THIS working week was a little bit brighter for most as one green company gifted free plants for people to place on their office desk.

Interior landscape company Ambius gave away the colourful plants on Monday as part of National Plants at Work Week.

For the fourth year running, the annual week aims to raise the awareness of the benefits of plants in the working environment.

Kenneth Freeman, head of innovation at Ambius said: "The week is a great way to promote a healthy and green working environment.

"Bringing plants into the workplace can pay huge dividends in terms of wellbeing, attention span and creativity. It can also make a massive difference to businesses and help to improve both employee job satisfaction and their productivity."

Research carried out at the universities of Cardiff, Exeter, Queensland and Groningen, and supported by Ambius, demonstrated that plants can increase productivity by as much as 15 per cent as well as an improving employees' sense of wellbeing in the workplace by up to 40 per cent.

In the past research has also shown that plants can control the temperature of a room, help to clean the air and create natural barriers to harmful airborne microbes.