ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

It might take years to persuade opinion-formers, and the public at large, otherwise. But for all its problems, construction's performance is improving. And the performance of the best firms is improving exponentially – as any of this year's ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Awards judges might tell you.

All the 2003 finalists, and especially the winners, can demonstrate true excellence. And that's not just their view, or the subjective judgment of the assessors. It's what their clients tell us when they respond to the survey that constitutes an integral part of the judging process.

That sounds like a recipe for complacency. It isn't. The industry's problems are still evident, even in its best exponents. Once again, we put special emphasis in our judging on the entrants' safety records, their attitude to training and the general well-being of their staff, and their ability to innovate. We also launched a new award, in association with the CITB, to recognise the industry's young achievers – and included another, sponsored by Taylor Woodrow, to celebrate entrepreneurship.

This is the ninth ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Awards. It's gratifying to see that, in many ways, the industry's elite is now unrecognisable from those we honoured at the first event in 1995. But there's still a long way to go before construction can claim to be Britain's best – as well as biggest – industry. We hope these awards will continue to be a catalyst for positive change. And we want to drive those who seek ever higher levels of excellence to be – as Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger once told one of his strikers – "all that they can be".