Spreading their wings

‘Eurobuild CEE’: Compared to other agencies, Colliers arrived on the Warsaw scene relatively late. Who took the decision to enter the Polish market and why at that particular time? Robert Karniewski, partner, Colliers International Poland: It was the CEO John McLernon who decided to enter the Central and Eastern Europe market. The company in Poland was set up in autumn 1997 and the first job interviews took place in 1998, but Colliers was a completely unknown quantity at the time. There was no wider strategy, but we were convinced it was going to blossom into something great. Our first office was located at ul. Marszałkowska 82, a boy scout shop at the time. Monika Rajska-Wolińska, managing partner, Colliers International Poland: At the beginning a franchise was created in Poland (the company is Canadian), but John came to the conclusion that instead of operating as a franchise the company should be directly engaged in CEE countries. Robert Karniewski: Well, that&rsquo