Flooring specialist of the year

Winner

A runner-up last year, Twintec has clinched the gold medal this time thanks to an 83% leap in turnover to £18m and its status as a world leader in the production of steel-fibre-reinforced concrete floor slabs. It is not resting on its laurels, though, but investing £45,000 in research to find new uses for the concrete, developing a laser-controlled double-trimming method to get its floors super-flat, and negotiating and reviewing supply-chain agreements to get the best from its key suppliers. Its customers are happy and it is delighted: the firm has doubled its repeat business rate and, astoundingly, managed to turn a £21,000 loss to a £213,000 profit in just one year.

A Twintec pile supported foundation slab built with steel fibre reinforced concrete

Runners-up

The car’s the star at 4M, which has been working with Jaguar since 1993 and Bentley since 1996. The luxury marques get their factory floors from 4M because of its high-quality resin flooring, commitment to key performance indicators and strong relationship with Flowcrete, its main supplier. That’s not all it does, though. It has just installed underfloor heating and screeds at five Edinburgh schools. Sustainability and training are key concerns too: the firm is one of the first flooring specialists to achieve ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management, and it won Investors in People accreditation in 1999.

WB Simpson & Sons

As anyone with a bathroom knows, tiling is a tricky specialism. Surrey-based WB Simpson has it down pat, though. It is Balfour Beatty’s preferred contractor for work on London Underground, regularly works for HBG, Kier and Wates, and has just completed the restaurant floor at Reuters’ new Canary Wharf office. It keeps all those clients happy by working with a small number of tile, stone and marble suppliers, appointing a full-time health and safety and training manager, and making sure its operatives are properly supervised on site. Repeat business, turnover and profit just keep on rising.