Everyone onto the platform!

There are now over one hundred retail centres in Poland and now they have their own lobbying organization. "It's about time they pulled together," say its founders

The Polish Council of Shopping Centres was only founded a few weeks ago but voices were first raised about establishing such a body as early as last year. The representatives of Polish firms with some involvement in retail centres, met at the Mapic and Mipim conventions in Cannes and observed that these organizations were increasingly being formed in an number of countries. Last year a council was set up in Russia and this year it was time for the Poles. "I think it's about time such a body existed. After all we have over 100 shopping centres in Poland," says Piotr Szafarz of CSM Cameron McKenna, a member of the PCSC's auditing board. "Although the impetus to form the council was mutual, Stephen Pragnell of Apsys Polska deserves a special mention, as he put in a lot of time and effort to lay the groundwork for our activity," says Thorsten Machus of Metro Real Estate Management.

Council and chamber

The Polish Council of Shopping Centres is a chamber of commerce and as such it will be able to propose its own legal solutions, as well as comment critically on those put forward by others, such as the Zoning Act, which the council believes should be amended, particularly in those areas affecting retail centres.

All sizes

Both large companies, such as Cefic, Immochan and Metro AG, and developers of single retail units, such as Centrum Handlowe Manhattan in Gdansk, are represented on the council. "We don't want to just promote the interests of large companies but also protect the whole sector, including smaller concerns," says Piotr Szafarz. However the fact remains that at a certain point, the interests of tenants and owners, for instance, as well as competing retail centre landlords, may well collide. Both Szafarz and Machus agree that: "By their very nature chambers of commerce unite companies which share a common denominator. It's also natural in a market economy that they compete with one another. However we all want to foster a positive image, shorten permit procedures and facilitate the smoother development and financing of retail units."

Help not control

As to the notion that the Polish Council for Shopping Centres was established so that the larger players could either curb one another's activities, or hinder the progress of smaller ones, Piotr Szafarz assures us that in its final configuration, the council could perhaps end up with a majority of smaller members, and everyone will anyway have one vote each. "This body is supposed to provide a platform where we will communicate rather than compete," he insists.