Ask the expert on… keeping Britain working: health, work and productivity

If one in five working‑age people are inactive, what does that say about the UK’s productivity problem? Why does ill health push so many people out of work in the UK, but not in peer countries?

Rising economic inactivity linked to health has become a major challenge for the UK economy. In this discussion, Charlie Mayfield draws on insights from the Keep Britain Working review to explore the role employers can play in supporting people to remain in work. The conversation examines how workplace practices, health support and collaboration between employers, government and communities can help strengthen workforce participation and productivity.

Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:

• Charlie Mayfield, Chair, Keep Britain Working Review, and Former Chair, John Lewis Partnership

For more information on the topic:

• Keep Britain Working: final report, independent report for the UK Government. 
• George Williams, How to keep Britain working: Making the Vanguard Phase a success, Lancaster University, (05/03/2026).
• Sam Atwell, How to Keep Britain Working, Health Foundation (28/10/2025).
• CIPD, Keep Britain Working review makes employee wellbeing impossible for business to ignore, says CIPD (11/11/2025).
• Productivity Puzzles podcast, Business model innovation and strategic productivity.
• The Productivity Institute, Working ‘on’ the business not just in it (21/06/2021).

About Productivity Puzzles:

Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.