Sources: aicep Portugal Global

The space, located at Sonae’s headquarters, is dedicated to education and training and it has been named ‘Belmiro de Azevedo Learning Centre’. It includes the renamed ‘Belmiro de Azevedo Auditorium’ with 500 square meters in total, with knowledge as its goal.

It is a tribute to the entrepreneur, which includes a statue by Bernd Stöcker. It aims at reinforcing Sonae’s values and stress Belmiro de Azevedo’s concern with education, throughout his life.

Sonae has decided to pay tribute to Belmiro de Azevedo by giving his name to the space dedicated to education and training at Sonae Campus, the group’s headquarters in Maia. The renamed ‘Belmiro de Azevedo Learning Centre’ also includes the ‘Belmiro de Azevedo Auditorium’, in a total area of 500 square meters and 300 seats, for personal and professional development of all employees of the group’s companies. The goal is to pay tribute to the entrepreneur’s legacy as Sonae’s leader and stress the values and guidelines he brought to the company, which still play a central part in its DNA.

Education and training were always a concern for Belmiro de Azevedo, who insisted in fostering human investment, providing employees with access to the best management schools, both nationally and internationally, as well as the creation of an internal school that still serves the group’s more than 50 thousand employees. As a consequence of this long-term commitment, every year, Sonae provides its employees with more than one million hours of training.
To foster and perpetuate these values within Sonae companies, ensuring that they are transmitted to future generations of employees, there is now a statue of the entrepreneur at Sonae Campus’ entrance. The work of art was inspired by a photograph that shows Belmiro on the first days of his career at Efanor’s laminate factory, now a part of Sonae Indústria, pointing at the future with energy and confidence.

Belmiro de Azevedo’s concern went over Sonae’s borders and contributed to the creation of a think tank dedicated to education, and to the development of Colégio Efanor, nowadays a leader of the Portuguese school ranking.