze with candles and votive lamps, bought in the preceding weeks in their tens of millions. Day often coincides with first frosts of the year, fogs and poor driving conditions just as half of Poland takes the road. Take care when driving, avoid large urban cemeteries (huge traffic jams). In 2011, 51 people were killed on the roads during this holiday. The Anglo-Saxon tradition of Hallowe’en has failed to take off in post-1989 Poland largely because of the intense and real significance of 1 November.

11 November (Sunday) – Independence Day

Marking Poland’s re-emergence as a nation state in 1918, a national holiday celebrated with military parades, patriotic speeches and a day off work. National flags will be flown; another chance for left- and right-wing radicals to chuck things at one another.

Andrzejki – 30 November (Friday) – St Andrew’s Day

Another popular names-day in Poland. Traditionally involves fortune telling with dripping wax. Raise a glass (of Scotch – for St. Andrew’s Day is Scotland’s national day) to Andrzej (or Jędrzej in Old Polish) and wish him Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin!

Barbórki – 4 December (Tuesday) – St Barbara’s Day

Given the huge number of Barbaras in Poland, this is a name-day that involves flower- and chocolate-giving and making a big fuss over all the many ladies with this Christian name. St Barbara is the patron saint of Poland’s miners, so the day is an occasion for them to don their gala uniforms, eat, drink and swap tales of deeds underground…

Mikołajki – 6 December (Thursday) – St Nicholas’s Day

Santa Claus is not a fat bearded guy dressed in red – he’s a tall bearded bishop wearing white and gold robes, and brings children presents three weeks earlier than his English-speaking namesake. Many larger firms will lay on a pre-Christmas gift-giving event for the smaller children of their employees.

Advent

In the UK a time of garish Xmas advertising, starting earlier and earlier each year. In Poland still a traditional time of waiting for the Saviour’s Birth. Some fasting, less than during Lent, some people will be getting up extremely early and going to 6 o’clock Mass every morning (Roraty) in the run-up to Christ’s Mass. Advent starts on Sunday 2
December in 2012.

Christmas

Christmas Eve (Monday 24 December) is the big event, rather than the First Day of Christmas, which falls on a Tuesday in 2012. Although not officially a public holiday, expect many people to want to take the day off, especially women who traditionally will be getting the Wigilia (Vigil) feast prepared. The 12-course, meat-free meal begins with the symbolic breaking and sharing of the host (opłatek), which you may find your self sharing with your office staff just before you break up for Christmas (analogous to the Easter egg, see ‘Easter’ above). Highlight of the Wigilia meal is the carp, usually bought live a few days before hand, kept in the bath, then killed, filleted and shallow fried. And wash back the carp and herring with vodka – bo ryba lubi pływać (because fish likes to swim).

31 December (Monday) – Sylwestra – St. Sylvester’s Eve – Polish New Year’s

Not a public holiday. Celebrated increasingly in the western style, a post-1989 novelty being large, alcohol-fuelled gatherings in public spaces where champagne is drunk and the next day the TV announces how many tonnes of broken glass has been swept from market squares in Kraków, Poznań, Warsaw, Gdańsk etc. This is Poland’s fireworks night, putting Guy Fawkes to shame. January 1st 2012 falls on a Monday, eating into the working week.

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