Arts
& Business – the national organisation that encourages and develops
effective partnerships between business and the arts – has launched a national
campaign to give employees an ‘arts workout’.
National
research commissioned by Arts & Business has shown that nearly
three-quarters of UK
employees want arts inspiration in the workplace.
When
questioned on preferences for perks, 41 per cent of UK
employees said they would take advantage of benefits such as discounted tickets
and access to national or local arts establishments. This is significantly more
than the 32 per cent who wanted gym benefits, and 29 per cent who wanted a
subsidised workplace canteen.
Colin
Tweedy, chief executive of Arts & Business, is keen for businesses to place
the same importance on exercising employees’ minds as they do on their bodies,
through the extensive levels of subsidised gym benefits offered by employers
throughout the UK.
"We
are not seeking to cast doubt on the benefits of various kinds of gym
benefits," Tweedy said. "We are simply advocating that companies put
aside matching funds for the many employees who want to exercise themselves in
a different way.
"The
old adage that healthy bodies make for healthy minds should be supplemented
with new wisdom for employers that a differently-stretched mind can bring more
to the company. Experiencing the arts,
whether through galleries, museums or live performances of theatre, dance and
music, is a simple and cost effective way of providing this mind exercise."
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