| The IPBN is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland under the ESP Grant programme |
The IPBN isn't just about activities and events. We are constantly working behind the scenes for our members to set up one-on-one meetings and introduce interesting leads that we feel might be interesting to member companies. The IPBN strives to be a touchpoint for recruitment needs, to offer assistance in opening new cross-border offices, and to make the right introductions at the right time.
To illustrate our one-on-one introductions and recruitment assistance, we will highlight several of our recent success stories in 2022. To begin, we invited Rachael Milne of Aspira IT to share her experience and journey in recruiting in Portugal at the IPBN's IT and Tech Talent event in Porto. She spoke about the company's Portugal nearshore concept, which was born out of an IT skill shortage across the Aspira portfolio of clients with demand far outweighing supply.
Next, the IPBN assisted the software development services consultancy Ardanis Technologies in making the transition to Portugal. Ardanis is currently a member of IPBN's close partner Enterprise Ireland who made the introduction to IPBN General Manager Arnold Delville to further help them understand the business and software landscape in Porto. We are thrilled to announce that after this introduction was made, Ardanis formally appointed a Country Manager: their own Head of Technology, André Gravato.
Along the lines of expansion, Skanstec Engineering, led by Managing Director Declan Wynne, has also moved to Portugal after conversations with both Enterprise Ireland and the IPBN! The company has opened an office in Lisbon which Ireland's Ambassador to Portugal, H.E. Ralph Victory, inaugurated during the Enterprise Ireland trade mission in the Spring of 2022. In October, Skanstec was awarded the much sought-after CPD Accredited Employer Standard by Engineers Ireland in recognition of their continuing professional development (CPD) strategy. At the ceremony, Declan Wynne, commented: “The Skanstec team is delighted to achieve the CPD Accredited Employer Standard from Engineers Ireland. Skanstec is a standards-driven business. The culture of our organization is anchored on people striving for excellence and achieving CPD Accreditation is an important milestone for our business.”
An example of the IPBN aiding expansion and recruitment efforts is our involvement in helping IPBN member Otonomee when they decided to go 100% remote. The IPBN helped them recruit talent in Portugal where they have grown substantially with staff in Lisbon, the Algarve, and beyond and into the smaller cities and regions of the country. Furthermore, thanks to an introduction from the IPBN, Otonomee has appointed IPBN member Teresa Patricio and Associates as their legal representation in Portugal as they keep expanding their reach in the country. What's even more exciting, is that Otonomee has submitted its application to become a B Corp-certified Company after a nine-month-long process, in order to help transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.
Another example is the IPBN's work with C-MORE Beyond the Obvious to help the Portuguese company set up a business in Ireland. We were pleased to introduce Co-Founder Carolina Almeida Cruz to some of our Irish members who, in turn, helped her gain some understanding of the business opportunities in Ireland and share their contacts to make the transition seamless.
As the IPBN expands its reach across Portugal and Ireland, we also promote networking events as we grow our current four regions. As we branch out from Lisbon and the Algarve into Dublin and Porto, we held three exciting events in Porto and two fantastic Member-meet-Member events in Dublin.
In Porto, we inaugurated the IPBN's presence in the region in April with the IPBN Porto Conference to support the growing number of Irish and Portuguese companies in this “industrial hub," by assembling an impressive panel of speakers. Thanks to our partner for the conference Global Shares, who opened their second office in Portugal in Porto. Thanks also to our host the Porto Innovation Hub and the City Hall of Porto for helping us make this exciting event possible. We followed up this event with a Member-meet-Member event in July with the support of Invest Porto where we heard pitches from several of our members in the area. Lastly, there was the aforementioned IT and Tech Talent in Portugal event in November, again held at the Porto Innovation Hub, with special guest speaker Pedro Moura, CMO at Landing Jobs and of course, Rachael Milne as previously stated.
In Dublin, the IPBN hosted two events: the first at the MusicMaker shop in June featuring a panel of Portuguese members who shared their expertise and experience on “Doing Business, Hiring, and Living in Portugal," followed by networking with IPBN members and members from other business associations. The second was held at the Portuguese Embassy in Ireland in November with the distinguished presence of the Portuguese Ambassador to Ireland Bernardo Lucena and Luis Reis, Director Ireland Economic and Commercial Counsellor, representing our partner aicep Portugal Global in Ireland respectively.
As our network broadens and becomes rich with new talent, backgrounds, and success stories, the IPBN is working hard to keep the network covered with news updates and announcements to benefit the membership. In order to keep things up to date, we offer a variety of channels to get the latest IPBN news and content from our members. If you have not done so, we invite you to visit our Latest News section of the website, tune into the IPBN Podcast series, and check out our Weekly news Roundup sent directly to your inbox every Friday.
To see more about what the IPBN has achieved this year, read Part One here, which focuses on our Conferences and New Sectors.
| The IPBN is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland under the ESP Grant programme |
