In Poland, e-prescription can have a form of only a 4-digit code assigned to one's personal ID number. Without the printout, as it is the case with now common tele-consultations with doctors, the patient is at loss what medicines are actually prescribed.

Our GdziePoLek.pl allows patients to find which pharmacies have medicines available - but they must know what to search for first.

At the moment the only way to check such prescription is physically at pharmacy or through government's portal, which many people haven't activated.

We are therefore happy to provide the first service to check e-prescription at our site:

E-prescription check on GdziePoLek

Due to security, one must currently verify ownership of the personal ID number (PESEL), which is a bit of a hassle.

After successful check, the patient can immediately move on to checking products' availability in pharmacies.

Goldenberry started as a consulting company in 2010 and soon after that found itself working in the fast developing private healthcare market, executing several business and technology projects for largest medical operators.

Goldenberry team in January 2017

We wanted to do more in this market and in mid-2014 we started to develop our first stand-alone initiative, with a simple idea: to help patients find their medicines in brick and mortar pharmacies. Creating a new technology company in an unexplored and heavily regulated sector turned out to be most difficult challenge we ever took.

Getting critical mass of patients and pharmacies

After creating the first release of the application, we came to understand why industry old timers were betting against our initiative: we had to convince traditional pharmacies to use the new technology without, initially, patient traffic to make it worthwhile for them, while asking them to make an effort and accept legal risks. We had never worked with pharmacies before, so we started exploring their community, planning to convince first participants within a month.

Couple of months passed with no measurable progress, and it became clear that the challenge required involvement of everyone in the team and every business relation that could be leveraged. We succeeded in getting about a dozen pharmacies for launch only in May 2015, after 9 months of development work. Special thanks here go to Medicover, which was very helpful in this stage of the project.

Now we had to prove that there are patients who find our product to be useful. Also in this area, having no hands-on earlier experience with online marketing, we had no initial advantage and had to explore starting from basics.

However, we were encouraged by the fact that right after we opened for business, patients reached out to us to thank for helping them to find critical medicines, even though we had just a handful of pharmacies available. Because of the feedback from patients, which we receive constantly, we never doubted that our work is worthwhile.

Despite not having budget to spend on marketing, our traffic grew organically along with the product, which we improve on continuously. At the end of 2016 we exceeded the level of 200,000 visits monthly.

Consulting market changes

At the same time that we were making significant investment in our startup, the consulting market, and our niche in particular, took a bad turn on a number of levels.

Industries of some of our traditional clients were hit hard, especially securities brokers, insurers and banks.

Other clients, in healthcare, turned towards in-house resources and purchases driven by the lowest price, from body shops offering loosely integrated contractors.

Goldenberry’s model of maintaining integrated, experienced team on full time employment, requiring pricing premium, started to look increasingly untenable. As other small companies around us folded, Goldenberry became the only remaining independent management practice around.

Core team

Reality of working on a startup everyone was betting against, especially in its actual target industry, and losing ground in the consulting market after previous strong growth did not go unnoticed by the team members.

Consultants who joined us as experienced hires during previous peak were gradually leaving, looking for perceived stability of larger companies, with more reassuring strategies.

Our core team however, often hired before graduation and experienced in Goldenberry during at least one previous up and down cycle, was less impressed.

Our first fund raising

Entering 2016 with product which demonstrated signs of traction with patients, even though not generating revenues, we decided to raise the first external financing round.

Not having raised any external financing before, our expectations were driven by standards we could learn from Western markets. This turned out to be very remote from the realities of fund raising in Poland.

Simplified contract templates for seed rounds (like SAFE) were not applicable in Poland and local equivalents did not exist. Of a handful of VC funds in Poland, only some had experience with marketplace type of startups, which are the most difficult to develop; most were looking to invest in much simpler SaaS projects. Some funds did not like the organisational structure, where Goldenberry represents all founders as a single entity. Valuation and size of the round was divergent from expectations given our development stage, which was pre-revenue.

We developed our own investment agreement to have all the features required, including ability to raise the round over a period of time. We focused on private investors outside the local startup market. After spending good part of the year on the process, the first investors transferred their contributions just before Christmas. At around the same time, GdziePoLek started to generate revenues.

Future

We are excited with the momentum GdziePoLek has and are looking forward to increasing the number of pharmacies and patients that we are serving, as well as to exploring other markets.

