Members of the growing Polish community gathered at Carlisle Cricket Club on Tuesday 8 April, to find out more about the help and support offered through NatWest, Dodd & Co Accountants and Cumbria Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Those who attended, listened with interest to presentations delivered in their own language from NatWest and Dodd & Co. The NatWest presentation was delivered by Malgorzata Gnida, NatWest Welcome Sales Team Leader and covered banking facilities and personal and business accounts available to the Polish community. The presentation also highlighted a new Polish telephone language service. Martin Klugowski part of the accounts team at Dodd & Co is originally from Torun in Poland. Martin was pleased to be able to expand Dodd & Co’s ‘know how’ by translating the sometimes tricky accountancy and taxation terminology.
Suzanne Caldwell, Enterprise Development Manager for Cumbria Chamber spoke on the help and support offered to members of the Polish community wanting to start their own business by the Chamber, working with A4e. Suzanne also spoke on the benefits of Chamber Membership which include access to a number of services which help save time and money as well as networking opportunities. Member services offered include HR and legal support, discounted mobile phone packages, discounted AA membership, and tax consultancy support - these services are open to all businesses located in Cumbria.
After the presentations, attendees enjoyed a Polish buffet supplied by Pol-Jack, a company recently started with the support of Cumbria Chamber. Members of the Polish community were also able to talk on a one-to-one basis with representatives from NatWest, Dodd & Co, Cumbria Chamber and A4e.
Those who attended welcomed the opportunity to find out more about business support. Suzanne Caldwell says of the event, “It was good to be able to highlight the help and support out there for Polish people who are willing to work hard to set up their own business. The presentations were informative and where possible delivered in Polish deliberately so the audience could make the most of the information given. The Chamber were pleased to be able to organise and support the event and work in partnership with NatWest and Dodd & Co.” |
