It was in Well 22, the flagship building of developer Iko Real Estate, that we met and for a historic moment in the life of a company: the handover of the company’s management. After 30 years at the helm of Iko Real Estate, the highly committed entrepreneur Éric Lux has decided to hand over the management of his family business to Sandra Huber, who joined Iko in 2019 and is currently chief development officer.

Céline Coubray: Why have you chosen to hand over the reins now?

Éric Lux (ÉL): In a world that is constantly changing, you have to be able to question yourself, make the hierarchy evolve and make room for young people. I see this evolution as a positive change.

But you could have gone on for a few more years, you’re not at retirement age…

ÉL: Yes, I’m 57 and in good health. I’m even healthier than I was a few years ago, I think [he laughs]. But I’m also aware that the older you get, the greater the risk. And when you’re a company director, you have to think about the company’s long-term future.

Have you been thinking about this succession for a long time?

ÉL: From the age of 30, I set myself the goal of preparing to pass on my business at 50. So this is not a new thought. I started this exercise when I was 48, but it took me nine years to finalise it. It didn’t happen overnight or on a whim. It’s obviously a difficult stage, all the more so when it’s a family business [the company was founded by Éric Lux’s father in 1989, editor’s note] and you ask yourself a lot of questions. We experiment, sometimes badly, and we take the time to discuss it. But once the idea came, I went with it.

What were the obstacles?

ÉL: There were various reasons. First of all, we had to put in place a structure that would allow this transition to take place, and prepare the framework so that it could take place under the right conditions. We didn’t get it right the first time. And then there was a personal journey too. Iko is a huge part of my life; it has often been my priority. At times, I’ve even given more to the company than to my family, unfortunately. I had been warned, but that didn't stop me from making this mistake. So I made the transition carefully. I talked a lot to other people and read a lot. I’ve tried to hand over the reins before, but I didn’t succeed. I know people used to say that I’d never give up, but now I’m ready. It’s a question of trust.

Sandra, you arrived at Iko in 2019, so it wasn’t that long ago.

Sandra Huber (SH): Indeed, I joined Iko to steer the Rout Lens project in Esch-sur-Alzette and establish a vision. When I joined the team, there had already been negotiations to acquire the land. The idea was to make the project more concrete, with the development of a master plan, the implementation of a PAP [special development plan, or plan d’aménagement particulier].

ÉL: It’s very interesting because, when Sandra arrived, we had already done all the preparatory work. We had the right concept back in 2017, but we hadn’t managed to transpose it. It was Sandra who opened my eyes to that. She came to see me one day and told me we’d have to throw the whole thing out. After a year’s work, it was a shock, I can’t deny it. But she wasn’t afraid to contradict me, she knew how to convince me and it was the right thing to do. That’s a quality I really appreciate in her: she dares to say things, and doesn’t let a project develop in the wrong direction. She starts the debate, because she has a conviction, and defends it. And that’s very healthy.

SH: For my part, I remember an anecdote from when I first arrived. We were visiting the Arboria project in Differdange and noticed that some of the trees were in poor condition. Éric noticed straight away and immediately asked for them to be replaced. He was told that it was out of his hands, as it now belonged to the co-ownership. But he didn’t want anything to do with it and insisted that the trees be replaced, because it was a programme that he had delivered and it had to last over time. Previously, I had worked for public and semi-public developers and, by moving to a private company, I was afraid of taking away this general interest. But observing Éric’s sense of responsibility and commitment reassured me a lot and reinforced my choice.

And you, Éric, what values do you appreciate in Sandra?

ÉL: She fully shares the Iko values of excellence, innovation, responsibility and commitment. And there’s another value that Sandra also has, which is humanity. She’s an excellent manager. She’s tough, she’s an “Iron Lady,” but she has a big heart and enormous empathy for people. And those are very important values to me. Because as a boss, you’re there for your employees in good times and bad. That’s part of the relationship.

Has it been easy to project yourself into the role of CEO?

SH: Easy? No. It wasn’t easy enough for me to imagine my place at Iko when I first arrived, so to become CEO... But I’ve been here for six years now and my role has changed a lot. I arrived as project manager for the major development projects, and then I took on more responsibilities as I went along. I joined the management committee in 2022. My scope has broadened by addition and above all thanks to the support of the teams. The remarkable thing is that we have experts who are very committed to their work. Obviously, I’m not an expert on every subject. But I do have a very professional team, on whom I can really rely. What they need from me is not so much expertise as managerial support, guidance and an overall vision. I provide them with guidance.

What’s your vision of Iko?

SH: It’s a company that has become much more structured in recent years. I always used to joke that, when I arrived, Iko was a craftsman. Today, we have a volume of business that is no longer craft. We’re managing 20 projects simultaneously, which means we need specialised teams and a different way of organising ourselves. The challenge is to retain our original vision, values and quality, whilst optimising the way we work.

Do you have ambitions to grow even further?

SH: I think we've reached a sufficient size for Luxembourg. Today, we have almost 40 employees working in Luxembourg, plus a few people who work for the group, managing the holding company or other investments. At the moment, we have 250,000m2 of development in the pipeline and the size of our team allows us to envisage this challenge.

