Pedro Norton de Matos steps back from his guise as a managing director to don the clothes of entrepreneur and become imbued with a new philosophy for life

With the usual friendliness and ­optimism he places in the projects he chooses, Pedro Norton de Matos ­welcomes us in the Wellness Center Gingko, his latest and most challenging project to date. Passionate about nature, Pedro recalls a happy childhood, holidays spent in Ponte de Lima - a destination with strong family ­ties - the aromas of life in the fresh air of the Minho, and running wild in the gardens of the family home in Lumiar.

After attending the Colégio São João de Brito, he began a course in Business ­Management and Organisation at the then recently opened ISCTE. “I had great difficulty in deciding which course to take given my interests in law, psychology and biology.” To these he added football, though this never affected his studies as he was always determined to do both. Pedro even played for ­Benfica juniors. His favourite club has always been Académica, but later he has supported the clubs to which his brother Luís - a well-known trainer - has been connected. And now, after a lifetime at the helm of hi-tech companies, his life has made a u-turn and the project of a lifetime has begun.

“Gingko is a new philosophy of life that approaches the person from a holistic ­perspective - the personal self, the family self, the social self and the professional self - with the aim of ensuring that these dimensions remain in balance with each other as only then can we reach a state of wellbeing,” he says. “Gingko attempts to bridge the gap between the western world, which values reason and logic, and the spiritual side of the Orient. After all, globalisation itself is an attempt to make the most of the best of both worlds.” After several years heading companies in fast-changing sectors, where day-to-day business is increasingly competitive and stressful, Pedro can see that quality of life is slowly worn down and loses its equilibrium. “People need to recognise the need to search for inner balance. Only then can one enjoy a ­better and happier life.”

Health and wellbeing are the cornerstones of Gingko (www.gingko.pt) translated in the brand’s signature, ‘wellness experience’, and tangible in four areas: personal wellness, of which the Wellness Center Gingko is a natural endowment; social ­wellness, through intervention in terms of volunteer work involving underprivileged communities; corporate wellness, with programmes to fit the needs of companies; and travel wellness. “This involves a new ­concept in travel, in which programmes are aimed at small groups that share the same ­interests, breaking away from the traditional and standardised packages made by travel agents,” he explains. Passionate about travelling, the destinations that have most ­impacted upon him include Patagonia, Peru, The Amazon, The Andes and São Tomé e Principe, “especially the island of Principe, which is a veritable feast for the senses, with lush vegetation and nature in all its glory, as well as home to unique bird species.”

While travelling Pedro searches for wellbeing, new horizons, new worlds, new experiences, “I seek inspiration in a work by Aquilino Ribeiro, an author I really like who I discovered when I was 16 or 17. Using the concept behind this book, ‘Village, Land, People and Bugs’ in my travels, I seek out ­remoter, less urban locations.”

There are still many destinations left to explore and the sensation he feels with a map of the world is the same as when he ­enters a bookshop “in that I see all these books and know that even if I dedicated ­myself to ­nothing else, I would never ­manage to read them all.” At the same time, he views the growing uniformity and mass-media influence on cultures and countries with great concern, where often economic interests take over from the needs of the people. A champion of sustainable development, Pedro says that the populations of so-called ­developing countries should have access to basic education and health services, as this will not have a negative effect on the preservation of their values and their roots. “We are no happier for having material wealth,” he ­believes. “On many trips I have made, mainly to Africa, I have seen proof of this is in the smiling faces of children playing with a toy made out of rubbish.”

Africa fascinates him, as it does different people. Despite being unable to recall much from the year he lived with his parents in Mozambique, this part of his life seems to have left an indelible mark. He views the ­former Portuguese colonies with fondness and ­respect, visiting them often - especially Angola, where his great-grandfather, General Norton de Matos, was governor-general twice and who founded the city of Huambo in 1912, later known as New Lisbon. Of ­Portuguese-speaking Africa, he says: “Language is the greatest fatherland” and on his travels, he has felt the fondness he feels fully reciprocated. He says there are strong ties that are only made stronger by our great ambassador in the world: football. “The enthusiasm that these people have for Portuguese football teams is absolutely amazing. The Portuguese football calendar should include an African tour, with a view to cementing ties between the ­different Portuguese speaking nations.”

Having lived five years in Spain, he has learned to respect Spanish culture and the Spanish themselves, with whom he recognises both merits and weaknesses. “One of the great merits is the pride and intensity with which they defend anything ‘made in Spain’, whether it be a product, a service, an athlete or sporting discipline. And here there is a ­paradox as if on the one hand there is a strong dichotomy between the most radical ­autono­­mies and the central government, while on the other whatever involves the ­interests of the nation is an incredibly strong uniting force, as in the case of discussions of Spanish interests in joining the original EEC.”

Pedro believes that the subject of Iberia is unavoidable “as one has to view this reality as an opportunity to reach a larger market and enable business interchanges, especially within the tourism sector where Portugal has complementary and supplementary attribu­tes that could make a difference.” He looks at Portugal before and since it joined the EU and indeed the leap in terms of quality is ­significant on many levels, even if this had not been accompanied by the implementation of measures in vital developmental areas - health, education and justice.

The hurried rhythm of change of the ­society in which we live creates major disparities, leading Norton de Matos to believe that companies have a vital role in terms of social agents. “Overwhelming and constant changes, which have accelerated in recent years, have left former reference points in their wake, while new social, moral and ethical values to replace them have failed to appear. We are ­living through a crisis of values in western ­society, where it is believed that success is ­synonymous with having money which in turn creates a more egocentric society.” He therefore considers the social responsibility of ­companies, whether their vocation or an ­increasingly fashionable concept, “is essential if we are to create a fairer society, in which people are happier...and once again we’re back to wellbeing,” he says with a smile. “Indeed, the Western world lives in a paradox. On the one hand we are facing a general increase in buying power, falling death rates and ­increased life expectancy. On the other we can see that quality of life is on the decrease; money can’t buy happiness after all, and more and more people are suffering from depression, psychological illnesses or dying of ­excessive habits, whether by speed of a car or too many calories. This can only throw up a challenge to society: to try to bring harmony to this whole situation.”

Gingko, or the MyChange consultancy, weren’t created by chance. Ever aware of his surroundings and anticipating future trends, when Pedro chose the business projects in which he wanted to participate he plumped for two that shared one thing in common: the provision of wellbeing, “in individual terms through a change of behavioural habits, as in Gingko; and in terms of organisation, with MyChange. With a process of change the previous balance is lost, the structures get out of sync and you need to look for new equilibrium. Normally the processes of change create opportunities and opens up new horizons and frees positive energies.” Unable to disguise his satisfaction, he admits that “these are the projects of a lifetime,” even though he has other interests that lead him on to new challenges.

With no shortage of energy, Pedro confesses that he wakes up every day with an ­optimistic outlook and ready to face the world. Could it be that he would consider going back to work for a large company? With the conviction he is known for, he says that he wouldn’t swap the pleasure these projects give him for any of his past professions, as each thing has its own time. And anyway, he hasn’t entirely pulled back from the world of business: he sits on the Oracle advisory board, and on the INAPA board of directors, in a non-executive capacity.