6 British companies leading the way in workplace wellness

People spend almost a third of their lives at work, so ensuring your employees are happy and feel supported in the workplace is crucial. It’s also important to recognise that a well designed workplace wellness programme is likely to improve employee engagement and overall productivity. So whilst prioritising workplace wellness is beneficial for employees, it’s also going to benefit employers and businesses. Lots of businesses are time poor, so it can be difficult to find an opportunity to put together a workplace wellness programme. But our best advice is to start simple and reflect your businesses unique values. If you’re still stuck for ideas, we have put together a list of British businesses that are leading the way in workplace wellness.

What wellbeing risks are UK employees facing right now?

To get a deeper understanding of the wellness challenges faced by employees and businesses, we conducted a report. The State of Wellbeing at Work Report dives into the main things concerning employees right now. Some of the key findings from the survey include how 65% of workers have felt burnt out due to work and how 42% of people feel uncomfortable talking about mental health. Interestingly, 57% of fully remote workers rate their work-life balance as ‘above average’ compared to 38% of in-office workers and 44% of hybrid workers. It’s clear that in today’s world, it is hard being an employee. But, it’s not much easier to run a business. The good news, however, is that there are many ways in which a business can make a positive impact on their team’s wellbeing, all it takes is a little inspiration.Let’s have a look at six UK companies offering unique wellbeing benefits right now.

What do these health and wellbeing companies in the UK have in common?

We know there are plenty of large corporations offering great workplace experiences, but for this list we’ve looked to smaller and growing businesses to inspire our community of SMEs.Something these incredible businesses have in common are strong values, and this is something we practise at Employment Hero, too. We firmly believe that company values are one of the most important tools a business can have (if you’d like to see ours, you can find them here).Values have the power to influence decision-making, attract and retain talent, and motivate your employees. They’re the guiding principles that help inspire your team to work towards your mission and goals. What these innovative companies are doing – whether it be tied to mental, physical, financial, occupational or recreational wellness – is within reach. We love seeing how it’s possible to have it all, business growth and employee wellness. Read on to discover how these businesses have prioritised employee wellness.

Dishoom

Dishoom has a very special place in many Brits’ hearts, with their mouthwatering menu delighting visitors at every mealtime (here’s lookin’ at you, double bacon naan roll).While you may know that Dishoom has delicious food, you may not be aware that they also have an incredible internal strategy to support employee wellness. Dishoom has an impressive range of wellbeing perks that set the standard for hospitality businesses.Just a couple of features of their programme include; competitive industry pay and a total distribution of service charges, fully training managers in mental health first aid and supply a 24-hour confidential counselling helpline, as well as discounted memberships, classes and yoga sessions from local gyms and studios.Although slightly outside the ‘wellness’ realm, their Bombay Bootcamp is a perk highlight. A programme for staff who reach a five-year tenure with the company, as well as Head Chefs and General Managers, where participants attend a five-day immersive food tour of Bombay. Where do we apply?

AND digital

AND digital is a digital agency that works with some of the UK’s biggest to deliver innovative tech solutions and strategies – and they apply the same unique mindset when it comes to supporting their team. AND’s Social, Ethics and Inclusion committee operates at board level, incorporating inclusive and responsible values into their company fabric. Through their ‘Red Chair’ initiative, shares of the company are built into every contract, and every person on staff is given the opportunity to apply for the non-executive board of directors each year.Additionally, AND provides mental health first aid training, an employee assistance programme, mindfulness sessions, dedicated support communities, sustainability initiatives and much more. They’ve really got the seven dimensions of wellness covered.AllplantsAllplants is on a mission to make sure that you get your five a day – and then some. The vegan food delivery service has health and sustainable values at the core of its product, so it makes a lot of sense that they extend the same ethos to their team.Just a few of our favourite wellness support perks that they provide include; employee stock options (from day one of their team’s employment), a hybrid working model to support flexibility, a £500 yearly learning allowance, a cycle to work scheme, parental leave and pregnancy loss support leave.They also share the goodness by giving their employees a free monthly delivery of Allplants food. Now that’s really putting your money where your team’s mouths are.

Octopus Energy

Octopus Energy is an independent energy supplier that is making green energy easily accessible and affordable in the UK. As if they aren’t doing enough in saving the planet through renewables, they also have a fantastic employee wellness scheme to boot and have a people-first approach to working styles.We especially liked their support of mental health with Headspace apps provided on a company licence, access to an ‘Octopus Money Coach’ who helps team members with financial wellbeing, and access to tax free childcare, maternity and paternity pay. Of course, being a renewable energy company, their perks package is inspired by sustainable living. Employees can enter a workplace salary sacrifice scheme to support the purchase of an electric vehicle, and also participate in a Cycle to Work Scheme which finances employee bikes.

Fiit

Fiit is a fitness app designed to make exercise accessible for people of all athletic levels. Classes can be done on-demand, and cover exercise styles from HIIT to strength, stretching, pilates, breathwork and more.Fiit’s mission is to make exercise a habit for everyone, and that’s definitely reflected within their wellness programme. Along with private health and dental insurance, employees enjoy a personal health and wellness budget, unlimited healthy snacks and weekly team workouts. We also appreciate the activewear-friendly office; it gives us comfort over corporate any day.While they are excelling when it comes to physical health support, Fiit also does a great job at supporting occupational health. Their publicly available culture handbook goes to great lengths to understand the why of their mission; from covering the history of the home workout through to uncovering their values and how team members embody them.

Butternut Box

From food to plants to sustainability to fitness, the businesses we’ve featured so far show how a company’s mission and employee wellness programme can complement each other beautifully. However, these missions and programmes are slightly lacking in cute-factor.The same cannot be said for Butternut Box, a company that delivers healthy food for your four-legged friend. Butternut Box loves DOGS so much that their entire set of values is. Their values are;Dedicated and determinedOpen and honestGenuine careStrive for betterHow is this reflected in their employee wellness programme? Firstly, they have a dog-friendly office, with plenty of pooches to keep morale high. They also provide free Butternut for staff dogs – showing a little love for fur-baby wellness too.They also offer flexible working, free counselling, a yearly development budget, pension support and a cycle to work scheme.

Feeling inspired?

If you’re ready to revamp your workplace wellness programme, start by understanding your employees better by downloading The State of Wellbeing at Work Report 2024. Or, if you want to find out how Employment Hero’s Employment OS can help you find and hire top talent, as well as drive employee engagement, all while automating complex payroll, book a demo today!