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Closing Yorkshire & the Humber's health gap starts with people in work.

Better health. Better work. Better together.

We're an independent not-for-profit uniting employers and regional partners in a growing alliance, because healthy workplaces and healthy communities depend on each other. Together, we can build a picture no single organisation could build alone, and act where it matters most.

For employers

It starts with a tailored 10–12 minute employee survey that gives you the evidence to invest in the right support, benefits and environment for your people and organisation to thrive.

For the region

Anonymised, aggregated results from across the region are held in trust by the Living Better at Work Alliance. Together, they show the scale of the health gap, where inequalities lie and what is driving them, so the region can act earlier and invest where it makes the greatest difference. People's privacy comes first: no individual is ever identified.

Why we exist

Yorkshire and the Humber has a health gap we cannot afford to ignore.

It is holding people, workplaces and our region back. Work is where changes in health can be understood early, while people are still active, contributing and connected to support. Living Better at Work helps employers and the region act while it can make the greatest difference.

2.7 million

people are in work across Yorkshire and the Humber.1

Why it matters

Workplaces therefore provide a significant opportunity to understand changing health earlier, while people are still in work and before ill health leads to absence or people leaving employment.

1ONS, Labour Force Survey, May–Jul 2026

3rd lowest

Yorkshire and the Humber has the 3rd lowest life expectancy of the English regions.2

Why it matters

Behind the regional average are significant inequalities between communities, reinforcing the need to better understand where poor health is affecting people and where earlier action could make the greatest difference.

2ONS, Life expectancy, 2022–24

£18.4bn

could be added to the North's economy each year if its health matched the rest of England.3

Why it matters

Poor health isn't only a health issue. It affects people's ability to participate in work, employers' workforces and the economic prosperity of the wider region.

3Health Equity North, Health for Wealth 2025

What we do

What we know separately, the region can act on together.

By bringing workforce health insight together across the region, we can see patterns and inequalities that no single organisation can see alone. That shared understanding helps employers and partners act earlier, focus on the factors driving poor health, and learn what makes the greatest difference over time.

Point at or tap the centre or any stage for more detail

Where insight turns into actionWhere people and places feel the benefit
The cycle pauses while you read.

What everyone gains

For regional stakeholders
Mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) gain new workforce health data to inform their growth agenda. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) reach working-age health risks earlier. Councils see where prevention is needed most.
For employers
Across the region's employers, a 5% cut in health-related costs (absence, presenteeism, turnover) is worth ~£800m a year.
For the region
Longer, fuller lives. One of England's widest health gaps beginning to close. Health and growth, one agenda.

Sources: ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK, 2001–03 to 2022–24; ONS, Labour Force Survey, regional employment, May–Jul 2026; ONS, Healthy life expectancy by national area deprivation, 2022–24 (England); The Health Foundation, Health inequalities in 2040 (2024), England; Health Equity North, Health for Wealth 2025; ONS, Sickness absence in the UK labour market, 2025 (Yorkshire and The Humber); DWP, Keep Britain Working Review (November 2025) and updates (March and September 2026). Employer figure is a modelled estimate on conservative assumptions.

Who benefits

Find your place

You get a clear picture of your own people's health and a place in the region's evidence base.

EmployersPrivate, public and voluntary sector organisations

What you get

Platform access to anonymised insight into the health, costs, drivers, priorities and opportunities in your own workforce

How it helps

Spend on health where it pays back, and act before people go off sick or leave

Who we are

The people behind Living Better at Work

Our independent, non-commercial advisory board unites leading voices from business, occupational health, academia, the public sector and workforce health intelligence. Together, they are building what the region has been missing: real insight into the scale of its health gap and what is driving it. Gathered securely from people in work, that insight gives the region the evidence to act earlier.

  • Tracy Stones (Chair)

    Founder & CEO, Myndtime | NED, Angel & VC Investor
    in
  • Nick Pahl

    CEO, Society of Occupational Medicine
    in
  • Prof Sir Cary Cooper

    Professor of Organizational Psychology & Health, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
    in
  • Prof Kiran Trehan

    Pro-VC Enterprise Partnerships & Engagement, University of York
    in
  • Niamh Sullivan

    CEO & Co-Founder Parachute Intelligence
    in
  • Susan Gee

    Head of OH, Yorkshire Water
    in
  • Cormac O’Sullivan

    CCO & Co-Founder Parachute Intelligence
    in
  • Prof Sara Connolly

    Prof of Work & Employment, University of Leicester; Evolve, PrOPEL, WISHES
    in
  • Prof Joe Firth

    Prof of Psychology & Mental Health, University of Manchester
    in
  • Catherine Shuttleworth

    CEO & Founder, Savvy Marketing
    in
  • Dr John Hamilton

    Chief People Officer, Grosvenor House Group
    in
Get involved

There are three ways to be part of Living Better at Work.

For employers.

Participate

Take part to better understand the health of your workforce, identify where action could make the greatest difference and contribute to the regional workforce health evidence base.

Participate as an employer
For sponsors and partners.

Support

Explore sponsorship and funding to grow the Alliance and extend its reach, so the evidence base reflects the region's true demographics and inequalities.

Explore sponsorship
For civic and regional leaders.

Champion

Lead the mission, champion the Alliance and connect us to those we can't reach alone.

Become a champion
FAQs

Your questions answered

About Living Better at Work

What is Living Better at Work?

Living Better at Work is building an alliance of employers and regional partners to close Yorkshire and the Humber’s health gap, starting with people in work. Our founding aim is to bring together 100,000 employees across more than 50 organisations, from every sector and part of the region. Each organisation that joins gets insight into the health of its own workforce, so it can act early for its people. As anonymised results from many organisations are combined, they will show where poor health is concentrated across the region and what is driving it, so employers, the NHS and councils can act earlier, together.

