From strategy to solutions: what to discover at The Watercooler and The Office Events

With so much happening at our vibrant sister events — The Watercooler and co-located The Office Show — at ExCel on 7–8 May, we’ve pulled together a quick guide to help you navigate some exhibitor highlights and make the most of your visit.

It’s great to see the variety of solutions being showcased this year – reflecting the far-ranging content of the three main stages and the three workshop theatres. It really is “A celebration of the future of work, where workplace culture, employee health & wellbeing and workplace experience connect”.

From anaphylactic shock, to beating burnout. Next-generation Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) through to neuroinclusion. Financial wellbeing to menopause, cancer support and ear care. Whatever you’re looking for, with 100+ suppliers showcasing their workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing products and services – as well as an array of workspace and workplace experience solutions – it’s worth planning which exhibitors you want to check out.

Whether you’re just getting started and need help devising a health and wellbeing strategy for your workplace, or you’re moving to the next level of implementation and looking for leadership training to create a culture of psychological safety. Or you’re seeking a digital wellbeing hub that’s easy for colleagues to access, or ways to help employees manage their weight. Or you’re sourcing health insurance for your global workforce, or crisis and trauma support, or ways to help new parents. Or you want to engage teams through sustainability.

Wherever you are on your workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing journey, at The Watercooler there is something for everyone. Co-located with The Office Event for the full 360 degree workplace experience.

Navigating the maze

Ultimately, the goal of The Watercooler and The Office events isn’t just to inform and inspire. It’s also to bring buyers and sellers together under one roof. But with so many different solutions on offer, finding the right fit for your organisation can feel daunting. Here, I’ve put together a taste of what’s on offer for you to use as a starting point.

The exhibitors highlighted are those that responded to our outreach for information about what they’ll be showing. You can find the full exhibitor list here.

When selecting employee health and wellbeing suppliers, it’s also worth referring to this really useful guidance that has been created by the Society of Occupational Medicine, providing evidence-based frameworks to make informed and effective buying decisions.

1. Cost-effective prevention and intervention

With rising rates of stress, burnout, and long-term sickness across the UK workforce, it’s more important than ever for employers to take a proactive and responsive approach to employee wellbeing. Balancing prevention with timely intervention not only supports healthier, more resilient teams but also helps reduce costs and improve retention. A whole host of exhibitors will help you to find the right approach to both cost-effective prevention and intervention for your organisation including:

• Wellhub, one of the event’s Silver Sponsors, provide an easy-to-access corporate wellness platform that connects employees to the best partners for fitness, mindfulness, therapy, nutrition, and sleep, all included in one subscription designed to cost less than each individual partner.
• H&B & Me by high street favourite Holland & Barrett will also be exhibiting with their solution designed to revolutionise employee support for health and wellbeing in the workplace. With H&B & Me, employees can discover their biological age, receive tailored, expert guidance, as well as track their progress to help improve their health and wellbeing. 

2. Coaching, Leadership & Management Development, Workshops and Wellbeing Strategy

Over the past few years, as employers recognise the pivotal role that leaders play in creating thriving teams, and that a tick box approach is not enough to have a real impact, demand for help with devising clinically-informed wellbeing strategies and wellbeing workshops – as well as leadership and management development – has grown. Three of the exhibitors in this space include:

• Empresa Psychology who deliver evidence-based training and support to teams in high-stress environments. This helps to foster trust and create a culture where teams thrive and business excellence can be achieved without compromising wellbeing. As well as exhibiting on Stand 428, their Founder, Clinical Psychologist Dr Natalie Isaia, will be presenting a workshop at the event showcasing: “How to Create Psychological Safety Through Compassionate Leadership“. You can read more about Empresa Psychology’s approach here.
• Ripple&Co will be bringing their award-winning actor-led training sessions to the show floor. Showcasing an immersive manager experience which is one of the solutions they provide, along with mental health first aid training, suicide awareness programmes and the digital plato platform that equips mental health first aiders with essential resources and real-time guidance.
• Superwellness will be announcing their new Level 5 Diploma in Leading Strategic Workplace Wellbeing. As part of this they will also be introducing the Workplace Wellbeing Profession Map^TM, along with a self-assessment tool for wellbeing leads to discover their strengths and development areas. And showing their platform, which allows organisations to design their own bespoke wellbeing programme, by selecting the building blocks they need from across three key areas of effective workplace wellbeing

3. Stress assessments, health screening, flu jabs and vaccinations

By proactively helping to identify potential health issues early and reduce the risk of illness, employers can support a healthier workforce, minimise absenteeism, and create a culture of care and wellbeing. Two of the range of exhibitors in this space are:

• Firstbeat want to know: Are you balancing your stress with enough recovery?Is your sleep restorative enough? Firstbeat Life is a professional HRV-based stress assessment that helps each employee boost their resilience, and at a company level, supports those at risk.
• FluClinic2U provides a quick and convenient way to check for Vitamin D deficiency, which can contribute to fatigue, muscle weakness, and a weakened immune system, all of which impact overall health and workplace productivity. They will be offering tests for low vitamin D on their stand.
  

4. Crisis and trauma support for colleagues

While prevention is essential, it’s not always enough—employees may still face both mental and physical health challenges that require timely and effective support. Investing in the right interventions ensures those who are struggling receive the care they need to recover, stay in or get back to work, and feel supported by their employer. Two of the many exhibitors that can help with this are:

• Lyra Health, are Gold Sponsors of The Watercooler Event. They will be sharing their clinically led solution – offering bespoke mental health and wellbeing support to care for all employee lifecycle needs. They aren’t a typical EAP model – instead, they support and therapeutically assess each individual to implement a customised care pathway suited to their needs.
• Hedroc engages industry leaders to work alongside public and private organisations to deliver evidence-based clinical mental health interventions as well as proactive mental wellbeing services. They also provide data-driven consultancy around mental health and wellbeing in relation to staff and their roles and training and workshops, specialising in mental health and wellbeing.

