The Chairman of one of Northern Ireland's leading hospitality groups has recalled how a chance encounter aged 12 led him to owning his first hotel.

Eugene McKeever MBE, Chair of the McKeever Hotel Group was speaking as the group marked their 30th anniversary of taking ownership of Corrs Corner and announced an investment of £320,000 in the venue over the next year.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Eugene recalled his love for the venue which launched his hospitality portfolio.

"When I started working at Corr's Corner in 1966, it was just a bar and restaurant," he said. "I started when I was 12 years old and I got the job because I was working across the road with my brother weeding out a field that was going to be turned into roses.

"John Corr, who owned it at that time came across and gave us sandwiches and said if we were ever looking for a job then to come across and talk to him.

"We both did and we both started working in Corr's Corner when I was 12 and Gerry was 11. I then left school when I was 15 and went to do my catering exams.

"I became Head Chef in 1974 and stayed until 1986 when I left to start my own business. That was a 40 seater restaurant in Randalstown which I started with my wife Catherine who was a teacher.

"We started with one full time member of staff, a couple of part-timers and ourselves. It started growing and growing and my brother and I then bought the Wild Duck in Portglenone between us. In 1993 I sold my portion to him and had the opportunity to buy Corr's Corner."

When Eugene bought Corr's Corner it was a bar and restaurant which had been in the Corr family since 1919. In 1997, Eugene took the decision to add 30 bedrooms to the site and it subsequently became the Corr's Corner Hotel.

"From 1997 it became a hotel and I became a Hotelier," he said. "From that we have been building it up ever since and in 1999 we bought the Dunsilly Bar, which is where the Dunsilly Hotel sits now.

"I was getting planning permission to build a hotel there when the opportunity came up to buy the Balmoral Hotel in 2001. We eventually built the Dunsilly Hotel which opened in 2005 and in the same year we subsequently sold the Balmoral.

"After that, we added another 38 bedrooms onto Corr's Corner alongside a function room between 2008 and 2009 which is essentially what Corr's Corner is today.

"When the recession hit it knocked us back a bit but in 2010 I bought the Adair Arms in Ballymena and in 2014 we expanded by buying Dillons Hotel in Letterkenny then in 2017 we bought the Dunadry in Templepatrick."

Reflecting on the history of Corr's Corner, Eugene paid tribute to the Corr family and said that it was a privilege to get the opportunity to buy the hotel.

"John Corr was very good to me in that respect and he gave me time to think it over and offered it to me at a favorable price. I had worked with him for so long and I think he liked the idea of somebody who he knew well coming in to take the ownership of it.

"That was a big moment because Corr's Corner in those days was very well known. It was a landmark and it was great for myself to get the chance to take the reins. To this day, I remain passionate about Corr's Corner.

"I think that the sheer consistency of what we do every single week keeps people coming back. Since 1974 until now, we have only had three head chefs including myself.

"Gerard Maskey took over from me and Jason Gault took over from him. There has also only been four managers since 1966 and a lot of the staff have been here for more than 20 years.

"There is a lot of consistency with what we do and we do things as it says on the tin. I will admit that putting on the bedrooms was a fear at the time because I was scared that I might change the thought of Corr's Corner in people's minds but thankfully we didn't."

As part of their investment in the hotel, the group plan to upgrade the function and event space while boosting the hotel's sustainability with the installation of solar panels. Looking ahead to the future of the hotel, Eugene said that sustainability will be at the forefront.

"As we continue to grow, I hope that we can keep the business within the family if at all possible," he continued. "John Corr's family ran it from 1919 when his father opened the bar and restaurant.

"When they were developing the Corr's Corner roundabout, the building was actually in the middle of it and so they had to move to where we are today.

"My son Eddie is now our Managing Director and our daughter Bridgene is Head of Marketing. I hope that they will be running it until their time is up then it continues in the family after that.

"Most importantly I would like to thank all of the staff who have worked with us over the years to make the business so successful and the local community and our customers who have supported us for generations".