Healthcare firm’s CEO outlines plans for £100m revenue target

Dave Capper

The way businesses recruit and retain staff is increasingly centred around health and well-being, which is one of several catalysts for the growth of Sheffield-headquartered Westfield Health, according to its new chief executive.

Next year, Westfield Health, which employs around 230 people, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Dave Capper was named as its new chief executive earlier this year and TheBusinessDesk.com spoke with him about the business and what his vision is for the future.

The not-for-profit organisation, which provides health and well-being services and healthcare plans to individuals, private and public sector organisations and blue-chip companies, has had to adapt to many changes over the years. These include work/life balance shifts for its members, rising levels of obesity, an ageing population, mental health awareness, introduction of health technology and much more; all against a background of an NHS under pressure.

Capper, who re-joined Westfield Health in 2015 as commercial director, has been integral to driving the organisation’s new brand proposition and strategy.

He said: “There has been huge change just in the last three years alone. There are ever-changing attitudes to health and well-being and we also have an ageing population. The NHS cannot pay for everything and there is a pinch point.”

Capper said the firm, which provides health plans for firms nationwide, 70% of which are SMEs, had a remit to educate and ultimately reduce demand on NHS services by offering complimentary healthcare services for people in the workplace. “The NHS needs people to take responsibility for their own health and well-being,” he added

The group has revenues of around £60m and Capper forecasts “very significant growth” during the coming five years as workplaces strive to look after staff by having a health and well-being plan in place to attract and retain staff. This, says Capper, enables people to access health services for a wide range of services and can reduce absences in the workplace and presenteeism.

He believes Westfield Health can organically achieve a “healthy, stable growth” to around £100m revenue in the coming years due to several areas of growth.

“Healthcare plans come second after pensions for employees. It is a much sought-after benefit,” said Capper. “It’s about helping people to improve their quality of life.”

He said growth could be achieved by introducing innovative programmes and partnerships with a wide range of organisations including professional sports clubs and research centres. Capper added that Sheffield was the ideal location to develop such initiatives, with the expertise from the universities proving extremely valuable and the Sheffield Hallam University Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre being an integral part of that.

Westfield Health is working on a project in London to get people moving, which Capper said is an example of such innovations coming forward to help people help themselves.

The firm is also growing its physical activity operation, with onsite gyms continually being built next to major corporate centres to enable people to access sport around their busy working schedules.

Healthtech advances are also on the radar for Capper, developing tech that allows people to access health and well-being resources while “going about their daily lives” and connecting those activities up with family members. He added that data driven analytics were also important to see results and progress.

“You can’t force behaviour change but we are in it for the long-haul. We really need the department of health to be creative about how we address some of these issues. Whether that is tax incentives in the workplace, for example, it’s about helping people to make better decisions about their health,” added Capper.

While UK based, Westfield has recently struck up a partnership with a firm in Texas and Capper has ambitions to do more such work. “I enjoy what I do because we are affecting peoples lives for the better, that’s a wonderful feeling and very rewarding,” he reflected.

“It’s a very exciting time for Westfield Health – game-changing. There is plenty more for us to do and we are here to make things happen,” added Capper.

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