LONDON - A business consultant, who was called in to help an ailing design and marketing company pull itself together, has managed to get the staff to perform better after he asked them to work naked.

David Taylor, a self-styled business psychologist, was enlisted by company onebestway, in Newcastle upon Tyne, after they were forced into six redundancies at the start of the credit crunch.

Taylor asked shocked employees to go naked for just one day to boost team spirit, and, amazingly, they agreed to go ahead with the daring Naked Friday idea.

“Inviting an organisation to go naked is the most extreme technique I’ve used,” the Sun quoted Taylor as saying.

“It may seem weird but it works. It’s the ultimate expression of trust in yourself and each other,” he said.

Despite some initial reluctance, nearly all the staff went totally starkers - except for one man, who wore a posing pouch, and one of two female workers, who kept on black underwear.

And front-of-house manager Sam Jackson, 23, was the only one to go fully naked.

“It was brilliant. Now that we’ve seen each other naked, there are no barriers,” Jackson said.

“We weren’t put under pressure. If we wanted to come in clothed or in our underwear, we could. But I love my body and wasn’t ashamed.

“We’re all beautiful, whether we’ve got big bodies or small ones,” Jackson, who suffers from cerebral palsy, added.

Managing Director Mike Owen, 40, said: “We’re either brave or mad. But I did tell everyone they didn’t have to do it - only if it felt right. As a creative company, we persuade our clients to be brave, and this was about taking on some of the braveness ourselves.” (ANI)