Thrive & Shine has been announced as a finalist for the Innovation, Science & Technology Award at the 2026 Staffordshire Chambers Business Awards, sponsored by EPX IT.

Most approaches to workplace stress rely on incomplete data or tools that treat work and life as separate concerns. Bessie, developed by Staffordshire-based Thrive & Shine in partnership with Keele University, was built to change that. The SaaS platform uses a proprietary algorithm drawing on six scientific disciplines to quantify stress as a measurable organisational risk. Rather than surveying work factors alone, Bessie captures stress across the full context of a person’s life, generating anonymised insight at board level while giving individual employees visibility of their own data.

Aligned with ISO 45001, ISO 45003 and HSE Management Standards, Bessie has been deployed across charitable, education, finance and professional services organisations. After two years of research and real-world testing, the platform is now entering a commercial scaling phase.

Stuart Elford, Chief Executive of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “Bessie is a genuinely original piece of work. Thrive & Shine and Keele University have taken the problem of workplace stress and approached it with the rigour it deserves, drawing on six scientific disciplines to build something that gives organisations real data rather than anecdotal surveys. Two years of research and real-world testing behind it, and now scaling commercially. A compelling finalist.”

The winners will be revealed at a gala awards ceremony at Uttoxeter Racecourse on Thursday 9 July 2026, followed by The After Party, a late-night celebration for finalists, winners and partners.

To find out more about the 2026 Staffordshire Chambers Business Awards, visit staffordshirechambers.co.uk/awards.