Foundation/groundwork specialist

Construction workers are used to getting out of bed to start early but on site by 4am? That was what CJ Haughey staff did for the £27m Sandwell City Academy project in order to ensure they could beat the sweltering summer temperatures and keep the project on track. It is this sort of dedication that has seen this young business grow its profit four times to £275,000 last year on turnover of £6.5m. It has also found the time to help develop a new concrete and fibre mesh flooring product that removes the need to use steel, hence helping the environment by using far less material. It only started out in 1999 but CJ Haughey should still be going in 2099.

Runners-up

Cementation Foundations Skanska

If you are working on a site for this Skanska company be warned: they are watching you. But not so much in a Big Brother manner, more like that of Clark Kent. Just like the caped crusader Cementation Foundations uses its Behaviour Observation Team to spot any risky situations and take action before they turn nasty. Add this to its weekly site safety audits, new company-wide safety training initiative Incident and Injury Free, and its overall safety leadership team and it is easy to see why it cut accidents by nearly half from 43 to 24 in the 12 months to July this year.

Stent Foundations

You may think that all that foundations do is ensure a building doesn’t sink into the ground – you’d be wrong. Stent believes that if you use geothermal piles they can also form a key part of the final building’s heating and cooling system. This works by taking advantage of the relatively constant temperature of the earth compared with the atmosphere. Besides this, the company has also begun using a new vacuum lifting rig for pre-cast pilings that is safer as it removes the need for chains and working at height.