NO one in the construction industry was surprised in the least when Sir Michael Latham dropped in on the Harrison Construction team the other day as it worked on the site of York's new, prestigious £4 million Piccadilly hotel development.

Sir Michael is the guru of the industry whose famous report, Constructing The Team, kick-started a site revolution throughout Britain through the Considerate Constructors initiative introduced by the Construction Industry Board.

Harrison's six-storey Piccadilly development, due for completion next May is the 2,000th to register with the initiative.

But Sir Michael's fascination for the Malton firm and its methods was profound because its rapid expansion and steady contribution towards changing the skyline by tackling the most major projects in York and North Yorkshire offered lessons not just for the construction industry but for every business.

That is why Harrison is such a serious candidate for the title of Evening Press Growth Business of the Year. The family-owned business last year recorded a record £2 million pre-tax profits (up from £415,000 in 1998) on a turnover of £25 million - up from £13.5 million the previous year. These were the first results published since the group restructured into S Harrison Developments, the parent company, with its construction business as a subsidiary.

And there's more to come. The group is building the £80 million CPP headquarters in York and developing the new Gateway Business Park in Scarborough - which will include the contract to build a new headquarters for the Scarborough Building Society.

Work was completed this year on a £15 million retail development at Catterick Garrison, with a Tesco supermarket and petrol station, and has linked arms with charitable organisations to build social housing. Its latest project involves extending the York Innovation Centre at Science City near the University of York and building nearby bio-incubators for fledgling high tech businesses.