On the consulting side, to which we can direct less resources than before due to startup development, our position is better than ever due to having a unique e-commerce asset and experience accrued while building it. We did some of the most interesting projects last year, all of them sponsored on owner or board member level.

To the extent our duties allow, we also plan to help other startups by sharing knowledge and helping them to create relationships with relevant corporate players that we have relations with.

References:

• GdziePoLek web site

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2014
• Looking back at 2013
• Looking back at 2012
• Looking back at 2011
• Looking back at 2010

Founding members include such players as LUX MED, Polish largest private healthcare operator, DIAGNOSTYKA, the largest lab network, and Porozumienie Zielonogórskie, the largest association of private healthcare employers.

Goldenberry is active in healthcare industry since 2010, executing projects for the leading medical entities. Company also creates its own technologies, such as GdziePoLek in pharmaceutical area.

Goldenberry decided to provide Chamber with organisational support in setting up its activity, including the web site.

External links:

PIIM website

Justyna has been with Goldenberry for over two years and had a chance to participate in the largest projects, including several in private healthcare industry.

Recently she also had a chance to be our single consultant in an important project for one of the banks, which confirmed her excellent abilities as a project manager, analyst and client's trusted advisor.

Maciej also had opportunity to gain experience in the healthcare sector, however, rather than continuing standard consulting development, he became involved with Goldenberry's unique operation - GdziePoLek project, where he is a CEO of a dedicated company.

He joined Goldenberry even before graduation, which, with current promotion, grants him also a genuine golden berry special title.

The site opened for testing about a month ago, but Puls Biznesu' article is the first presentation of the project to the wider audience.

Idea for the service was inspired by widely publicised deficits of medicines in pharmacies, which are a result of a number of factors - among others legal and illegal exports to the Western countries and low margins, which give little reason for pharmacies to maintain large inventories. On the other hand, even if they are well stocked, there is no way to communicate this fact to the patient due to the advertising ban.

Puls Biznesu, 11. June 2015. On the photo: Maciej Jakubczyk, Arkadiusz Poński

Goldenberry started development of the project in mid-2014, creating independently both business concept and required technology.

GdziePoLek has its own legal entity, managed by Maciej Jakubczyk and Arkadiusz Poński. Both are Goldenberry's team members with previous experience in healthcare industry, including projects such as the largest medical e-commerce site which was custom built, as well as development of core medical systems.

Other information:

Electronic version of the article (paywall): http://pulsbiznesu.pb.pl/

Project site: https://www.gdziepolek.pl/

Contact with GdziePoLek: kontakt@gdziepolek.pl

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2014

Due to the increasing use of technology in its projects, the company decided to expand recruitment in the IT area. Among the fairs' visitors, company was looking for students with strong technical competences.

Consultants provided detailed information regarding internships and future employment opportunities to the students.

In the future the company plans to participate in a similar events catering to technical students.

Engineering Job Fairs from above

Goldenberry stand

Company entered the year on the heels of a very successful 2013, when revenues rose rapidly. However, they were highly concentrated in one client, which created a significant risk. The team also wanted to try development of independent consumer-oriented projects in addition to consulting work.

New startup: GdziePoLek

A dedicated in-house team created GdziePoLek.pl, which is a portal for patients looking for medicines available for immediate pickup in brick-and-mortar pharmacies. The idea is to address limited medicine availability, currently an important problem in Poland.

Screenshot from GdziePoLek's results page

In order to create the application, Goldenberry decided to use Microsoft's technology stack, because of synergies with the technology initiatives for corporate clients. The solution, a .NET MVC 5 custom application, is fully cloud based and uses several No-SQL stores to efficiently process large quantities of fast moving data.

Membership in Microsoft's Bizspark startup program provided additional advantages, including access to a broad range of software assets useful in development and testing.

GdziePoLek's technologies overview: Azure based infrastructure

Having successfully tested the technology, the team is currently signing up pharmacies and other corporate partners.

You can visit GdziePoLek's web site and leave email address to be notified of launch.

If you work in pharmacy-related company, you can contact us to get trial access.

Even before market validation of the concept, GdziePoLek produced several benefits, including increased in-house technology abilities, creating a show case for cutting edge technologies which are of interest to the clients (eg. Azure cloud), and exploration of the previously untouched pharmaceutical market.

