May June 2020 Marina World

NEWS FOCUS: LINDLEY GROUP
90 years for Grupo Lindley
From paper importers to internationally renowned marine equipment suppliers, the Lindley group of companies (Grupo
Lindley) has climbed high. The company celebrated its 90th anniversary in April.
The company’s origins date back to
1930, when Rudolf Ahlers and Antonio
Lindley – with £400 in their pockets –
established Ahlers Lindley in Lisbon,
Portugal as an English paper importer
and distributor. Despite Ahlers’ death in
1933, the company grew successfully
over the next two decades and acquired
Tuella Tin Mines in the north of Portugal.
The company developed several
other mining interests in the pre-war
years in support of the allied war effort,
by supplying raw materials from neutral
Portugal, particularly tin and tungsten.
After the Second World War, trading
activity again diversified to include
machinery, metals and chemical raw
materials. In 1956, Ahlers Lindley
began supplying harbour equipment;
it supplied two steam cranes to the
Portuguese naval base, Arsenal do
Alfeite – one of which still exists today.
During the 1960s, the mines were
closed or sold off and the business
returned to concentrating on importing
high quality paper, along with
machinery and metals, chemical raw
materials and plastics.
In 1966, the second generation
Above: Lindley employees at group
headquarters in Cascais. Right: Marina da
Gloria in Rio de Janeiro was installed with
a new Lindley pontoon system in time for
the 2016 Olympic Games.
Lindleys took over management from
Lindley’s widow and a period of rapid
expansion followed, resulting in the
building and purchase of premises in
Cacém and Porto. In 1981, the group
purchased its current headquarters,
Edifício Mical, in Cascais. The site,
established in 1951, had previously
been a large mining and crushing plant
belonging to Mical, Mecanica Industrial
de Cascais. The addition of Mical to
the group pushed the total number of
employees to more than 200.
In response to the recession of the
early 1980s, the group reorganised
and divided into several companies
that allowed them to specialise in their
respective markets. By the 1990s the
group comprised: Almovi, a supplier
of mechanical handling equipment
and hydraulic platforms; Almec,
supplying industrial compressed air
and sandblasting equipment; Alchema,
supplying industrial chemicals and
plastics; Florestal, focused on forestry
and wood processing equipment; Alma,
providing platform and scaffolding
hire; and Lindley, supplying floating
equipment for marinas and harbours.
This period, as the third Lindley
generation joined the business, also
saw growth. Firstly in the mechanical
handling area through Almovi, which
distributed major brands such as Grove
and Demag cranes, Simon platforms
and Marine Travelift. Secondly, through
Lindley, with its own brands in marinas
and marine aids to navigation.
From 2000 onwards, the business
began to consolidate, largely in
the marine business area. Almovi
strengthened its position as a supplier
of harbour and industrial handling
equipment, while expanding its
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