MindGym sees revenue soar amid increased staff wellbeing demands

The “Great Resignation” has highlighted that bosses need to invest more in their employees, workplace training provider MindGym said as its revenues rose by nearly a quarter.

The business said staff across the economy are demanding their employers take more responsibility for their wellbeing and help them develop.

“Company leaders have struggled to keep up,” said chief executive Octavius Black.

“As a result, the corporate world is experiencing the ‘Great Resignation’ as an unprecedented number of employees quit their job for something new.

“As one of our clients put it ‘The war for talent is over; the employee won’.”

The coaching group reported that it made £48.7 million in revenue in the year to March 31, a 24% increase on the previous year. It swung to a £500,000 loss from a profit of £300,000 the year before.

Around half a million people attend a MindGym live event each year as more employers offer workshops for staff wellbeing and development.

The shift to working from home has also led to a rise in virtual training, and MindGym’s digital services, including virtual coaching and “e-workouts” for the mind, saw a 23% increase in revenue to £37.4 million.

The group saw substantial losses during the pandemic as its face-to-face offering took a hit and it was forced to venture into the digital world.

The January launch of its virtual coaching platform Performa made £500,000 in revenue in its first three months from just a handful of clients.

Investment bank Liberum said the learning and development market is worth £296 billion and this does not include areas like wellbeing and culture which have grown since the pandemic.

But economic uncertainty worsened by the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices could mean employers put plans to invest in their people on ice.

Liberum said there is evidence that large businesses are beginning to invest more in human capital initiatives but this is unlikely to take off until the second half of the year.

Mr Black said: “MindGym made progress during a turbulent year, delivering a robust performance in line with the board’s expectations, surpassing pre-Covid revenue.

“Our digital strategy has seen the successful launch of our latest product, Performa, our one-to-one digitally enabled coaching service. The more than £0.5 million in annualised revenue generated in the first 12 weeks is a promising indication of what’s to come.

“We have had a good start to the new financial year and, notwithstanding economic uncertainty, have confidence that organisations will increasingly turn to MindGym and our unique portfolio of proven solutions to address their talent and culture challenges.”