Consulting projects

Development of GdziePoLek involved up to 10 people, therefore consulting revenues were lower by a number approximately corresponding to the investment (PLN 2.5m vs 4.2m a year before).

However, company achieved its goal of diversifying the revenues across several clients and industries.

Most notable projects included interim management in a number of Merger Integration initiatives (banking), management of anti-phishing system implementation (banking), core system development (largest security company), strategic studies (transfer agent, private investors), projects in logistics and transport management.

In the same time, Goldenberry became partner of IBM to explore several specialised software solutions (including logistics and decision engines).

Publications

Among published research, a paper called "Scrum in Large Organisations", based on Goldenberry experience in introducing agile methods, became the most popular publication ever released by the company (over 4000 downloads).

Scrum In Large Companies, checklist

2015

Goals for new year include further diversified growth in consulting, market validation of GdziePoLek concept, and further advancement of end-to-end technology capabilities.

References:

• GdziePoLek web site

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2013
• Looking back at 2012
• Looking back at 2011
• Looking back at 2010
• Scrum in Large Companies
• Goldenberry joins Bizspark

The Foundation aims to create equal opportunities for Polish children from a rural background through financing additional English language training, organizing motivational meetings with business representatives and funding scholarships in the most underdeveloped regions of Poland.

Goldenberry is a Polish consulting firm operating through its offices in Warsaw and London. The firm serves largest organisations in both business as well as technological projects.

"Our work requires high level of communication skills, especially during multinational projects, where efficient use of foreign language is a necessity," says Bartłomiej Owczarek, Goldenberry’s partner, "therefore it is important for us to support development of young people's skills".

Goldenberry has become one of the supporting partners of the Foundation through a donation on behalf of all employees and clients who received its Christmas cards. Each card translated to support amounting PLN 25 for the non-profit organisation, amounting to over PLN 10,000 in total.

References:

Foundation website

Materials for download

Download pdf file (4 pages): Scrum In Large Companies public edition v1.1.pdf

Above: concept map for agile methods and scope of the document

Above: Scrum Readiness Checklist

The full edition contains additionally content such as description of Sprint 0, preferred profiles for Scrum Master and Product Owner roles, comparison of Scrum elements in large vs small organization, overview of tools, and full issues list in the troubleshooting section.

If you are responsible for introducing Scrum in your company you can request your complimentary copy of the full edition by contacting us at contact@goldenberry.eu.

Related resources on this website:

• Our consulting offer, including IT transformation
• Our offer for creating custom software using programmers in Poland
• Photos and profiles of team members 

BizSpark is a program for startup companies, promoting use of Microsoft technologies. Startups gain access to a wide range of licenses and credits to spend on Azure cloud platform.

One area where Goldenberry is interested in using Microsoft technologies is a startup project it is currently working on. The project is based on the newest .NET frameworks and uses Azure cloud computing services, including very scalable No-SQL data stores.

Lessons learned from this initiative are already put to use in some client work. Goldenberry plans to use Microsoft stack in projects executed for its corporate customers, who have in many cases already invested in .NET platform.

Related previous news:

• Goldenberry is the fastest growing company in Computerworld TOP200

Computerworld's annual ranking is out, and Goldenberry was found to be No. 1 company in terms of growth in 2013.

Every year, Computerworld publishes revenue-based ranking of IT companies in Poland.

Even though revenues of Goldenberry are not inflated by low-margin software licences or hardware sales - as the company deals only in high-value services - the growth was enough to secure the top position among the fastest growing firms.

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2013

Other resources:

• Computerworld's website with the ranking

Liceum Akademickie is a unique educational facility, which attracts gifted students from all over Poland. The school achieved no. 1 position in Perspektywy 2014 ranking, and many of its pupils become winners of various academic olympics and competitions.

Thanks to its dormitory and scholarship program, its services are available for young people who would be otherwise unable to afford them.

School's logo and ranking's badge

At the moment school has to fight for its survival, because the University that it is a part of is running a deficit and is no longer able provide the necessary financing.

Goldenberry is a Polish consulting firm operating through its offices in Warsaw and London. The firm serves largest organisations in both business as well as technological projects.

"Doing what we do - winning business in the most competitive Western markets - we are very sensitive to the issue of supporting top Polish talent, on which all our success depends on", says Bartłomiej Owczarek, Goldenberry's partner, "therefore when we heard about the school, its mission and current difficulties, we immediately decided to make a contribution".

