How to Build Wellbeing into Your Next Company Retreat

Most corporate retreats still leave people more exhausted than when they arrived. Long days, dense slide decks, late nights, then everyone back at their desks slightly behind on email and no closer to easing burnout. The real opportunity is to design retreats that still deliver on strategy and performance, but that also give people space to reset, reconnect and come back with more energy than before.

We have spent years helping organisations plan company retreats for groups of 12 to 120 people, often outside the city, where the setting does some of the hard work. A question we hear more and more is how to make retreats genuinely restorative without losing momentum or focus. Drawing on that experience, and on wider research into stress and wellbeing at work, this guide shows how to build wellbeing into a normal company retreat through venue choice, agenda design and activities. It is designed for HR, People & Culture, Operations and leadership teams planning strategy days, away days or company retreats.

If you are planning an offsite and want a shortlist that genuinely supports focus and switch off, you can share your brief with us and we will recommend venues that fit your goals, guest profile and budget.

Why Wellbeing Has To Be Part Of Your Retreat Brief

The pressure your people are already under

Burnout and stress are now a hard business risk, not a soft HR topic. Mental Health UK’s Burnout Report series shows that nine in ten UK adults have experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year, and around one in five have needed time off work because of stress related mental health problems. In other words, many people arrive at your retreat already running low on capacity.

What that means for your retreat

Great Place to Work’s Workplace Wellbeing Report 2024 suggests that only around 55 percent of employees in a typical UK workplace report a high state of wellbeing at work. That underlines how far most organisations still have to go. When you bring people together for an offsite you are not starting from neutral. You are starting from tired, distracted and sometimes anxious.

Traditional retreats often squeeze back-to-back presentations, long days and late nights into a short window, especially when teams are trying to cover too much in one go. That might deliver a lot of content, but it can also leave people more drained than before. In our experience, the difference usually comes down to pacing. When the agenda respects energy and attention, discussions are sharper, feedback is more open, and teams tend to leave with clearer decisions and fewer follow-up meetings once they are back at work.

Start With Outcomes: What Do You Want People To Feel?

Define wellbeing in your context

Before you think about yoga mats or spa slots, decide what "wellbeing" actually means for this retreat. Clear outcomes make it much easier to design something that feels genuine, not tokenistic.

Good questions to ask while you write the brief:

• How do we want people to feel when they leave: calmer, clearer, more connected, less overwhelmed.
• What do we want them to be saying about this retreat a month later.
• Which wellbeing challenges are we seeing right now, for example burnout in one team, hybrid disconnect or meeting overload.

Set wellbeing outcomes alongside business goals

From those answers, set two or three wellbeing outcomes alongside your commercial objectives. For example:

• Create space for honest conversations away from email and messaging apps.
• Give people practical tools for managing stress and energy.
• Help a largely remote team reconnect in person, away from screens.

If you want people to leave with more energy than they arrived with, you have to protect time for it. Breaks, a short walk between sessions and a quieter slot in the afternoon are often the difference between good intentions and a retreat that actually lands.

If you are still shaping the brief, our Complete Corporate Event Planning Guide lays out the core decisions, timelines and pitfalls to avoid before you lock in venues and dates.

Choose A Venue That Does Half The Wellbeing Work For You

Venue choice does a lot of the heavy lifting. When your retreat is held at an estate or country house hotel, surrounded by nature with space to move and room to breathe, a lot of the wellbeing work happens on its own. This is exactly where we specialise. We work with castles, estates and country house retreats across the UK that can be hired exclusively or semi exclusively for corporate events.

What to look for...

Nature and grounds

Estates with parkland, woodland, lakes and gardens can help people decompress surprisingly quickly. A short walk between sessions can reset the mood and energy in the room. Paths, lawns and woods also make it easy to build in gentle movement through walking meetings, morning strolls or light outdoor games.

Spa and thermal experiences

Spa hotel style properties give you pools, hydrotherapy, saunas, steam rooms and quiet relaxation spaces. You can use these as anchors for the day, such as early morning swims, late afternoon thermal circuits or calm time after dinner.

