A NEW stress management and corporate wellness consultancy has been launched in York after figures showed that poor mental health was costing UK employers about £33-42 billion a year.

Big Smiles has been set up by Alex Burbidge, who windsurfs as part of his own wellness and stress management strategy and who spent 17 years in middle and senior management positions in corporate environments including Shell, Vodafone and O2.

At O2, he was head of health and certification, working closely with the chief operating officer to implement a stress management strategy, and there was then a downward trend in the total number of business days lost to anxiety and depression.

He said Big Smiles will work with businesses, offering wellness audits, advice and support on workplace strategy and culture change, workshops and retreats.

He claimed all the research said the same thing - ‘a culture of positive wellbeing in the workplace will lead to higher productivity and engagement and lower levels of absenteeism and staff turnover, all leading to a more profitable company.’

“It makes sense both from a financial point of view, and also the fact that we all want to work in an enjoyable environment, with a friendly and supportive culture.”

He said companies spent vast amounts of money on big once-a-year corporate events and team-building, with the aim of bringing people together, but often ignored the day to day things they could be doing.

“This isn’t ‘fluffy’ or something companies can afford to ignore – it can provide real benefits in terms of the bottom line,” he said.

He revealed that his own personal background had proved to him time and time again that when his mental health was nurtured and he felt understood and supported, he had better levels of success.

“As a child with a parent working for the Ministry of Defence, we moved around a lot, and that gave me a huge insight into people and communities and how we all need to feel that sense of belonging. The workplace is no different.”

He said his approach to was to assess someone’s overall resilience and happiness using a five-point assessment tool, which provided them with a status report and action plan to give some ‘quick wins’ to improve their wellbeing.

“Teams can also use the assessment to then share the results and give insight into how they should better support each other.”

For more information, go to www.bigsmiles.co. uk