Ceri Tallett sits on a red, wooden chair in front of a crackling fire, ties her shiny black hair into a ponytail and reads a story to men and women slumped on shabby sofas.

The story – a happily ever-after tale that Ms Tallett has spent the week penning – marks the end of a week’s residential course in the heather-strewn countryside in Invernesshire, Scotland. Yet she is not on a retreat for budding poets and novelists. Rather, her storytelling is being funded by her employer, Innocent. The UK smoothie drinks company hopes the course will help her improve the writing skills she uses in her marketing job.