Wellness brand Moodbeam acquired by fellow Hull firm…

Wellness brand Moodbeam acquired by fellow Hull firm The 55 Group

Leading Hull digital business The 55 Group has swooped for fellow Hull wellness tech firm Moodbeam.

The undisclosed deal, which widens the portfolio of brands held by the city centre operation, builds on trials to test the then-wearable format of the morale-tracker in the construction industry it is aligned to.

Moodbeam, founded in 2016 by former journalist Christina Colmer McHugh - inspired to help her daughter’s anxiety at school - and Gadget Shop founder and Red5 co-founder Jonathan Elvidge, its profile was raised significantly in the pandemic to support teams working from home. It garnered worldwide media attention - and increased sales - with features on prime time UK television as well as ABC and The Washington Post as the first lockdown hit, with the team expanding and developing it dramatically throughout Covid-19, with the slogan ‘the measure of happiness’.

Most recently, Moodbeam developed a mobile app, allowing any user to track and see trends in their mental wellbeing from any mobile device. With the acquisition now complete, it will join The 55 Group’s portfolio of digital-first brands along with Pagabo, Sypro and Loop. It will integrate most closely with Pagabo’s procurement software, My Pagabo, which operates largely within the construction industry.

Gerard Toplass, chief executive of The 55 Group, said: “Moodbeam is a really unique piece of technology, so we’re really pleased to be announcing this acquisition and bringing it into our suite of software at The 55 Group.

Gerard Toplass, chief executive of Hull city centre headquartered The 55 Group. (Cartwright Communications)

“Our mission is to utilise technology to create a better world, with our structure providing a platform for growth and integration between our brands. This will be no different as we bring Moodbeam into our wider portfolio, where it will have a significant impact on the construction industry and seek to remove the taboo that still sadly exists.

“The construction sector goes the distance when looking after physical health due to the close association with safety, but as our wider understanding of mental wellbeing grows it cannot be ignored. The scale of this importance is only truly understood when examining statistics, which show that two people working within the industry die by suicide every working day. Simply put, it’s something we have to tackle now, breaking down taboos and making a marked difference to support our people.”

The company has just incorporated mental wellness into procurement frameworks it delivers, building on advice from Westminster feedback to the industry.

The 55 Group and Moodbeam ran trails on construction sites in 2019, with almost 400 participants involved from 13 industry-leading businesses. It also included Hull’s Spencer Group.

Moodbeam co-founders Jonathan Elvidge and Christina Colmer McHugh. (Moodbeam)

Becoming a digital-first offering through the development of an organisational dashboard, the software allowed businesses to visualise morale within their teams and apply organisational changes to improve staff wellbeing.

Launched from Hull's tech base C4DI, the brand has now been integrated into 55 Whitefriargate, The 55 Group’s prestigious bank transformation. The deal represents an exit for the origianl duo, with no additional staff being added to the 81-strong team at The 55 Group.

Mr Toplass added: "The acquisition will provide additional value for our construction and schools software platforms – turnover increase will be small. It's about bringing a great system for helping understand an organisation's mental strength, and providing signposts when and where help is needed."

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