Case study: The Entrepreneur
Cristian Macsim is co-owner of 32 Old Bailey, the only Romanian restaurant in the heart of London’s city district.
His restaurant opened two years ago and he says business has been good.
But despite an increase in Romanians coming to visit and live in the country, EU accession is yet to make a positive impact on his current business.
Cristian said: “People don’t have the money to spend on entertainment now because they have to help relatives who are coming and the ones that are coming over don’t have money for entertainment.”
He is confident the situation will change as people begin to find work, but his entrepreneurial prowess is now leading him to find ways to capitalise of Romania’s new-found member state status.
Although he and his large family have been settled in the UK for 15 years he is now watching future business opportunities in Romania closely: “This is last train for those who want to go back to Romania and do something… nothing will come in the future as big as this.
“At the moment most of the guys I know have been here 15 years and they’ve built up a bit of financial stability and they want to go back to start again. ..It’s an opportunity.”
Cristian has managed business interests in Romania from the UK over the past few years; he owns a motel on the Danube delta and he used to own a shoe factory.
He says he made a loss on the factory because 90% of his employees left to work for foreign firms that have invested in the same region.
But he’s serious about business and is now keen to take a chance on the Romanian tourism industry.
“I’m thinking about going back in the next 2 or 3 years, because I’m building this business and I hope everything is going to go according to plan…I want to go back.”
