Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency

Steady growth, resilience, flexibility. As a result of continuous growth over the past twenty years, Hungary became one of the leading international hubs for business services within the Central and Eastern European region, with 156 companies employing 70,446 people.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Hungarian Business Services Sector was able to engage and retain talents and continuously attract new investments. The sector has reached a high level of maturity with resilient and flexible operations in a truly global service landscape, all supported from Hungary.

The most common functions supported by BSCs located in Hungary are finance, accounting and controlling; human resources; information technology; procurement, logistics, supply chain; and customer service. The focus of BSCs in Hungary is gradually shifting from transactional or routine services towards more value-added activities. The majority of the survey respondents provide value-added services out of more than 50 per cent of their complete service portfolio. Furthermore, 78 per cent of the survey respondents are planning to bring more value-added functions to Hungary in the next three years.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, BSCs operating in Hungary continuously have a positive outlook for the future. 63 per cent of respondents expect to widen their service portfolio horizontally, while 51% expect to move up in the value chain in 2021.

Finally, it is important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the operational models of responding BSCs. The hybrid working model has become the new normal, and that is expected to reshape the operations and talent management for the existing as well as new BSCs in Hungary.

All in all, Hungary's business services sector has been able to maintain its competitive edge due to the fact that the country continuously provides a highly skilled workforce, high-standard offices and IT infrastructure, as well as a supportive and stable business environment coupled with excellent quality of life.

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE OF THE YEAR: Diageo
Based on the Business Services Hungary 2021 Survey and the results achieved in recent years, the company receiving the Centre of Excellence award has been continuously expanding its service portfolio, launched various new functions and brought additional high added-value services to Hungary. With its outstanding achievements, the company contributed to the development of the Hungarian BSC sector and increased the employment in the country.

BEST IN EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION: Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley places special emphasis on education in Hungary and has made significant efforts to promote cooperation between the BSC sector and educational institutions in Hungary. The winner has a long-established and constantly expanding collaboration with higher educational institutions and secondary schools throughout the country. Based on these initiatives, they provide various training programs related to business competences and business language skills for students in Hungary.

BSC MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Alex Laffan, Tesco
The BSC Manager of the Year is awarded to executives, who demonstrate professional excellence in their skills, exhibit ethical behaviour towards employees, promote cooperation between sector players and proactively contribute to the business services sector's future development. For this award, we also take into account the extension of headcount and service portfolio of the given BSC. This year's awardee has demonstrated true and innovative leadership and has promoted cooperation with partner organizations and companies working in the BSC sector which made a significant impact on the sector's future.