Key Points
- Broadstone has launched Elements+, a flexible employee benefits proposition designed for UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with up to 50 employees.
- The new proposition combines pension, health and protection benefits into a single offering.
- Employers can select one benefit, several benefits or the complete package, depending on their workforce requirements.
- Broadstone has selected providers for the offering and says the benefits are available on competitive terms.
- The proposition is aimed particularly at start-ups and growing businesses that may not have dedicated human resources (HR) teams.
- The package is intended to reduce the time employers spend comparing benefit providers and arranging separate services.
- A Broadstone specialist will support each employer during the set-up and launch process.
- The offering can be integrated with Flexcel Elements, Broadstone’s digital employee benefits platform.
- Flexcel Elements provides a central location for employee benefits information and communications.
- Broadstone identified competition for skilled employees as an important reason for smaller businesses to review their benefits arrangements.
- The company also highlighted growing demand for employer-funded healthcare amid pressure on NHS waiting lists and primary care services.
- Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection in Broadstone’s Employee Benefits Consulting division, said smaller employers face challenges similar to larger organisations but often lack the resources to introduce comprehensive benefits packages.
- Hill said Elements+ would give SMEs access to pension, health and protection benefits without requiring them to manage multiple providers independently.
- The launch reflects the wider role of employee benefits in recruitment, workforce retention and employee support.
What Has Broadstone Announced About Its New Elements+ Proposition?
Broadstone has launched Elements+, a flexible employee benefits proposition designed to help UK businesses with up to 50 employees provide pension, health and protection benefits through a single arrangement. Announced on 12 November 2026, the offering is aimed particularly at start-ups and growing SMEs that may not have dedicated HR departments or the resources to negotiate and administer several employee benefit arrangements independently. Employers can select individual benefits, combine different options or take the complete package according to their workforce requirements. Broadstone will also provide specialist support during implementation, while the proposition can be integrated with its Flexcel Elements digital platform to centralise benefits information and employee communications.
The launch addresses an operational challenge for smaller employers: providing employee benefits while managing limited administrative resources.
As reported by Effie Foxtrot of FF News on 12 November 2026, Broadstone’s Elements+ proposition brings together pension, health and protection products from different market providers. The arrangement is intended to give smaller organisations access to a selection of benefits without requiring them to identify and coordinate multiple providers independently.
The proposition is specifically designed for businesses with up to 50 employees. This distinguishes it from broader employee benefits arrangements that may involve more extensive administration, technology and consultancy requirements.
According to Mortgage Soup, which also reported the announcement on 12 November 2026 in an article by Kevin Rose, employers can choose a single benefit, a combination of services or the complete package.
Broadstone has selected the providers included in the offering and says the benefits are available on competitive terms. The company is also providing implementation support to help employers establish their chosen arrangements.
The launch reflects the growing importance of employee benefits for smaller businesses competing to attract and retain employees in the UK labour market.
Which UK Businesses Can Use Broadstone Elements+?
Elements+ is designed for UK businesses with up to 50 employees.
The target audience includes start-ups, small businesses and growing organisations that want to provide additional employee benefits but may not have the internal resources available to larger employers.
In many smaller organisations, responsibility for recruitment, payroll, employee administration and workplace policies may be distributed among a small management team. Some businesses may not employ a dedicated HR professional.
As a result, researching pension arrangements, comparing healthcare providers and selecting protection products can create additional administrative work.
Broadstone’s proposition is intended to reduce this complexity by presenting employers with a pre-selected range of benefits.
Rather than requiring each business to research the market and arrange separate services independently, Elements+ provides access to a combined offering.
The arrangement also gives employers flexibility over the benefits they choose. A business may select a particular service based on its workforce requirements rather than committing to the complete package.
This structure is relevant to organisations at different stages of development. A start-up may initially prioritise pension arrangements, while a growing employer may consider additional health and protection provisions as its workforce expands.
However, the suitability of individual benefits will depend on each employer’s workforce, budget and employment arrangements.
The proposition is therefore intended to provide a more manageable route for SMEs to consider employee benefits without requiring them to adopt an identical package.
What Benefits Are Included in the Elements+ Proposition?
Broadstone’s Elements+ combines three principal areas of employee benefits: pensions, health and protection.
These areas address different aspects of employees’ financial security and personal wellbeing.
How Does the Pension Element Support Employees?
Pension provision is one of the principal components of workplace employee benefits in the UK.
Employers are subject to workplace pension auto-enrolment duties where eligible employees meet the relevant conditions. Beyond statutory requirements, some organisations also review their pension arrangements as part of their wider employee reward and retention strategies.
