Krakow-based Sterling Outsourcing has sold a minority stake to an investor-group, led by Harry Virdee.

Concurrently, Virdee has taken on the role of global CEO, replacing founder Jeremy Milligan.

"We are both excited and bittersweet to announce the retirement of our esteemed founder, Jeremy Milligan, who established our company nearly 20 years ago. Jeremy’s vision and leadership have been instrumental in growing our customer base into a global portfolio of over 450 clients. His dedication and passion have shaped the company into what it is today, and his legacy will continue to inspire us", said the company in a LinkedIn statement.

"As we bid farewell to Jeremy, we are thrilled to welcome Harry Virdee BEM as our new global CEO. Harry joins us with over 20 years of experience in the BPO industry, having led multilingual customer service operations for Capita, a major global outsourcing company. His impressive track record includes managing operations in Poland, Bulgaria, and Ireland. Notably, Harry was named on the 2020 Queen’s Honor’s List through his capacity as a Charity Trustee, highlighting his commitment to both professional and philanthropic endeavors.

Harry has shared his excitement about joining our team: “I’m thrilled to be joining the company at such a pivotal time in its journey. What the team has already built is really impressive, and with my approach focused on employee engagement and customer satisfaction, I feel we can continue to accomplish fantastic results for the company, its people, and its clients.  Additionally, we are delighted to welcome Adam Whitmarsh as our new Customer Experience Director. Adam brings 17 years of experience in the BPO sector, having successfully led multilingual contact centers for industry-leading clients in various sectors, including retail, logistics, travel, and financial services. "

Sterling's client-base is mostly UK-based. Virdee and his investor group believe they can use this as a strong foundation to expand its footprint across more European corporates.

Maja Blizińska and Michał Rudnicki are London Stock Exchange Group co-site leads in Gdynia.

LSEG is one of Gdynia’s largest private-sector employers, employing over 1,000 people of 60 nationalities speaking 40 languages.

BPCC: Please list the main functions carried out in Gdynia for LSEG, and tell us about the operations in Poland as a part of LSEG’s overall business strategy. Why did LSEG choose to acquire and develop the business unit in Gdynia?

Michał Rudnicki: LSEG equips the global financial community with markets infrastructure and data. LSEG’s office in Gdynia, specifically, mainly represents our global Data & Analytics business.

Maja Blizińska: We have evolved from being an operational site to a hub serving our global business. The growth from 32 data analysts back in 2006 collecting and processing financial data to a key strategic location of over 1,000 employees representing different functions is a result of a few factors combined. Gdynia has an excellent talent pool with people having both economic and linguistic skills. There’s also potential for growth given the great quality of higher education in the TriCity. The location also gives us close proximity to our customers, and over time, we expect to continue to make successful contributions to LSEG’s strategic objectives. Teams in Gdynia currently represent the entire global financial ecosystem from data acquisition and processing, product, risk and project management through customer services, technology, sales, people and learning functions.

BPCC: LSEG Gdynia’s site has a leadership structure that’s most unusual, and yet something tells me that this may well be a portent for the future of management. You are the two site co-leads, with equal responsibility for running the business. How does this work in practice, and what are the upsides and downsides of such an arrangement?

Michał Rudnicki: At LSEG Gdynia we follow a concept of a two-year assignment for co-site leadership representing two different business areas. As the co-site leads, we partner with the board members, people-leaders and country people-partners, as well as the admin and facilities team, and the Poland Employee Council. It is important that we meet and maintain connections with our colleagues during regular team meetings and events. Through our strong network, we build up Gdynia’s business proposition, promote our values, culture, and cooperate with local communities.

Maja Blizińska: There is a great value in the site leadership concept especially as it helps us to consider a diverse range of perspectives; 56% of the leadership positions in the Gdynia office are held by women. In our co-site lead duo, we bring in two perspectives, two different ways of working but towards the same goal – building LSEG’s brand both internally and externally in Gdynia. Business studies show that organisations that implement diverse and inclusive practices are far more effective that ones that do not. This effectiveness is reflected in our collaboration with Gdansk University, charity foundations and primary schools, the Association of Business Service Leaders and now our expansion of the one with BPCC – to name just a few.

