The Rise of Poland...in the UK
27th July 2006

The sentiment that eastern Europeans are "coming here and taking our jobs" may not be completely true, as Jonathan Guthrie argues in The FT. Guthrie points out that many could in fact create employment too, as many Poles show signs of entrepreneurship.

After the recent influx of Polish immigrants in the period 2005-06, it is estimated that there are approximately 1m Poles in the UK. This surge has been hugely pushed along when the UK along with Ireland and Sweden opened up their borders fully to accession states.

Two large Polish magazines have sprung up in the UK called Cooltura and Goniec Polski in order to cater for the immigrants and has also helped to advertise Polish run businesses such as Rubbish Express. This skip-hire business set up by Przemek Zalecki, aims to cater for Polish builders who know limited England but suprisingly enough, 30% of his turnover comes from English customers.

However, more classic Polish businesses, such as food and music will be more limited to Polish people. All too often, as is the case with new foreign cultures arriving, many of the Poles may not assimilate into British culture in order to pass the big test - the big test being whether they can break through and tap into the large British market. How far Polish immigrants are willing to overcome this barrier will determine their success in this market. But people before have achieved this such as Michael Marks, co-founder of Marks & Spencers and the Jatanias, the Ugandan brothers behind the Lornamead cosmetics group.

Mr. Witkowski, owner of Cooltura argues that "Immigrants have new eyes for everything", which helps when coming to spot business opportunities.

Something which certainly could be the case in the future, Guthrie predicts that names with "c", "z" and "w" will begin appearing in UK rich-lists in a few years time.

Sources - summary of:
The FT - The Poles are laying the foundations of empires