On Campbell Grant's 10-mile commute to work, there are no traffic lights or, for that matter, enough traffic to necessitate any. The only jams are caused by sheep.

"I suppose I do have one of the most beautiful commutes to work in the world," he says. Mr Grant is managing director of the Isle of Skye-based Sitekit (www.sitekit.net) a company that builds management software for large websites. His offices, on the outskirts of the island's main town of Portree (population 2,500), are a stone's throw from some of Britain's wildest and most dramatic landscapes.

For the majority of the UK's population, whose offices are located in large towns and cities, working in the middle of nowhere might seem to be very appealing indeed.

But is it? Is gazing out on to mountains, fields or woodland really any better than having eight sandwich shops within five minutes' walk?

In the Wye Valley, Brecon Pharmaceuticals is based in the Brecon Beacons national park.

"I think beautiful scenery does make you feel better," says Barry Roberts, human resources director. He points out that he has an easy and enjoyable way of keeping fit - a stroll out of his office door into the park at lunchtimes.

"But it depends [on the season]. If it is a glorious summer's day, then all is well with the world. But if it's 3.30 on a November afternoon and there's a gale, it's not quite so appealing."

Bucolic charm need not entail remoteness. Tim Shepheard-Walwyn is founding director of Lightfoot Solutions, a consultancy based near Marlowe, in rural Buckinghamshire. His offices are on a country estate. Before founding the company in 2003, he worked in .

"There's a good walk along the river and a golf course clubhouse you can have lunch in," he says. "It's just a very, very different place to be working in."

In fact, it is possible to work in places that feel slightly away from it all within the M25..

Camelot, the national lottery operator, lies on the outskirts of Watford. Its chief executive, Dianne Thompson, says: "Within a quarter of a mile, you've got the [Grand Union] canal, so there are some nice walks. Our legal director walks every lunchtime come hell or high water."

So is working off the beaten track an unalloyed pleasure? Not quite. "We do recognise that we are stuck in the middle of nowhere and in many ways it is not ideal," says Ms Thompson. To help employees, Camelot runs shuttle buses into town and to and from the station as well as offering an on-site store.

Working in a beautiful countryside location may not be any less stressful, either, says Ben Williams, a corporate psychologist. You might swap a cramped commute for a much longer commute. Some find life without urban amenities very dull. Others might resent a career-limiting choice of local companies.

There is also the tight-knit nature of rural communities. "If you are the only large employer in an area, you will often be employing people who know each other or are related to each other. So you have issues around that. People say one of the biggest mistakes the Great Train Robbers made was thinking they could hide in the country. But everyone knows what everyone's up to even if their nearest neighbour is miles away," says Mr Williams.

Some industries, such as finance and the creative sectors, tend to form geographical clusters. Here, physical proximity to others in your field is a competitive advantage. Technology has mitigated this to some extent. Even so, it is hard to imagine a merchant bank based in the Orkneys.

No matter how wonderful the stuff that surrounds you at work, after a year or so it just becomes the stuff that surrounds you at work. "When you're working in town, you crave greenery but, when you're in amongst it, you take it for granted," says Mr Grant. Conversely, those who work in London's Square Mile might ask themselves when they last visited the Tate Modern.

On the plus side, Mr Grant says his visitors enjoy coming to see Sitekit.

"We recently had a conference with 50 visitors from the UK and Europe and they loved it here. We even had a mini-Highland Games on the last day - and that's not something many can offer."