Background

Welcome to Shandwell - Strategic Health and Wellbeing

Hello.

I’m John Picken and thank you for visiting the Shandwell website.

Shandwell’s purpose is to help make a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the working age population. 

The demographics of this population are changing as is the understanding that physical and mental health are intrinsically linked.  To address these changes and associated risks effectively, there needs to be much greater emphasis on education, prevention and early intervention.

I hope you find what you read here interesting and useful. If you have any comments or ideas, I’d be very pleased to hear from you.

John Picken
“John's in-depth knowledge and experience of the issues employers face in the Health and Wellbeing arena were instrumental in helping us with key elements of our strategic decision making.”
David MobbsGroup Chief Executive, Nuffield Health
“John was commissioned by the regional public health community in the East Midlands to engage the Private Sector in work to reduce the rising obesity levels in the region. He successfully employed his powers of negotiation, persuasion and tenacity to exceed his target. His ability to understand the agenda from a public and private sector perspective was key to his success."
Kath ChildsConsultant in Public Health
“As part of our Well Flourishing People programme, John has engaged our senior leaders in a thought provoking way with his extensive knowledge of the wellbeing market place and public health agenda.”
Tricia O'NeillGroup Head of Health, Centrica British Gas
"It is quite remarkable how the CEO has changed the culture of the company since his appointment"
Lead AssessorInvestors in People
"John has been key in raising our profile, winning new clients, revenues and now awards. We have worked together on many projects and product launches. Whilst thanking him for all he has done for our business, I am also grateful that we can still call on his market knowledge and experience in the future"
Troels JordansenCheck4Cancer
"John extended the reach of Creyos to the UK and helped us explore the potential in this market. He quickly understood the platform's value for health care providers, and brought subject matter and market expertise to the team."
Marc Lipton CEO, Creyos
John has extensive knowledge of several healthcare related markets and provided us with a comprehensive overview of these markets. John combines strategic and technical knowledge with an impressive network that allowed us to open doors to senior leaders in many of the leading organisations in each market. John’s knowledge and advice allowed us to deliver results that exceeded our initial expectations. Should the need arise, we will be glad to work with John again.
Nii Wallace DaviesBusiness Development Director, ieso
John’s passion about workplace health and wellbeing, his knowledge of the corporate wellbeing sector and his calm reflective approach was the perfect combination to help us identify new markets and extend our reach to a number of new audiences. Working with John has been an absolute pleasure, and we look forward to working with him again in the future.
Dr Felicity BakerDirector, Ultimate Resilience
Previous
Next

ieso in The HR Press

6 August 2025

If you click on this link, theHRDIRECTOR_249 JULY – DIGITAL LR-A  you will be able to read an article by Nic Smeeth, Clinical Director at

Read More »

thiscanhappen

16 June 2025

Last week I was very pleased to be invited by Zoe Sinclair to her latest thiscanhappen conference in London. It was such a professionally run

Read More »

Five Lives and Credit Agricole

14 January 2025

Congratulations to the team at Five Lives who have recently won an award from Crédit Agricole Assurances (CAA). This is the insurance arm of Crédit Agricole, the biggest bank

Read More »