BPCC: You have introduced many innovations into the way LSEG’s Gdynia site is run – one that I hadn’t heard of before is the skip-level meeting, where employees can talk freely to their bosses’ bosses. How does this work in practice?  What other tools do you employ to ensure that silos don’t form within the organisation?

Maja Blizińska:  Partnership is not only one of the LSEG core values but something that we live every day. This is how we operate daily – we remove barriers across the teams, divisions and senior management to ensure each voice is heard and that we come up with best course of action when developing a solution.

A skip-level meeting is a chance to raise your profile and share your ideas and achievements with your manager’s manager. Another example of breaking down the silos locally will be a local People-Leaders’ Forum, comprising of all managers across the different businesses, working together on the location strategy and common projects.
BPCC: Like several other major UK investors in Poland, you cooperate closely with higher education, in your case, with the University of Gdańsk. This eases the path to graduate recruitment, but what makes your model unusual is that the cooperation also runs the other way – your employees can benefit from courses at the University of Gdańsk. How does this contribute to their personal development?

Michał Rudnicki: Attracting and retaining top diverse talent is important to us and we consistently look for ways to strengthen our connections with the community including academia. Since 2008 we’ve built a strategic cooperation with the University of Gdansk reflected in internship programmes, lectures delivered by our experts, sponsoring the LSEG Research Grant Competition for the most talented students, equipping the Faculty of Economics in LSEG Lab to enable certifications in our flag product, LSEG Workspace. Our colleagues have also had the opportunity to join lectures and workshops in finance at the University as part of their personal development. We truly believe that partnership between universities and business is necessary to address dynamics and needs of the current labour market. We would like to express our gratitude to the dean at the Faculty of Economics, Monika Bąk, deputy dean, Magdalena Markiewicz, and the local coordinators, Urszula Mrzygłód, Joanna Adamska-Mieruszewska for their openness and engagement to build these bridges.

BPCC: You place a high importance on talent flow as a KPI for your managers. What’s the average time that an employee can expect to spend in one role before being promoted or otherwise given a different role?

Maja Blizińska: ‘Grow and flow’ is not just a buzz-word, but a key objective for each people leader. There are several tools that each employee can leverage to find the next career opportunity: high impact coaching, a Career Navigator tool where colleagues can analyse their skills profiles and identify learning that would support the move, mentoring with senior leader and on the job learning within own or a different team. Preparation for more senior roles usually take a few years of experience before promotion.

Michał Rudnicki: We started our careers 18 years ago as data analysts in the Operations teams. Since then, we have held many different roles. Our Talent Acquisition Team, and our people-leaders consider an internal talent flow as one of the top priorities. For example, we regularly organise coffee events with hiring managers who promote open roles onsite during Q&A sessions. Also, many succession plans have been implemented successfully.

Starting in 2023 the LSEG Customer Connect team has grown in Gdynia with 32 account managers. It’s been a brilliant opportunity for many our colleagues to step into sales world and to drive account revenue retention and growth. More than half of our job opportunities are filled with internal colleagues moving roles and growing their careers at LSEG.
MD: You offer your employees a wide range of benefits designed to mitigate stress in their lives outside the workplace; bereavement, trauma, carers’ days – how does going that extra mile to ensure employees feel secure at work?
Michał Rudnicki: Indeed, our benefits package is crafted to address the diverse needs of our colleagues.   We want everyone at LSEG to feel valued and supported, especially when our employees go through life’s most challenging moments. For example, LSEG has introduced additional global leave offerings, carers’ leave, with ten days annually to take care for anyone who relies on you for care arrangements, Bereavement leave with up to six weeks, and Gender Transitioning leave which gives colleagues six weeks to cover time off for a transitioning journey including medical appointments and recovery. Also, as of July 2024, our new offering will give everyone who’s worked at LSEG for at least 12 months the opportunity to take a minimum of 26 weeks parental leave, regardless of parent, gender or method of parenthood.

BPCC: Diversity, equity and inclusivity (DE&I) is now a widely used term across corporate HR in Poland; LGBT, disability, gender pay gaps and neurodiversity are taken seriously in your business. How does this affect your ability to recruit and retain the talents that you need?

