Company Name: 60 K
Year of Establishment: 2008
Country Investor: Switzerland, UK & Czech Republic
Industry: Customer Service
Plant Location: Sofia
Important Developments: Expansion of International & National Client base
Number of Employees: 250+
Dear Mr. Gladwish,
1. What are the reasons of your company to invest in Bulgaria?
All of the investors in 60K have been working and investing in the region for many years and realized that Bulgaria had a lot of potential with respect to technical infrastructure, human resources, location in comparison to the UK and mainland Europe and also legislation here is favourable to investment.
2. What is your company’s experience on the Bulgarian market?
We have been working in the Bulgarian market since July 2008, mainly with larger companies in the fields of telecoms and insurance. These companies tended to be foreign owned and were willing to pay the price required for the provision of professional and high quality customer service.
3. Why did your company choose Sofia?
Sofia was chosen for 3 main reasons: the location of the airport making it easy for our clients to visit, the availability of highly motivated and educated labour, the quality of the buildings and technical infrastructure.
4. What other factors make Bulgaria attractive to your company?
Being part of the EU and ‘near-shore’ location, the ease of doing business here and also the diverse linguistics that we can find.
5. Do you have expansion plans in Bulgaria?
Yes, we are currently looking at setting a second call centre here, probably not in Sofia but in one of the other major cities such as Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Turnovo.
6. How do you see the business sector of your company developing in Bulgaria?
I can see it growing from strength to strength as many Bulgarian companies are realizing how they can benefit by providing “world class” customer service to their clients and by outsourcing to companies such as 60K can concentrate on their core business.
7. What makes Bulgaria attractive for investors?
The people and low costs here are the main factors. The high standard of educated workforce with excellent linguistic skills are the best I’ve experienced in my travels and when you couple this with the salary levels here it makes Bulgaria a very competitive place to be.
8. What can be enhanced to attract more foreign investors in Bulgaria?
The road and rail infrastructure needs upgrading dramatically. More subsidies and tax concessions from the government would also be welcome. In addition the Bulgaria Foreign Investment Agency needs to be a lot more active and co-sponsor international events, for Example the Foreign Investment Agencies of countries like Egypt, Kenya and the West Indies sponsor companies to attend Expos all over the world.
9. Do you think the Bulgarian government provides enough support to companies and specifically to foreign companies?
Unfortunately not, one good idea would be to remove employers tax liabilities for the first two years of operation along with employer social charges as this would help companies just setting up here to manage their cash flows better. However, great steps have been taken to ensure that VAT is paid back quicker and also the new legislation relating to carry over of annual leave is also of great help. In addition, free language courses in Bulgarian would be very helpful for foreigners such as myself. When I worked in Norway the government provided up to 400hours free tuition for Expats.
10. Finally, from your personal experience, what is your opinion about Bulgaria?
Having been here for just over 6 years now, I have found Bulgaria to be full of opportunities. Not only is it a beautiful country with the most welcoming people in Europe, it is safe, the weather is great and the dedication and motivation of the population is amazing. The biggest drawbacks are bureaucracy and corruption, although the latter is finally being dealt with slowly but surely.
Mr. Jon Gladwish, CEO at 60K