The company also sponsors Warsaw School of Economics, the university which a large portion of the team graduated from.

Goldenberry made the donation on behalf of all cooperators and clients who received its Christmas card. Each card translated to support amounting PLN 25 for the school, over PLN 10,000 in total.

Apart from donation, the company will also make its ambassador available to all students seeking career advice.

Links:

• Contact Goldenberry's ambassador
• School's website

Related previous news:

• Parnership with SGH

Achieved growth was a result of several noteworthy client engagements.

In London, the projects were traditionally focused in the strategic area, with initiatives such as extensive market study and financial modelling for a startup initiative.

Operations and IT consulting practice executed a number of significant initiatives, including advisory in transformation of IT organisation within one of country's largest institutions and participation in one of the largest core system developments.

Not a 9-to-5 project: Goldenberry team at work

However, even more significant was progress in executing end-to-end projects involving delivery of bespoke software.

In order to address such opportunities Goldenberry finalised alliance with PGS Software, a custom software developer. The partnership allowed to execute a large implementation of a complex e-commerce platform, which at its peak point involved over 20 specialists in the joint team.

In correspondence with accelerating business, size of the Goldenberry team roughly doubled in the course of the year, which required significant investment in recruiting efforts.

In order to increase brand awareness among graduates, Goldenberry became an official partner of the Warsaw School of Economics and ramped up activities at the university.

On the other hand the team was reinforced by new senior members, first by Sergiusz Szczepankiewicz and then by Tomasz Sułek, while Rafał Duda was promoted to the senior level from within.

The company continued to invest in effective and transparent market communication, including a significant upgrade of its web site. In June Puls Biznesu published an extensive case study of the company.

New web site

Outlook for 2014 looks promising, with a record number of new clients already on board or in advanced stage of negotiations.

While growth rate is expected to be lower because of increased scale, main goals at the moment are diversification of the project portfolio in terms of reduced share of the largest accounts, and continuing ramp-up of activity abroad. Goldenberry also wants to further develop its ability to execute large, end-to-end operational and IT initiatives.

Related previous news:

• Goldenberry's new web site (2013)
• Goldenberry and PGS Software begin cooperation (2013)
• Looking back at 2012
• Looking back at 2011
• Looking back at 2010

This year the participating team was stronger than ever.

Goldenberry posters were visible throughout university.

More photos below.

Related previous news:

• Parnership with SGH
• Career Fairs at the Warsaw School of Economics (2012)
• Goldenberry at Consulting Firms' Marathon at SGH (2012)
• Job fares in PKiN (2011)

The new web site maintains minimalistic style, but in a more modern form. The most discussed element is a new front page. It is more decisive than the previous one, and also attempts to consolidate the most important information in one place.

New front page

Previous front page

The new site also contains mechanism to directly contact person relevant to a described project.

Other examples below.

New "about us" page

Previous "about us" page

New "our team" page

Previous "our team" page

New "what we do" web page on an iPhone-size screen - responsive layout

Goldenberry became an official partner of the Warsaw School of Economics, which is alma mater for a major part of the company's team.

Goldenberry aims to strengthen its presence at the university and ramp up activities during the academic year.

One of immediate signs of new partnership were posters throughout the university. Below reproduced in their natural environment.

Related previous news:

• Career Fairs at the Warsaw School of Economics (2012)
• Goldenberry at Consulting Firms' Marathon at SGH (2012)
• Job fares in PKiN (2011)

Sylwia Wedziuk focuses on key success factors of Goldenberry's rise since 2010, especially strategic planning, investment in branding and long term client relations.

Read all of the article in PDF format. 

Goldenberry, a consulting firm, and PGS Software, one of the leaders in IT outsourcing in Poland, have begun a strategic cooperation. Together they will offer comprehensive project execution for large institutions: from defining business concept to delivery of custom-made software.

PGS Software is a NewConnect-listed software developer with delivery centers in Wrocław and Rzeszów. So far the majority of its clients have been foreign companies.

Paweł and Wojciech Gurgul, board members and main shareholders of PGS Software

"PGS Software specializes in remote software development for institutions all over the world and Goldenberry consultants always work onsite together with the client’s team.  By working together we can provide clients with access to both the best business analysts, as well as to the most effective IT delivery model" - says Wojciech Gurgul, PGS Software's CEO. "Additionally, as the only company in this industry that we are aware of, Goldenberry focuses on direct presence in the most competitive western markets, which are also our priority".

