North East firm tackles workplace sickness crisis

A North East-based wellbeing consultancy is launching a business-focused approach to tackling the UK’s growing workplace sickness problem.

AstralMandala has introduced a suite of tailored mental illness prevention protocols designed to reduce the financial and productivity impact of long-term absence, which costs UK employers an estimated £85 billion a year.

Its flagship system, Mandala42, combines emotional capacity-building with real-time analytics to help teams improve adaptability, resilience and collaboration.

Unlike many off-the-shelf wellbeing solutions, AstralMandala delivers its programme in person and designs it around each client’s specific operational needs.

The company’s offer begins with a free ‘Insight Session’ to map business stressors and develop a bespoke plan for intervention.

Anni Hood, co-founder of AstralMandala, said: “Tick-box wellbeing isn’t our offer.

“We’re co-creating solutions with leadership teams, building their people’s capacity, reducing burnout and improving business performance with tailored, precision protocols.”

She added: “It was described by one participant as “a vaccination against mental ill health – without the needle”.”

Weir Insurance Brokers is among the first organisations to adopt the 12-week Mandala42 protocol, reporting positive early results after just three weeks.

Karen Weir, managing director of Weir Insurance Brokers, added: “The change is already clear to see.”

“I love that Mandala42 isn’t reactive wellbeing – it’s growing our team’s emotional capacity in real time. 

“You can feel the energy, communication and conscious support for one another at all levels of the business.”

Profits from AstralMandala’s commercial work will support the AstralMandala Foundation, which reinvests up to 50 per cent of earnings into mental health prevention and community support initiatives across the UK.

Julian Ranger, co-founder of AstralMandala, added: “This is how we redefine wellbeing; not as a perk, but as a part of the UK’s economic infrastructure.

“We’re delivering direct value to business by reducing absence and boosting performance, while also investing in regions like the North East, where the cost of ill health hits hardest.”

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