A day of health, wellness, and inspiration at Harwell's science hub

Harwell, a leading science and innovation campus in the UK, continues to expand as a hub for research and collaboration. With 7,000 scientists and engineers currently working across 200 organisations, and significant growth expected by 2028, employee wellbeing remains a key focus. 

Eurest is proud to be partnering with Harwell to take their food offerings to the next level with a healthy habits-driven food strategy. We’re tackling food waste, serving up nutritious meals that fuel energy and productivity, and creating dining experiences that are as engaging as they are industry-leading. Because when it comes to the employee experience, we believe in making healthy choices easy, fun, and impactful.

Fuelling innovation

Promoting healthier lifestyles with a purpose

Did you know 52% of employees often work through their lunch break entirely, with Londoners leading this trend? Eating a nutritious lunch is crucial for maintaining energy levels, focus, and overall productivity throughout the day. Skipping lunch can lead to fatigue, decreased concentration, and an increased likelihood of unhealthy snacking later on.

In March, Eurest teamed up with Harwell to host a day full of delicious food, interactive activities, and valuable insights to inspire healthier lifestyles both inside and outside the campus. By bringing fun and nourishment together, we’re helping enhance the workplace environment, ensuring that Harwell’s growing workforce has access to nutritious meals that keep the innovation flowing and teams collaborating at their best.

Using the "Members of the Future" app, where employees can easily access information about community activities on their campus, we supported Harwell in promoting the workshop to their teams. Around 40 employees attended throughout the day, and the feedback was positive, many appreciated the ability to book the session directly through the app. Looking ahead, employees expressed interest in hearing about and participating in future activities to continue learning and engaging.

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Aisha Blakemore-Razaq and Ben Smith, Business and Industry Nutrition and Culinary Lead added:

“Culinary and Nutrition go hand in hand, and we’re pleased to be at Harwell today, educating the workforce on simple ways to adjust their eating habits for a healthier lifestyle.

With sustainability at the core of our culinary approach, we’re also teaching the teams how to reduce food waste, like turning sweet potato peels into delicious, crispy snacks, which was a huge hit! It was great to answer their nutrition questions, and I was surprised by how many thought-provoking, in-depth queries they had.

It really sparked some gaps in our own knowledge and delivery, so I’m excited to bring these learnings to our next session and see how much they’ve absorbed, and whether they’ve tried any of the snacks we shared”.

Socially supporting the bigger picture

Eurest hosted three engaging sessions, covering a breakfast offer, light bites, and a full lunch offering, each packed with tips, tricks, and simple yet delicious meal ideas that employees can easily replicate at home.

From mocha coffee protein balls to homemade beetroot hummus, our Culinary and Nutrition experts guided the teams through step-by-step instructions on how to make these nutritious dishes using everyday ingredients found in their cupboards.

They also highlighted which ingredients play a vital role in fuelling the body for energy and focus. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it was fantastic to see employees snapping photos of the meals, eager to put these healthy ideas into practice.

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Rebecca Duvall, Head of Community at Harwell, added:

"My role is all about uniting the companies across campus to create a truly great place to work. It’s about fostering a sense of community and building a portfolio where employees feel that their wellbeing is genuinely cared for.

Eurest has played a key part in enhancing this effort, especially through engaging events like today, where the team can roll up their sleeves and get involved, making everyone feel part of something bigger in terms of fueling their mind and bodies. The majority, if not all the employees say that events like this make them feel more connected to the Harwell community”.

Nawel Khelifi, Employee at Harwell, added:

“Before this event, I didn’t realise how important it is to stay healthy or even the right way to do it. Working 9-5 makes it tough to stay on track with my diet, but chatting with Aisha, the Nutritionist, about how to hit my daily protein goals in a healthy way was so interesting. I’ll definitely be batch cooking some of the recipes we made today. It’s easy to fall for nutrition advice on social media, so having someone here to answer my burning questions was super helpful”.

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