Goldenberry is a management consulting company, serving the largest institutions in Poland and in the UK, including banks, medical and logistical companies.

"Our clients are often interested in 'custom made' systems. However, until now, delivery of those had not been part of our services, while PGS Software is a leader in exporting bespoke software”, says Anna Wiacek, Goldenberry’s partner responsible for the IT practice.  “They serve mostly clients in developed countries, therefore we can be assured of high quality and work culture in line with international standards. By working together we can now offer support starting with helping the client to define the project's goals and scope, through business analysis, and finally acceptance tests of software solution".

PGS Software was founded in 2005 and its revenues in 2012 exceeded PLN 22m after growing by more than 30% compared to the previous year. The company employs over 200 developers and testers in Wrocław and Rzeszów.

Goldenberry was founded in 2010 and closed last year with revenues raising more than 70% to PLN 1.2m. Revenues in the first quarter of 2013 reached PLN 750k, of which about 20% is related to the UK office, which was opened at the end of 2012. The company employs 15 consultants in Warsaw and London.

Related previous news:

• 2-year EU foreign expansion program
• Looking back at 2012

Other resources:

• PGS Software website
• Details on custom software development offer

Goldenberry's expansion supported by the EU: countries within the scope of the program are highlighted.

Goldenberry has received confirmation that it will receive the EU export-promoting subsidy that it applied for in November last year. The decision means that the firm now has a budget of ca. PLN 400k for business development abroad in the next two years, half of which will be covered by the EU funds.

Countries included in Goldenberry's 2-year plan are Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, as well as the UK, where company already operates from its London office. More local offices may be opened if business development goes successfully.

Main expected outcome of these investments is a significant increase in export-related revenues.

Activities within the program will be focused mostly on participation in industry and partner matching events, as well as highly targeted online campaigns.

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2012
• „Passport to Exports” open tender

Dina Dąbrowska, 2011 picture

Dina "Dona Roble-Rosca" Dąbrowska joined Goldenberry in June 2011 as an intern. She then become a full - time business analyst in August 2011.

Over the following 18 months she inspired trust among clients and proved herself capable of working independently to their satisfaction, therefore earnig her promotion to the Associate role. Quite remarkably, as an analyst she also successfully established a new client relation, which far exceeds expectations at this level.

In brief, she excellently represents our values of brilliance, persistence and fairness, and therefore we now consider her an Associate in Operations, her practice of choice.

Dina joined us prior to graduation and reached her important milestone of professional independence within the Firm, and is therefore a genuine Golden Berry.

The company derived most of its revenue from long-term relations with strategic clients, including ones in retail banking, capital markets and private healthcare. During the course of the year Goldenberry evolved its "on demand" approach to offering consulting services, which allowed clients to obtain attractive pricing while significantly cutting time spent on sales efforts.

Revenue exceeded PLN 1.2m, compared with around 700k in 2011. 

Anna Wiącek, new associate partner

In September the team welcomed its first non-founding partner, Anna Wiącek. Anna has several years experience in large - scale operational and IT initiatives, both in Poland and in the UK. This broadens the range of potential initiatives that the company can target.

Correspondingly, just before the end of the year, Goldenberry took over the overall IT program management role at one of its clients. Further engagements of this kind are being discussed, as well as new business consulting tasks in the IT area, such as the introduction of service-oriented IT structures.

Other notable projects include a strategic cost cutting analysis at a financial institution, which created an interesting referral for the future, given the challenging macroeconomic outlook.

In line with its long term goals, in October Goldenberry opened its first overseas office in London. Business development in London is a high priority, therefore usually at least one of the founders will be personally located and working in the city.

As planned, Goldenberry has been eyeing closer cooperation with IT developers in order to be able to offer end-to-end solutions. Potential strategic partnerships in this area are currently being considered.

For 2013 the major goals include firmly establishing business in London as well as exploring other Western markets, developing business in Poland in line with increased team potential, and building closer relations with potential partners.

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2011
• Looking back at 2010

For the first time, Goldenberry commissioned a print advertisement to communicate its value proposition. The ad appeared in "Bank" magazine's special edition which was dedicated to the conference, and emphasized the support that Goldenberry can provide for clients' most important initiatives.

