MoreLife, is one of the UK’s leading providers of healthy lifestyle services for local communities, has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Stephen Curran as Managing Director and Dr Sophie Edwards as Clinical Director.
Together with CEO and founder of the company, Professor Paul Gately, who is Professor of Obesity and Exercise at Leeds Becket University, the new leadership team will focus on accelerating MoreLife’s UK growth in 2023.
MoreLife is a subsidiary of Leeds Beckett University and, working closely with the University’s Obesity Institute, it designs and delivers evidence-based programmes which are commissioned by Local Authority public health teams and Integrated Care Board teams across the UK.
The expansion of the leadership team coincides with increased interest internationally in MoreLife’s research and development of psychologically informed programmes.
Dr Sophie Edwards and Professor Paul Gately recently attended the International Congress on Obesity in Melbourne where they announced the results of a successful pilot programme to address binge eating disorders through a guided self-help intervention. The programme has now received funding from South Essex ICB to enable MoreLife to continue to offer this programme.
Dr Sophie Edwards joined MoreLife over 9 years ago and is a specialist in the psychological aspects of weight loss. She says: “I am very pleased to have been appointed as Clinical Director at MoreLife and look forward to continuing to drive our science-powered programmes for individuals, families and local communities.
“The services we provide are vital to communities across the UK who need the extra support to quit smoking to improve their health, lose weight before an operation, or who want to become generally healthier and happier.
“‘I genuinely believe that the clinical excellence and quality we deliver is superior to anything else I’ve seen in the UK and we are doing it in local, accessible venues.’
Meanwhile Stephen Curran, who spent 16 years as a Managing Director and business owner before joining MoreLife in 2021, has been promoted to Managing Director.
In his new role, Stephen will be responsible for working with Local Authorities, Integrated Care Boards which replaced Clinical Commissioning Groups in the NHS in England from 1st July 2022 to continue to drive growth by obtaining funding for further healthy lifestyle contracts.
Stephen said: “I am thrilled to have been appointed as Managing Director at MoreLife. Our healthy lifestyle interventions are commissioned by Local Authorities, ICB’s which means that we are able to offer this vital support to local communities so they can access the advice and support they need to live healthy lives. I look forward to working closely with Sophie and Paul as we continue to grow and develop our service offering.”