THE men in dark suits have had a brush with inspiration. Deciding that a splash of colour may put their rivals into the shade, British executives have doubled the amount they spend on corporate art since the dot-com boom to more than £10 million a year.

Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts and Business, a government-backed medium between the arts and 400 business members, said there had been a surge in art purchases by businesses keen to create a positive working environment. Mr Tweedy said: “It is part of the well-being agenda in which they are saying: ‘How do we create a working environment that is stimulating and attractive to staff?’ ”

Mr Tweedy estimates that companies spent about £4 million a year on art during the dot-com boom, but this had increased to between £10 million and £20 million a year.

He says that companies are increasingly commissioning new works of modern art, working in collaboration with the artist to create a statement about their company. “The days of Japanese banks buying a Van Gogh to stick in a vault are gone.” Mr Tweedy said.

“There is a new confidence in the corporate sector, and companies are selecting artworks very carefully to fit in with what is right for them rather than just buying off the peg.”

More than 250 potential buyers, many of whom bought on behalf of banks, hedge funds, and large corporations, attended the launch of a Rosemary Masson exhibition last week at a gallery off St James’s, Britain’s art capital.

Popular artists include Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North, and Gavin Turk, creator of Pop, a life-size waxwork sculpture of the artist as Sid Vicious.

Andrew Hutchinson, director and co-founder of International Art Consultants/Art for Offices, the UK’s largest corporate art consultant, said that in the past ten years there had been a shift towards buying original artworks rather than limited edition prints. He said companies had become more experimental, buying photography, glass, light and sound and video installations. “They want something challenging. They want the art to reflect a forward-looking image for the company. The days of the portrait of the retired chairman are long gone,” he said.

International Art Consultants/Art for Offices works with more than 10,000 artists for clients including GlaxoSmithKline, and Barclays Bank, which recently commissioned 400 photographs for its headquarters at Canary Wharf.

Budgets for buying art vary from renting art for £30 a week up to purchases of £2 million, Mr Hutchinson said.

Alistair Hicks, art adviser to Deutsche Bank, which has one of the world’s largest corporate art collections, said that the bank was focusing on young European artists.

Much of the group’s collection of more than 50,000 works has been bought for less than £1,000 an item, and includes well known works. The bank will hold an exhibition in Berlin to celebrate 25 years of the Deutsche Art Concept.

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