Experience and References

My experience, understanding and analysis of the Polish market for British businessmen and investors goes back to 1982, when I first came to this region. I was involved in projects to design, develop and install high purity water systems for the electronics, pharmaceutical and medical sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. Technologies such as reverse osmosis, ultra filtration, ion exchange and conventional media filters were utilized and projects were carried out in Russia and other Soviet Republics, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.

The political and economical changes began in Poland in 1989 opened up new opportunities in the country and I moved to Poland, and started to work on EU energy programmes such as THERMIE, SYNERGY and SAVE, opening the EC Energy Center in Warsaw and in 1992 the EC Energy Center in Katowice a year later. I have lived and worked for 14 years now, in the most industrialized region of the country, that is Silesia situated close to the German, Czech and Slovak borders. Most investors, coming here are surprised to see how significant the region is, within a circle of 100km radius drawn around Katowice there more than 10 million residents live, served by well developed road and rail networks and 3 international airports.

During my time in Poland, I have gained much experience in EU structures and EU funding. I also co-operated with the British Know-How Fund, USAID, the UN and the World Bank. At the moment one of my offers for small companies who plan to start activity in Poland, is making applications for EU funds. One of the targets of the 2007-2013 programmes is to increase competitiveness and innovation amongst Polish registered companies, which seems an ideal opportunity for new investors to get extra funds to support their newly created companies in Poland.

Since 1994 I have held the position of Honorary British Consul in Katowice. I have set up the office at the end on October 1994. Those same offices now also provide the home of Altea Management. One of our biggest advantages are our in depth understanding and experience in political, business and social environment.

As I am an engineer by profession, we can provide competent Polish - English and English - Polish technical translations, in which translate the true meaning, not just the words.

From the very beginning in 1992 I have assisted companies from other countries, mainly UK and USA to investigate business opportunities in Poland. Here you can find my reference list. As a Chartered Engineer with more than 30 years of international experience and now almost 15 years experience in Poland, I am most suited to help companies find the right opportunities as quickly as possible and as cost effectively as possible.

One of the best ways to illustrate my experiences and competencies are case studies, including an overview of my assistance given to various investors, who have chosen Silesia in Poland, as a perfect place to develop their business.

If you have any questions, simply contact me.

Cirriculum Vitae Alan Stretton
(225.6 KB - PDF file)

Altea Management References

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