European Business Services: GBS, SSC, ITO, BPO, Nearshoring.
Connecting Europe's Business Services Community
On-the-ground news, market intelligence, and events covering the GBS and business services sector in CEE and the Baltics. Our annual flagship event CEE Business Services Summit & Awards is set for 3-4 March 2027 in Warsaw.
News
-
Awards
Nominations Now Open for CEE GBS Awards – in 18 Categories
Read moreNominations are now open in 18 categories for the 15th annual CEE Business Services Summit & Awards, set for 3–4 March 2027 in Warsaw at the five-star Westin Hotel. GBS Directors can see the Categories and Submit Nominations here. (Deadline to Submit: 19 November) This year, we have added several new categories that extend beyond…
-
Rankings
Newest Global Cities Index report: Warsaw jumps 109 places; CEE strong gains
Read moreOxford Economics released its 2026 Global Cities Index today, 16 September, and the CEE results are unusually positive: Warsaw rose 109 places, while Bratislava and Sofia also made large gains; Prague ranks 51st and is the highest-ranked CEE city. Oxford Economics expects Prague, Warsaw and Tallinn to be among Europe’s stronger economic-growth cities in coming…
-
Exclusive analysis
AI business-solutions drive Swiss Sonova to add talent in Warsaw
Read moreSonova is a Swiss-listed global hearing-care company, headquartered near Zurich, that develops and sells hearing aids, cochlear implants and related audio/hearing solutions under brands including Phonak, Unitron and Advanced Bionics.
Events
-
3
Mar 2027
Warsaw
CEE Business Services Summit & Awards 2027
Two days of keynotes, workshops and candid conversation for Europe’s GBS leaders — closing with the 15th annual CEE Business Services Awards Gala.
-
29
Oct 2026
Riga
Site Selectors Guild: European Conference
Site Selectors Guild (European Conference), 29 October, Riga, Latvia
GBS Director Interviews
Other news
-
Volkswagen — will deep losses mean more focus on GBS centres?
Read moreVolkswagen Group reported (last week) its deepest quarterly loss since Dieselgate: a €5.9bn Q3 operating loss. Management stressed the need to accelerate restructuring. Reuters reported that Volkswagen’s restructuring programme envisages as many as 100,000 job reductions and potentially four German plant closures, while Wolfsburg itself remains €300m short of its cost-reduction target. What’s not clear…
-
ING targets further back-office consolidation as global hubs drive productivity
Read moreOn 29 October, ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk told investors that restructuring includes merging legal entities and consequently “merging back offices into one.” ING’s operates these primary hubs in CEE: ING Hubs Poland and Slovakia/Romania. ING expects around 400 redundancies globally as it restructures Wholesale Banking into Corporate & Institutional Banking. It booked €63m of…
-
IAG GBS continues expanding higher-value finance activities in Poland
Read moreFresh recruitment from International Airlines Group’s Polish GBS includes Treasury Banking Analyst and Record-to-Report Analyst roles. IAG GBS supports the group containing British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, LEVEL and IAG Loyalty.
-
C.H. Robinson says shared-services consolidation will save $300 million
Read moreDuring the last week of October 2026, C.H. Robinson disclosed approximately $300 million of estimated net run-rate cost synergies. Its CEO said “Shared Services Savings” is one of the levers to achieve this ambitious target. Management described the programme as centralizing processes and functions, eliminating duplication and gaining efficiency across a larger enterprise volume. AI…
-
Lexmark Budapest getting more Xerox services after acquistion
Read moreXerox completed its acquisition of Lexmark on 1 July 2025. The transaction was valued at $1.5 billion including net debt and assumed liabilities. Xerox originally targeted more than $200m of cost synergies; at closing it said it expected approximately $240m of transaction-related cost synergies within two years. As part of that initiative, Xerox said it…
-
Biogen Warsaw GBS adds broader international P2P mandate
Read moreBiogen hiring shows its Warsaw GBS Procure-to-Pay operation managing payments not merely for Europe but for ECP affiliates, MART, Latin America, Brazil, US and Canada. The role also includes continuous process improvement and SME responsibilities.
Gallery
In Focus
Awards
Country briefing • 2026
Summary: CEE Business Services Summit & Awards 2026
Set for 3-4 March 2027, at The Westin Warsaw, the Summit & Awards brings together CEE and Baltics Business Services top management.