Tag Archives: Lifestyle

Absence Management, Awards, HR, HR News, News

ToHealth wins national accolade for new DNA and epigenetics testing venture

A new health screening venture aimed at improving employee wellbeing and reducing workplace absenteeism has won a national accolade.

The DNA and epigenetics testing service launched earlier this year by ToHealth, a division of preventative healthcare specialist PAM Group, was named Wellbeing Initiative of the Year at the Workplace Savings and Benefits Awards.

The awards, now in their 10th year, recognise employer and provider excellence. This year’s ceremony took place at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in London.

ToHealth’s DNA and epigenetics testing is carried out using one saliva sample, from which 1,000 types of DNA are analysed.

The results show whether a person is prone to developing a host of health conditions, such as diabetes, and how they can tailor their lifestyle to lower their risk as well as their biological age.

A person’s DNA holds the essential information about their development, function and growth, and cannot be changed. Epigenetics, however, adds another layer of information, enabling a person to identify how their lifestyle and environment impact the way their genes work, which can increase the risk of illness.

Each test result provided by ToHealth comes with personalised recommendations to support individuals with potential risk areas, including gut and heart health, immunity, injury risk and mental health. All of these help people to understand their biological age versus their chronological age.

The hyper-personalised genetic information and recommendations are accessible via an app, giving individuals an advanced insight into their health at the touch of a button and empowering them to improve their wellbeing and stave off the threat of disease, helping in turn to reduce workplace absenteeism.

ToHealth managing director Kerry-Dene Ihlenfeldt said: “We are passionate about empowering employees to thrive in the workplace. To be recognised with this award gives great kudos to our amazing team for their tireless work, and to our clients for their willingness to trust us to deliver services that improve the wellbeing of their employees.

“We work in partnership with our clients to ensure we offer a tailored and robust service that enables colleagues to perform at their best. Increasingly, businesses and organisations are focused on finding ways to improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce, and understand that prevention is better than cure.

“Our DNA and epigenetics screening provides a personalised and proactive health solution that enables employees to manage their own physical and mental wellbeing, reduce the risk of disease and improve longevity.

“Through testing, an employee can learn how to play the cards they have been dealt to their advantage, how their behaviours and their environment impact on them, and what lifestyle changes they need to make.

“We have an industry-leading offering which makes a tangible and positive difference, and we are immensely proud that this has been reflected with this prestigious national honour.”

ToHealth is partnering with testing company Muhdo for the offering.

The accolade is the latest for Warrington-based PAM Group, one of the largest occupational health, employee assistance and wellbeing providers in the UK. It offers a range of integrated services to public and private sector clients, supporting more than a million employees at over 1,000 businesses and organisations.

International News, Law, News, North of England

Taylors Solicitors advises iconic sailing brand Henri-Lloyd on its sale to ODLO

A Switzerland-based performance brand is to acquire iconic UK sailing and lifestyle brand Henri-Lloyd Group.

A team at north west law firm Taylors Solicitors has advised the owners of Henri-Lloyd on the sale to ODLO, a specialist sport and outdoor clothing brand which is owned by Monta Rosa Capital.

The acquisition, for a substantial undisclosed sum, is expected to be completed shortly.

Taylors’ team of advisers was led by corporate partners Andrew Livesey and Matthew Catterall and the firm’s head of commercial property, partner John Lomax.

Andrew said: “Henri-Lloyd is an iconic British brand, and we are delighted to have been able to work with the business over the past few years, culminating in the current deal with ODLO.

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to be associated with such a dynamic business and team of individuals, and a brand that is instantly recognised worldwide. This was a particularly pressurised deal, with a substantial amount of detail to be dealt with in a short timescale.

“There were plenty of early starts and late finishes, with all of the professional team fully focused on the task in hand.”

Taylors advised Henri-Lloyd when it last changed hands in 2018, when the brand and valuable assets were acquired out of administration by a group of investors led by Hans Eckerström with the aim of re-establishing the company as the premier brand for yachtsmen and sailors around the world.

