We exist because silence is not good enough.

Too many people have sat where we've sat — back at their desk, carrying something enormous, surrounded by people who didn't know what to say.

Our story

Built from lived experience.

besideU was founded after a deeply personal experience of loss — and what followed when returning to work. Not cruelty. Not indifference. Just silence. The kind that comes when good people don't know what to do.

That experience revealed something research has since confirmed: the single biggest barrier to workplace bereavement is not a lack of care. It is a lack of confidence. Managers want to help. They simply haven't been equipped to do so.

besideU was built to change that — combining lived experience with AI technology to give every manager and HR team the tools, the guidance, and the confidence to show up when it matters most.

People don't fail grieving colleagues because they don't care. They fail because they haven't been equipped with the confidence to know what to say.

What we believe

Grief is not a personal problem to be managed privately around work.

It is a human experience that workplaces have a responsibility to acknowledge and handle properly.

Silence is not inevitable

The silence that follows loss in most UK workplaces is not because people don't care. It is the result of organisations that have prioritised policy over behaviour, and compliance over confidence.

Confidence changes everything

When managers are properly equipped — with real-time guidance, practical training, and structured tools and a platform — employees feel it. That single shift changes retention, engagement, and trust.

Behaviour, not policy

Most organisations already have a bereavement policy. Very few have changed the behaviour of the people around a grieving employee. That's the gap besideU closes.

Nobody should be forgotten

From the first day of leave through to six months after return — besideU ensures no employee faces grief at work without the care they deserve.

What we are not

Let's be clear about what besideU is.

besideU is an AI-powered confidence and enablement platform — built to change how organisations behave when grief occurs, not just what their handbook says.

Your EAP waits for employees to reach out. Most bereaved employees never do — not because they don't need support, but because they don't feel bad enough to call a helpline. They just feel forgotten. besideU works proactively, on the manager and the organisation, before that point.

  • ✗
    Not a therapy platform or counselling service
  • ✗
    Not a replacement for your EAP
  • ✗
    Not a compliance tool or policy generator
  • ✗
    Not a consumer product — built for organisations
  • ✓
    Complementary to your existing wellbeing services
Our approach

The besideU Support Framework™

The besideU Support Framework™ is the structural backbone of everything we build. It moves every bereaved employee through seven defined stages across a 12-month journey — from Early Support and Return to Work, through structured touchpoints at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Every stage has a defined purpose, and every person is supported from the first moment through to a full year after loss. No one is forgotten.

UK-specific

The cultural context, the legal framework, and the language of grief in British workplaces is specific. besideU is built exclusively for UK organisations.

AI-powered, human-centred

Maeve provides real-time guidance to managers, HR teams, and bereaved employees. For employees, she is a compassionate companion — always available, never clinical, and always signposting to professional support when needed.

Responsible by design

We take the responsibility of working in this space seriously. besideU is not built to exploit vulnerability or commercialise grief. It is built because the gap is real.

Community & social value

Grief does not begin and end
in the workplace.

At besideU, we believe organisations have a responsibility not only to support employees through bereavement, but to strengthen the wider support ecosystem around them. Community impact and social value will always be part of how we build this business.

Social value is not an afterthought at besideU. We are committed to using the growth of this business to support the organisations doing vital work beyond the workplace — in the communities where grief is lived, not just managed. That commitment starts with two charities we have deliberately chosen because of who they are and what they mean to us.

Both are directly connected to why besideU was built. A hospice cared for our founder’s father in his final days. A brain tumour took him. These are not corporate choices. They are personal ones.

Hospice UK Hospice UK

Hospice care is where so many bereavement journeys begin. It’s where families sit with the hardest reality, and where the grief that follows is first shaped. Our founder’s father spent his final days in hospice care. Hospice UK fights to ensure that quality end-of-life care is available to everyone who needs it — from every background, in every part of the UK. We are proud to support that mission.

The national champion for hospice care across the UK

Visit hospiceuk.org →
The Brain Tumour Charity The Brain Tumour Charity

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK — yet they receive less than 3% of national cancer research funding. Our founder’s father died from a brain tumour. The Brain Tumour Charity is the world’s leading brain tumour charity, funding the research and supporting the families that the system too often overlooks. We are proud to stand alongside them.

The world’s leading brain tumour charity

Visit thebraintumourcharity.org →

As besideU grows, so should the support available to people navigating grief and loss.

We are building towards direct financial contribution from the business as we scale. Our commitment to these organisations will grow alongside besideU.

Ready to talk?

besideU is working with UK organisations committed to handling grief properly. If that includes yours, we'd like to hear from you.

Book a call
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