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ENTREVISTA / INTERVIEW
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61 | OUT./DEZ.
The resilience of a businessman
By Miguel Vicente - Manager of VICENTE & VICENTE
Portuguese Lighting: How do you describe Vicente & Vicente?
Miguel Vicente: With 17 years of experience, Vicente & Vicente emerges from the fusion of design and manual art in the production of lampshades. Combining artisanal work with the latest technology, we develop unique and completely tailored architectural and decoration projects
PL: With so many years of
experience in the sector
how do you think it has
evolved and what are
the main difficulties
that this sector has
faced over time?
MV: Over the years,
Vicente & Vicente has
adopted a modern and
competitive posture in
terms of technological
resources. In order to adjust
to the trends, we expanded our
production to lighting pieces in 100% copper-plated iron, that is, what was the “base” of our lampshades also becomes a lighting and decoration piece.
With regard to the main difficulties, economic crises and the lack of national raw materials are the focus of our problems, we try daily to find solutions and we reinvent ourselves to fulfill our mission.
PL: What is the impact of COVID-19 on the normal activity of Vicente & Vicente?
MV: We suffered a drop of around 70% in sales.
PL: What was the biggest difficulty
during the confinement period?
MV: When the confinement
was declared, orders and
projects began to be
canceled. I confess
that I realized,
right a way, that
the impact
would be
catastrophic.
Still, and to
try to solve the
problem in
some way, we
kept the company
open in the expec-
tation that something
good could come up.
"... has adopted a modern and competitive posture in terms of technological resources.."