Savills : recruits industrial agency team in Poland

International real estate advisor Savills has hired an industrial agency team in Poland in order to compliment its current leasing and investment capabilities in Central Eastern Europe (CEE).

The team of six will be headed by Wojciech Zoń, an expert in the Polish industrial market, with over eight years of experience in the sector. He joins Savills from JLL, where he was an associate director in the industrial team and prior to that he worked for Cushman & Wakefield. In his new role as a director and Head of Industrial Agency for Savills Poland, Wojciech will be responsible for business development in the logistics and industrial real estate sector across the CEE region.

Michał Śniadałajoins Savills as an associate director within the new team. He has over a decade of experience in the industrial sector, having previously worked at JLL and prior to that CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield. At Savills, Michał will specialise in the western region of Poland. In addition, Kamil Szymański, an expert in logistics, also joins from JLL as an associate director.

Daniel Kempa joins as a senior consultant and will focus on business in southern Poland.He hasover six years of experience in the real estate market, having previously worked for JLL, industrial developers such as Pinnacle Poland, and retailers such as Małpka and Master Development Retail.

Karolina Klepka has joined Savills as a consultant and Anna Bevanda as agency assistant.

According to Savills research, at the end of September 2016 there was over 1 million sq m of modern warehouse space under construction across the country, of which approximately 70% has already been leased. The highest concentration of the development pipeline is in Szczecin (163,500 sq m; including Zalando's warehouse of 130,000 sq m), Poznań (147,400 sq m) and Upper Silesia (110,600 sq m). Apart from established industrial hubs there are also a few emerging markets, such as eastern Poland, with Lublin and Rzeszów and north of the country, in Toruń and Bydgoszcz, that are on the radar of both developers and occupiers. High levels of development activity are a direct consequence of a very strong demand for warehouse space, with close to 2 million sq m let during the three quarters of the year with full year results expected to be higher than take-up from 2015 by almost 2.3 million sq m.

Tomasz Buras, Managing Director of Savills Poland, comments: 'The recruitment of this team is very much in line with our ambitious business strategy for both Poland and Europe. Given the strategic position of Poland on Europe's logistics map and the considerable growth of e-commerce, storage facilities have become a sought after investment product in the CEE region. We are delighted to welcome Wojciech and his team and I am confident that their exceptional expertise and proven track record will guarantee Savills future success in the industrial and logistic market in Poland.'

Wojciech Zoń, Head of Industrial Agency, Savills Poland, comments: 'The Polish industrial market is currently one of the most rapidly expanding industrial markets in Europe. The record-breaking demand levels for modern industrial and logistics space has resulted in developers commencing construction of multiple projects, in both core and emerging locations across the country. This is all in line with the 'Amazonifcation' of the retail industry, and as the strong demand for warehouses and industrial space is set to be a long-term trend, we look forward to working with Savills global network to provide the very best service to our clients.'

Savills recruitment of this industrial agency team in Poland follows the recent hiring of another team of logistics experts in the Netherlands, plus new office locations in Luxembourg and the Czech Republic.