A SKIP CAN have a second life as an organic garden. Toureen Contractors demonstrated this when it sank one into the grounds of a local school, built a surrounding walkway from recycled materials and set the pupils loose to grow organic produce. “Consider the environment” is the first principle at this specialist construction services contractor, which does best in our survey for Giving Something Back (gaining a top-30 positive factor score of 82%). The 124 employees of the Harrow firm believe it genuinely cares and does plenty to protect the environment (both top-five scores of 89%). The business was founded in 1991 by managing director Denis Nolan and its work includes demolition, land remediation, designing petrol station forecourts and groundworks — for example, at the London Olympic Games athletes' village. The contractor is employed at about 50 locations around England. Just as in previous listings as a Best Company in 2009 and 2011, Nolan inspires people (91%) and wins a great deal of faith (93%). He supports several projects personally and gets to know everybody. One employee says: “He is very generous in spirit and giving, and ensures there is an open-door policy. He is always available, listens and genuinely cares.” www.toureenmangan.co.uk
