What’s new
Nuffield Health partners with Compass to improve clients’ corporate wellbeing
The health and wellbeing of thousands of workers across the country will soon be enhanced by integrated corporate fitness and nutritional services from a new partnership.
Nuffield Health, one of the UK’s leading social enterprises, is partnering with Compass Group UK & Ireland to pilot a corporate wellbeing scheme in early 2012. This will include the use of Nuffield Health’s Food Calculator in Compass catering facilities, allowing employees to easily understand the calorific and nutritional value of food.
David Brame, Commercial Director of Corporate Fitness at Nuffield Health, said:
“Our new partnership with Compass is an exciting development. It will enable thousands of workers to make a difference to their health each day through fitness and nutrition.
“We are looking forward to extending the reach of our Food Calculator in January when the pilot scheme begins. This will provide thousands of workers with a quick and easy way to evaluate the food they eat.
“This new partnership strengthens our continuing commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of UK consumers.”
This new partnership’s integrated wellbeing services are in line with the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal launched earlier this year, encouraging businesses to take greater responsibility for their employees’ wellbeing.
The announcement coincides with Social Enterprise Day and highlights how social enterprises, such as Nuffield Health, are working closely with corporate companies to provide employees with enhanced health and wellbeing services.
The partnership will also include integrated services providing:
- Combined marketing of fitness, wellness and healthy eating options
- Fitness and nutrition seminars and programmes
- Nutrition counselling and physical therapy
- Health and wellbeing events
- Healthy menu and food offers
Jason Leek, Managing Director for Business Excellence, Compass Group UK & Ireland, said:
“Health and wellbeing is an important part of our Compass strategy. We strive to understand client demand, find exciting new solutions and stay at the forefront of innovation. This partnership ties together our own culinary expertise with Nuffield Health’s unrivalled knowledge of fitness and wellbeing. For clients, this is a one-stop shop for an all-round healthier lifestyle.”
Nuffield Health, which manages around 200 corporate fitness and wellbeing centres, is committed to improving health and wellbeing in the UK, through fitness and nutrition.
Next year, Nuffield Health will also begin to develop an educational division working with Compass which currently provides catering services for around 2,000 schools.
In addition, Nuffield Health will provide physiotherapy services for Compass employees.
Nuffield Health is an award-winning not-for-profit charity, having won the UK’s Best Corporate Fitness Club Award for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 as well as 2010 Health Investor Social Enterprise of the Year.
Key acquisition establishes Nuffield Health as market leader in corporate fitness sector
Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest trading charity, has established market leadership in the dynamic corporate wellbeing sector by acquiring Bladerunner Ltd.
So over the next few months we will be moving these web pages to the Nuffield Health website.
David Mobbs, Chief Executive of Nuffield Health said: “This strategic acquisition reinforces Nuffield Health’s pioneering new approach to consumer health. By integrating fitness, prevention and cure across its different services and facilities under a single brand, governance and management structure, Nuffield Health is redefining the provision of healthcare services in the UK.
“At Nuffield Health we believe that as future governments seek to address the rising cost to the taxpayer of unhealthy lifestyles, there will be growing impetus on employers to provide fitness and wellbeing facilities so that their staff – their most valuable asset – are supported to live healthier and more productive working lives.
“The merger of Bladerunner and Nuffield Health will allow the combined company to work in partnership with employers to better meet their aspirations for the health of their staff.”
Bladerunner Ltd currently runs contracts for almost 100 on-site gym facilities in offices and schools for around 60 separate clients. This client base complements Nuffield Health’s established corporate wellbeing business which operates close to 100 health and wellbeing facilities in offices across the UK.
The combined business, which will account for around 17% of the total corporate wellbeing market, becomes the largest provider of on-site corporate fitness facilities to a sector which includes memberships to private gyms as well as thousands of mobile therapists and physiotherapists that visit offices across the country every day.
Marcus Powell, Managing Director, Nuffield Health Corporate Wellbeing said: “Both organisations put their clients and members at the heart of their operation so we are confident that together we can create a strong business that will offer really exciting options that will appeal to UK businesses and other organisations that want to provide fitness and wellbeing services.
“The value of fit and well employees cannot be underestimated; we already know the value our services deliver for our clients and their employees in terms of increasing productivity and attendance. It is likely that in the future more responsibility for preventative health will fall on employers and our aim is to be there to support them.”
With its clinical expertise developed from over 50 years of running high quality, independent hospitals, Nuffield Health is ideally placed to help create the fitter workplaces needed by ‘UK plc’, now and in the future.
In support of Nuffield Health’s charitable objects, it is the Nuffield Health Board of Governors’ intent to create the UK’s leading healthcare brand and to improve access to health services to the public, both at home and at work. The acquisition of Bladerunner marks an important step on that journey.
Bladerunner is very excited to have merged with Nuffield Health. In recent years both Bladerunner and Nuffield Health have proved a real asset to clients because of their client focused approach and tailor made solutions. This philosophy combined with Nuffield Health’s clinical and medical expertise will only help improve on the service offered to our clients going forward.”
Fighting fit at at Wembley
The FA Group has opened a new gym at its headquarters at Wembley Stadium to encourage its 560 strong staff to get fit and healthy. Known as the ‘venue of legends’, Wembley Stadium may yet produce their own sporting heroes with the help of Bladerunner and Life Fitness, the global leader in fitness equipment.
Working in partnership with Life Fitness, Bladerunner helped to design a new gym that would appeal to all Wembley Stadium based staff. The gym features top of the range Life Fitness equipment including the new Optima range chosen for its space-saving qualities, reliability and aesthetics.
