Epassi’s Regional Managing Director, Antonio Barradas, has spent the last three years growing Epassi in the Netherlands to more than 5,000 businesses. He now also leads Epassi UK and Zest by Epassi. In a recent Q&A with TechRound, he shared what that experience has taught him about making benefits work.
His main point is short. In his words, “choice alone isn’t enough to drive meaningful uptake amongst employees.”
Easy, relevant and simple to manage
Antonio says benefits only deliver value when they’re easy for employees to access, relevant to their lives and simple for employers to run. A broad range matters because workforces are made up of people at different life stages with different priorities. But range on its own doesn’t get anyone through the door.
Our Great Employee Benefits Study 2026 shows the problem clearly. In the UK, 49% of employees didn’t use all their available benefits last year, the highest rate of the eight European markets surveyed. The most common reason, given by 54%, was that the benefits didn’t match their interests.
Employers want the data to back this up. The study found 83% of UK employers say usage data is very important or critical for decisions, but only 39% find their current benefits technology effective.
Communication needs to be personal
Antonio says low uptake is rarely down to a lack of investment. More often, employees don’t know what’s available, find it hard to access, or don’t see anything that fits. He points to UK research showing that 69% of employees would like regular, personalised notifications about their benefits.
The study shows a similar gap. Across Europe, 70% of employers say they actively promote benefits, but only 55% of employees agree.
What works in one market won’t work in the next
Epassi now brings together its Netherlands, UK and Zest businesses under one regional structure. Zest, which Epassi acquired in June 2025, adds benefits technology built around the needs of HR teams. Antonio says the aim isn’t to make the three businesses the same. It’s to share what already works: the Netherlands’ multi-benefit platform, Epassi UK’s reach and partner network, and Zest’s HR technology. Each market still needs its own version, because “you can’t simply replicate one market’s model and expect the same results.”
Our Great Employee Benefits Study 2026 shows why. 85% of employees in Portugal and 81% in Spain say benefits are important when choosing a job. In Finland the figure is 54%.
How Epassi helps employers
Epassi gives employees real choice across health, fitness and wellbeing benefits in one place, so they pick what fits their life. For employers, Zest shows what’s being used and what isn’t, and lets HR teams adjust the offering themselves. Employers get the visibility to see what's being used and the control to adjust their offering.
The takeaway
Antonio puts it plainly: “When benefits are accessible, relevant and well communicated, engagement tends to follow naturally.” That’s the thinking behind how Epassi work with employers.
Read Antonio’s full interview on TechRound here.
