A new specialist division of occupational health and corporate health services provider PAM Group is primed for rapid growth after a flying start.
Warrington-headquartered PAM has an ambitious expansion strategy for the new division, which is called Premier OH Solutions and is led by director Victoria Field.
PAM is aiming for the division to achieve turnover of £1m in 2024 and £2m by the end of 2025.
Premier OH Solutions is focusing on helping small and medium-sized employers to look after the health and wellbeing of their staff with a package of support.
This includes an employee assistance programme offering 24-hour access to trained specialists to support staff with mental health issues and concerns over financial, physical health and personal matters.
It also includes general occupational health services such as employee health screening, fitness for work medicals, health surveillance, vaccinations, ill-health retirement, absence management, physiotherapy, and neurodiversity advice, guidance, training and equipment. Premier OH Solutions also runs webinars and training courses, as well as in-person events.
It has signed up SMEs across a range of sectors, including retailing, education, financial and professional services, manufacturing, creative and arts, and education. Clients also include Premier League football clubs, marketing agencies, charities and dental practices.
Victoria joined this summer to spearhead the launch of Premier OH Solutions and leads a team of 10 staff, including clinicians, client services specialists and account managers, with further recruitment under way.
She moved from Health Management, part of Medigold Health, where she was a strategic relationship director. She previously ran her own mentoring, marketing and events companies.
Victoria said Premier OH Solutions' strategy is to help clients to reduce sickness absence and keep their staff healthy and productive.
She said: "There has never been a more urgent need for occupational health services in the workplace, with the NHS delays we are witnessing alongside skills shortages and the prevalence of ‘presenteeism', whereby productivity is lost when employees are not fully functioning because of illness, injury or another condition.
"Our package of support is designed to help clients increase productivity and profitability. By creating a preventative healthcare programme, bringing positivity and engagement, they will also be able to attract more candidates and improve staff retention rates. The majority of employees say wellbeing support makes them less likely to leave their job.
"Our experienced, multidisciplinary team is working with a growing number of companies and organisations to deliver our suite of subscription products, while also enabling them to access services from the wider PAM Group."
Victoria added: "The most important message to SMEs is that occupational health is preventative medicine, and it is an employee benefit that applies to businesses of all sizes. It's something I am intensely passionate about.
"We are building our team to take our subscription model to more and more companies to make a real difference."
James Murphy, chief executive of PAM Group, said: "Victoria is a highly-focused and driven professional with the right management and business skills to help lead the growth of Premier OH Solutions.
"The combination of running her own business and her experience in the occupational health field in a senior role make her the ideal person to implement our ambitious expansion plans."
PAM Group is a major provider of occupational health, health screening and wellbeing services across the UK and Ireland. 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.
Its services include psychological support, corporate health assessments, ergonomic and assistive technology products, mobile health screening, drug and alcohol screening and a pathology laboratory. The group operates a network of 25 clinics. It also has a retail arm which supplies fitness, exercise and rehabilitation equipment to consumers, sports clubs and sports and physiotherapy professionals.
PAM, which employs more than 700 people, posted revenues of £45m for 2022 and is on track to reach £55m this year. PAM is looking to grow turnover to £80m over the next few years through continued organic expansion and further acquisitions.
The group is backed by private equity firm LDC to support its growth and the launch of new products and services.