Leamington startup backs UK Small Business Week after developing AI system to transform occupational health for small businesses
A Leamington startup that believes it has solved a problem occupational health providers around the world have struggled with for years is backing UK Small Business Week, the national campaign launched by Entrepreneurs Circle to celebrate the contribution small businesses make to communities across the UK.
Intelligent OH, founded by Tracey Hudson and occupational health specialist Lucy Kenyon, is among thousands of businesses supporting the initiative, which runs from 1–7 June. More information can be found at entrepreneurscircle.org/sbw.
The Warwick-based company has developed software that automates large parts of the occupational health assessment process, helping employers access advice more quickly and affordably while allowing occupational health professionals to focus on more complex cases.
The idea was born out of frustration.
After more than 25 years working in occupational health, Lucy repeatedly saw smaller businesses struggling to access the support they needed.
“Large organisations can afford significant occupational health contracts,” said Lucy.
“But many small businesses only need help with one employee issue at a time. Unfortunately, that's often where support is hardest to access and most expensive.”
Drawing on decades of experience, Lucy began mapping the evidence-based questions, decision pathways and workplace adjustments used in occupational health assessments.
Together with Tracey, the pair set out to create software that could automate those decisions while remaining rooted in established occupational health evidence rather than subjective opinion.
The result is a system that generates personalised reports and recommendations based on an employee's circumstances, symptoms, role and workplace requirements.
“We wanted to remove bias and focus on evidence,” said Tracey.
“The goal is to help employers make informed decisions while giving employees the support they need to remain in work or return to work more quickly.”
Building the technology was far from straightforward.
The founders initially invested heavily in a development partnership that ultimately had to be abandoned after concerns emerged about data protection and GDPR compliance.
The setback cost the business both time and money.
Rather than compromise, they started again from scratch.
Their breakthrough came much closer to home than expected.
The developer who eventually helped bring the system to life lived just around the corner.
“Everyone needs a Graham,” said Tracey.
“We spent so long searching for the right person and it turned out he was practically on our doorstep.”
The company is now working with local Warwickshire businesses that helped test and refine the system during development.
Tracey believes the technology could help smaller employers better support staff with health conditions while reducing the risk of workplace disputes and lengthy absences.
“We want small businesses to have access to the same quality of occupational health support as larger organisations,” she said.
“Good advice shouldn't only be available to companies with huge budgets.”
Nigel Botterill, founder of Entrepreneurs Circle, said:
“Tracey, Lucy and their team have identified a real problem affecting thousands of small businesses and have built an innovative solution to solve it.
“The fact they've done it with a small team, after overcoming significant technical and commercial setbacks, is exactly the kind of entrepreneurial story UK Small Business Week is designed to celebrate.”
UK Small Business Week runs from 1 to 7 June and will see businesses across the country taking part in local events, social media activity and community campaigns celebrating independent firms and entrepreneurship.
ENDS