Quiet, low distraction environments

Being away from city centres and surrounded by countryside reduces noise and the sense of constant rush. It becomes much easier for people to put their phones down and think clearly, which is especially helpful when you want honest conversations and good decisions.

Travel time is often the first concern, especially for London-based teams. In reality, many rural venues are closer than people expect, and there are several strong options within around an hour of central London. That makes it easier to choose a setting with space and countryside without compromising on convenience.

Flexible indoor and outdoor spaces

Terraces, lawns, forest glades and cosy lounges give you options. You can run walking meetings, hold outdoor breakouts, set up reflective sessions and host informal evening gatherings, instead of relying on a single windowless room.

Some venues make it easy to slow the pace down. Others make it hard, no matter how good the agenda looks. Daylight, space to move and access to the outdoors tend to do more than any single session you add.

If you are still exploring, browse our corporate venues to get a feel for the settings, facilities and group sizes we can support.

Simple Ways To Weave Wellbeing Into The Agenda

You do not have to redesign your retreat from scratch. Often it is a few small changes that shift the whole feel of the day.

We see this most clearly in the first 90 minutes after arrival. If people go straight from travel into heavy discussion, the morning often drags.

Arrival and morning

Swap a rushed coffee and name badge start for a gentle arrival. A guided walk, a short stretch or yoga session, or a brief guided meditation all help people arrive properly.

Use the welcome to agree some simple ground rules. For example, laptops stay closed in plenary sessions, phones are on silent, and there will be regular breaks and time outdoors.

Food and refreshments

Food is one of the simplest levers for keeping energy steady across the day. A good, balanced breakfast can make a noticeable difference to focus and productivity in the first work block, especially after early travel.

It also helps to avoid breakfasts that are overly heavy or indulgent, which can leave people feeling sluggish by mid-morning. Lighter, well-timed refreshments and a sensible lunch tend to support better discussion and decision-making through the afternoon.

During work blocks

Alternate seated sessions with walk and talk pair work around the estate. Walking side by side often makes conversations more open and creative.

When the weather cooperates, move small group discussions onto a terrace or into the garden to bring in daylight and fresh air.

Keep work blocks to about 60 to 90 minutes to avoid overload, especially for people who have travelled that morning.

Afternoons

Offer a couple of wellbeing-friendly options in parallel. For example yoga or Pilates, a guided nature walk, a simple craft or reflection workshop, or a practical session on stress and energy.

Let people choose the option that suits them best. Some will want to be active. Others will appreciate a calmer choice.

Evenings

Replace the pressure of a very late night at the bar with a relaxed dinner and optional extras. That might be spa time, a gentle walk, guided meditation or low key games.

This kind of agenda still gives you plenty of room for business content. It simply respects the fact that people think, collaborate and decide better when they are not exhausted.

Wellbeing Activities That Work For Real Teams

Wellbeing activities can add real value, but only when they are planned as part of the day rather than dropped in as a standalone slot. We help you shape a coherent programme that fits your objectives, your venue and your group.

If you are weighing up whether team building is worth the time in the agenda, our article on the real ROI of team building looks at how the right sessions can improve communication, decision-making and follow-through long after the retreat.

At the same time, wider wellness research shows that demand for these kinds of experiences is only growing. McKinsey’s Future of Wellness survey reports strong net purchase intent for in person wellness services, including wellness retreats and boutique wellness experiences, particularly among younger employees. That trend is now very visible in how teams want to spend their time together offsite.

If you want examples you can drop into your programme, take a look at our team building activities and entertainment ideas, from low-key connection sessions to more energetic outdoor options.

Four activity types that land well

Mind and body reset

• Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi sessions that ease tight backs, hips and shoulders from travel and desk work. These can be framed for complete beginners.
• Laughter Yoga sessions that break down social barriers and bring lightness into the day.