Who runs it?

The Living Better Network C.I.C. (company number 17409520), a Community Interest Company: by law, its profits and assets are locked to its community purpose. It is guided by an independent, non-commercial advisory board. The survey, analysis and employer reports are delivered by Parachute Intelligence Ltd, whose founders conceived and built the initiative and also sit on the CIC’s board. Any decision involving Parachute is taken only by directors with no interest in it, and payments to Parachute are disclosed every year in the CIC’s annual community interest report. If you’d like to be considered as a director, email [email protected].

How is it funded?

Living Better at Work relies on sponsorship to reach every part of the region. Sponsorship part-funds smaller employers and voluntary and community organisations that could not otherwise afford to take part, and supports the work of building the alliance. Participating organisations also pay a fee, which covers delivery of the survey, analysis and reports by Parachute Intelligence, with the remainder going to the CIC. Once the regional data trust is established, charges for approved public-interest research will bring in further income. All income is used for the CIC’s community purpose, and its directors and advisers are currently unpaid. To talk about sponsorship, email [email protected].

For employers

Can my organisation take part, and what does it cost?

Yes, if you have employees based in Yorkshire and the Humber. Organisations of any size and sector can take part: private, public, voluntary and community. Fees are per employee per year, based on your total headcount, on a sliding scale: the more employees you have, the less you pay per head. Public sector organisations, SMEs and voluntary and community organisations pay reduced rates, so cost is not a barrier to taking part. Prices exclude VAT. Each agreement covers a single year and does not renew automatically. For pricing for your organisation, email [email protected].

What will we receive?

Organisations with 250 or more employees receive their own report. Smaller organisations receive the Regional SME Report with sector benchmarks, because a report of their own could make individuals identifiable. A smaller organisation can have its own report if at least 100 employees complete the survey; if fewer do, it receives the Regional SME Report instead. Benchmarking allows organisations to understand how their results compare with similar organisations in their sector and across the region: where they lead, where they can improve and what is working for others, so they can invest with confidence and measure progress year on year. Every organisation also gets access to our directory of services, with no commercial link to any provider listed, and to our free published regional and sector benchmarks.

What if not enough of our employees take part?

For your report to be reliable, at least 30% of your employees, and no fewer than 100, need to complete the survey. Fees are based on headcount rather than responses, so they stay the same however many take part. To help, sponsorship funds engagement across the region, from senior leaders and regional partners championing the survey to employee champions and community networks encouraging colleagues to take part.

Will anyone else see our results?

No. Your report is confidential to your organisation. Living Better at Work receives only anonymised, combined data, with all personal and organisational identifiers removed, so no employer can be identified.

For employees

Do I have to take part?

No. Taking part is entirely voluntary. If your employer takes part, you will be invited to complete a short, confidential survey, and whether you do so is your choice. Your employer has agreed not to require anyone to take part or to treat anyone differently because of it, and is never told who has or hasn’t taken part. The survey takes about 10 to 12 minutes, and nothing is saved until you press Submit.

What will I be asked?

It isn’t a clinical or performance assessment, and there are no right or wrong answers. Questions cover aspects of health such as mental wellbeing, lifestyle, memory and concentration, and managing any long-term health condition, as well as awareness and use of the support available and how you experience your working environment. A small number of demographic questions, such as age, are also included so that results can show how needs differ across groups. The survey can be completed on a phone, tablet or computer.

Will my employer see my answers?

No. Nobody at your organisation, including HR or managers, can see individual answers or find out who took part. Your employer only receives combined, anonymised results, shown only for groups large enough that no one can be identified.

Who holds my answers, and what happens to them?

Parachute Intelligence, which runs the survey, holds your answers as the data controller, separately from Living Better at Work. Living Better at Work never sees your answers or anything that could identify you. Once all personal and organisational details have been permanently removed, results are added to the regional data trust for public-interest research. Parachute’s privacy notice, provided at the start of the survey and available at parachuteintelligence.com/privacy, explains how it uses and protects your data, how long it keeps it and your rights.

Can I change my mind, and what are my rights?

Yes. Nothing is saved until you press Submit, so you can stop at any point. Your rights over your personal data, and how to use them, are set out in Parachute’s privacy notice at parachuteintelligence.com/privacy.

Data and privacy

How do you make sure no one can be identified?

Employers only ever see combined results, never individual answers, and are never told who took part. A report is produced only once at least 100 employees have taken part, and results are shown only for groups large enough that no one can be identified, with any figure hidden if it could reveal a smaller group. Before results join the regional data trust, all personal and organisational details are permanently removed, and every figure combines results from at least three organisations.

What is the regional data trust?

The regional data trust holds only anonymised, combined results, which are used for regional research and economic modelling to inform policy and investment, so the region can act earlier on health. It is held by Living Better at Work, and the trust, its governing body and its rules for access will be agreed and in place before any results are added.

Is data sold or used for anything else?

No. Living Better at Work never receives or sells individual answers. The regional data trust exists only for public-interest research, to improve health and reduce health inequalities, and access is never granted to develop or market commercial products.

For the NHS, councils and researchers

How can we use the regional insight?

It adds a working-age view to the plans you already own, from population health needs assessments and prevention to growth, employment and skills planning. Regional and sector benchmarks, reports, findings and practical guidance are published free for anyone to use, broken down by council area and sector wherever numbers allow, and updated each year so you can track change. No participating organisation is ever identified.

Can researchers access the regional data trust?

Yes, for public-interest work. Universities, NHS bodies, councils, government departments and research organisations will be able to apply for access to anonymised, combined data, for work on health inequalities, population or workforce health, or health-related economic inactivity. Charges apply. Access will be governed by rules agreed before any data is added to the trust.

Contact us

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