BEC

With consistent quality, BEC can look back over 27 years of know-how and a vast portfolio of customers in the area of construction and interior refurbishment. The company is committed to a very premium segment, ranging from residential to hotels, and from retail to the corporate market. Its philosophy is based on product quality and customer satisfaction. Over the years, it has developed projects with national and international architecture firms and designers. And it is in the quest to meet the expectations of its most discerning customers that, when it comes to choosing the raw material for each project, BEC pays special attention to detail.  Meticulousness can be found in everything it produces. Between production, administrative and construction management, it employs 65 workers. When it began in 1996, there were only eight people.

The company is committed to a very premium segment, ranging from residential to hotels, and from retail to the corporate market

For the year 2023, BEC anticipates an excellent year, with very interesting projects. «We began the year with a very good portfolio of projects. We are already working on 2024. The challenge will be to manage to produce all of this and maintain the same quality,» reveals Paulo Baptista, founder of the company. BEC has been proving that it is a committed company, confident in its work, and those who seek it out know this. But there is a significant factor involved that has been worrying the company head – the lack of manpower, especially qualified manpower, as «companies have a great challenge ahead of them, to create mechanisms to compensate for this deficit. I confess that I’m quite concerned about our sector in the coming years. I understand that one of the solutions could involve mergers between companies, creating group synergies. However, not only are Portuguese entrepreneurs not very receptive to this, but also our governments do not create tax or other incentives to promote this scenario.»
We also asked Monsieur BEC (yes, Mr BEC, known as such by many in France, where he is already very well-known in the world of architects) about the sector in ten years' time, and his concern is clear: «I am not saying pessimism, that is not the case, but I do have some concerns and questions. However, it is with satisfaction that BEC can announce the construction of its new industrial unit of around 5500 sqm, which will house its new headquarters.»
But how did it all start? After having worked for a company in the construction area, where he worked as technical director, he decided to embark on this adventure, to which he was challenged 27 years ago. And we can say that it was a good choice. The company was created to respond to a market niche that was almost non-existent - interior design. At the time, there was no specialisation in this area.
«Our journey was made over many years, we grew a lot in the retail area, and with the crisis of 2010/ 11, we moved away a little from that area and moved into the residential area. We tried to position ourselves in a medium-high/high segment, which is where we currently operate,» he says.
In the history of BEC, a solid and consistent company, the years have led to the creation of luxury projects in Portugal and abroad. Of which there are several examples... «In 2022, we were involved in the development of the Dior Museum, in Paris. We recently concluded the L’Oréal Museum. We have good relations with the Louis Vuitton group...». BEC attends to the client on many projects with a turnkey philosophy. Other times, it participates in the projects by taking charge of certain specialities or areas. «We have a project at the moment for a hotel group in Brussels, which has challenged us to develop just five suites and the spa». This is BEC’s core business: working in smaller areas, where the level of requirement is higher.

«I think we are in a sector that is not easily subject to crises, it will not go backwards...»

There are several desirable projects that have graced the pages of BEC’s life story. «Two months ago we began a project for the Amorim Luxury group, the JNcQUOI House, a luxury boutique hotel» reveals the businessman.
BEC works largely in partnership with renowned firms, an example of which is the OITOEMPONTO studio, with whom it has enjoyed a business relationship for more than 20 years.
After the La Maison du Caviar restaurant in Paris, also in conjunction with OITOEMPONTO, it recently completed the Caviar Kaspia London project, a members’ club. «The owner challenged OITOEMPONTO to do the project in London and BEC was the company chosen to do part of the work, namely, the carpentry, furniture, marble coverings and paintings.»
BEC is involved in everything that has to do with the interior, from demolition, electrical infrastructure, air conditioning, wood, etc. As for Caviar Kaspia London, «given the quality of the project, this is obviously an excellent calling card, even more so in a market we already know. The first work we did in the UK was in 2009, and since then we have done several works in London.»
While in France it has a branch office, BEC France, where it has a permanent team and a fixed structure; in London, despite the ten projects it has already developed, it tends to mobilise the team. But «the idea is to develop BEC UK a little, whose branch already exists, on a more permanent basis, because it is a market that meets our objectives,» he stresses.
There are several projects underway at the same time for the BEC team. «At the moment we have a residential project under development in London; two residential projects and a luxury boutique in Paris; we are also in the South of France with two luxury residential projects, where we are developing the carpentry and joinery and some marble coverings; we are in Lisbon with three residential projects and the JNcQUOI House. And we are working on a project for Louis Vuitton, in Saint Tropez,» a summary of the year, according to Paulo.
In Monsieur BEC’s eyes, the trend in the world of interiors is growing. «Currently our level of clientele is looking for custom work. I would say that, just like in the car sector, people with financial capabilities don’t just buy a very expensive car, they buy the car and also customise it and are able to spend a very significant amount on that product. In houses it is the same.» More and more, people want exclusive houses. And that demand for exclusivity involves looking for a name/interior design studio. «I think we are in a sector that is not easily subject to crises, it will not go backwards; on the contrary, the level of projects is increasingly demanding, architects are challenged by clients to achieve that exclusivity, whether from the creative point of view, because they have to be very good creative minds, so as not to create identical pieces; whether in the matter of evolving, because they have to be innovative, in the quest for materials, for example, and that innovation is revealed a little bit in the companies that execute it,» he states.
In this way, BEC has also tried to keep up with this evolution by investing heavily in equipment at the industrial unit and in management software. The next stage is the new facilities. It is a gamble, with a lot of responsibility, but Paulo Baptista reiterates: «I am convinced that the difficulties of our sector can be, and should be, overcome through the use of synergies.»