The Comer Group is an international commercial property company, and award-winning developer of luxury homes. It has residential and commercial interests in Germany, Ireland and the UK, and is involved directly from pre-planning all the way through to sales and property management.
Luke and Brian Comer were born in Co Galway in 1957 and 1960 respectively. They were two of eight children in their family. They embarked on their journey into the construction industry in the 1970s when they completed apprenticeships in plastering. They established their own plastering business before moving to London in 1984.
In 2006, they expanded the company to the German market where they purchased residential development sites and commercial premises including shopping centres and office blocks. In 2010, they made what appeared as a bold move by becoming the first major property company to enter the Irish market after the economic downturn.
In a short space of time, they became the market leader in quality rented residential accommodation, receiving praise for the rejuvenation of Palmerstown House Estate. Through their various ventures they are responsible for the employment of more than 350 people worldwide.
What vision/light-bulb moment prompted you to start-up in business? We noticed that we had more skill, greater leadership skills and more productive work ethic than our employers. We saw a gap for entrepreneurs such as ourselves and knew it would make sense to set up in business and be rewarded for our strengths.
What was your "back-to-the-wall" moment and how did you overcome it? The UK recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s was a tough time for developers. We worked our way out of the recession by putting in long hours on our developments, thus ensuring we kept build costs to a minimum. This in turn allowed us to be flexible on our sales prices to ensure sufficient sales revenue was generated.
What moment/deal would you cite as the "game changer" or turning point for the company? We came out of the UK recession of the 1980s and 1990s with all of our assets intact and free from bank finance. During the recession we were able to purchase a massive site for a fraction of its value and we were able to convert that into significant profits. This put us on an excellent standing going forward and we subsequently reinvested these profits and went from strength to strength. The purchase of this site set a benchmark for buying assets at the bottom of the market in Germany and Ireland.
Were there any interesting or unusual circumstances surrounding the inception of the company or its evolution? We were involved in a bad car accident in 1992 and Brian was in a coma for four weeks. On his return to work he concentrated on the sales side of the business and in the coming months was able to drive up sales at a phenomenal rate. He has since maintained a key role in the sales department.
What tips would you give entrepreneurs starting out today? There is no substitute for hard work but you need to ensure you have a clear goal so that you receive a suitable reward for the hard work. No doubt throughout your venture you will experience some knocks, but the important thing is to keep getting up and, with enough hard work and determination, eventually you will always succeed.
