Flooring specialist of the year

Here’s an unusual thing: a company that’s not afraid to trumpet its involvement with the controversial Millennium Dome in east London. And why not, especially if the Dome’s new owners ask you back to complete further work on the O2 arena, as it is now known. Between this and staying up until midnight laying 30,000m2 of pathways at the redeveloped Ascot racecourse this summer, 4M has seen its profit rise a quarter to £250,000. It is ensuring that its victory in these awards can be repeated, with its own training centre and an environmental management strategy that bans the use of solvents and monitors the disposal of any waste that is not recycled or reused.

4M laid 30,000m² of pathways at the redeveloped Ascot racecourse in Berkshire

Runners-up

Kingspan Access Floors

This company has been at the forefront of the technology behind, or rather, beneath the false floors that are now the norm in almost every new office in Britain. Kingspan has been providing these floors – which allow crucial computer and telephone cabling to run easily below – for more than 30 years. It has raised the bar several times in that period with updated materials and techniques. However, its latest innovation, to run the air supply under the floor as opposed to in the ceiling, has pushed the bar higher still.

Twintec Industrial Flooring

Like Kingspan, this concrete flooring company has been relying on its research and development department to keep it ahead of the competition. Twintec has doubled its spending on R&D to £30,000 in the past three years and has reaped the rewards. It has introduced a new metal decking that eliminates the need for traditional mesh and the wastage it generates. It has also been investing for the future in moving to a new £1m headquarters and warehouse facility in Rugby.