DUBAI-BASED CRESCO Holdings Ltd. has picked Cebu as its first expansion zone in the Philippines because of the province’s large pool of qualified talents.
The company is eyeing to hire an initial batch of certified public accountants (CPA) during the first year of its operations and plans to gradually explore other markets as they move forward.
“When plans to expand in Asia came about, Cebu was first on the list. CRESCO wanted to tap the highly educated, English-speaking, and proven talent pool of Cebu,” said CRESCO president Maricar Gonzaga.
Established in 2010, the CRESCO Group offers companies with accounting, compliance, process design, and legal counseling services.
Last Thursday, the group unveiled its first office in the Philippines in the Mabuhay Tower in Cebu IT Park.
CRESCO Shared Services Inc. (Cebu) will be offering companies offshore support services like customer support, finance, and accounting.
Gonzaga said the Cebu office will work in cooperation with other offices of CRESCO in other parts of the world.
“We have a deep technical bench under one roof. The team we offer to our clients will be working as if they’re part of the clients’ organization. When you choose CRESCO, you don’t just hire an accountant but instead you hire the whole team,” said Gonzaga.
CRESCO Holding managing director Michael Waechter said Cebu’s abundant supply of professionals was a major consideration for their expansion in the Philippines.
Waechter said they are looking for employees who will be dedicated to their jobs and they believe Cebuanos have the right attitude.
By next year, Waechter said, they aim to operate 24/7 with the addition of new hires. At present, the Cebu office employs six professionals.
Besides having good tertiary education facilities, Cebu’s better quality of life and work environment compared to that in Manila was another factor that persuaded them, company executives said.
The company also plans to bring its legal services here, as well as its cloud solutions services.
“Our global expansion will begin in Cebu,” said Willem Smit of CRESCO Legal.
The Statistics Portal has pointed out that the global management consulting market reached US$133 billion in 2016 and was projected to hit US$139 billion in the year after that. (KOC)