A family firm is helping companies motivate staff by training them for their own triathlon.
You Can Sport is urging business leaders to swap corporate days and traditional team-building activities for multi-sport events to improve employees' health, team spirit and productivity.
The Stirling-based company, run by the Coull family, worked with salmon producers Scottish Sea Farms to create the in-house Triathlon Festival.
More than 100 employees, families and suppliers took part by swimming, cycling and running at the University of Stirling.
They spent six months training with coach Craig Coull of the training firm before taking part in the triathlon which tested mental strength and physical ability and led to benefits for staff and bosses.
Celine Kimpflin, export commercial manager said: "We have a good record for motivated and passionate people, but this event really pushed that forward and the sense of accomplishment from people who thought they could never do anything like this was fantastic.
"We had all shapes and sizes involved, from people who were already fit to people who hadn't even walked 5K and didn't know what a triathlon was.
"Training together brought everyone to the same level - barriers were broken and instead of going to the pub after work we were training for a triathlon."
The triathlon, attended by Olympic swimmer Michael Jamieson, raised £35,000 for charity and is poised to become an annual event.
Georgie Mackenzie of Scottish Sea Farms, said: "Taking part in the triathlon led to a real sense of employee engagement and you would end up talking to people you'd never normally meet.
"It was a catalyst for people to get fit and many have carried on with their training."
Graham Coull, an experienced triathlete, set up You Can Sport with his wife Gillian, sons Gregg and Craig and daughter Michelle.
He said: "Organising a multisports event has much more to offer than hosting corporate days which can be boring - plus this kind of initiative develops over six months and genuinely changes lives.
"We had lots people who lost weight and eight stopped smoking while training for the triathlon - it was something which naturally happened.
"Health and well-being improved and we saw how camaraderie and team spirit developed when people came together for a common purpose."
A spokeswoman for Triathlon Scotland said the sport "offered a host of opportunities for employers to utilise to improve the health and well-being of staff."
ends
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