Profile: Maria Bourke

WHEN Maria Bourke was growing up, she was expected to pursue one of two professions – teaching or banking.

She chose the latter and she was proud to work in the sector, building extensive experience over two decades within financial services throughout Europe, India and America.

Starting at Barclays, after completing her schooling in Wakefield, she went on to work for “five brilliant years” at American bank Household.

By 21, she was branch manager, and her CV today includes having worked as chief operating officer for Europe for Citigroup, customer services director at Marks & Spencer Money and operations director at Privilege Insurance in Leeds.

With her heritage hailing from Ireland, Miss Bourke recalled how banking was among the most respected professions when she started her career. “You were either a teacher or worked in a bank, that’s what everyone aspired to. So all my mum’s brothers and sisters either work in a bank or are a teacher.”

She adds: “I remember when I left Barclays my mother was mortified, because Barclays was a job for life and you were always proud to work with the top five. She had sleepless nights!”

But times have changed. And controversy over big bonuses, the mis-selling of financial products and the Libor rate debacle, together with the financial crisis, have dented the image of the financial services sector.

“From the staff perspective I know it has been really tough, for the cashier who does a fantastic job but everyone now thinks your a millionaire. That’s brought a lot of anxiety”, said Miss Bourke.

“It’s quite a tough environment now to work in just because of the public’s perception of you as an individual.”

But Miss Bourke’s business venture, Let’s Get Healthy, is helping to boost the morale of staff in financial services, and other sectors alike.

The firm helps small and large organisations deliver health and wellbeing programmes, claiming it can save businesses money, reduce absence and get staff engaged.

And Cleckheaton-based Let’s Get Healthy, which employs 20 staff, is thriving. Its turnover is around £1.5m, with 20 per cent growth projected this year, and the firm is looking to take on six to eight new staff.

Having been set up in 2006, Let’s Get Healthy now has among its customer base insurance group RSA, Barnsley NHS, fruit supplier PouPart, housing association A2Dominion and Philips UK. Around a third of its clients are in financial services, a sector which has seen an increase in long-term absence and suicide over the past few years.

Miss Bourke, who owns Let’s Get Healthy, said: “We work with that sector because they want to do something about it. So there is an awareness.”

Let’s get Healthy can offer plenty of advice to workers, from healthy eating to exercise – and Miss Bourke certainly practises what she preaches with hiking, biking and windsurfing featuring among her hobbies.

But the first step, she said, is to find out what the employees are worried about. “When we ask people, do you want to be healthy? I think on average last year 98 per cent of people [we surveyed] said they wanted to be healthier.

“And then we ask, why do you want to be healthier? Having more energy is the number one reason. So when you drill down, it’s usually that people aren’t sleeping, they might be struggling to keep on top of things, and they are just a bit stressed and anxious about things.”

But what does Let’s Get Healthy do to help?

Every employer is different and it is important to tailor the programme to the type of business, said Miss Bourke, but understanding how to communicate the initiative to staff is vital.

“The last thing anyone wants to do is have a nanny state employer, saying ‘you need to lose weight’. It doesn’t work.

“The second stage is to help employees understand their own health and well-being, so we have an online questionnaire, we have health checks. And there’s lots of research which shows that the biggest influences of your health are your friends not your partner, so it’s then trying to build communities within that employer to support each other.”

Let’s Get Healthy also offers training days on various subjects such as building resilience to everyday stresses, while individuals go on formal courses to become ‘Champions’, learning how to promote health and wellbeing in their organisation.

The business has an online ‘wellbeing zone’ for employees and families, which can be accessed from home, and includes advice tailored to the individual on subjects such as healthy eating, sleep and weight management. And it launched its app version of the service recently.

Miss Bourke said: “A lot of the workshops we run are how can we give people two or three key messages about sleep or energy levels.

“So if you’re getting up in the morning, not eating breakfast, having a can of pop and a muffin, people don’t realise the energy crashes, so you start talking to people and they ask how can I change, and it’s just really simple things, it’s not lose two stone.

“And, ultimately, the employer is getting the benefits because they are going to work when they might have just stayed in bed.”

Miss Bourke, who also supports Dame Carol Black, an expert adviser on health and work to the Department of Health, said that both governments, Labour and the Coalition, have done a lot to educate employers about the benefits of health and wellbeing.

She said those at the top of businesses are more aware of the importance of a healthy, happy and motivated staff nowadays.

“Some have halved their workforces, but still continue paying us and the reason for that is there’s no surplus of staff. They are cut to the bare minimum. So if any of those staff go off sick that will have a big impact on their business.”

But the UK is still behind other parts of the world when it comes to health at work. “We’re behind America. Places like Sweden and Finland are way ahead of us as well. But I think because we’ve got the NHS and we’ve got that focus on health at work we are certainly ahead of countries like Spain and some of those major markets over there.”

Let’s Get Healthy’s plans for expansion are to continue to grow in the UK, but to also take on more international work.

However, there’s no chance of Miss Bourke moving Let’s Get Healthy’s head office out of the region.

“When I stand up and speak at conferences I’m really proud that we’re Northern based. I think because we are so diverse, I think Leeds, Bradford, is diverse, multicultural, hard working... we’ve got loads of skills up here. I’d never ever move our head office from this area.

“Leeds has had a hammering in the recession but it will bounce back because of the people here.”

Maria Bourke factfile

Title: Managing director, Let’s Get Healthy.

Age: 43

Lives: Just outside Bradford.

Education: Degree in business management from Bradford School of Management.

First job: At 13, working Saturdays at a dental surgery.

Favourite song: Space Cowboy by Jamiroquai.

Car driven: Audi TT Roadster

Favourite film: Any of The Godfather collection.

Favourite holiday destinations: Yosemite and anywhere in the Greek Islands.

Last book read: The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Most proud of: The work I’ve done for charity and supporting Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.