Quintiles and Adidas UK are among the employers recognised in the 2013 Britain’s Healthiest Company Awards.

The awards, which were launched by PruHealth and Mercer, analysed the health and wellbeing strategies oforganisations around the UK.

The event is designed to give employers a better understanding of the health and lifestyle of their employees, and where to take proactive steps to effectively support their staff to become healthier.

Quintiles was the winner of the healthiest large company, with Dell and Nomura both highly commended.

At the heart of Quintiles’ wellness strategy, Healthy U, Healthy Q, is a one-stop website where employees can find health and wellness information and tools, as well as details of the benefits available to them.

A range of activities, including regular fit camps, onsite pilates classes, massage sessions and weight-management programmes, are also available.

Health and wellness campaigns run by the employer include ‘Are you veggin’?’ to encourage employees to eat two portions of fruit and three of vegetables a day, six days a week, and ‘Putting the Me back into Time’ to encourage work-life balance.

Adidas UK was the winner of the healthiest mid-sized organisation, with Discovery Communications Europe and Sweaty Betty both highly commended.

Adidas UK offers staff a wealth of onsite facilities and services, all of which are accessible from the moment an employee joins. Its Wellness Centre has two gyms, as well as sports masseurs, nutritionists and personal trainers.

The employer’s average sick day per year per employee is 2.5, which compares with an industry average of about six. It also has low rates of presenteeism and low rates of long-term sickness.

Neville Koopowitz, chief executive officer at PruHealth, said: “Organisations are starting to recognise the link between a healthy workforce and a healthy bottom line, as those that encourage health and wellness within the workplace see lower sickness absence, lower presenteeism and greater productivity.

“Quintiles and Adidas UK are two of those organisations and we congratulate them on these well-deserved awards.”

John Anderson, UK market business leader for health and benefits at Mercer, added: “The working environment plays a crucial role in shaping the health and wellbeing of staff as they spend most of their waking hours at work.

“Employees who feel their employer cares about their health and wellbeing are more likely to be more engaged and loyal, resulting in higher productivity, higher profitability and higher customer support.

“The business case for ensuring a healthy company is indisputable and Britain’s Healthiest Company has highlighted Adidas UK as a beacon of best practice which has had the foresight to put measures in place to ensure the health of its staff.”