Michał Rudnicki: Equity, diversity, and inclusion is at the heart of our culture. At LSEG, international employees represent 25% of the entire community in Gdynia with 60 nationalities, 40 languages and diverse skillsets. There are different generations represented too. Our Women Inspired Network is very active onsite. In June, as usual, we celebrate Children’s Day organised by our Parents at LSEG network as well as celebrating Pride Month. We believe that friendly work environment, focus on work-life balance, mental health, and empathetic leadership help to attract and retain talent and drive business growth.

Maja Blizińska: It’s worth mentioning that for the first time in May this year we have been present at inclusive job fairs, Beyond Labels, in Gdansk, targeted mainly at the LGBTQAPI+ community. Moreover, our new office has been designed to be a comfortable place for neurodiverse employees with quiet zones, adjustable lighting, special colours, fabrics, space arrangement and a separate meditation and multi-faith room. I think the fact that the majority of our new joiners and recruitment comes from current colleague referrals speaks volumes.

BPCC: You have Great Place to Work certification. How hard is it to achieve, and what benefits does it confer in terms of employer branding? How does ‘London Stock Exchange Group’ resonate as a brand among your target group of employees in Poland?

Michał Rudnicki:  We are proud of this achievement. Earlier this year we invited everyone at LSEG Gdynia to participate in the Great Place to Work audit, sharing insights on LSEG’s workplace culture. 89% of people acknowledged that we actively promote inclusive behaviour and avoid discrimination, which underpins our core values of integrity and partnership. Also, 84% agreed with the statement: “I can be myself here”.  This is really motivating. Our aspiration is to be a leading and reliable contributor to the global financial ecosystem and a great place to work and grow. This is possible thanks to our colleagues and their unique skills and engagement.

Maja Blizińska: In my view, this prestigious certificate is the most important recognition a company can get since it is solely based on its employees’ independent opinions and feedback. Michal and my ambition is to live up to our colleagues’ expectations and address the feedback received in the survey. With the new office and the Great Please to Work certification we have started a new chapter in our organisation, and we will keep on building on that.

About LSEG:
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, playing a vital social and economic role in the world’s financial system. With our open approach, trusted expertise, and global scale, we enable the sustainable growth and stability of our customers and their communities. We are dedicated partners with extensive experience, deep knowledge and a worldwide presence in data and analytics; indices; capital formation; and trade execution, clearing and risk management across multiple asset classes. LSEG is headquartered in the UK, with significant operations in over 60 countries across EMEA, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. We employ 25,000 people globally, more than half located in Asia Pacific. LSEG’s ticker symbol is LSEG. 

Source: BPCC. Maja Blizińska and Michał Rudnicki, London Stock Exchange Group co-site leads, talked to the BPCC’s Michael Dembinski about its operations in Poland.

By Wioletta Pietrasiak, GFS EMEA director for operations

Poland has become a major location for the outsourcing of financial functions from corporations around the world. What is the impact of these investments on the Polish skills market? Does the training and recruitment of financial specialists match the demand for their skills? For AstraZeneca the answer is clear.

