Last night, Palm hosted a panel at The Ned exploring one of the most pressing questions facing hospitality, travel and lifestyle brands today: what does wellness actually mean now – and where is it heading next?

Moderated by Palm Founder Emily Keogh, the conversation brought together three voices who don’t just talk about wellness — they actively build it:

Thomas “Hal” Robson-Kanu, Founder of The Turmeric Co
Sophie Maxwell, Cultural Strategist and Global Futurist at WeWantMore
Harry Jameson, CEO & Co-Founder of PILLAR Wellbeing

What followed was an honest, wide-ranging discussion spanning data, desire, longevity, ancient wisdom and the future of our built environments.

Emily Keogh, Founder of Palm says:

Mckinsey reported the wellness sector is currently valued at around $2 trillion.

As someone who works closely with hospitality, travel, F&B and lifestyle brands, I’ve watched wellness evolve from a “nice-to-have” into something far more structural. It’s no longer confined to spas, supplements or one-off fixes. It’s shaping how we design spaces, how we eat, how we recover, and how we live day to day.

That evolution is what led me to host The Future of Wellbeing panel at The Ned members club last night.

I wanted to create space for a more grounded discussion. One that acknowledged science and data, but also culture, pleasure, heritage and design. One that moved beyond optimisation and towards something more holistic and human.

We opened the evening with a simple but revealing question: what does wellness actually mean today?

What became clear very quickly was that wellbeing is no longer about chasing perfection. It’s about creating foundations that support us consistently – physically, mentally and emotionally – over time.

That shift from “peak performance” to healthspan felt like a defining thread throughout the night. Not living longer at all costs, but living better for longer, with energy, clarity and resilience.

Another key thread was the current global uncertainty, coupled with a relentless tech overload – and the stress that comes with that. This was countered with a positive return and reliance on ancient health wisdom, powered by more information and data points than ever, which proved the efficacy of age old remedies like never before. We talked a lot about how technology and data could co exist with instinct and natural remedies, and the balance between using data positively rather than being overwhelmed by it.

One of the most powerful ideas came from Sophie Maxwell, who spoke about the tension between discipline and indulgence in modern wellness culture.

Drawing from WeWantMore’s newly launched 2026 Wellness Report, she showed how wellbeing has been framed as something we endure. Restrictive. Performative. Earned through willpower. Sophie challenged that head-on, arguing that the future of wellness has to be desire-led. Something people want to engage with, not something they feel morally obliged to do.

That idea felt particularly relevant for F&B hospitality. If food, spaces or experiences feel punishing, people won’t return. But if they feel pleasurable and supportive, they become rituals – and rituals are what actually last.

Thomas ‘Hal’ Robson-Kanu’s story grounded the conversation in something refreshingly practical. His story offered a powerful counterpoint to modern quick-fix wellness culture

What began as a natural, raw turmeric blend created by his father to support recovery from ACL surgery eventually became The Turmeric Co. Launched not through hype, but through lived experience, trial, and later, clinical validation. As well as  thousands of life-changing testimonials.

What struck me was how calmly Thomas spoke about trust. In an industry that’s often criticised for exaggerated claims, transparency and evidence are no longer optional. Consumers are informed, data-literate, and increasingly sceptical — and rightly so.

The takeaway was clear: ancient ingredients and rituals are not outdated — they simply require modern evidence, transparency and accessibility.

As data becomes more democratised through wearables and diagnostics, brands are increasingly held accountable. If it works, consumers can now see it.

Longevity is one of the most talked about ideas in wellness right now.

Harry Jameson brought much-needed clarity to the conversation, reframing longevity not as extreme optimisation, but as consistency. Sleep. Movement. Nutrition. Recovery. Relationships.

He spoke about the work PILLAR is doing around personalised longevity assessments and AI-led diagnostics — tools that offer clarity, not control. The aim isn’t obsession, but awareness. Understanding what supports you, and what undermines you, so you can make better everyday choices.

One line stayed with me: “The most luxurious thing in the world is feeling well.” In hospitality especially, that feels like a truth worth designing around.

Perhaps the most future-facing idea of the evening was the shift from wellness as a department to wellbeing as infrastructure.

From “neurocentric” design to wellness-driven real estate, the panel explored how environments themselves shape our nervous systems, behaviours and health outcomes, often without us even noticing.

As Harry noted, buildings should not just avoid making us sick — they should actively make us well. Sophie described spaces that reduce cognitive load rather than add to it. Light, sound, air quality, materials and spatial design all influence physiology, mood and performance.

This marks a fundamental shift: wellbeing is no longer an add-on, but an operating philosophy. Together, they painted a picture of hospitality and living spaces that don’t ask guests to “opt in” to wellness, they simply support it by default.

Ultimately, when wellbeing is designed into a space, willpower becomes irrelevant. And that feels like a far more inclusive, sustainable model.

So, What Comes Next?

We closed the evening by imagining what wellness might look like in 2035.

The answers were quieter than I expected.

It was about going back to learning how to live well. Prevention over cure. Learning to trust our instincts about how we feel and what’s best for our mind and bodies, rather than following trends or fads.

It was about designing spaces, rituals and experiences that help people feel better, not just for a moment, but over time.

And that’s a conversation I think we’re only just beginning.

For more about our panellists, see:

https://wewantmore.studio/

https://www.pillarwellbeing.com/

https://theturmeric.co/

Subscribe to receive notifications on the latest Case Studies, Insight and Blog releases.