22
WIZZ MAGAZINE
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012
SNAPSHOTS
Expat Poles in London
The vibrancy, creative influences and freedom to do business in London have not only
drawn talented and business-minded people from Poland, they’ve inspiring them to stay
I
never intended to stay in
London. When I first came
here I wanted to improve
my English and study. I came
back to finish my MA in Human
Resource Management and, I
admit, London surprised me.
I ended up making a life here.
London is so multi-cultural.
I come from a relatively small
city so there is such a variety of
things you can enjoy here like
galleries and exhibitions.
Almost all of my family live
here now, but my father left
to go back to Poland for his
retirement. You can’t ever get
bored of London, but you can
get tired of it. Maybe then it’s
time to consider going home.
The Polish community tends
to stick together and look after
each other. Sometimes it feels
easier to talk to somebody in
you mother tongue.
I haven’t found it challenging
to do business in London.
We just get on with what we
need to do. Maybe I’ve been
lucky, but on the whole I find
the UK a pretty easy place to
do business. As soon as you
have a good business idea,
it’s straightforward to put it
into practice. There are not as
many obstacles as in Poland.
My mother and father had
their own businesses and I
can compare our experiences.
Poland is more bureaucratic.
Here we have more freedom
and the government’s focus is
for you to be successful. It is
easy to ask for help
The only drawback is that
when you have your own
business in such a vibrant
city, you obviously don’t have
enough time to enjoy it. It’s
harder to find the balance
between social life and the
responsibilities of business.
But London has been good
to me. I love it here.”
SET TL ING IN
Interviews by
Piet van Niekerk
Illustrations
Damien Florébert Cuypers
Inga Kopala
Profession
Director of Amberth Interiors
Years in
London
Twelve
Home town
Kielce