By including pension benefits within Elements+, Broadstone is providing SMEs with an additional route to consider their workplace pension offering alongside other employee support arrangements.
The proposition is intended to make benefit selection more straightforward by bringing the relevant options into one overall arrangement.
The specific pension providers, contribution structures and individual product terms should be confirmed with Broadstone before an employer makes a selection.
What Health Benefits Can Employers Consider?
Health benefits are another central component of Elements+.
Employer-funded healthcare has become an important consideration for some businesses as employees place greater emphasis on access to medical support and workplace wellbeing.
Broadstone identified pressure on NHS waiting lists and primary care services as part of the wider context behind demand for employer-funded healthcare.
Private healthcare and other health-related employee benefits can form part of an employer’s wider approach to supporting its workforce.
For smaller businesses, however, the decision to introduce healthcare benefits involves considering affordability, eligibility, the level of cover and the needs of employees.
Elements+ is intended to give employers access to selected health-related options without requiring them to manage the entire provider-selection process independently.
What Protection Benefits Are Available?
The third principal area is protection.
Employee protection benefits can help provide financial support in circumstances covered by the relevant insurance arrangements.
Depending on the products selected, protection provision may form part of an employer’s wider approach to employee financial security.
Broadstone has grouped pension, health and protection benefits within Elements+, allowing businesses to consider these areas together.
The precise products, exclusions, eligibility requirements and policy conditions will depend on the selected providers and individual arrangements.
Why Is Broadstone Targeting Businesses Without Dedicated HR Teams?
A central part of Broadstone’s announcement is its focus on businesses that lack dedicated HR resources.
Smaller employers often have fewer administrative staff than larger organisations. Management teams may be responsible for several functions, including recruitment, payroll, compliance, employee relations and workplace administration.
Introducing employee benefits can add further responsibilities.
Employers may need to research available providers, compare prices, assess policy conditions, communicate arrangements to employees and manage the implementation process.
When these activities involve several independent providers, the administrative requirements can increase.
Broadstone’s Elements+ proposition is designed to reduce the work involved in selecting and arranging benefits by providing a pre-selected range of options.
The company will also assign a specialist to support each employer through the set-up and launch process.
This support is intended to help ensure that the benefits selected by the business are properly implemented and made available to employees.
Kevin Rose of Mortgage Soup reported that the proposition is aimed particularly at start-ups and growing businesses that do not have dedicated HR teams.
The publication also highlighted the role of the pre-selected provider range in reducing the time employers spend comparing products and arranging different services.
The approach is relevant to Human Resources and Management and Leadership, particularly where smaller organisations need to balance employee support, recruitment priorities and administrative responsibilities with limited internal resources.
What Did Brett Hill Say About the Launch?
Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection in Broadstone’s Employee Benefits Consulting division, explained the challenges faced by smaller employers when arranging employee benefits.
As reported by Effie Foxtrot of FF News, Hill said smaller businesses face challenges similar to those experienced by larger organisations when attracting and retaining employees, but often lack the time and resources needed to establish comprehensive benefits packages.
His comments identified a gap between the employee benefits available to larger companies and the resources accessible to smaller employers.
Hill also explained how the new proposition is intended to address this issue.
In a statement reported by Kevin Rose of Mortgage Soup, Hill said:
“Elements+ combines a range of quality pension, health and protection benefits”.
He added that the offering would give SMEs greater access to employee support without the administrative burden of managing multiple providers themselves.
Hill’s comments indicate that Broadstone sees provider selection and administration as two important barriers for smaller employers.
The proposition is intended to address both by combining selected benefits and providing specialist implementation support.
His statement also highlights the importance of employee benefits in attracting and retaining staff.
For smaller organisations, the ability to offer a structured benefits package may form part of their employment proposition when competing with larger businesses.
How Will Broadstone Help Employers Set Up Elements+?
Broadstone will provide specialist assistance during the set-up and launch process.
The support is intended to help employers select and implement the benefits they require.
The implementation process is particularly relevant for businesses that do not have internal HR specialists or dedicated employee benefits teams.
Under the arrangement, employers can discuss their requirements with a Broadstone specialist and determine which benefits are appropriate for their workforce.
They can then choose individual provisions or combine several options.
The specialist support is intended to reduce the administrative work involved in coordinating the arrangements.
This is an important element of the proposition because selecting a benefits package is only one part of the process. Employers must also ensure that the chosen services are implemented correctly and that employees understand how to access them.
Effective communication is particularly important where benefits involve different providers, eligibility requirements and policy conditions.
Broadstone’s approach is intended to bring the selection and implementation stages into a more coordinated arrangement.
