PureGym Pledges To Help UK Government Keep Workers Healthy
The UK operator will serve as a vanguard employer in the Keep Britain Working Review, part of a national plan to curb long-term illness and strengthen workforce health
PureGym is extending its mission beyond its 435 clubs. The U.K.-based gym operator will support the government’s Keep Britain Working Review, an initiative meant to improve workforce health and ease pressure on the NHS by preventing long-term illness.
PureGym joins the first phase as a vanguard employer, helping the government develop and refine workplace wellness approaches over the next three years.
Several employers have expressed interest in the initiative, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, including fellow operator The Gym Group, health food retailer Holland & Barrett, corporate wellness platform Wellhub and digital healthcare and well-being provider Square Health.
The review, commissioned by the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade and led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, calls for a fundamental shift in how health at work is handled, from an individual responsibility to a shared one between employers, employees and the healthcare system.
The costs of health-related economic inactivity have become impossible for employers and policymakers to ignore, according to the review. A 22-year-old who leaves the workforce for health reasons could be more than £1 million worse off over their lifetime than someone who remains in work. Employers lose an average of £120 a day in profit for every sickness absence (now at a 15-year high) and face replacement costs that can run into the tens of thousands.
The report adds that poor health costs the U.K. economy £212 billion a year, or roughly 7% of GDP, through lost output, higher welfare spending and greater strain on the NHS.
“With one in five people in the U.K. currently out of work due to health reasons, we welcome the Government’s Keep Britain Working Review, which recognizes that the health of our workforce should be at the forefront of national policy,” PureGym group chief executive Clive Chesser said.
As one of 60 employers in the vanguard group, PureGym will contribute to research identifying the most effective ways to reduce sickness absence, improve return-to-work rates and expand disability employment. Findings from the program will inform a voluntary certified standard that the government expects to launch by 2029.
PureGym will also adopt the review’s healthy working lifecycle framework, providing workplace health support and contributing data through the Workplace Health Intelligence Unit.
“As the business that does the most in the country to facilitate adults getting active, we are proud to partner with the government to drive forward the recommendations of the review,” Chesser said. “Our aim is not only to support our own employees to thrive in a healthy working environment but also to help thousands of workers from across the country to improve their wellbeing too. We look forward to working with the government in its mission to tackle poor health, boost productivity and reduce pressure on the NHS by helping us all become a healthier nation.”
The initiative comes on the heels of a busy autumn for PureGym and follows a series of moves that reinforce its commitment to public health beyond policy.
In September, the company launched three new group fitness classes (Strike, Step and Pump) and opened all its clubs to the public for free in celebration of National Fitness Day. The fitness operator also partnered with former Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust to support men with advanced prostate cancer. The initiative provides eligible men with a free one-year PureGym membership and a 26-week exercise program.
Over the summer, PureGym employees across four countries raised more than £105,000 for heart health charities through its Every Beat Counts 100K Challenge, logging over 431,000 kilometers in a single week to support organizations including the British Heart Foundation.