Mental health highlighted

Howells Patent Glazing welcomed mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street to its Black Country factory as part of national Mental Health Awareness Week.

The company shared some of the measures it has put in place to support the mental health and wellbeing of its employees.

The family-run business takes part in the Thrive at Work initiative, a workplace wellbeing programme established by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help businesses across the West and East Midlands to support their employees. By promoting health and wellbeing, the scheme benefits employees and the business by boosting productivity and demonstrating that the company is a considerate employer.

Howells signed up to the programme in 2018 and put in place action plans to support their employee’s mental health and wellbeing. Despite being based on an industrial estate behind Cradley Heath station, the firm has provided access to their staff to two nature trails where workers can go and switch off from the stresses of everyday life.

One of the trails runs along Mousesweet Brook, close to Saltwell Nature Reserve, home to a wide variety of wildlife, including green and greater spotted woodpeckers.

Tracey Jackson of Howells Patent Glazing said: “We were also one of the first businesses to engage with the Mayor’s Mentor initiative which has certainly been a catalyst for change and progress. Two of our management team, myself included, have since become professionally trained coaches and mentors. This has given us the confidence to change perception, job craft and improve the mental health of our staff; invaluable resources for any SME.”

Andy Street said: “It is vital we recognise the importance and benefits of good mental health not only for the individual that may be affected, but also for our wider economic recovery.”

He continued: “Howells has clearly demonstrated how it puts the interests of its employees front and centre, in turn creating a workforce that I’m sure is more committed, happy and healthy. And what an inspired idea to reach out to nature to provide its team with that space to break away from their everyday pressures.”