Brave Ideas Season 17, Episode 1
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Occupancy is a fools game
Occupancy is one of the most overused and misunderstood metrics in flex.
In Episode 1 of Season 17, Caleb Parker sits down with Alex Livesey, Fractional MD at Mantle and CEO of Little Red Donkey, for a sharp and practical conversation about what actually drives performance in flexible workspace.
Joining as co-host is Eyal Lasker, CEO of Flexspace AI.
Alex brings a rare combination of operating experience across both hospitality and flex office. Many in the industry will know her from senior roles at Clockwise and Native, as well as her time as Managing Director at Brama Hotels.
Today, she is focused on helping flex businesses improve performance, sharpen operations, and build stronger foundations for growth.
In this episode, Alex explains why occupancy can be a fool’s game if the pricing, customer mix, and margin profile are wrong. She argues that too many operators still optimise for optics instead of economics, filling space at the wrong rates, over-relying on large occupiers, or underwriting deals without properly accounting for supply, product mix, and the realities of micro-location.
The conversation also explores one of the central themes of Season 17, how to build a profitable flex business without getting distracted by vanity metrics, lazy occupancy targets, or enterprise deals that look good on paper but create more risk than value.
Alex also shares how her hospitality background shapes the way she thinks about yield management, booking behaviour, utilisation, and ancillary revenue. From meeting rooms and pricing strategy to member mix and long-term retention, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at what better commercial discipline in flex actually looks like.
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why occupancy can be one of the most misleading metrics in the flex business
How pricing quality and margin should shape operational decision-making
Why supply, product mix, and micro-location need to be built into underwriting
How revenue quality differs from revenue volume
Why meeting rooms and ancillary revenue are often under-managed
What hospitality can teach flex operators about pricing and utilisation
Why enterprise customers are not always the safest or most profitable customers
How people, processes, and systems determine whether a flex platform can truly scale
Key Takeaways for Operators
Alex makes the case that operators should stop treating occupancy as the primary signal of success. A full building at weak pricing, poor customer mix, or high acquisition cost can be less profitable than a lower-occupancy building with stronger rates and healthier margins.
She also argues that operators need to get more sophisticated about ancillary revenue and meeting room performance. These products should not be treated as an afterthought. They should be managed with the same commercial discipline as office inventory, including stronger systems, smarter pricing, and a better understanding of demand by day and time.
The episode also highlights the importance of building operational infrastructure properly. If people, processes, and systems are not designed to support growth, the business stays reactive and struggles to scale efficiently.
Key Takeaways for Real Estate Investors and Landlords
For landlords and investors, this conversation is a reminder that flex underwriting cannot be reduced to a simple breakeven occupancy assumption. Alex explains that pricing power, market supply, suite mix, and location quality all have a direct impact on long-term performance.
She is especially clear on micro-location. A building may look well placed on paper, but still fail commercially if it sits in the wrong part of a district, feels disconnected from the surrounding ecosystem, or lacks the wider placemaking ingredients that today’s occupiers value.
The episode also offers a more sober view of enterprise demand. Large occupiers may look attractive in underwriting decks, but concentration risk, concession packages, and churn can create more downside than many assume. In contrast, diversified smaller occupiers often produce stickier income and a healthier operating environment.
Behind The Scenes
We want to give a special shoutout to Nat and the team at Work.Life, where this episode was recorded, for their brilliant podcast studio and hospitality throughout the season. Tap here to book their podcast studio yourself!
Brave Ideas Season 17
Season 17 of Brave Ideas explores one of the most important questions in office real estate today, how to build a more profitable flex business. Across the season, Caleb Parker speaks with industry leaders about the real commercial drivers behind Space-as-a-Service.
