Leading the charge at Brama Hotels
Alex Livesey’s career in hospitality spans more than 25 years, encompassing roles from kitchen porter to managing director. Today, she serves as the managing director of Brama Hotels and the COO of Clockwise, a co-working space brand. Livesey’s journey is as much about adventure as it is about leadership and transformation. Her insights into blending hospitality with co-working spaces, coupled with her experience of building a hotel brand from scratch, offer a fascinating look into the future of these industries.
“I started off as a kitchen porter back in the days as a teenager,” Livesey reflects, explaining how her father’s insistence on finding a proper job led her to hospitality. Originally from East Germany, Livesey underwent a rigorous apprenticeship program in Hamburg before a six-month stint in Ireland turned into a three-and-a-half-year stay. “The Irish are very welcoming,” she says. “In Ireland, I’ve really learned a lot about management and true, genuine hospitality.” This experience laid the groundwork for a career that would take her across Europe and through a variety of leadership roles.
Transitioning to the UK, she took on roles in food and beverage management and later became an area manager for Whitbread, overseeing 18 hotels in central London. The scale of the operation taught her valuable lessons about volume and precision: “If you have 18 hotels in central London, you’re serving in the region of 10,000 breakfasts on a Sunday morning across your teams in three hours. So you know what volume is like.”
In contrast, her time at boutique brands like the Doyle Collection offered insights into personalised service. “If you work for a boutique brand,” Livesey explains, “you really know what it means to make that one customer really, really happy.” This dual experience shaped her approach to leadership, teaching her to appreciate both operational scale and the nuances of individualised guest care.
Leadership as Mentorship
One of the most significant transitions in Livesey’s career was moving from hotel management to area management. “The hardest step is to step away from actually fixing things yourself,” she notes. “Everyone in hospitality loves looking after people, but also loves solving problems.” For Livesey, leadership is about mentoring others, providing a safety net while allowing them to make their own decisions. “Leadership is all about support,” she emphasises, “creating processes that allow people to have a structure, a framework they can operate within.”
Her philosophy is encapsulated in a simple but profound mantra: “If I walk past it, I endorse it.” This ethos of accountability and presence has shaped her relationships with teams and helped cultivate a culture of excellence.
The Birth of Brama Hotels
In 2020, Livesey took on a new challenge—building a hotel brand from scratch. The opportunity arose through her role at Clockwise, where the founders of Bromley Old Town Hall proposed incorporating a boutique hotel alongside co-working spaces. “There’s not a hotelier in this world who wouldn’t know exactly how they would create it,” Livesey says. “Challenge accepted.”
Opening during a pandemic added layers of complexity, but Livesey’s meticulous approach paid off. From selecting hair dryers to testing linens, every detail was scrutinised. “We worked through different linens,” she recalls. “One had a beautiful stitching on it. I took it home and put it about six times through the wash to see whether it was plating.”
Brama Hotels, which opened in May 2023, is a testament to Livesey’s vision of luxury as choice. Guests can check in via phone, specify their preferred milk type, and enjoy bespoke touches in rooms designed with precision. “For me, luxury is the choice of saying, I don’t want to talk to someone, or I like to experience hospitality,” she explains.
The Intersection of Hospitality and Co-Working
Livesey’s dual role as COO of Clockwise and managing director of Brama Hotels gives her a unique perspective on the convergence of hospitality and commercial real estate. “The future of commercial real estate is hospitality,” she asserts. “As an industry, as a society, we want proactive service.”
Clockwise’s ethos, infused with hospitality principles, creates a distinctive co-working experience. “We’ve created a product now that for a lot of people reminds them more of a hotel service,” Livesey says. Staff members at Clockwise sites know their clients by name, celebrate milestones, and even keep treats for regular visitors’ dogs. “They really create a community and a warmth of service that we know from good hospitality.”
Revitalising Bromley Old Town Hall
Brama Hotels is part of a larger project to restore Bromley Old Town Hall, a heritage building that had fallen into disuse. The process involved preserving original features like wood panels and terrazzo flooring while reimagining spaces like the former council chambers and basement cells. “It creates quite an eclectic mix,” Livesey says. “You’re bringing together people from different backgrounds with different needs, but with a commonality of a space and a vision.”
Livesey’s commitment to sustainability played a crucial role in the project. From the outset, she emphasized the importance of environmental responsibility, ensuring that sustainability was woven into the fabric of the hotel’s design and operations.
A Vision for the Future
The success of Brama Hotels and Clockwise has prompted questions about expansion, but Livesey is cautious. “Call it the overcautious German in me,” she quips. “I’d like to really prove it first before I spend somebody else’s money.” While she acknowledges the potential for growth, she remains focused on ensuring that the existing model stands the test of time.
Livesey’s vision extends beyond profits and occupancy rates. Her definition of success includes creating spaces that resonate with communities, foster connections, and set benchmarks for sustainability and service. “I think it really hits the current need and our wants in society,” she says.
Conclusion
Alex Livesey’s career is a masterclass in adaptability, leadership, and innovation. From her early days in East Germany to leading transformative projects in the UK, she has consistently demonstrated an ability to blend operational excellence with a deep understanding of human connection. Whether redefining luxury in a boutique hotel or bringing a hospitality touch to co-working spaces, Livesey’s impact on the industry is profound. As she continues to shape the future of Brama Hotels and Clockwise, one thing is certain: her legacy will be one of creativity, compassion, and uncompromising attention to detail.
