The Origin
The genesis of the Marques Group is exclusively due to the non-conformity, ambition and unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. of two young people. Primitivo Marques and Maria Manuela Marques, a young couple based in the Lisbon area, at the start of their careers and with their family welcoming new members, arrive in the Azores, brought by the same type of random event that marked the destiny of so many other young people during countless generations.
He was a civil engineer, having studied and pursuing a career in that field, and came to São Miguel to perform duties of responsibility at a work site which, even today, still marks the skyline of the coastal area of Ponta Delgada. They arrive at a time of deep changes and challenges, marked by the recent setting up of an autonomous regional political power and by the hope of the Islanders in a new cycle of social and economic development.
The Wish to Win motto, which even today sums up the deep-rooted identity of the Marques Group, is born from the restlessness of this couple and their will to leave their personal footprint in the time and place they live in. They unreservedly embrace their new Azorean identity, exchange the comfort and security of a stable situation for the pleasure of creating something new, do not let the risk of failure impair their ambition to create, choosing to be protagonists instead of mere spectators: and thus a small but daring construction company, Marques, Lda, today designed Marques, SA, is born, establishing itself as one of the reference companies in its sector in the Region and playing a part in the creation of one of the most important business group of the Azores – the Marques Group.
The quick success of Marques, Lda further contributes to nurture the ambition and the eagerness of its founders, stimulating them for new initiatives allowing for the consolidation of the cornerstones of the work they dreamed of. They exhibit a remarkable strategic vision, correctly foreseeing the direction the construction market will take and the nature of the competitive challenges which are still to come and starting an intelligent policy of vertical integration which leads to innovative investments in complementing industrial sectors: extractive industry (quarries for extracting stone for crushing and ornamental rocks), production of concrete and asphalt mixes, metallic structures and set-ups, general mechanics and carpentry.
Unlike other unsuccessful experiences, the non-conformist and entrepreneurial spirit which was at the basis of the Group’s genetic code did not halt, instead demanding the development of competences and management resources that would ensure the development of business in a framework characterised by strictness and responsibility.
In an autonomous manner, without the possibility of benefiting from the experience and synergies with any other external economic group of which it would have been some sort of local delegation, Marques Group also stood out by its pioneering example of the adoption of corporate and organisational structures adjusted to the diversified nature of its activities, by the creation of professional technical and management teams, by the attainment of the most demanding quality certificates and by the introduction of information, planning and control system which, at the time, had no match in the regional context.
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The real estate development business was always present in the founding shareholders’ plans and it was already in the 1980s that the first residential developments were implemented, the complex of single-family homes SICA (32) and the Edifício Pópulo (64 dwellings) in Ponta Delgada. At the turn of the millennium, Marques Group established itself as one of the largest real estate developers in the Region, particularly in the residential segment. The cityscape of various towns in the Azores is indelibly marked by enterprises developed by the Group’s real estate companies, of which the urban settlement Oceanus, in Ponta Delgada, deserves to be highlighted, on account of its iconic nature, having given rise throughout its various stages (one of which is still to be implemented) to a remarkable residential complex with a total of (573 dwellings), distributed over a total area of 13.562 m2.
The need to incorporate in the business portfolio of the Marques Group other activities unrelated to the construction and real estate sectors was always one of the strategic priorities of its direction. Finally, that goal was achieved in 2007 with the acquisition of the distribution group Caetano & Mont’Alverne, which besides other businesses of less significance, owned the network of food stores SOL*MAR and a cash & carry unit, the latter currently operating under the brand RECHEIO.
The current configuration of the Marques Group was completed in 2009 with the acquisition of the Clínica de S. Sebastião, thus deepening the strategy of assets portfolio diversification which was being followed for quite some time.
After almost four decades since they took the first steps in their business adventure, the Founders Primitivo Marques and Manuela Marques are still active in the conduction of business, supported by their Children, some of which have chosen to develop their professional careers within the Group.
Accompanied by various management specialised teams, which coordinate more than 1000 workers in all the companies of the Group, the Founders have under their responsibility 115 million Euro of investment assets under their charge, generating a turnover of 102 million. The Wish to Win inspires all of them on a daily basis.
Such is the legacy of the Founders.
