Henry Stewart

Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.

Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business,” explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.

His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, The Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year. His latest book, Creating Joy at Work: 501+ ideas for a happy workplace was released in 2025 and is filled with ways that people around the world have implemented workplaces based on empowerment and working to strengths.

Google: Hire Great People and Give Them Lots of Autonomy

On the one hand its about fun, creative workplaces with lots of colour and feature elements like slides. But its...

Henry Stewart

30 Apr 2014

1 Million Pounds to Spend and Nobody is Interested

Happy is moving. A month ago, just before the deadline for the landlord’s break clause approached, a law clerk arrived...

Henry Stewart

13 Apr 2014

Reduce Expense Claims: Let Your People Decide What to Spend

In his excellent book Listen to it here , Julian...

Henry Stewart

31 Mar 2014

Is This a Government Committed to Small Business?

Today David Cameron will claim his government has delivered on supporting small businesses. I’m sorry, Prime Minister, but I don’t...

Henry Stewart

27 Jan 2014

The Key Business Question: Will it Make Life Better?

“Seven years ago we were a tiny unremarkable company. Last year Propellernet were voted the best search agency in Europe...

Henry Stewart

27 Jan 2014

8 Companies That Don’t Have Managers

At Happy we let people choose their managers, an idea which has been seen as very radical when I’ve spoken...

Henry Stewart

20 Jan 2014

SouthWest Airlines – putting your people first makes good business sense

Put your employees first “Your employees come first. There’s no question about that. If your employees are satisfied and happy...

Henry Stewart

28 Nov 2013

Get more great ideas – spend less time at work

Last week I was in Barcelona speaking to the international conference of the Dogs Trust, and exploring overwork. I asked...

Henry Stewart

31 Oct 2013

Is it Time to Go Beyond Empowerment?

For years we’ve talked about empowering people to find their own route to an agreed goal. But is that enough?...

Henry Stewart

08 Oct 2013