Why Hatwit chose Luxembourg as its European growth hub

When creating Hatwit International in 2014, co-founders Luminita and Marius Potorac-Roman already knew that their ambitions surpassed the borders of their native Romania. “We initially focused on our local market, but we only had international and corporate accounts and worked on cross-border assignments,” recalls Ms Potorac-Roman.

With a background in law and human resources, she started Hatwit together with her husband to offer executive search services for high-level positions. Hatwit also specialises in leadership advisory in fields such as talent intelligence, leadership assessment, and development and succession planning. Successfully attracting multinational accounts and over 300 mandates in 10 years, the company rapidly expanded to covering neighbouring countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland. Still, the founders and co-CEOs wanted to go further.

Setting their sights on the Benelux countries as well as Austria, Germany and Switzerland, they started to look for the right base for their expansion. Switzerland was high on the list of potential destinations, offering many advantages but with the drawback of not being part of the European Union. Then a new alternative appeared on the horizon: Luxembourg.

Why Luxembourg is a strategic location for European expansion

The connection with Luxembourg came through a trade mission to Romania, where Hatwit was invited to meet key players and learn more about the country that the team knew very little about. “We hadn’t realised before that Luxembourg is so strategically located in the heart of Europe,” says Ms Potorac-Roman. “The geographical aspect was very important to us, as we travel a lot for our assignments. We also needed a place from where we could easily liaise with our new target markets, coordinate our cross-border mandates and access a large talent pool.” 

We found the Luxembourg ecosystem integrated and highly supportive. You can have a direct and constructive dialogue with national institutions.
Luminita Potorac-Roman, Hatwit

Luxembourg stands out internationally for its highly international and multilingual workforce, half of which is made up of cross-border workers from Belgium, France and Germany. The country’s top-level physical infrastructure and digital connectivity were other key arguments. Renowned for its political and economic stability, Luxembourg also offered Hatwit the predictability it needed for business planning and investments. “Forging long-term relationships with our clients and partners is a priority,” Ms Potorac-Roman points out.

The Hatwit team appreciated the discussions with Luxembourg government representatives, the Chamber of Commerce and the national innovation agency Luxinnovation. “We found the Luxembourg ecosystem integrated and highly supportive. You can have a direct and constructive dialogue with national institutions, who are well aligned with each other. To us, it became obvious that this is a strong hub for businesses that want to expand further.”

Growing a business from Luxembourg

The meeting with the Luxembourg delegation in 2024 happened at an opportune moment when Hatwit was in the midst of its scaling-up phase. In early 2025, the company inaugurated its new Luxembourg headquarters. “Right now, we are building our local network, while also working on our European growth,” Ms Potorac-Roman says.

The company has a branch office in Romania, with a second location – set to function as a research hub – underway. Future plans include opening offices in other European countries. “The Chamber of Commerce regularly organises trade missions to countries that we are interested in, such as the Czech Republic. Joining them will help us to further explore the locations where we plan to open branch offices.”

Scaling with technology and AI

In parallel with its international growth plans, Hatwit is also focusing on technology development. “We embedded technology in our work from the very beginning. As artificial intelligence has become critical for business development, we have decided to place AI at the very core of our systems, processes and business operating model,” explains Marius Potorac-Roman. “Without automation and efficient systems, we won’t be able to support our clients in a volatile environment where talent scarcity and organisational transformation require fast decision making and high-quality hiring choices.”

We highly appreciate the support that we receive. Our focus is on growing sustainably and being there for our clients – today, tomorrow and over the long run.
Marius Potorac-Roman, co-founder of Hatwit

He also underlines the need for developing systems for providing clients with reliable predictions regarding leadership trends and needs. The company is discussing the next steps in its digitalisation journey with Luxinnovation. “We highly appreciate the support that we receive. Our focus is on growing sustainably and being there for our clients – today, tomorrow and over the long run.” 

Photo credits: Hatwit