Of the 60 companies chosen by the UK government to be vanguard employers in the Keep Britain Working Review, seven are from the fitness industry.

The seven fitness companies supporting the government’s latest initiative to tackle ill-health in the workplace and drive forward economic productivity are PureGym, The Gym Group, 315, Nuffield Health, Places Leisure, Sandwell Leisure Trust and Wellhub.

The review, commissioned by the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade, proposes a fundamental shift from a model where health at work is largely left to the individual and the NHS, to one where it becomes a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services.

Vanguard employers will help to build the evidence base for what is most effective when it comes to tackling sickness absence, improve return-to-work rates, and increase disability employment rates, which the government will then use to develop a voluntary certified standard by 2029.

Clive Chesser, group chief executive of PureGym says: “With one in five people in the UK currently out of work for health reasons, we welcome the government’s Keep Britain Working Review which recognises that the health of our workforce should be at the forefront of national policy.

“We're proud to partner with the government to drive forward the recommendations of the review. Our aim is to not only 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.”

UK Active has been working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on the Keep Britain Working Review. CEO, Huw Edwards, says: “The physical activity sector has the opportunity to play a key role in helping address some of our underlying health issues, notably involving mental health and musculoskeletal health, and in doing so help people stay in work, and also get people back into work. We look forward to working with the government to help deliver the report recommendations and work towards a healthier and more productive society.”

MSK conditions are the primary cause of disability among older adults in the UK, affecting more than 20 million people every year and accounting for 30 million lost workdays. Physical activity interventions and programmes within the sector have been proven to help reduce and relieve many of these conditions, as demonstrated by the MSK Hubs pilot.