BIP
Oras expands shared services centre in Wroclaw
Despite the pandemic, Wrocław continues to attract businesses, says the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency (ARAW). Last year, Oras chose the capital of Lower Silesia for its shared services centre. To accommodate its rapid growth, the company is planning to expand its office in mid-2021. Real estate advisory firm Savills has supported Oras in its entry into the Wrocław market and in office space leasing.
Oras is a Finnish manufacturer of bathroom and kitchen faucets and a specialist provider of modern touchless solutions for a smart home that save water. It decided to set up a customer service centre in Wrocław. Oras has leased flexible office space in Spaces Wroclavia since 2020, but ultimately it will take occupancy of 540 sq m in the Sagittarius Business House.
“We welcome our new tenant. The successful letting shows that both the location and the property meet the requirements of internationally active companies. Currently 11.5 percent of the space is available,” says Malte Wallschläger, Head of Asset Management International at Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate.
Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate acquired the Sagittarius Business House on behalf of an individual fund it manages for an institutional investor in 2017. The property has a gross lettable area of around 25,000 square metres. In addition, the six-storey building encompasses around 1,300 square metres of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, as well as a preschool. There are 322 parking spots on the premises, most of them located in the in-house underground car park.
“Oras took advantage of an opportunity provided by the growth of flex offices, or coworking space and serviced offices. As a result, the company was able to create approximately 40 jobs within a very short timeframe. The tenant will move to its new location in the middle of this year where it will occupy office space meeting its current fit-out requirements under a long-term lease. As Wrocław is a mature office market, we were able to propose our client several scenarios for the expansion of its shared services centre from which it chose the best one in terms of financial, functional and HR conditions,” says Bartosz Plewa, Savills Wrocław office.
Savills represented Oras during the lease transaction process for office space in both Spaces Wroclavia and the Sagittarius Business House. The tenant was advised by law firm SDZLEGAL Schindhelm.
“We have been running our Wrocław office since last year. Early on, we were quite busy recruiting in areas critical for our centre such as customer service, finances and HR, which ended the first stage of our growth. Being a relatively new centre, we may be looking for more staff in the future. What matters to us in selecting job applicants is skills, strong work ethics, but, above all, strong language proficiencies. It is these factors that drove our company directors to invest in Wrocław and will create an excellent environment for our further growth here,” says Paweł Frąckiewicz, SSC Manager, Oras.
Oras is one of few new shared services centres that opened in Wrocław in the pandemic-ridden 2020. According to forecasts from ARAW and Savills, the city will remain attractive for overseas investors. Its advantages include a large pool of high-skilled labour, especially graduates with technical and linguistic capabilities, competitive office rental rates in comparison with Western Europe, office stock quality, and the high quality of living.
“Wrocław is still an attractive location for shared services centres and offers a favourable business environment despite the global Covid-19 turbulence. This is confirmed by both strong investor interest in our city and unbiased rankings, including the most recent prestigious index of the best cities for foreign direct investments prepared by fDi Magazine of the Financial Times group. Wrocław came 15th globally and first amid small and mid-sized cities,” says Aleksandra Kłonowska-Drozd, Head of Investment Support Team, Business Support Centre, Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency.
The Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency actively promotes the city, focusing on attracting foreign direct investments to drive job creation and economic growth.