Henri-Lloyd was established in Manchester in 1963 and has 85 staff in its UK retail business.

Hans Eckerström, chairman of Henri-Lloyd, said: “The acquisition of Henri-Lloyd by ODLO opens up tremendous opportunities for the brand to reach its true potential to the benefit of all shareholders, both current and future.

“Joining a family of successful companies that share values and goals will accelerate our growth. Most importantly that journey will be based on quality, innovation and striving for sustainability – principles that the Henri-Lloyd team hold dearly.”

Henri-Lloyd was founded by Henri Strzelecki, who set out to create the world’s best and most durable waterproof clothing. He created several world-firsts within technical clothing that have today become industry standards, including seam taping garments for waterproofing and the invention of the nylon non-corrosive zip.

The Henri-Lloyd team will continue to be located in Manchester, and will collaborate with the ODLO group in the development of the brand and a new generation of innovative products.

ODLO chairman Hugo Maurstad said: “We are excited about including Henri-Lloyd into our family of brands. It is an iconic brand with a proud history. Together we aspire to further expand its product range and geographic footprint.

“Henri-Lloyd and ODLO are both companies that originated from technical innovations in outdoor sport apparel and they will complement each other going forward.”

ODLO chief executive Knut Are Høgberg said: “By leveraging ODLO’s comprehensive infrastructure, we can concentrate investments towards the Henri-Lloyd brand and its customers while progressing on the ambitious sustainability agenda of all brands within ODLO International.

“We warmly welcome the Henri-Lloyd team to the ODLO family and look forward to working together going forward.”

Business Research

emlyon business school strengthens formal partnership with Club Med

emlyon business school’s lifestyle research center has announced it will strengthen its formal partnership with global hospitality and holiday resort company, Club Med.

The partnership will have a specific focus on research activities, pedagogy and executive education:

Research and Pedagogy

Professors and researchers from the emlyon lifestyle research center will undertake ethnographic research to address key issues for Club Med.

This will mainly center on understanding the customer experience at Club Med resorts, giving the organization concrete explanations and applications to tackle issues in HR, marketing, operations and other departments. The partnership will also give emlyon professors access to field research, through which insights about the creation and consumption of customer experience can be developed and disseminated for a wider audience.

Brigitte Auriacombe, professor of marketing and initiator of this partnership, says,

“These ethnographic studies will also benefit students from the International Hospitality Management Program who will be able to take part and experience a quite unique course in a management program. Students will be trained in how to use ethnographic methods, which are powerful eye and mind openers; we believe that this experience will enable them to develop new skills which will constitute a valuable asset for their future career.”

Executive Education

emlyon will offer a G.Os® (Great Organizers) managers module certification, which will look to improve te Club Med customer experience and implement research findings from the Lifestyle Research Center into Club Med’s activities.

Joonas Rokka, Director of the lifestyle research center at emlyon, says,

“The partnership will allow Club Med to explore some of the issues around customer experience that they are facing – from the customers’ point of view –, by having strong academic research into why these are occurring and practical applications as how to approach them.

Whilst for emlyon, Club Med as a pioneering and globally recognized brand offers the research center an important and unique access to do field research on ongoing customer experiences and associated service work, across Asia, Europe and Africa, and thus develop specific research topics that would otherwise be hard or nearly impossible to do.”

Madeleine Clow, Director Product and Services at Club Med, adds,

“The ethnographic research, carried out by emlyon, allows us a moment to simply stop our busy days and observe how our customers are living their holiday experience. The nature of the research and adaptability of the students allows us to measure a range of topics, such as atmosphere, family, product communication and many more. Client observation is essential today in a multigenerational, international and highly connected market. We must always be questioning our direction and client needs”.

This partnership has already enabled research from emlyon professors, including “Club Med: Find the real you” a “study into employer branding and marketing” by Fabienne Autier, professor in Strategic Management of Human Resources, and Brigitte Auriacombe, professor of Services Marketing.