Community Champion: SPV Group Sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover

The judges also praised the company for the value it puts on personal development of its staff, and its commitment in recently joining the Business in the Community organisation.

Director Kate Whatley said: "We are really surprised, genuinely. We didn't think we would win it. It's really nice to see that all that we do gets acknowledged. The other two companies are doing amazing things in the community.

I think it's that we are such a family firm, and we invest so much in our employees, and we really do try and do what we can to give back to the communities that we work in. Hopefully the judges saw that was the case.

"All our team will be so, so happy. They will be absolutely delighted.

"There's a lot that is going on behind the scenes and next year is going to be bigger and better. And being involves in Business in the Community has been a really great thing for us; it has helped us direct all our community work.

"It will be another year to look forward to," added fellow director Adrian Chapman.

SPV Group is a specialist refurbishment business offering services in roofing, cladding and glazing operating from its head office in Walsall.

Kate Whatley, one of the founders of the business, said: "At SPV Group we are committed to being a responsible business, both in how we work with our clients but also in terms of how we contribute to the wider community and the world around us.

"It is important to our employees to work for a socially responsible organisation and our approach therefore reflects our people. We recruit a large amount of staff from the local areas as well as staff throughout the UK to assist us to offer a nationwide service to our clients.

"SPV is very aware of the communities in which we operate and as such we always look to give back into those communities.

"Our values of honesty and integrity help us maintain long term stable relationships both internally and externally."

Throughout 2016 the group has undertaken a string of charitable and community activities, providing roofing work for local dogs' home Rosedene Rescue after severe flooding at the kennels, providing new kit for the football team at Villiers Primary School and taking the team to a match at Walsall FC, where SPV is a commercial partner.

Howard Evans, MD of SPV Group, said: “It was great to see how happy the children were with their new kit and when wearing the kit, it was clear to see that the new kit has given the children a great sense of pride. The corporate colours of both SPV and Villiers Primary School complement each other brilliantly."

SPV continued to support the Aldridge Royal British Legion, offering an area to store and distribute their poppies from the firm's Aldridge warehouse. The company also worked with Aldridge in Bloom, providing high vis vests and also offering labour as required to assist with planting of flower beds.

SPV Group has recently undertaken the flat roofing works at St John's Primary School in Wolverhampton and as part of this invited the children to decorate a number of hoarding boards to brighten up the work areas.

The boards were unveiled by Considerate Constructors' new female mascot Honour Goodsite with all children receiving goody bags for their hard work and attending a short talk given by SPV management explaining the reason for and the nature of the works being undertaken on site and offering an overview of the construction industry hoping to inspire some of the children to consider this as a career when they grow up.

SPV is backing one of its lorry drivers on the London to Paris bike ride, in aid of St Mary's Hospice in Birmingham. As well as providing sponsorship the company has encouraged suppliers and clients to sponsor him also.

At Christmas an annual Jumper Day raised £300 for Save The Children, while the Christmas card budget was donatred to help the charity CRASH.

In 2016 SPV also became a member of Business in the Community, the Prince of Wales' responsible business network, which has led to a formal health and CSR plan for 2017 to measure the impact and effectiveness of company initiatives.

As part of this, all managers will be attending mental health awareness training so they can spot any issues early and look to resolve these before they escalate. The company is also rolling out its new SPV Work well initiative, including stop-smoking clinics and a fruit Friday to encourage healthy eating.