“From the offset, it was the obvious choice. Equipsme just ticked all our boxes. It was great to be able to listen to what employees wanted and actually deliver to over 500 people.”
Prior’s Court, a registered charity providing education and residential care for autistic young people with complex needs, were on the lookout for a health benefit that could rival PMI – but with a price tag that could work for the whole team.
Liz Bolsom, Pay and Benefits Manager, explains: “Top of everyone’s wish list when it comes to benefits is always healthcare. What people really want is Bupa, but like most charities that’s just not a viable option for us, from a budget perspective.
Diverse staff
“We’re based on a beautiful site near Thatcham, Berkshire, with a school, offices, accommodation, a swimming pool, a farm, and a performing arts centre. To support our site, we have more than 500 staff ranging from gardeners to maintenance workers, drivers for our minibuses, finance and fundraising staff, housekeepers and cleaners, teachers and autism practitioners (who might be known as support workers in other organisations).
“It doesn’t matter what the job is, every single person who works here is focused on giving the young people we work with the very best experience. Which is why we want to do everything we can to look after all of them - but especially those working directly with the young people. It’s an emotionally and often physically demanding job and it’s so important we make sure they feel supported.
“We asked our broker Willis Towers Watson to be on the lookout for us for something that could do a bit more than a cash plan but would be realistically affordable for 500+ people. When they told us about Equipsme it just ticked all our boxes. From the offset, it was the obvious choice.
GP Plus
“We went for the basic GP Plus level, so everyone gets access to a 24/7 virtual GP service, physio appointments, and other perks on top. Equipsme is well worth it for the gym discount alone, in my opinion! Employees get 40% off Nuffield gym memberships, and it just so happens there’s one on our doorstep. It makes it so much more affordable.
“What Equipsme has done is allowed us to open-up private healthcare to everyone, with the option for them to pick and choose what level they want to be on, all under this one umbrella. From a payroll processing perspective, one of the best things is that upgrades and family add-ons are paid directly by the employee to Equipsme - so there’s no extra administration, and no P11D to calculate and deliver.
“I’ve already used the GP service myself, and I got an appointment literally two hours later. I wanted advice on some medication I take, and they were able to help me with that no problem. It was quick and easy and the doctor I spoke to was empathetic. That’s just so valuable – particularly for our staff who can’t sit on their phones for hours and jump through all the hoops to get to an NHS GP.
Sickness absence
“Like any organisation two of our biggest issues when it comes to sickness absences are minor illnesses and musculoskeletal issues. Now we’ve got a way for people to seek help more quickly, so they can hopefully get back to work quickly. So it works both ways – it’s great for our employees and it’s great for us an employer, too.
“Equipsme has been very well received by everyone. And they could not have done more to help in terms of rolling it out. We had some bespoke requirements but even with those it was a smooth end-to-end process. They did sessions with us online and in-person helping people understand the benefits and how to use them and gave us all the communications to spread the word to everyone on site.
“We’re very happy with Equipsme. It was great we were able to listen to what employees wanted in terms of health support and deliver on it for 500+ people. It’s also great to have an edge over our competitors from a recruitment perspective. Now we can say we offer private health benefits as part of our employment package. That’s a great draw for people - especially in the charity sector.”
