Statistics tend to support those who believe the Poles to be one of the more assimilated ethnic groups in the UK. Most have come to work and statistically they are said to be three times more likely to be law abiding than the average British resident. They have also given religion a timely boost with 134 Polish Catholic churches being packed every week.

Undoubtedly immigration leads to pressure on essential services and it was estimated that increased East European immigration led to an extra 27,000 child benefit applications being approved. There is also concern over the effect that that number of dependants will have on schools, hospitals and other essential services. However on the flip side an extra £1.9 billion a year in income tax and national insurance has been raised from the increase in the migrant working population as well as increased contributions to council tax.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5273356.stm

Examples of the growing Polish community in Britain is all around. Tesco now carries more than 100 different lines of Polish food and says that it is the fastest growing ethnic minority range it has ever launched. Also, Heinz is introducing its own Pudliszki range of tinned food whilst Polish beer such as Tyskie and Lech is selling in greater numbers than ever before in this country.

http://www.utalkmarketing.com/pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=2812

Cooltura, the Polish weekly magazine has grown to 100 pages because of the demand for advertising space and the Evening Herald in Dublin now has a 12-page supplement in Polish every week. In banking, Lloyds TSB offers some new services solely for Polish customers. It has Polish speaking staff in some branches and has signs, brochures and forms available in Polish.

All the banks are realising the value of the ‘Polish pound’ and are making great efforts to try and attract custom as a result. Barclay’s Bank has been providing evening classes aimed at helping staff deal with Poles wanting to open accounts and HSBC has created a new ‘passport account’ which allowed immigrants to open a current account up to three months before arriving in the UK or up to four months afterwards. The bank also intends to open branches in regional cities in Poland such as Wroclaw, Katowice and Poznan, to again make international business easier.

http://www.argostranslations.com/downloads/translation-articles/poles-in-the-uk/

The town of Reading is a useful guide into how Poles are assimilating. There are approximately 10,000 Polish immigrants in the town in what appears to be a settled, stable community. The local paper the Reading Chronicle publishes a Polish edition and there are two Polish shops, a Polish pub and a Polish church as well as special aisles in the supermarkets offering Polish goods. The Berkshire area also has its own Polish website polishcommunity.net.pl which gives information in English and Polish on jobs, services, social activities and accommodation.

Generally in the UK many firms and organisations have made strenuous efforts to include Polish migrant workers. For example the GMB union has made efforts to recruit more Polish workers. Its website advises workers who are leaving Poland of their rights and tries to persuade as many as possible to join the GMB. It has also been sharing information with the famous Polish union Solidarnosc.

For legal advice with Polish language translation contact No win No fee claims lawyers at Winston Solicitors LLP or visit Twitter @claimsconnexion. Polish speaking compensation specialists.