Former Jelf Employee Benefits boss Jo Thresher has set up a company to help educate employees about their finances.
Ms Thresher, who has been in financial services for more than 30 years, has launched Better With Money, which will provide face-to-face and web-based financial wellness workshops to UK employees.
The company is supported by a team of professional financial trainers who will work with firms across the UK.
Ms Thresher said: "We know there’s a direct link between financial education and productivity. Employees who have less financial worry are less likely to be absent and more likely to be productive.
"This is good for companies and good for employees too – who are happier when less stressed about money.
"We have been overwhelmed with the interest in financial education from UK plc. One day, financial education in the workplace will be the norm.
"The reason we’ve launched Better With Money is to have the freedom to bring some fun into the topic and make a real difference to the UK’s employees."
People are happy to pay a grease monkey to change their brakes but they won't pay to see an IFA who could make them better off by thousands of pounds. Martin TilleyThe launch of Better With Money comes as Martin Tilley, director of technical services for Sipp provider Dentons, called for better financial education for those at university age and older who have missed out on this being included in the national curriculum.
He said: "It all comes back to education. I've been doing a lot of educational talks and seminars and it is clear how even some basic knowledge really helps.
"For example, Brown Advisory hold educational courses for people of university age, whether they are recent graduates or whether they are just about to go to university.
"Brown Advisory invited me to talk for an hour on the basics of pensions. It was clear from the way in which they were taking notes that this was something they had never been told about before. They didn't even realise the value of pensions as part of a remuneration package.
"Yes, it was just the basics about what pensions are and what mortality is, but it is important to get people thinking about their finances from an early age."
However, Mr Tilley said there was also a lack of understanding among older people about the value of seeing a financial adviser.
He added: "We don't deal directly with clients but sometimes people come to us via our website and when we tell them to go to speak with an IFA, sometimes their reactions are very negative. They just do not know what an IFA can actually do or understand the value of advice.
"People are happy to take their latest model BMW into a garage and pay a grease monkey £110 to change their brakes, but they won't pay more than £48 to see an IFA who could make them better off by thousands of pounds a year."
Financial education was officially added to the national curriculum for schools in England and Wales in September 2014.