However, employers will still need to review the specific terms of the benefits they select and ensure that their arrangements meet applicable employment, pension and regulatory requirements.
What Is the Relationship Between Elements+ and Flexcel Elements?
Elements+ can be integrated with Flexcel Elements, Broadstone’s digital employee benefits platform.
The two names refer to related but distinct parts of Broadstone’s employee benefits offering.
Elements+ is the flexible proposition for businesses with up to 50 employees, bringing together pension, health and protection benefits.
Flexcel Elements is the digital platform that can support the communication and presentation of employee benefits information.
According to Effie Foxtrot’s report for FF News, the integration is intended to provide a central location where employees can access information about their benefits and related communications.
This can help reduce the need for employees to approach their employer repeatedly for information about available support.
It can also give employers a more organised way to communicate their benefits arrangements.
Broadstone’s official website describes Flexcel Elements as a modular digital platform for employers with up to 250 employees. Its features include benefits information, financial education, voluntary benefits, shopping discounts and wellbeing communications.
The broader Flexcel Elements platform is therefore not limited to the same employee threshold as the Elements+ proposition.
The distinction is important when considering the two offerings: Elements+ is the benefits proposition for smaller employers, while Flexcel Elements provides digital infrastructure for employee engagement and benefits communication.
Why Is Employer-Funded Healthcare Becoming More Important for SMEs?
Broadstone has linked the launch to growing demand for employer-funded healthcare in the UK.
The company pointed to NHS waiting lists and pressure on primary care services as factors influencing interest in employer-provided health support.
For employers, healthcare benefits can form part of a wider approach to workforce support.
Businesses may consider such arrangements when reviewing recruitment, employee retention and the overall value of their employment packages.
Smaller companies face particular considerations because they may have limited budgets and fewer resources for managing healthcare arrangements.
The ability to select individual benefits rather than take an entire package is therefore relevant to the structure of Elements+.
It allows employers to consider their priorities and choose provisions according to their workforce requirements.
However, employer-funded healthcare does not replace the NHS, and the extent of support available will depend on the specific policy or service selected.
Employers also need to consider the cost of cover, eligibility requirements and the terms under which employees can access healthcare services.
The development of employee benefits propositions for smaller businesses reflects the wider discussion about how employers can support their workforce while managing operational and financial constraints.
How Could Elements+ Affect Employee Recruitment and Retention?
Broadstone’s launch comes amid competition among employers to attract and retain workers.
Larger companies have often been able to provide a broader range of benefits because they have greater administrative capacity and established relationships with providers.
Smaller businesses may face similar recruitment challenges but have fewer resources to establish comparable arrangements.
Employee benefits can form part of the overall employment proposition, alongside salary, working conditions, professional development and opportunities for career progression.
Pension provision, health support and protection arrangements may influence how employees assess an employer’s wider offer.
Broadstone’s Elements+ proposition is intended to make these benefits more accessible to SMEs by reducing the work involved in selecting and coordinating providers.
The flexibility to choose individual services may also help employers avoid committing to benefits that do not match their workforce requirements.
Nevertheless, the introduction of a benefits package does not automatically guarantee improved recruitment or retention.
Its impact will depend on whether the selected provisions are relevant to employees, affordable for the employer and communicated effectively.
This is where Human Resources practices and Customer Service principles can be relevant to the employee experience. Clear communication, accessible information and appropriate support can influence whether employees understand and make use of the benefits available to them.
What Does the Elements+ Launch Mean for the UK Employee Benefits Market?
Broadstone’s announcement reflects continued development in the market for employee benefits aimed at smaller businesses.
The proposition is based on bringing several benefit areas together and providing implementation assistance for employers that may not have specialist HR resources.
It also illustrates the role of digital platforms in supporting employee engagement and benefits communication.
The integration with Flexcel Elements provides an additional digital component, allowing employers to make information about their benefits more accessible.
For providers and consultancies operating in the employee benefits market, smaller businesses represent an important audience because their requirements can differ from those of larger employers.
A company with fewer than 50 employees may need a straightforward arrangement that does not require extensive administration.
By contrast, larger organisations may require more complex benefits structures, technology integrations and employee choice arrangements.
Elements+ is positioned towards the smaller end of the market, with the flexibility to select individual pension, health and protection benefits.
Its performance will depend on employer uptake, the suitability of the selected providers and the value that businesses and employees obtain from the arrangements.
For SMEs considering changes to their workforce policies, the announcement provides another option to assess when reviewing employee benefits, recruitment and retention strategies.
Broadstone’s launch therefore adds to the range of services available to smaller UK employers seeking to organise employee benefits without independently managing several providers.