Nearshoring: from UK to Poland

For more than a decade, we have serviced British organisations that value clarity, accountability, and delivery that stands up to scrutiny. This expectation fits our engineering culture: disciplined execution, strong ownership, and systems built to last.

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Product engineering teams. UK-aligned. Ready in weeks.

We help UK marketplaces, SaaS and digital platforms scale delivery quickly with senior engineers who integrate seamlessly, take ownership, and deliver. 

Gumtree logo on a white background

Scaling made easy

With our 1500+ experts, Helmes Group can provide much more than additional engineering capacity. Two of the areas where we’ve seen a sudden influx of need are AI development and cloud optimisation.

Cloud cost optimisation sprint

Reduce cloud waste and improve reliability with an interdisciplinary team (cloud, DevOps, SRE, engineering). Let’s start with a short sprint to identify savings, fix the biggest issues, and leave you with a practical plan. 

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AI adoption and delivery

If your AI transformation is already underway (or about to start), we help you govern it properly and turn it into shipped value. Helmes has 8+ years of practical AI experience building global scale, business-critical solutions. No hype. Measurable results. 

AI value scan
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Does this sound familiar?

Hiring senior software engineers takes months, especially in the UK. So, if you want to scale a software team, you might find yourself stuck. It´s quite common. But you don’t need more vendors. You need senior engineers who integrate fast, take ownership, and deliver. That’s exactly what we provide.

Team scaling

You need to build teams at scale but do not have the processing power

Skillset

You need niche skills without a long hiring cycle

Project limitations

You have deadline and headcount limitations

Cloud

Cloud bills grow faster than product value

AI roadblocks

AI initiatives stall in PowerPoint

Quality and reliability in nearshoring to Poland

We are your trusted partner for nearshoring services – proven with leading UK companies. 30+ years of delivery experience across consulting, staff augmentation, and managed teams. 

Resources & standards

Poland has one of Europe’s strongest developer ecosystems with:

  • ~600,000 programmers in the market
  • high density of senior engineering talent
  • ~70,000+ students in ICT-related majors

This ensures a lower TCO than UK hiring – without lowering standards. 

EU jurisdiction, strong IP standards, and GDPR-aligned operations also make governance and data protection straightforward. 

Cultural fit & accessibility

  • Strong STEM education
  • High English proficiency support
  • Sharing a time zone
  • Strong work ethics
  • Cultural compatibility

Not to mention easy access with 75 direct routes connecting 13 Polish airports to the 16 UK airports. We can agree meetings for tomorrow!

Some of our favourite projects

Testimonials from Gumtree

Helmes and Gumtree, the no 1 classifieds platform in the UK, began their cooperation in 2022. Reengineering the platform, cloud migration & optimization, and ongoing improvements in reliability have already saved Gumtree millions. View the case-study 

Gumtree logo on a white background
“Helmes turned our business carve-out into a growth opportunity – acting as our trusted advisor and delivery partner. I also value very much working with Tomasz – straight-talking, transparent, and reliable. Even when things get tough, he’s someone you can count on.,”
Mal Minhas​
Chief Product and Technology Officer
“Helmes has been more than just a development partner. ​From the very beginning, they took the time to understand our needs and quickly became a trusted part of our day-to-day operations. Their support during some of our most challenging periods has been invaluable. Whether it was tight deadlines or shifting priorities, they remained flexible, committed, and dependable. Working in a close time zone made things easier, but it’s their dedication and integrity that made the real difference,​” 
Agathe Merat​
 Head of Delivery

Hi, I am Tomasz Cichowicz

I cut my teeth early with brands like Johnson & Johnson and Heinz. Today, I help UK-focused companies deliver digital products reliably. For Helmes, the UK is a home market. Alongside Gumtree, we’ve partnered with Trinny London, Cosworth and several other household names.

Why I enjoy working with British clients

The UK shaped my education, work ethic, and entrepreneurial path and British values strongly influenced how I view life in general.

I studied Software Development and Informatics at Coventry University and lived in the West Midlands for several years — long enough to appreciate life beyond the London bubble.

My first UK job was a classic British start: delivering sandwiches to Big 4 offices in Southampton. From that humble beginning, I built my first business — a software engineering company — and learned how to sell well, deliver well, and keep promises no matter what.

I love British humour: dry, ironic, sometimes gloriously savage. From Benny Hill to Jimmy Carr. And I’ve never really complained about the weather. Tea with milk, however… I’m still working on that part.

I’m in London weekly for client meetings and tech events. Let me know if you’d like to meet face-to-face!

Tomasz Cichowicz - Helmes partner

Why work with Helmes

Over the past 35 years, we’ve been a part of bringing global innovation to many large organizations, especially in Northern and Western Europe. This has been made possible by our unique work methods, ensuring 150% efficiency in delivery and ownership costs compared to traditional software outsourcing models.

More than 500 organizations entrusted us with their digital transformation and software projects, and often rank us as the best external software development partner – proven by the NPS score that is double the industry standard.

What you’d get when working with us:

  • Shortlisted senior profiles within days
  • Engineers ready to start in weeks
  • The flexibility to begin with 1-2 engineers and scale to a full team
  • Delivery model that suits you – embedded (client-led) or fully managed product team
  • AI-augmented delivery practices to increase throughput while maintaining quality 
Our NPS
70+
NPS
Improvement
150%
efficiency
Experience
35+
years
Portfolio
500+
customers
Offices
20
locations
People
1500+
experts

Get in touch

All of our co-operations start with a free consultation where you describe your unique set of challenges, and we help figure out whether we’re the right partner for you. We review all form submissions within 2 working days, often faster. You are also most welcome to contact any of our key people directly.
Tomasz Cichowicz - Helmes partner
Tomasz Cichowicz
Partner of Helmes Poland
tomasz.cichowicz@helmes.com
+48505478892
I’ve worked with nearshoring/outsourcing projects in the UK for more than 10 years – so don’t hesitate to ask for advice. Warsaw is so close: we can agree face-to-face meetings just a day in advance!

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    Tomasz Cichowicz
    Partner of Helmes Poland
    tomasz.cichowicz@helmes.com
    +48505478892
    I’ve worked with nearshoring/outsourcing projects in the UK for more than 10 years – so don’t hesitate to ask for advice. Warsaw is so close: we can agree face-to-face meetings just a day in advance!