IPBN Dublin Conference at a Glance

Presentations and takeaways all in one place

The IPBN Dublin Members meet Members Conference was full of energy, business diversity, and general enthusiasm considering this was the first time in over two years that the network descended on the big smoke. The event welcomed five top Irish business networks which expanded the wealth of connections beyond the IPBN, which was an exciting addition for individuals and businesses looking to expand their network contacts. Dublin native, Chair of the IPBN Porto branch, and General Manager and founder of Musicmaker and Farmony respectively, John Paul Prior, welcomed guests to the iconic Musicmaker shop to meet, greet, and hear from Portuguese-based IPBN member companies as they shared their insights on what relocating to Portugal entails and how working remotely can best serve you in the Portuguese markets under the theme "Doing Business, Hiring and Living in Portugal."

Pedro Henriques of IPBN company Bridge In's presentation (accessible here) focused on why doing business in Portugal can grow your company, especially if it is one oriented in Tech. Aside from the country's thriving and secure democracy, its strategic location provides access to the European Union, a single market representing 447 million citizens and the second-largest economy in the world. The quality of Portuguese life, its strong English proficiency (Portugal ranks #7 in the English Proficiency Index only behind Anglo- Saxon and Nordic countries), and skilled workforce make the country ripe for business. Pedro followed up with a summary of what Bridge In does to help tech companies find talent like soft landings, payroll services, relocation, and employer of record services, and shared important figures of the total costs of employment in the region, highlighting salaries that can go up to 70K/annually for someone with 2 to 5 years of experience in the sector.  

Teresa Patricio of Teresa Patricio Advogados' presentation underlined the importance of her firm's work in building bridges between problems and solutions for almost 20 years in Portugal. She began by explaining the ins and outs of legal residency and tax residency and how to go about relocating properly to Portugal, telling attendees what they need to know to get the process started. Teresa covered Non-habitual tax residency and aquainted conferencegoers with the national healthcare system, how wills work, and the registrations required so that purchasing a property or setting up a business in the country can go smoothly. Lastly, she took a deep dive into the hiring process in Portugal alongiside a legal obligations checklist that should be followed for employers to avoid penalties or unwarranted fees.

Aidan O’Shea of IPBN member company Otonomee began by telling the story of an Irish company who moved to Portugal, emphasizing the fact that the Portuguese, as Pedro Henriques had mentioned earlier, are very reliable, work hard, and are great with languages. Even though Otonomee is no stranger to finding and retaining talent, finding and retaining customers, protecting customers, and optimizing the customer journey, it was still challenging for the company to expand, and the things they learned along the way, they shared point-by-point with the network in their presentation. Co-founder Hilary O’Shea stated that the number one risk of their business model is hiring the wrong person. Not everyone can work remotely, and their model is purely remote. If an employee doesn’t have the discipline to manage themselves off-site, it can be disastrous, so their vetting process is certainly something we can all learn from. 

Rebecca Nixon from IPBN member company Vendici Properties elaborated on the current market update she gave to the IPBN in this recent interview by saying she has never been so busy with new queries from IRE, US, UK, and others, and now the issue is there is a lack of supply in the Algarve to serve the growing demand. She stressed the prices are increasing and she does not see that changing for some time to come. Bank interests are very low in Portugal, which is why there are more and more people paying cash for their real estate investments to get a better return in the long term. Rebecca continued her presentation by giving an overview of how Vendici serves its clients, the availability of mortgages for Irish residents, and lastly, gave attendees tips on how to find the right agent if they are considering investing in property.

The Q+A session that followed focused mainly on the topic of working remotely, and the answers that followed were certainly well considered. We would like to thank all for their attendance and all presenting entities for the hard work they put in to bring value to the event. Here you can find images of the event if you missed it! We hope to see you all next time in Dublin.