Case Study: Alénia Consulting's Establishment in Portugal
Audrey Marques
Consultant in business establishment & company formation in Portugal
Founder of Business Portugal, Audrey supports French-speaking entrepreneurs in setting up their company in Portugal and opening their bank account. She coordinates a network of partners (accountant, tax adviser) and points clients to the right contacts, she is neither an accountant, nor a tax adviser, nor a lawyer.
Many French companies establish themselves successfully in Portugal. Among them is Alénia Consulting, an IT consultancy founded in 2019, specialising in IT production. This support was provided while Audrey was at Joongle; it is published with the agreement of Skander Oueslati.
Thanks to an operating model based on horizontal, collaborative governance, Alénia involves all its employees in its growth, regardless of seniority. Its expertise focuses on three areas: digital transformation, IT application support and training through its Academy.
Establishment in Portugal
With headquarters in Paris and subsidiaries in the UK and Spain (Madrid and Malaga), Alénia Iberia, led by Skander Oueslati, established itself in Portugal in 2023. In less than a year, it recruited around fifty local talents and structured its activity, with the aim of opening a second office in Porto to meet growing demand.
A social and recruitment framework to understand
Portugal offers a social framework that allows for controlled workforce management, with contributions generally lower than in other Western European countries. The national minimum wage is around €920/month in 2026 (an indicative figure, reviewed each year).
The Portuguese state also encourages continuing training. These elements should always be checked at the time of hiring: they change with each budget year.
The value of coordination
Beyond the figures, the lesson of this case is the value of local coordination: identifying the right contacts, securing recruitment, articulating incorporation, banking and accounting. This is precisely Business Portugal's role, not to carry out regulated accounting or tax advice, but to orchestrate and connect you with the right partners.
Portugal is not just a relocation destination: with the right support, establishing there becomes a genuine lever for European growth.
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