Canisters of oxygen will be offered to delegates at a London training and conference venue.
De Vere Venues will offer the gas at its Canary Wharf training centre which opens on 2 June. It said that poor air quality in inner London has prompted the offering.
De Vere’s chief operating officer Tony Dangerfield said: “For people to perform at their best they need to breathe good quality air and sadly the air outside in big cities simply isn’t good enough, especially as we move into summer. A blast of pure oxygen when delegates enter a meeting room is the perfect way to give them the kick start they need.
“We heard that better air quality in our countryside properties had a positive effect on people so we decided to replicate that at Canary Wharf. We can’t move all our properties to the country so we thought we would bring the air to the city instead.”
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According to the London Air Quality Network pollution in the capital has, at times, exceeded government-set air quality strategy levels on several occasions since 2000. These levels relate to eight main pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. But the LAQS said that “pollutant levels peaked during the early 1990s [in London] and are currently on a downward trend.”
Dr Apelles Econs, an allergies and environmental medicine specialist at Oxford-based allergy Clinics UK, said: “Pollutants in high concentrations can cause hypoxia, a shortage of oxygen in the body. Any attempts in the workplace to enrich air with oxygen is likely to be beneficial to employees.”