Iko is also present in Slovakia and Korea. Are there any interactions with Luxembourg?

ÉL: These are separate companies, with independent local management. In Slovakia, Iko has become a major player, one of the biggest in the country itself. The interaction consists mainly of a one-off transfer of skills. Sandra was on the jury for one of their projects, for example. On other points, they have more developed expertise, such as residential sales. But generally speaking, the teams in place work very well independently. As for Korea, we still have a small office there, but we mainly make investments in Korean pension funds.

This reinforces our belief that when you present the right products, in the right locations, built by a healthy company, buyers respond.

Sandra Huber, incoming CEO, Iko Real Estate

Doesn’t it scare you to take over the management of Iko in the current market context?

SH: I never knew Luxembourg’s golden age. I used to work in France, in a context that was already difficult. And since I arrived in Luxembourg, we’ve had nothing but crises: covid, Ukraine, the rising costs of materials, now the slowdown in sales... It hasn’t exactly been a relaxing six years! So, obviously, I’m hoping for a recovery. We’re doing everything we can to get through this crisis, but I think we’re doing pretty well. A case in point is the Livvy residential project in Howald, which we put on the market in December and which has already reached 50% take-up.

This reinforces our belief that when you present the right products, in the right locations, built by a healthy company, buyers respond. But it’s true that we have to work even harder than before to achieve this. That’s where the commitment of our teams is really important. And at Iko, we have particularly committed teams. When we’re faced with a problem, we get around the table, think about it, discuss it and come up with solutions.

The crisis is forcing us to rethink a whole range of practices, to renegotiate many things, but we are also learning from this period. We have reviewed our product range, reworked our design standards, reviewed our methodology for consulting companies and our marketing approach, and digitalised many of our actions. For Rout Lëns, we could have stopped the project 10 times. But we always held firm. And our partners know it. When we submit a permit, we see it through to the end.

So it’s in a climate of confidence that you’re taking over the reins of the company?

SH: Yes, at least I hope so. We don’t know what the future will bring, but I do know that real estate remains a necessity. We will always need buildings to live in, to work in... It’s up to us to adapt our ways of working, to adjust to market constraints, to find solutions, to be creative and inventive. But we can’t do it alone. That’s why we have initiated a number of associations, such as the developers’ section of the real estate chamber, for which Éric Lux has been very active. I’m also a great believer in dialogue and exchange with the public sector, colleagues, businesses... We need to find the right partners, the right players and be transparent with each other, understanding each other’s constraints.

ÉL: It is in our general interest that Luxembourg develops. The exchange of information, transparency, supporting the market... everyone wins.

SH: I can even illustrate this very concretely: on the theme of re-use, Iko can be a forerunner on this subject, but if tomorrow there isn’t an industry in place, we won’t be able to implement it. So we need to look for support from the public, research institutes, businesses and developers. Only if there is a common movement will we succeed in changing the situation. It’s not “us against the rest of the world.” We are part of an ecosystem.

Sandra is the right person for the future of Iko.

Eric Lux, outgoing CEO, Iko Real Estate

Does it reassure you to hear such a stance from Sandra?

ÉL: I’ve known Sandra for a few years now, so this isn’t a discovery. But yes, I’m reassured and I think Sandra is the right person for Iko’s future.

SH: When I arrived, Éric was quick to say to me: “I think you’re impertinent.” I was taken aback by that, but it’s true that I’ve always enjoyed debate. I have this spirit of contradiction and I like being able to discuss ideas. We interacted a lot like that, and I think these discussions enriched the projects. It also made it possible to clarify everyone’s expectations, to reposition ideas when necessary, to change the way things were seen.

Do you confirm?

ÉL: When you spend a long time in the same microcosm, you lose sight of certain things. I’ve made mistakes along the way, I can admit that. I didn’t appreciate the Gare district, for example. Today, I really wonder how I could have been so stupid as not to see its potential. So we reacted and changed our position. We developed . But I have to admit that I needed a kick up the backside to see it. So confrontation can be positive.

SH: I like this relationship where we can really say things to each other, and I’ve always been able to express my opinions at Iko. But I’m also a good listener and I get a lot of feedback. It helps me to grow. This exchange really feeds both parties. And this spirit also spreads within the teams.

Once the handover is complete, what are you going to do?

ÉL:  I’ll be there if Sandra needs me and I still have a role to play in the company, as I’ll be on the board of directors. I will also continue to look after our other investments. But I’m still going to take a step back. I think it’s going to be difficult for me at first, because I’m not used to it. But I can tell you that I’m not worried about managing the business and the teams with Sandra at the helm. I’m totally comfortable with that.

SH: For my part, Éric was never intrusive. I really experienced it as an apprenticeship; he was like a mentor. I’ve never learned as much as I have since I’ve been at Iko. I’m a very curious person and I have to be constantly fed. What I like about Éric is that, when you think you’ve reached the end of a process, you haven’t and he pushes you even further, whilst leaving you room to develop further. And I’ve learned a lot from him, both professionally and about myself. So it’s a constant learning curve. And that’s what I love and I’m going to continue to do that with the teams, the board and the market.

This article was originally published in .