On The Mend: Supporting Innovation and Growth Through the RIEm Programme

Small businesses working within the health and wellbeing sector often face significant barriers when trying to develop and scale innovative ideas. Limited access to research expertise, funding opportunities and strategic business support can make it difficult to test new concepts, strengthen evidence-based approaches and expand services sustainably.

On The Mend, founded by Wesley Fogel, Arash Aframian, Ralph Stenzel, and Nicholas May, provides rehabilitation, recovery and wellbeing services that help people rebuild confidence, regain independence and improve their quality of life. The company focuses on delivering personalised support by encouraging patients and healthcare professionals to work together to make informed decisions about care and recovery. By tracking patient progress and outcomes, On The Mend is also able to gather valuable insights that can help improve rehabilitation services and support better care pathways across the healthcare system.

Wesley explained, “My own experience with knee and shoulder surgery was daunting and lonely. I kept forgetting how to do my exercises, quickly lost motivation, and didn’t have anyone like me to share the experience. I started On The Mend to help people take control of their health condition.”

​As demand for personalised rehabilitation and wellbeing support continues to grow, the team at On The Mend wanted to explore new ways of developing its services, strengthening innovation and building stronger partnerships with academic and healthcare organisations.

Like many growing businesses in the sector, Wesley’s business required support to explore new opportunities, access specialist expertise and better understand how innovation funding and research collaboration could help accelerate future development.

Through support from the RIEm Programme at The Brunel University of London, Wesley headed On The Mend in a project to access innovation support designed to help small businesses develop new ideas and strengthen collaboration between industry and academia.

The RIEm programme provided access to innovation vouchers, mentoring and opportunities to connect with Brunel researchers and specialists. This support enabled On The Mend to explore how research-led innovation could strengthen its rehabilitation and wellbeing services, in particular to support people in cardiac rehabilitation, while helping the business build greater confidence in developing future projects.

The RIEm Programme also helped On The Mend better understand how to position its ideas for future funding opportunities and collaborative research activity. By working closely with The Brunel University of London, the team gained valuable insight into innovation processes, project development and the practical steps needed to move new concepts forward.

Process

The collaboration focused on supporting business development, innovation planning and knowledge exchange and consisted of a blended approach that was designed to meet the needs of the growing company:

• Innovation Voucher Support: On The Mend benefited from RIEm innovation voucher funding to the value of £5,000, which enabled the business to dedicate time and resources towards exploring new service ideas and collaborative opportunities.

• Academic Collaboration: Through the programme, Wesley connected with The Brunel University of London’s researchers and innovation specialists to discuss rehabilitation, wellbeing and patient-centred approaches to recovery.

• Mentoring and Guidance: The RIEm team provided advice on innovation strategy, business development and future funding pathways, helping the business better understand how to develop sustainable projects.

• Knowledge Exchange: The collaboration created opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges within rehabilitation services and explore how innovation could improve outcomes for individuals accessing support.

• Confidence Building: Participation in the programme helped strengthen confidence around presenting ideas, engaging with potential partners and identifying future growth opportunities.

Impact

The RIEm Programme helped On The Mend strengthen its approach to innovation and provided valuable support for future business growth.

Key outcomes included:

• Increased understanding of innovation funding and collaborative research opportunities.

• Greater confidence in developing and presenting new service ideas.

• Stronger connections with The Brunel University of London’s researchers and innovation networks.

• Improved awareness of how academic partnerships can support rehabilitation and wellbeing services.

• Dedicated time and support to focus on future innovation and service development.

• Enhanced visibility through engagement with the RIEm innovation community.

Future

Looking ahead, On The Mend aims to:

• Continue developing innovative rehabilitation and wellbeing services.

• Explore further collaboration opportunities with The Brunel University of London and healthcare partners.

• Apply for additional innovation funding to support future projects.

• Expand services that improve recovery, independence and quality of life for individuals accessing support.

• Build on the knowledge and networks developed through the RIEm Programme to support long-term growth.