About Active Teams
Active Teams is a Bristol based company with two simple beliefs. Firstly that organisations have a vested interest and should take a proactive role in improving the health and wellbeing of their employees.
Secondly that activity and exercise are the single most effective way to improve health, wellbeing and many other aspects of our lives. Being suitably active reduces our risks of many chronic illnesses, improves us physically and mentally and helps us live better lives.
These are wonderful benefits to bring to employees, particularly when you consider that the majority of modern jobs are sedentary in nature. Employees sit still for 8 hours a day undertaking their work, doing untold damage to their bodies, health, their wellbeing and their professional performance.
Making changes to our lives is not easy, and becoming more active and health aware builds our confidence and raises our ambitions. We experience grit attributes like perseverance, adaptability and resilience. We learn about drive, accountability and self-reliance. These are the very attributes that can elevate us into high-performing team members.
Our Solution
Our Employee Activity Solution, virtual challenges and competitions help employees:
- Learn how active they are, and how active they should be (150 mins per week).
- Bond with and become better connected to their colleagues
We use activity to build better teams, healthier workforces and greener organisations. We are always positive, always encouraging and we celebrate every single employee who takes steps to become more active.
We also run Active Teams Couch to 5K courses for employees and advise organisations on the best ways to get employees moving when located together in the workplace.
Our Story So Far
Active Teams was founded during the pandemic by Operations Director and England Athletics Endurance Running Coach, Nairn Robertson. This is the story of Active Teams.
"In 2012, just as my daughter was born and after countless failed attempts, I managed to become a runner. The biggest factor in finally succeeding, was realising that my health and wellbeing were not just important to me, but was now vital to my new family!
At the time, I was Director of Operations and Change at a great digital agency in Bristol. It was my job to help improve efficiency and performance and it was clear that business performance was heavily dependent on the performance of employees, both as individuals and as teams.
I had been a desk jockey for nearly 20 years. Two decades with my bum on a seat, sitting, sedentary for 8 hours or more, 5 days a week. But since starting running, rather than making my more tired, it had actually increased my energy levels. I found that exercise led to more bounce, healthier living, higher expectations, ambition, and performance.
So as an experiment, I started a workplace lunchtime running club. Colleagues went running together in the wind and rain (it was January) and loved it. They made friends with their colleagues, they became more active, healthier, happier and this all showed in their attitude and their work.
I took a leap, left my job and prototyped ideas during the pandemic which evolved into Active Teams. Today our employee activity solution helps:
- Employees learn how active they are, and how active they should be (150 mins per week).
- Employees connect with each other and bond through our activity challenges.
- We advise companies on the best ways to get employees to move together.
- We use activity to create a healthier workforce and build better teams.
In 2023 we were delighted to win the Bristol Life Award for Best Health and Wellbeing company in Bristol."
Find Out More
Contact us to find out more about how we're helping companies and employees to be healthier and happier.
Active employees make healthy companies
Improving the physical and mental fitness of your greatest asset
Boost productivity & creativity
Employees who feel good bring energy and a positive attitude to work, helping propel colleagues and the company forwards.
When we’re Active, our brains approach problems in more creative and abstract ways, leading to moments of creative inspiration.
Strengthen relationships
Flexible working brings benefits, but can make maintaining relationships and connections harder.
Active Teams helps break the ice, bringing remote employees back together around a shared and very positive purpose.
Attract new talent
Attracting the best people is a growing challenge. Becoming an Active Teams company differentiates your company from the competition.
Wouldn’t you prefer to work for a company which encourages staff to walk, jog, ride and be more Active?
Reduce sickness costs & stress
Sickness costs financially, impacts quality and puts stress on other staff. Physically Active employees take 27% fewer sick days.
Active Teams helps employees achieve the NHS Activity goal, which after stopping smoking, is the single best way to improve health.
Increase loyalty
The most positive way that employers can improve employee health & wellbeing is to help employees to be Active and exercise more.
Active Teams makes a commitment to employee health both visible and tangible, increasing staff loyalty and retention.
Culture of improvement
Improvement is at the core of Active Teams. When we embark on a more Active lifestyle, we set goals and challenge ourselves to be better.
Achieving these goals boosts our confidence and ambition, helping improve other areas of our private and professional lives.
