Meeting Workspace's (now former) CEO: Lee and the IC

For their latest company interview, Lord Lee and Alex Newman sit down with Lawrence Hutchings, who joined Workspace as CEO in November 2024.That conversation, which was taped on 9 January, was to be one of Hutchings' last in the role. Ten days after the recording, and amid mounting activist pressure from shareholder Saba Capital, Workspace abruptly announced Hutchings would be replaced as CEO by Charlie Green, co-founder of the Office Group.Despite this, we are publishing the conversation below, together with some of John's initial thoughts. Commenting on his own appointment, Green said "the strategy in place is clear and provides the right platform to rebuild occupancy and drive income growth over time." Presumably that means a degree of continuity.Let us know your thoughts on the move, or if you have any questions or any suggestions for future guests, by emailing [email protected] to more podcasts from Investors’ Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTubeTimestamps0:09 Intro5:52 Background on Workspace11:45 Short term rental market16:06 Creative industries 19:54 Occupancy levels24:07 John's views on Workspace28:25 Lessons from other property sub-sectors29:48 Asset disposal programme 39:36 Saba Capital43:20 The optimism scale47:14 Update on John's portfolioInvestors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities. Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.