BENENDEN Healthcare Society, the York-based mutual, has linked up with Harrogate’s Engage Mutual to develop new products in its drive to double turnover in the next four years.

The society, which won Large Business Of The Year at The Press Business Awards 2010, is now working on developing a family wellbeing product with Engage. The product would take the mutual into the behavioural sphere of healthcare, looking at obesity, mental health and disabilities and learning difficulties.

The partnership between the two not-for-profit businesses will enable Benenden to deliver and further develop the Benenden Health Cash Plan, which it launched in January to offer optical, dental expenses, birth and adoption grants and personal accident cover.

Engage Mutual would act primarily as an underwriter for the health cash plan and then the two mutuals will develop new products together.

Benenden, which employs 160 people at its headquarters in Holgate, intends to diversify its membership base by increasing its range of services, including moving into financial insurance-based products and placing more emphasis on healthcare and wellbeing - tackling issues before they become a healthcare problem, such as obesity.

Marc Bell, marketing and business strategy director, said Engage had a lot of expertise in providing contractual insurance-based products and could help them develop the new products they want to develop to reach a younger audience.

“We’re working hard to modernise and broaden the appeal of the society out to younger family groups,” he said. “We’ve been around a long time and the average age of our membership is 60.”

Marc said that the new products, which haven’t yet been developed and would need to be approved at the society’s conference, would be likely to include a strong web element.

Ken Hesketh, chief executive of Benenden, told The Press in November that the business envisages the website having more involvement in the delivery of healthcare, such as using telemedicine and webcams.

Marc said the not-for-profit values of the society remained at the heart of any partnership.

“Mutual organisations have a major role to play in the provision of public services. This link between our two organisations will be of great benefit to the network of mutuals and strengthen our mutual ethos.

“I will be pushing hard the fact that we’re a values driven organisation and any partner we work with has to follow those principles.”