AstraZeneca (AZ) is a global, science-led, patient-focused pharmaceutical company, dedicated to transforming the future of healthcare by unlocking the power of what science can do for people, society and the planet. By 2030 AZ aims to double its revenues by launching 20 new medicines.
An excellent operating model is a key element in achieving this bold ambition; and centralising and outsourcing different services is one of its critical elements. AZ recognised the potential of the Polish labour market a long time ago and decided to select Poland as one of the strategic location for outsourcing services, including financial functions. Since 2018 we have in Warsaw our EMEA Middle Office for Global Finance Services (GFS), where we employ more than 300 employees who perform advanced finance activities (such as closing the books, managerial and statutory reporting, planning, tax returns) that require high levels of expertise.
To attract young talents, we are partnering with several Polish universities in three diverse ways. First, we have an established dedicated Employer Branding Team. We work closely with selected universities in Poland, representing AZ in recruitment events across the country. We also offer several opportunities specifically tailored to our young generation.
These include three-month Summer Internships, during which candidates have the opportunity to join one of our teams while completing their studies and gain the first working experience of their career. On these short-term assignments, students support one of our functions and work on a number of pre-agreed projects and initiatives that will support the individual’s personal development while adding value to the organisation. We also offer our career starters opportunities dedicated to students finalising their master’s degree or newly graduates. These are one-year contracts, and at the end, the candidates have the chance to join one of our teams as business analysts and continue their professional journey with AZ.
Polish universities are an excellent source of talent for AZ.  In addition, Poland has a powerful presence of globally recognized financial associations like CGMA or ACCA, which provides us with an additional pool of talent. Therefore, recruiting financial experts is relatively easy for AZ in Poland. However, our employees must possess a very broad set of skills to successfully perform the advanced tasks of the Middle Office. Apart from core financial technical skills, our employees in GFS EMEA Middle Office need to understand our business. They should also be able to demonstrate leadership skills. Digital skills are also becoming critical.
AZ has been investing a lot in learning and development (L&D) to ensure that our employees can develop all the skills they need to be successful in their roles.
Our L&D strategy is built on three pillars: 3E. The first ‘e’ is exposure, which is about being part of different communities/working groups (e.g., well-being, D&I, projects, etc…). Here, we also have coaching and mentoring. The second ‘e’ is experience; by this, we simply mean learning by doing.
The last ‘e’ is education, which is about providing relevant training. Every month, we organise voluntary training for all employees on soft skills, such as presentation skills or assertiveness, based on the current demand collected via surveys. The sessions focus on soft skills, such as presentation skills, coaching skills between peers, effective cross-cultural communication, influencing stakeholders, or assertiveness in challenging situations.
We also have some training sessions dedicated to specific groups of employees. Among them, Professional Skills Pathway is dedicated to non-manager employees, supporting their impact through excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills. Apart from that, we do have training dedicated to all line managers, like our emerging leaders’ pathway, where we have a module about feedforward and coaching skills in this pathway. Also, other modules cover the topic of soft skills (modules such as managing challenging conversations, performance development & total reward, etc.).  
At AZ, we also embrace digital transformation. We are investing in Digital Upskilling training for our GFS employees to equip them with the skills and capabilities required for the future.
Finally, AZ is providing financial support to all employees who complete one year in the organisation to acquire the ACCA/CIMA qualification.
One of our employees’ tools for developing their skills is the Finance Capabilities Framework, where they can clearly see what competencies they need and how to acquire them. Using this tool, they can assess their current capabilities against a set of 21 vital capabilities identified by finance. In addition, the tool provides complete visibility of the skills (both technical and soft) required for all critical roles in finance. It links them with available training/development opportunities or job vacancies, supporting employees in further development. Therefore, AZ is not only helping its employees perform their current jobs but also ensuring that they have continuing career development opportunities.
For a couple of years in Poland, we have been experiencing the fight for talent. Therefore, it is critical to recruit employees with the required skills or provide them with relevant training to perform the job and have a strategy in place to retain talents.
AstraZenenca has been recognised as a great place to work with multiple awards, like receiving the Top Employer Award for four years in a row, being ranked no.1 in 2023 for LinkedIn Top Companies Polska, or being ranked no.1 in 2022 Forbes Poland’s Best Employers in the pharma category.
Multiple factors are considered during the evaluation process, including very attractive reward packages or development opportunities, an empowering culture, attractive office facilities, and a well-being agenda. Empowerment is deeply embedded in AZ’s culture. Our employees have a lot of freedom to develop proposals and drive things.
The well-being of our employees has always been very high on AZ’s priorities list. We have been providing our employees with training, organizing various workshops for them, inviting external speakers to inspire them, and financing sports activities. In addition, the Well-being Council was established last year with the sponsorship of our Global CFO to create a work environment where people can thrive, feel supported by managers and colleagues, and bring their whole selves to work.
 In addition to these resources, our office has various facilities, like an on-site fitness studio, dedicated spaces for relaxation, and playrooms with video games, tennis, and football tables.
Other initiatives that we offer to our employees include access to free, confidential counseling to guide employees on how to cope with a number of life events, including mental well-being, stress, and burnout.
To sum up, Poland has done an excellent job of training financial experts. However, further investments by the hiring companies are required  to ensure that polish financial experts have a broad enough and evolving set of skills to make them future-proof.

Source: BPCC (British Polish Chamber of Commerce)