Welcome to the world of work all you over-50s jobseekers beaten back by age discrimination, 55/Redefined is your champion and the group with a mission to transform a neglected economic sector by helping businesses reap talent and value. Tackling damage from exclusion now estimated to cost the UK £31bn, the UK company campaigns for age diversity and inclusion, backing its call for action with pioneering practical product solutions and services based on hard data.
With that, companies and workers know where they stand and how best to adapt and progress. “Our productive life is growing as we live longer, there’s an unretirement uprising because many do not want complete retirement, just perhaps more flexibility, and this has been accentuated by the cost of living crisis,” explains chief executive Lyndsey Simpson.
A recruitment and finance entrepreneur she founded the business three years ago to smash barriers amid a rapidly changing demographic landscape and it now has 150,000 users in 18 countries. Employing 25 and more jobs planned, it walks its talk with 58 per cent of the team over 50. Growth is doubling annually and with a £1m plus turnover 55/Redefined fixes from the inside out with “a model that’s free to individuals”, says Simpson.
The world-first operation’s divisions cover consumer-focused Life Redefined services, a jobs board, and its key earners: commercial services with diagnostic and insight tools for employers so they can assess and combat age-related challenges.
“We’re not a recruitment agency, we help companies look at their workforce, enabling measurable data, from new hires to how they retain staff – key things they might not have spotted. We devise solutions and create new mindsets in tune with today’s world, which is more 18-to-83 for work,” she adds. “We are the only one to offer an Age-Inclusive Accreditation benchmark, an endorsement popular with social impact organisations and helpful attracting prospective employees.”
Measures are urgently needed because of the wisdom older workers offer, “a wealth of experience, including emotional intelligence, decision making and understanding customers’ needs,” she explains. “Just concentrating on younger workers is a losing game. For employees, plenty find it ok to retire at first, then discover life becomes more lonely and lacking purpose. What’s first a rainbow descends into a dark dawn. Men especially then are prone to depression.”
Clients on board include Axa UK, BT, Boots, Warner Brothers, Amazon and NatWest. And creating futures that are fizzing not futile has earned her a place on the shortlist for this year’s champagne supremo Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Awards in the Future category that celebrates rising-star women leaders.
Now with Mastercard 55/Redefined is building another first, a global career coaching and life transition platform to support employers, developed with inhouse proprietary technology. Having raised £3m so far, Simpson’s next move is to seek institutional investment this year to scale global growth, including opening a US subsidiary. With financial and retail giants in the 55/Redefined fold, her rallying call is for public sector organisations to join what’s a win-win for all. “Age strategies make the most of growth opportunities,” declares Simpson. “They are right at the heart of our times and here to stay.”
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Why Veuve Clicquot flies flag for women entrepreneurs: now in its 52nd year, Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Awards are the longest running international awards of its kind, showcasing outstanding UK female entrepreneurship and innovation through key events across the world. The winners will be announced on June 13. The prestigious Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin champagne house owes its identity to the pioneering and courageous widow Madame Clicquot whose inspirational breakthroughs created the first vintage champagne in 1810.