First ad: "Projektospokój" in Bank magazine, November 2012.

This year's event was concurrent with the launch of Goldenberry's operations in London, an endeavour which drew significant interest from the visitors.

New roll-up for the occasion of starting operations in London.

This year's event attracted significantly more traffic than our last visit to SGH in March.

SGH Fairs from the above.

More photos below.

Anna, Arek, Maciej; visitors.

Leaflets for our feedback opportunity.

Maciej.

Goldenberry folders.

Arek, Maciej, visitors.

Anna.

Rafał, Marta.

Maciej, Anna, Arek.

Related previous news:

• Goldenberry at Consulting Firms' Marathon at SGH
• Job fares in PKiN
• Feedback for the candidates

In line with its strategic focus on expanding into markets in the Western Europe, Goldenberry is considering participation in the „Passport to Exports” EU program.

Goldenberry spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością spółka komandytowa is inviting all interested parties to submit their proposals concerning consulting services in Export Development Plan preparation under the Operational Programme - Innovative Economy 2007-2013 (Measure 6.1 „Passport to Exports”, Priority VI. Polish economy on the international market) implemented on the terms of April 7th, 2008 decree by the Minister of Regional Development concerning financial support provided by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy 2007-2013 (Dz.U. nr 68, poz. 414 z póź. zm.).

Project: Passport to Exports „Export Development Plan”.

Project timeframe: October 1st, 2012 – October 26th, 2012.

You are welcome to download Tender invitation.

Goldenberry's stand from above

It was the company's debut at the event. In contrast to previous job fairs where Goldenberry has been present, the Marathon is focused solely on consulting firms. The event is organized by the Warsaw School of Economics, the country's finest business university.

Goldenberry's stand drew much attention from the participants. On first contact with the brand, many students were convinced that they are dealing with a global company entering the Polish market.

Till 26th of March students can still send essays for "Consulting company of the future" competition.

Other photos.

The stand just before event began.

Aula Spadochronowa at the Warsaw School of Economics.

In its second year of operations Goldenberry has established valuable competences in fast growing sectors such us private healthcare and has completed setting up the remaining processes of a fully-fledged consulting company, including proprietary research and external communications.

Goldenberry team 2011

The company managed to execute on its strategy and derive most of its revenues from projects in economically promising industries such as private healthcare, technology and capital markets. Thus Goldenberry is not reliant on the banking sector, an area in which the company has traditionally strong credentials, but which is currently undergoing significant stress.

New clients have come from the private equity sector, including one of the most recognized London players, as well as from the pharmaceutical industry.

The company invested significant resources in pursuing large scale project opportunities over and above the size of typical engagements, as it seeks to become an end-to-end provider who can offer technologies delivered by partners as part of a complete solution.

These large opportunities did not convert to contracts in 2011 and therefore the revenues were in line with last year at a level of about PLN 700k. However, participation in these large tenders resulted in several valuable lessons, especially with regards to a strategy of partnerships with IT companies. As of February 2012, contracted or invoiced work amounts already to about half of 2011 revenues.

Goldenberry commenced cooperation with Oracle in the CRM area and with Tata Consultancy in the area of core processing systems for the financial sector. Relations were also established with local IT companies for opportunities related to custom IT development and customization.

During the year Goldenberry further differentiated itself by starting ongoing external communication activity supported by a professional agency. The company also executed its first primary research on customer service in cooperation with OBOP, the results of which were widely reported.

In the HR area, Goldenberry exhibited for the first time, as a premium local partner, at the Career Fairs in Warsaw in March. 2011 was also characterized by stability and the gradual buildup of a consulting team.

Goldenberry has two major goals for 2012.

The First is to further evolve towards offering complete solutions by complementing a company's business competence with the capability of proven IT partners.

The Second is to pursue high value consulting projects in the most developed EU markets.

Related previous news:

• Looking back at 2010

UTP, the new WSE trading platform, will reduce the time of transaction settlement and increase throughput of the stock exchange. To make the most of new possibilities, some brokerage houses are considering replacing old systems with the new, more scalable ones. Systems of global players boast functionalities that are not yet provided by local developers.

Three brokers had a chance to familiarise themselves with functionalities offered by TCS BaNCS during workshop organized by Goldenberry.

