North West welcomes 1,500th NES scholar

A fantastic milestone has been achieved with the 1,500th entrepreneur joining NES in the North West.

The 1,500th scholar to enrol on a NES programme in the North West is Greg Allen who is currently taking the evening NES course at MMU Business School. Greg is originally from Ottawa in Canada and runs Gregory Allen Consulting, offering cross cultural management consultancy. He lived and worked as a manager in Poland for over ten years and specialises in outsourcing to Central and Eastern Europe, targeting large multinational companies who are expanding in these areas.

“Many companies are aware of the lower operating costs in the region but are completely unaware of the vast cultural differences that exist,” explains Greg, who has provided training sessions for clients in the UK, Europe, the US and India.

Experience and knowledge

“I’m delighted to be the 1500th scholar,” adds Greg, “I joined NES because I lacked the experience and knowledge to start a business on my own. I have been working through existing management companies so far, but now is the time to set up on my own. My aim is to build a small team of people who are country specialists.”

Capitalising on his expert knowledge, Greg has also written a book for Kuperard Publishing called ‘Poland - Culture Smart!’ – a concise guide which provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behaviour in Poland, and advice on how to develop trust and successful business relationships.

“NES is also giving me knowledge of public relations, marketing and basic accounting, plus I get plenty of motivation from my fellow scholars,” adds Greg. “Once I graduate from the course, I hope to use the NES support funds to set up a website and buy technical equipment.”