A PROJECT born in Guernsey is set to have a major impact on central Europe. A 6m. sq ft business and logistics plant is being developed in the Piotrkow Trybunalski region of Poland.

Chartered building surveyor David Brittain has retired from the Guernsey-based Brittain Hadley Partnership, which he founded in 1988, to concentrate on the project.

‘There is an ability in Guernsey to deal with projects of size,’ he said.

‘Also, with the finance industry, there is a way of accessing the right people to help that might not have been possible elsewhere. Had I not been in Guernsey, it would have been much more difficult.’

He went to Poland first in 1993 and started working in a practice there by the end of 1994.

‘We started trading with Britt-Plan in 1996 and looked after a few jobs in Poland.

‘Times were very difficult and it was hard to get into the market,’ he said.

In 1999 a colleague introduced him to a relative who owned land in Piotrkow Trybunalski.

The area is at the centre of Poland. It is close to major routes and a proposed motorway that, in the next 10 years, should run the width of the country from east to west.

‘When I was working in Guernsey I had been dealing with the refurbishment of Ansbacher and met the head of property,’ he said.

‘I managed to persuade them to have a look at the site and they saw the potential and provided the funding to Poland Central to rezone the land.’

Brittain Hadley’s architect prepared the plan for the site that gained final approval in December.

The buildings will cover the equivalent of 80 football pitches.

‘We are now applying for a building permit. In this case we need one for the site access and infrastructure and another for the first building to be erected,’ said Mr Brittain.

‘That will be 475,000sq. ft and the design team started work in January. We will apply for the permit in May.’

Before the launch of the scheme there were enquiries for more than 2m.sq ft of space and Mr Brittain hoped building on the £150m. scheme would start in July.

He has been spending 20 days a month in Poland and decided to step down as director of Brittain Hadley to concentrate on the job there.

‘It is the right time to go out there,’ he said.

Poland is developing and joins the European Union on 1 May.

‘I think it’s got a long way to go. It’s like Britain in the 50s trying to get to 2000 in 10 years, but I think they’ll get pretty close to it.’