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Their operations may be vastly different but there is a common thread which links the overall winners of this year’s Northern Star Business Awards.

The Craig Group, winner of the large business category, is a global shipping and energy services company; iicorr, a specialist technology company in integrity, inspection and corrosion, was voted top by the judges in the medium sized business section; and ASM, an international office design and relocation solutions company, took the title in the small business section.

However all have customer care at the heart of their business ethos and that is achieved by ensuring they continuously develop their own staff to maintain the high standards they have set.

Iicorr was founded in 2003 and constantly reviews its operations to see where and how things can be improved.

George Watson, managing director, said that two years ago they called in a consultancy to help them with that process.

“One of the outcomes was that an area we could work on was our customer relationship management,” he said.

“We started out on that path at that time and the benefits of it are now beginning to come through, particularly in repeat business.

“The excellent service we provide for our customers is at the core of everything iicorr strives to achieve. We are all absolutely delighted that the efforts of the whole company were recognised at such a level. We have worked hard to ensure our business practices are the best in our sector and customers get the best possible service from us.

“It is an old cliché but staff are key and I think we have had that bit fairly right since we set up the company in 2003 although, like everyone, we do have to make hard decisions from time to time.

“iicorr believes that the strength of any company lies in the individuals within it. Our business relies on the expertise and continual personal growth of our personnel.

“We enjoyed substantial growth in 2008, particularly in our overseas business. In 2007 we won the Northern Star Business Award for Achievement in Internationalisation and we have continued to build our international business with offices in Houston, Baku, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Benelux as well as Aberdeen where almost half of our 200 staff work.

“In the North Sea things are standing still for us or maybe minus 5% or 10% and we are getting our growth in the Asian Pacific market which supports our strategic decision to move out there and tap into that market five years ago.

“It was slow to get off the ground but we are now beginning to reap the benefits. “

Mr Watson said the company was likely to make acquisitions in the next year as it drives forward in its “15 to 50” strategy.

“When the strategy was developed our turnover was around £15 million and our target is to reach £50 million by the end of 2012.”

ASM is also internationalising and how effectively it can do that from Aberdeen was demonstrated by managing director Frank Maughan earlier this year.

He flew to Australia at 24 hours notice for a long standing client to discuss the office design of seven floors in a new 31-storey block.

Within hours he had clinched the deal and 10 days later the client had a full set of drawings for final development by a local design and build contractor.

It is that kind of service which has ensured major companies have remained as clients since ASM was founded 17 years ago.

Then it was a two-man business and now it has 50 employees, a turnover of £4 million and last year turnover rose 10.5% and net profit increased almost 11 fold.

“We are an example of a small, successful North-east company providing high quality service locally, nationally and internationally,” said director Isobel Maughan. “In 2009 we have shown we can deliver on large scale projects and compete with much larger global players in our field.

“We offer as high a quality of customer care as possible. It is about getting things right first time in terms of service delivery. We have been concentrating quite hard on that recently.

“We are a small company so we can manage quality and timing delivery very tightly and although we have four service streams they are very much integrated.

“Our steady growth has been managed quite carefully because of the possible impact on quality and we pride ourselves on the fact that we have retained a lot of our clients, even from the early days. Our first client was Accenture and they are still with us despite going to the marketplace and looking at other possibilities.

“Our slogan is ‘Big enough to deliver, small enough to care’ and that sums us up. We know there are still opportunities both as an integrated service for facilities management but also the individual streams like our data and technical services. Some of these can stand on their own as well and there are certainly opportunities there.

“Internationalisation is definitely on the cards, but we will do it the way we always have done as a wee company – solidly and continuing with clients we have in Aberdeen.

“All the space planning for the Australian job was done from Aberdeen so the services we have are transferrable and in terms of growth it is trying to determine how much we can push them out.”

Douglas Craig, the managing director of the Craig Group, attributes the success of the business in the Northern Star Awards to the same principles which have driven the company since it was founded in 1933.

It strives to live up to its motto of “flying the flag” through its commitment to safety, service and quality which has seen it grow from a local fishing company to one of Scotland’s top 100 companies with a diverse range of international activities, a £110 million turnover and 1000 staff.

The fact that 70% of the revenue across the Craig Group is repeat business is testament to the company’s focus on customer service and many of its clients have been with the group for more than two decades.

Mr Craig takes pride in the low staff turnover and also the company’s good reputation which ensures high calibre applicants for vacancies. In addition many of their longest serving staff members have enjoyed their time so much they have asked to remain after retiral age in part-time or flexible posts which has helped provide consistency of service to clients.

He is passionate about the importance of continuous personal development and people development initiatives include the Craig Group Academy and cadet training programme which is producing more than 20 of the next generation of seafarers each year.

Mr Craig said that while they may think globally the group is committed to enhancing the communities in which it operates and works to develop corporate social responsibility strategies which meet real needs at a local level.

“Of all the awards we have won, this award is extra special as it encompasses all the areas in which we strive to be market leaders from customer service to corporate social responsibility. These highly coveted awards are great for local and national profile and it is an honour to be recognised by our local business community in this way."