Today is meant to be the most depressing day of the year - the day when post-Christmas credit card bills arrive, daylight is scarce and we have 73 days to trudge through until the next bank holiday.

The fundamental reason for absenteeism is unhappiness at work. If your environment militates against you, of course, you are going to take time off.

The British consulting firm I-Opener tackles an unusual concern in the business world. Rather than bottom-line profits, stockholder share prices and market expectations, the firm focuses on happiness.

It is news which might, just might, put a smile on the face of those who think they're underpaid.

Wake up and smell the happiness in the air. A hint of eau de joy, a whiff of warm gun? Yes, the armies of wellbeing are on the march.

ITS students are, in the words of the late Dame Muriel Spark, the crème de la crème, with lucrative careers as power brokers and opinion formers looming ahead of them.

Work is fun. Work is exciting. Work will make you happy. Don't worry - this isn't brain-washing for beginners, it's the future.

For the past three months the Berkshire town of Slough has been home to an ambitious social experiment.