David Brame, Bladerunner MD, said: “The beauty of this specific project is that many of the employees based at Wembley have a strong interest in sport and fitness. We wanted to produce a really exclusive and enticing environment but without the associated costs, and so far we have succeeded as we already have more than 200 members.”
“We work with many different companies to produce corporate gym facilities but The FA Group is probably one of the most prestigious,” added Rob Jones, Territory Development Manager at Life Fitness. “They were really open to ideas and the employees have been really excited about having their own facility on site. The challenge has been to fit enough equipment into the space available whilst keeping a really premium exclusive and spacious feel. As part of our continued relationship we also have some exciting activities planned for the site this year to encourage staff to get even more active.”
All votes in 2011 corporate wellbeing awards won by Nuffield Health’s clients
The independent judges for this year’s most prestigious corporate wellbeing prize were unanimous in their verdict.
At the annual FIA Matrix Flame Awards ceremony, in July, the three Finalists in the ‘Corporate Club of the Year’ category were all clients of Nuffield Health: The Royal Bank of Scotland, The Canary Wharf Health Club at Credit Suisse, and The Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centre, JP Morgan.
The UK’s best Corporate Fitness Club of 2011
On the night, the company site that just nosed ahead in this class-leading group of UK health clubs was Royal Bank of Scotland, in what the judges described as a very closely contested and scored event.
This is the fifth consecutive year that this bank’s Edinburgh based gym complex has been given the accolade of the UK’s best corporate fitness club. Nuffield Health designed this purpose built facility, and has been managing it since its 2005 launch.
Kevin Thomson, Regional Director for Nuffield Health’s Corporate Wellbeing northern clients, said:
“Everyone at Nuffield Health is honoured to retain this Award for another year. And we’re delighted to be delivering and enhancing RBS’s wellbeing strategy for the next five years.
“We’ve always embraced Flame’s ethos and audit reports, striving for continual improvement each year. Our recent enhancements include bespoke training across all areas. This ensures that this Centre is equipped with motivated, professional staff who can deliver and uphold RBS’s values and world class service delivery.”
At the Credit Suisse gym in London, Nuffield Health Account Director Chris Harrison said:
“We’re proud that the FIA’s rated The Canary Wharf Health Club one of the top three corporate fitness clubs in the UK.
“Between us the new management team’s delivered a fantastic service to our 4,000 members – while fully refurbishing the gym and delivering record results too.
“We’re looking forward to building on our really positive partnerships with the bank’s networks in charities, athletics, education and social events.”
Emma Robinson, the Account Director for the other Finalist, The Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centre, JP Morgan, said:
“I’m so pleased that our team has been recognised for their achievements. We chose to have no front-of-house team for this site. Instead our Fitness & Wellbeing Advisors are all up-skilled to be contact points for all member enquiries.
“This way the relationships our team build with members are unparalleled throughout their journey with us. We’ve created an atmosphere that’s a real pleasure both to work in and work out in.”
City slickers or city slackers? National fitness survey coming soon
Nuffield Health will soon be publishing its authoritative ‘State of the Nation’ survey of fitness around Britain.
The previous survey stirred huge interest in all major newspapers and news channels for its rankings of town and cities by their residents’ levels of fitness, smoking and sleeping. In 2009 the ’Lazy League’s top three spread right across Britain: Glasgow, Birmingham and Southampton.
Back then we found that Brits were so unfit that over half (59%) wouldn’t walk up two flights of stairs to reach their office, opting to take the lift instead.
And once at home, one in six (15% or 7.3 million) people said that if the remote control was broken, they would prefer to watch a TV programme they didn’t like rather than get up to change the channel.
This time we’ll also be working out the town that represents the UK’s average level of fitness – which in 2009 was a Body Mass Index of a touch over 25.
Bladerunner striding into Europe
Never one to rest on its laurels, the Bladerunner team has once again been successful in securing the leisure management contract for the European Parliament in Brussels.
Winning out against several major European service providers, Bladerunner has retained the membership contract at the European Parliament which it has held since 2003. With facilities that include a gym, squash courts and treatment rooms, Bladerunner will be operating the contract on a commercial basis and will be responsible for all costs, excluding business rates and a proportion of the utilities costs.
“This was an extremely important contract for us,” commented David Brame, Bladerunner Managing Director. “For the next three to five years, we are responsible for promoting and managing the membership for the European Parliament’s newly refurbished leisure facilities. With 10,000 employees, who would all be eligible, this is a serious undertaking and one that we hope will be the launch pad for other European operations for Bladerunner.”
Facility Manager, Matt Reynolds, added: “I am delighted to manage such a superb facility. The recent upgrade to the facilities puts it on par with any high street Health & Fitness club in Belgium”
Since winning the tender for the European Parliament, Bladerunner has also secured a contract with Coca Cola in Brussels.
River Island lead the way
River Island’s first ever fitness centre has been launched by Bladerunner at this fashionable retailer’s new west London HQ.
Bladerunner helped to design and fit out the facility ensuring the gym remained in keeping with the River Island’s own unique brand and style.
Steve Edwards, Bladerunner’s Regional Manager responsible for the site says “It was important the gym was built in keeping with the River Island brand. It was also important the facility catered for a high proportion of female employees, hence the quality studio and choice of equipment”
The facility already boasts a membership of 25% of the work force and a vibrant class programme with a minimum of 2 classes per day including spinning, boxasize, pilates to name but a few.
River Island’s facility manager Jamie Davis said “the provision of a fitness facility was a big cultural change for River Island but we are delighted with the response and the end product, our aim is to make this facility the social hub for our employees”
