Ben McGannan, the Founder and Managing Director of Wellbeing People, grew up in the family business (established in 1976) which manufactured bottling equipment.
In 1989 (as main contractor to Perrier UK) the family engineering business produced the first bottling line in the UK, to wash, fill and cap the large containers that sit on top of a water cooler; this was the birth of the water cooler industry in the UK.
By 1992, Ben had set up Water for Work Ltd, as a trading division of the family business. Over 27 years, Ben developed the company through organic growth, joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions to become the largest independently owned water cooler company in the UK.
In 2006, Ben initiated the move into wellbeing, developing an engagement model built around the Interactive Health Kiosk. The main aim of the business being to empower individuals to live a better healthier life.
Building a team that was dedicated to achieving its goals, Wellbeing People grew to become a successful division of its parent company Water Wellbeing Ltd, delivering wellbeing programmes to businesses and communities throughout the UK and Europe.
Wellbeing People was able to develop steadily within the larger water business but ultimately needed to break away to provide a more dedicated focus and investment in growth. On 12th August 2019, Water Wellbeing Ltd and its hydration operations were bought by the Culligan Group, which enabled the timely separation of Wellbeing People to take place.
The entire assets and business were hived off into a new company, Wellbeing People Ltd. The team was subsequently expanded with an extensive office restructure, the installation of more efficient operating system and a new office opened in London.
After the separation, Wellbeing People Ltd was free to move forward with its new direction, and in September 2019, the company acquired DayOne Wellness which brought additional wellbeing concepts to the business, including their signature programme, Recalibrate Wellbeing® The Recalibrate Wellbeing Programme is an online or face-to-face programme that empowers individuals to take personal responsibility for their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
Unfortunately, when the pandemic struck in 2020, businesses and organisations closed their doors and the physical delivery of workplace wellbeing solutions into offices became non-existent. Wellbeing People had to re-think their business model fast with online wellbeing webinars and programmes. Over the following months, the Marden offices were closed, some products were discontinued and sadly, there were redundancies.
Like the 'phoenix from the flames', the new business model that rose out of the pandemic has seen the company thriving again. With our emphasis on our Interactive Health Kiosk, Wellbeing Workshops and Webinars and the Habits for Health programme (originally Recalibrate Wellbeing® Programme) being delivered to organisations across the UK and to Europe, Wellbeing People Ltd is growing again and embracing the opportunities that have come from the challenges of the last few years.
Wellbeing People's main goal is to bring positive transformation and energy to the wellbeing of individuals, businesses and communities, delivering wellbeing programmes and initiatives that not only work, but last.