5. Neuroinclusion, DE&I strategy and new parent support

In the UK, neuroinclusion, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), and support for new parents remain a priority for employers that want to foster inclusive workplaces that attract and retain top talent and address the evolving needs of the modern workforce. Three of the range of exhibitors that can help with this are:

• Harley Row Clinic believes that for too long, neurodivergent people – those with ADHD, autism, and other cognitive differences – have been expected to fit into systems that don’t accommodate them. At their stand you can find out how Harley Row flip that narrative by listening, recognising strengths and tailoring support with a functional medicine approach. They also equip businesses with the tools, strategies, and understanding needed to foster a genuinely supportive work environment. Through Access to Work, helping companies to provide practical workplace adjustments, specialist coaching, and mental health support ensuring employees don’t just survive but thrive.
• The MumPod® team will be showcasing their Pop-Up MumPod® and offering employers a solution to their requirement to offer a private, clean and comfortable space for their staff who need to pump while they are at work. MumPods can also be useful for employees to take their rest break when they are pregnant or just back from maternity leave.
• The People Practice Group helps organisations retain senior talent and experienced leaders by supporting expectant, new and seasoned working parents. They will be showing how their tools and expertise help organisations move from policy to practice, creating genuinely inclusive workplaces for working parents.

6. Ear care, eye care, weight management and getting employees active

With a focus on prevention again, ear care is increasingly on employers’ radars – this article on the topic was one our most-read of 2024. Also helping to foster healthier workforces and reduce absenteeism is the introduction of initiatives that help with weight management, as well as those that get employees active. Here are four of the many exhibitors that can help with these preventative approaches:

• On their stand, Hearology® will be talking about the importance of taking proper care of hearing health in support of the productivity and wellbeing of your teams and offering a video ostrocoscopy on their stand. They explain that hearing is an area that’s easy to neglect. Just like individuals, organisations tend to look after employees’ eyes and teeth without question, but ears and hearing are often forgotten.
• Workplace Ear Care will be showing their on-site Ear Health Wellbeing services, explaining the importance of maintaining healthy hearing in typically quiet workplaces like offices and showing the vital links between hearing health, overall wellbeing, mental health, and productivity at work.
• When it comes to encouraging employees to get active, Total Active Hub will be showing how movement can be seamlessly integrated into your company’s wellbeing strategy.

7. Financial wellbeing

With inflation rising, energy price increases kicking in, and now the potential impact of US trade tariffs hanging over the economy, finances remain tight for many. So it’s not surprising that a whopping 25% of pre-registered attendees for The Watercooler Event have indicated that they’re looking for financial wellbeing solutions. There will be a dedicated Financial Wellbeing Zone at the event curated by Financial Wellbeing Month. Here is one of the exhibitors that can help:

• Starting in April 2025, Help to Save will be available to all Universal Credit claimants in work. This change will open the scheme to more people, enabling them to save and build their financial resilience with the support of a 50% government bonus. On Gov.uk Help to Save‘s stand you can find out how their scheme can support your employees’ financial goals and how it can be integrated into your employee benefits package.

8. Culture change, social wellbeing and sustainability

It’s now widely acknowledged that health and wellbeing programmes can’t be truly effective if a workplace culture is toxic. Social wellbeing, and sustainability are also increasingly recognised as core pillars of both employee health and wellbeing and the broader workplace experience. Five of the exhibitors that can help you with this are:

• WebMD Health Services helps organisations to build a great workplace culture, reach diverse populations and inspire wellbeing in everyone. They do this by empowering organisations to create a well-rounded programme that reflects their culture, offering personalised experiences that achieve better health, happiness, and overall wellbeing.
• The Employee Experience Project helps accelerate progress towards your culture goals. They will be exhibiting to share the tools, development and specialist support needed which they provide to cultivate a great culture in your business.
• The Secret Majority are on hand to help on their stand if you’re looking for training for colleagues on how to have courageous conversations.
• Uniting teams around a shared mission, Jump wants visitors to their stands to see sustainability engagement as an employee benefit. Using a combination of technology, communications, and rewards they create habit-forming actions – helping organisations to harness their people power so that they can exceed their sustainability goals.
• Finally, from Terrarium Making to Planting for Charity, Lemonade Events provide nature-inspired team building and wellness experiences at your workplace. They will be exhibiting and launching their new charitable initiative – Plants For People.

9. Workspace & workplace experience as well as hybrid working

Last but not least, whether you’re facing challenges with encouraging employees back into the office or you’re aiming to optimise hybrid working, The Office section of the show offers a range of solutions designed to support your goals, including (amongst many others):

• Interaction, who are on a mission to Banish Boring Offices and will be hosting scheduled meetings with their experts to chat about all things office, design and workplace strategy. Or you can just drop by the stand to find out how to create the perfect workplace.
• For those seeking hybrid working solutions, NearU will be showing the NearU platform in action, to highlight how their booking and data capabilities can support an effective workplace strategy.
• Nook is supporting The Watercooler’s mission of wellbeing and inclusion by providing 10 Nooks for the 1-to-1 meeting area, 2 in the VIP zone and a dedicated Relaxation Zone designed for mindful recharging. They’re keen to meet anyone rethinking environments for the neurodiverse, the overstimulated, or simply the human. You can read more about Nook’s pods here.

This is just a taste of what’s on offer. For the full experience, take a look at the website, plan your day and join us in person on 7th and 8th May at ExCel.

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