Britain's Healthiest Companies

The 2014 winners in the various categories of the Healthiest Company of the Year in the UK have a lot to learn - none, it would seem from their published winning criteria, have cottoned on to the health benefits of the standing desk for employees.

It's to be expected that in next year’s contest the stand-up desk will play a big role in determining the winners… but why?

It’s all down to the bottom line, literally, when it comes to assessment, and a coordinated winning strategy will need to go beyond nutrition, the influence of smoking, general fitness and emotional wellness. There is yet to be general acceptance of standing to deliver during your working day, but if you engage with your employees you will find out that that the concept is not alien to them!

Any manager intent on ensuring the well-being of their workforce should look at all aspects of their health care to ensure ongoing productivity and motivation, and can therefore not afford to ignore aides such as height-adjustable standing desks.

Fast becoming a trend that has overtaken the gym ball at work stations across the land, there are dozens of reasons why having the option to stand on your own two feet is fast becoming the healthy alternative to sitting in a stationary chair at a desk all day.

“Sitting is the new smoking” say those in the know, like Mayo Clinic endocrinologist James Levine, who asserts that the “default is to be standing”.

His research has proved that by standing (and therefore moving more) there is a reduced risk of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and especially cardiovascular disease, as well as various cancers (especially colon and breast cancer). Levine and other researchers have endorsed the winning formula for Healthiest Company UK 2015: standing at your desk is a winner.