Moved your business to the Algarve? How to meet the people who actually matter

Scott Cundill · 2026-09-24 · the Algarve

Most British people who move their working life to the Algarve find the other British people within a month. There are coffee mornings, golf days, expat groups and business breakfasts, all in English, all friendly, and all full of people in exactly the same position as you.

That is the easy half. The hard half is everyone else.

The accountant who will actually return your call, the supplier in Loulé who gives a fair price to someone he knows, the Lisbon firm that could become your biggest client: those people are Portuguese, they do business through people they already trust, and you do not know any of them yet. This guide is about closing that gap.

Why is it so hard to meet Portuguese business people in the Algarve?

Because the two circles rarely overlap, and nobody's job is to join them.

The British community in the Algarve is large, established and very good at welcoming newcomers. Its events are easy to find because they are advertised in English, to people who speak English. The Portuguese business community is just as real, but it runs on existing relationships, family connections and local associations, and very little of it is advertised at all. Nobody is keeping you out. There is simply no front door, because the people inside never needed one.

So a British business owner can spend a year in the Algarve, go to thirty networking events, and meet almost nobody who could introduce them to a Portuguese client. It is not a failure of effort. It is the wrong room.

Does the language matter as much as people say?

For the first conversation, less than you fear. For the relationship, more than you hope.

English is widely spoken in Algarve business, especially anywhere near tourism, property or hospitality. You can open a company, hire an accountant and sign a lease in English with the right people. But the moment the relationship matters, a few words of Portuguese change the temperature of the room. Not fluency. Effort. People remember who bothered.

The practical rule is simple: lead in English if you must, and never assume it is the other person's first choice.

What does Portuguese business actually run on?

Trust, time and who introduced you.

In Portugal, the question underneath almost every first meeting is the same one asked everywhere, only more quietly: who vouches for this person? A cold email from a stranger with a good offer is still a cold email from a stranger. A short message from someone both sides already know opens the door before you have said a word.

Pace matters too. Decisions are often slower than in the UK, relationships are built over lunch rather than over a slide deck, and August is a month in which a great deal simply does not happen. None of this is inefficiency. It is a system in which people prefer to know you before they buy from you, and it rewards anyone patient enough to be known.

What has changed for British people since Brexit?

The paperwork, not the welcome.

Since the start of 2021, British citizens moving to Portugal do so as non EU nationals, with visas and residence permits rather than simple registration. You will need a Portuguese tax number, a NIF, for almost anything, and a company will need a certified accountant, a contabilista certificado. Get proper advice on your own situation, because the rules for residence and tax have moved more than once in recent years.

What has not changed is the relationship between the two countries. It is older than almost any in the world.

Is there really a special relationship between Britain and Portugal?

Yes, and it is written down.

England and Portugal signed an alliance in London in 1373 and sealed it again at Windsor in 1386. It is the oldest alliance in the world still in force. That is history rather than a business plan, but it explains something you will notice quickly: in Portugal, being British is rarely a disadvantage, and often a small head start. What turns that head start into business is still a person.

Is the time difference a problem?

There is no time difference. Mainland Portugal keeps the same clock as the UK all year round, changing on the same dates in spring and autumn. A call between Faro and Manchester is as easy to book as a call between Manchester and Leeds, and London to Faro is a flight of under three hours.

That makes this one of the easiest business corridors in the world to work, once you know who to call.

So how do you actually meet the right people?

Through an introduction, from somebody both sides already trust. That is the whole mechanism, and it is older than any app.

In practice it means three things. First, be specific about who you want to meet. Not "Portuguese businesses", but "a property lawyer in Lagos who works with British buyers", or "a food distributor supplying restaurants between Faro and Tavira". Second, find a person who already has a foot in both circles. Third, let them make the introduction properly, in their own words, to both of you at once, with a reason attached.

A good introduction does not ask anyone for a favour. It tells two people why they should meet, and leaves them to it.

Where the UK Portugal Business Bridge comes in

The UK Portugal Business Bridge exists to do exactly that, and nothing more complicated. It is part of My Most Trusted, a business introduction network where the only way to meet someone is a personal introduction from a person who knows you both.

Each end of the Bridge has a named person who lives there. The Portuguese end is held by Elaine Godley, who meets people in person in the Algarve and online anywhere, and has made well over a hundred introductions on the network. The UK end is being founded now. Nobody is pitched on arrival, no lists are bought or sold, and if an introduction does not make sense, it is not made.

The Bridge is sponsored by Maltix Connect, a UK community for warm introductions built on the same network.

If you have moved your business to the Algarve, or you are thinking about it, the question worth asking is not which networking event to go to next. It is who you want to meet, and who already knows them.