People working in shared offices and other buildings should make the time to go outside and take in some fresh air to help make them more productive, according to a health and wellbeing consultant.

Hermie Hogg, founder of Hermieopathy, admitted that this would be difficult given that employees already struggle to take a full lunch break, but emphasised the importance of “nipping outside” even if it was extremely brief.

Ms Hogg explained that fresh air was vital for improving performance – even ten minutes would do she said.

“The main thing really is to be in the fresh air. It doesn’t have to be sunny, because the light rays still go through your body, even though the sun is not out,” she said.

“If you are outside and the sun is really bright, and you’re not staring into the sun, try to walk without sunglasses if it is possible. The light enters through our eyes and it really makes a big difference.”

Her comments come on the back of a recent press release issued by Subway which said that ten million workers are forced to take lunch as late as 3pm, whereas 2.9 million workers have lunch before 11.00am due to increased pressures at work.