About

With 60 years of experience providing insurance, risk management and financial advice to a broad cross-section of commercial and private clients, Lycetts has established itself as a trusted name in the insurance industry.

Like many organisations in the financial sector, Lycetts faced growing challenges in supporting employee mental health in an increasingly demanding business environment.

Challenge

As an organisation that prides itself on expert client advice, Lycetts increasingly found themselves fielding questions about workplace mental health solutions. This presented a dual challenge: how to provide knowledgeable guidance to clients while ensuring their own staff had access to the same high-quality, evidence-based support.

Charles Renwick, Divisional Director at Lycetts, identified a critical gap in their existing approach. When staff experienced mental health challenges, there was no clear, reliable pathway for them to access quality, confidential support. Moreover, Renwick was concerned about the potential risks of untrained staff offering mental health guidance to colleagues without proper expertise.

Solution

After evaluating various options, Lycetts implemented Leafyard—a science-backed mental health application that combines evidence-based techniques with behavioural science to drive engagement. The platform's approach, which emphasises education, practical tools, and gradual habit formation, aligned perfectly with Lycetts' practical, professional culture.

What distinguished Leafyard from other solutions was its foundation in proven science and its ability to adapt to individual user needs. For a company that advises clients on risk management, this evidence-based approach was essential.

Implementation Strategy

Lycetts launched Leafyard with strong leadership endorsement. Renwick and his management team actively promoted the platform, sharing their own experiences and normalising conversations around mental fitness as part of professional development.

Implementation Focus

The implementation strategy focused on three key elements:

• Positioning Leafyard as a mental fitness tool rather than a mental health intervention
• Emphasising the anonymous, self-directed nature of the platform
• Making it one component of a broader wellbeing framework

Measurable Impact

The response exceeded expectations. Lycetts achieved:

Engagement & Adoption Metrics

Business Impact

The anonymous nature of the platform proved particularly valuable in the professional services environment, where staff may be reluctant to openly discuss mental health challenges. By providing a private, self-directed pathway to support, Lycetts increased the likelihood of early intervention when staff began experiencing difficulties.

Business Benefits & ROI

Beyond the wellbeing benefits, Lycetts has observed several business advantages from their Leafyard implementation:

Key Benefits

• Enhanced ability to advise clients on mental health solutions based on first-hand experience
• Greater confidence that staff have a safe place to turn for evidence-based support
• Reduced stigma around mental health conversations within the organisation
• A practical demonstration of the company's commitment to staff wellbeing
• Consistent weekly usage among adopters, indicating lasting habit formation

Conclusion

For Lycetts, Leafyard has addressed a fundamental business need: providing practical, accessible mental health support that staff will actually use. Rather than treating mental wellbeing as separate from workplace performance, their implementation has integrated it as a core aspect of professional capability.

By combining strong leadership endorsement with a scientifically-validated platform, Lycetts has created a mental fitness strategy that resonates with their practical, professional culture while delivering meaningful support to their team.