Calming and restorative

• Guided meditation or forest bathing sessions in the morning or before dinner, helping people slow down and reset away from screens.
• Aromatherapy workshops and pamper sessions that offer simple tools for relaxation and sleep, which people can use again at home.

Practical everyday wellbeing

• Nutrition classes focused on maintaining energy and concentration during busy days, rather than restrictive diets.
• Short practical sessions that cover breathwork, micro breaks, posture and movement habits people can build into their working day.

Playful, energising connection

• School Sports Day style sessions on lawns or meadows which get people moving and laughing without heavy competition.
• Outdoor challenges or bushcraft style sessions in woodland, mixing practical tasks with problem solving and collaboration.

In practice, combining two or three tends to work best, with choice built in so people can opt for something active or something calmer.

Managing Technology So People Actually Switch Off

Constant screen time is a major driver of stress and fatigue, yet many retreats still look and feel like a normal office day in a different location. Being deliberate about technology is an important part of any wellbeing aware design.

Reset expectations and build in "safe" check ins

Set clear norms from the start. Laptops stay closed in most sessions, and phones are placed on a side table during agreed blocks so people are fully present. Make it clear there will be set times to deal with anything urgent.

Use the outdoor space available to create natural offline moments. Walking meetings where phones stay away, outdoor workshops without screens and forest style walks between heavier sessions all help.

Make some moments tech free on purpose, for example device free meals or one fully screen free session each day. Balance this by agreeing one or two short email check in windows so people can handle anything truly urgent without feeling on edge.

You are not asking people to disappear from the grid. You are showing that important conversations and clear thinking often happen more easily when devices step back for a while.

Our Top 5 UK Venues For Wellbeing Aware Company Retreats

These are venues we regularly recommend when wellbeing is a priority in the brief. Each can be hired exclusively or on a part-exclusive basis for corporate groups, and offers a different mix of setting, facilities and event space.

Pennyhill Park, Surrey

Knoll Park, Staffordshire

Highcroft Retreat, Berkshire

Tortworth Court, Gloucestershire

Leeds Castle, Kent

Measuring The Impact Of Wellbeing At Your Retreat

A single retreat will not fix burnout, but it can be a clear signal of intent and a useful part of a wider wellbeing strategy. Measuring the impact helps you learn what works and supports the case for future investment.

Before and after: quick pulse checks

Before the retreat, send a short pulse survey that asks about current stress levels, sense of connection to colleagues and energy.

Immediately afterwards, repeat those questions and add one such as "Do you feel this retreat showed that the organisation cares about your wellbeing". Ask which elements made the biggest difference to them personally.

Follow up: what actually sticks

A few weeks later, check whether any tools, habits or changes from the retreat have stuck. For example walking meetings, micro breaks, different meeting norms or greater use of wellbeing resources.

Over time, connect retreat design to wider measures such as engagement scores, retention in high stress teams and the cost of poor mental health at work, drawing on research that highlights the significant productivity and absence costs of poor mental health.

Even simple feedback will show you whether your retreats are leaving people more depleted or more equipped to do their best work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to questions we are asked regularly when planning company retreats.

How The Country Castle Company Can Help

We have spent years helping organisations design retreats that are both commercially effective and genuinely restorative, using a hand picked collection of castles, estates and luxury country house hotels across the UK. That experience means we know which venues truly support wellbeing and which only appear to do so on paper.

When you share your brief with us, we will:

• Clarify your business and wellbeing objectives, including the outcomes you want people to leave with and any current pressure points in the team.
• Recommend venues that naturally support wellbeing through space, nature, spa and thermal facilities, quiet surroundings, and flexible indoor and outdoor areas for work and downtime.
• Create a joined up retreat plan that balances business priorities with wellbeing, covering the agenda, activities, pacing, and overall experience.

Our venue-finding service is free for clients. We are paid by the venues we work with. If you would like your next offsite to leave people genuinely refreshed rather than just exhausted and behind on emails, share your brief with us and we will design a wellbeing aware retreat around your team.