TCS BaNCS is currently used on a number of markets that run on the UTP system.  Erste Securities (Austria) and RABO Bank Netherlands Securities Services (Netherlands) are examples of European brokerage houses using the system.

Workshop participants were impressed by the wide range of functionalities which are unavailable on other systems present on the market, as well as ones which were presented to brokerage houses so far. For example, TCS BaNCS provides a number of channels for individual investors to place orders, such as mobile devices (e.g. iPads).  Furthermore, advanced functionalities used in algorithmic trading are available for professional investors.

A further distinguishing mark is the level of integration of the whole system, starting from functionalities available to the clients (front office) to middle- and back-office modules.

According to Marta Niemczyk, partner at Goldenberry. Replacing the core system in a brokerage house is a serious investment. New offerings from the Polish suppliers have the advantage of being  adjusted by default to specifics of the Polish market.  International systems, like the one presented by Tata, offer immediate availability of advanced functionalities. There is no need to develop them and they can be leveraged right away in order to gain advantage from clients’ perspectives.

Although banks like to boast of their technological innovations, customers expect improvements in quality of service in branches and call center. Banking customers do care what level of service they receive and at what price. 70% of those surveyed by TNS OBOP on behalf of Goldenberry were able to identify at least one area that could be improved.

What would we like to change in banks, if we had a chance? Among those interested in improvement, 75% would like to reduce the cost of services. For others the most important thing is the quality of service provided by employees in branches or call centers, and more convenient online banking.

It is important that the group of customers interested in improvements is so large - says Marta Niemczyk, a partner at a consulting firm Goldenberry. – It means that they are potentially open to take advantage of other, better offers. It is worth noting that more customers expect better service during personal contact with employees in branches or call center than upgrading a bank's online banking.

Customers interested in something more than just the cheapest offer present a target group for banks focused on competing on quality of service rather than on pricing. - The study confirms that although low fees and commissions are still important for customers, there exists significant group who would expect improvements in the quality of services. Banks which manage to convince customers they are offering high quality service and high-grade online banking will benefit, particularly from wealthy customers - says Marta Niemczyk.

Marta adds that quality of service from a customer's perspective depends on the employee who the customer interacts with, as well as on technological solutions that enable banking advisers to provide comprehensive information about the status of client cases, allowing to better address their needs.

The study commissioned by consulting firm Goldenberry was conducted by TNS OBOP in October 2011. Among 1000 respondents 81% declared using banking services.

The spotlight was on Goldenberry recently  as an extensive story about the Company appeared in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article reveals the story behind Goldenberry's foundation in times of crisis and a strategy that distinguishes the company from its competition.

The author quotes Goldenberry partners on how to compete with the major consulting companies:

Article is available on DGP webpage (link).

Career Days took place on March 8th, 2011 in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. Goldenberry’s booth attracted great interest among visitors.

Graduates had the opportunity to learn directly from the company’s partners about what it's like to work at Goldenberry and what are the key ecruitment requirements. Several hundred leaflets and information brochures were distributed. The Company’s booth received many positive comments for its visual design (booth picture).

Goldenberry is offering a unique opportunity for job applicants. All candidates who are following the company’s profile on Twitter or Linkedin are eligible for personalized feedback for their applications, even if the applications are rejected. 

Each feedback  will identify strong and weak points  in the application in areas of education, professional experience and the cover letter.  Improvement tips will also be provided where applicable.

 This opportunity to obtain valuable insights into  the early stages of the recruitment process sets Goldenberry apart from other consulting companies and was met with a very favorable reception from prospect team members.

During 2010, its first year, Goldenberry was working for eight different clients. 75% of revenues came from the clients with no prior relation to any of the firm’s managing partners. Among the executed projects was the first engagement abroad - in Ukraine. The Financial services sector had the highest share of company’s revenues.

The Company plans to employ 7 full-time employees by the end of  2011. Further expansion into the most interesting and innovative sectors of economy, including healthcare, is also planned.

The event marks a significant milestone for a company started in the beginning of 2010, which launched operational activity, in shape of first consulting projects, in May.

The summer was busy for the firm: since May, Goldenberry executed projects for three major banks and one leading energy company.

New office became a must in order to accommodate a growing team. Metropolitan is among the most admired buildings in Warsaw due to brilliance of its architecture and an excellent location, thus it was a natural match for Goldenberry’s values and ambitions.