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The new Brasilian - why are we swapping the heat of the tropics for the cold of London?

Community | Individuals that were once dispersed across different Brasilian states are slowly grouping together in different areas of London. They came over in order to fulfill a personal dream, but circumstances have drawn them all together. The result of this synergy is a “Brasilian community”, of which Abras is just one example; at least another ten Brasilian organisations have sprung up over the past few years. Brasilians have changed the face of the British capital. Brent, in North-West London, has been transformed; shop owners and locals make a point of placing yellow and green flags on notice boards and in windows. The number of Brasilian and Portuguese residents has meant that Portuguese is the second-most spoken language in the area.

Mellinger confirmed that Brent holds a concentration of the Brasilian community, with 30,000 immigrants living there. Once more, however, absolute precision is impossible. Local authorities don’t have any figures on the number of Brasilians in the area as the majority don’t fill in census forms for fear of being traced by the authorities.

Some people suspect that the large amount of Portuguese immigrants already living in the area initially attracted Brasilians to Brent. Others say that it was the “low” living costs. The region’s main tube line has lovingly been renamed “Central Station”, and local libraries now stock books by Brasilian authors.

“It’s almost impossible not to notice the large amount of Brasilian-run businesses popping up all over Harlesden and Willesden. Many proudly display their national colours. They’ve become an important part of Brent”, explains Samuel Caldbeck, manager of the council’s Town Centre Regeneration department.

Contact between Brasilians has also been profitable. The Portuguese Speakers Business Association (PSBA) - created in July last year - is comprised of 25 Brasilian entrepreneurs and 5 Portuguese ones. The founder and president, Silvio Domingos, comments: “in less than two months we organised the first Brasilian community festival in London. We received £12,000 from Brent Council to organise Brazilian Day. Shop owners got to promote their products to other communities living in the city. It was a real moment of integration between Brasilians and their neighbours”.

43 year old LuĂ­z Mateus da Costa is a member of the organisation. He found that emigrating from Brasil was the way to improve his life, now running a restaurant-cafe, a clothes store and supermarket, and importing Brasilian products.

Costa discovered the “economic potential of Brasilian homesickness”. Rice, beans and pão-de-queijo dough are the stalwarts of his business. This year he’s already imported over £500,000 worth of goods, the majority being distributed to Brasilian shop owners across the city. Luíz arrived in 2002 as a tourist and lived over here illegally for three years. Two years ago he got married to a woman of Italian decent and sorted out his legal situation.“My dream is to save up enough money to enjoy my old age in Brasil”.

Economist Luciana Hindley, owner of ASC Accounts, has witnessed the constant growth of Brasilian businesses, not only in Willesden and Harlesden, but across London and the rest of the UK. “I open on average 50 businesses per year. The stability of the British economy is a major attraction”.

She reveals that the Brasilian market generates on average £4 million per year. “I have clients who generate £500,000 per year”. According to The Economist, tax evasion by self-employed Brasilians working without a license is a cause of concern for the British government: “they offer their services in newspapers and magazines and don’t pay much attention to legal
aspects”, she explains.

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