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The chihuahuas
Anyone who鈥檚 met a chihuahua will know that small can mean excitable and very loud. In construction, it鈥檚 often the smallest firms that do the most exciting work, as the likes of structural engineer Alan Conisbee and Associates (ranked 177th) and Assael Architecture (ranked 182nd) have proved. Both have worked on innovative projects, such as Assael鈥檚 pilot scheme for flats over a Texaco filling station, and Alan Conisbee鈥檚 pioneering work with prefabricated systems.

Rachel Smart, a management consultant for small businesses, says specialist firms are often best placed to take on unfamiliar challenges. 鈥淪mall businesses are able to react speedily to the demands of customers without battling through organisational layers,鈥� she says. 鈥淪maller firms can also try out new ideas with less fuss than big firms.鈥� Smart thinks that although many small firms will be highly specialised, the individuals within them are often highly versatile. They are likely to have tried out a number of different roles, which helps them interested and gives them different skills. What is more, according to Smart, 鈥渆very employee in a small business shares in the highs and lows of its development. This can be far more motivating than a hefty salary鈥�.

Phil Brumby, chief operations director at project manager Coteba (ranked 190th), agrees that a smaller firm鈥檚 strength is its adaptability. He says: 鈥淲e can tailor our services to meet our clients鈥� needs. Blue-chip companies such as BP, Connex and Renault have said they wanted to work with us because we expect to fit in with them, rather than vice versa.鈥�

The retrievers
The great danes of the industry have the weight to break into new markets 鈥� if necessary by simply snapping up a business that is already there. But the bigger the firm, the more distant the top management from the client, the greater the resources that have to be poured into central departments to manage and co-ordinate all those diversified divisions, and the more gargantuan the restructuring needed to keep the firm aligned with its customers. And, it should be added, the more spectacular the spill if management gets it wrong.

Medium-sized firms are, by contrast, the retrievers of the industry: loyal, friendly and pretty nimble on their paws. Or, to translate into business terminology, they offer team-orientated staff that can bring a personal touch to customer relations. Vince Dallimore, business development director at M&E consultant Troup Bywaters + Anders (ranked 69th), says the firm鈥檚 size (it has 74 chartered UK staff) means that its 12 partners are involved in day-to-day business. 鈥淭he partners are close to their clients and each is able to follow the development of the business,鈥� he says.

The art of managing this kind of business is in deciding the optimum balance between specialisation and diversification. Troup intends to concentrate on M&E. Dallimore says: 鈥淲e are diversifying by going into new regions, but we want to keep our focus clear. There鈥檚 a danger that with diversification into other fields 鈥� in our case that鈥檇 be things like structural engineering 鈥� you can cloud your direction.鈥�

Dallimore says one problem with medium-sized firms is that younger staff members feel they have fewer prospects than in the superfirms. To tackle the issue, Troup says it is essential to provide a clear career structure 鈥� and to get rid of bosses when they have served their time: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want partners hanging on for years and years.鈥� Architect Squire & Partners (ranked 65th and 65% bigger than last year) attributes its success in part to the creation of career opportunities.

The great danes
Have you ever heard the chairman of a company announce to the press that he was hoping to shrink the business by 5% in the coming year? Or confide his concern over the rapid growth in turnover?

The fact is that, always and everywhere, there is a presumption that growth is good, that size matters, that big is better.

If you ask consultants why they think this, the answer is simply that being big gives you more resources, more staff and more skills. And more chance to break into into new markets. Padraic Kelly, the managing partner of consulting engineer Buro Happold (ranked 26th), says: 鈥淲e have a large, highly skilled workforce, so we can adapt to market conditions as they change 鈥� but we鈥檝e also got a huge range of specialist knowledge and experience.鈥�

A more specific reason is that clients increasingly want to get all their consultancy services in one go, thereby cutting down on the time and effort needed to negotiate contracts and manage suppliers. Paul Purvis, business development manager at architect HOK (ranked 38th), agrees that size and diversity leads to a better package for the client. 鈥淗OK Consulting, which offers advice on regeneration, masterplanning and so on, can help out our other sectors. This is helping us to get more into the strategic planning side of things 鈥� which we consider to be our big growth area.鈥� And Stephen Reffitt, a director of Atkins鈥� Leeds-based Property Design Services, says he has seen a big increase in the number of aggregated contracts awarded to the company, particularly from the public sector. 鈥淐ontracts that combine design and surveying services are becoming more common, and Atkins鈥� size [ranked 1st and 17% bigger than last year] means that it is well placed to take on these contracts.鈥�

Reffitt and Kelly both believe that bigger is also safer 鈥� the reason being that diversified service spreads risk. Reffitt says that Atkins is less vulnerable than specialist firms to downturns in particular sectors. And according to Kelly: 鈥淭he downturn in commercial work hasn鈥檛 had a bad impact on us because we have other focuses.鈥