Specsavers
With 2,000+ central support staff across five locations, keeping people healthy is a priority at Specsavers. Here's how Bluecrest fits into the picture.
Specsavers has a clear vision for health and wellbeing, and Bluecrest now forms a key part of that strategy across the UK, ROI, and Guernsey – helping colleagues look after their health proactively.
Every year, colleagues can choose their reward options for the year ahead, selecting from things like critical illness cover, life insurance, travel insurance, and extra holiday days. Bluecrest is now part of that list, complementing the organisation's existing medical insurance and Headspace subscription, both available to all colleagues.
We spoke to Steph Falla, Reward Specialist within the People & Organisation function at Specsavers. She said: "Our aim is to make Specsavers the very best place there is to work, and that makes taking care of our people a top priority. Health and wellbeing are key areas of focus for us, and Bluecrest rounds off a whole package of benefits aimed at supporting colleagues' physical, mental, and emotional needs."
Catching problems early with Health Assessments
For Specsavers, the goal has always been prevention rather than cure.
Their existing medical insurance covers colleagues if something goes wrong, but the ambition goes further. As Steph explains: "Our medical insurance means our colleagues are covered if something goes wrong, but we don't want people to have to wait to get ill. With Bluecrest, colleagues can spot problems and deal with them before getting to that point. Who wouldn't want to know what's going on inside their body?"
Post-pandemic, appetite for that kind of proactive check has only grown. Specsavers offered Bluecrest assessments before Covid, but uptake has been even stronger since.
Colleagues have three options: a free health assessment fully funded by Specsavers, or two upgraded tiers available through a benefits shop with more detailed testing. They can also extend the offer to a partner or spouse, and crucially, can choose to upgrade at any point right up to the day of their appointment.
Sign-ups soar to 700+
The response has been remarkable. Over 700 staff have already taken up the offer of a Bluecrest health assessment, and that number continues to grow.
A significant part of that success comes down to accessibility. As Steph puts it: "We spend a lot of time and energy making sure people understand the benefits available to them, and we've also invested a lot in making the health checks themselves accessible."
Colleagues across the UK and ROI can book directly at a Bluecrest clinic near them. In Guernsey, where no clinic exists, Specsavers set aside an on-site room and Bluecrest travel over with their equipment, making it just as straightforward to fit an assessment into the working day. Whether colleagues are commuting to a city centre office, working remotely, or based on a small island off the coast of France, access to a health assessment is never more than a short trip away.
Completing the picture with prevention
For Specsavers, Bluecrest wasn't just a new addition to the benefits package – it was the missing piece.
"Preventative healthcare really was the slice that was missing from our health and wellbeing provision," says Steph. "With Bluecrest we've filled that gap. It means our colleagues can get a full picture of their health, take action early, and have Specsavers' support at every stage."
Longer term, the team hopes to track the impact on engagement, productivity, absence, and satisfaction. But the underlying belief is simple. As Steph puts it: "At the end of the day it's pretty simple: happy, healthy people make happy, healthy workplaces. If people in our central support teams feel respected, valued, and do a good job, that resonates across our operation, out to stores, and ultimately out to customers. We really do care about people, and that goes right through everything we do."
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