It’s certainly a revealing way to motivate your employees. One of the ways graduate recruitment and training company Pareto Law inspires its staff is to use ‘strip cold-calling’, where staff have to forfeit an item of clothing when they get knockbacks on the phone.

But this approach has paid off, as the firm has just been voted best small company to work for by The Sunday Times. “We wanted a way to liven up cold calling,” explained Lesley Wotherspoon, marketing manager at Pareto Law. “Rest assured everyone turns up that day with about 25 layers on so no one’s left naked.” The firm also offers trips abroad for staff who meet their personal targets.

A total of nine recruitment firms made it into the list of the top 100 best small firms to work for, including Longbridge International (17), PFJ (51), PRO (71), Morgan McKinley (72), Retail Human Resources (90) and Eden Brown (97). Marketing recruiter Stopgap (6) was voted the best company for leadership, while Alexander Mann (31) came top in training and development. Freelance contractor company Brookson came in at position 37.