Established in February 2006, Big Fish won two significant awards at the first running of the NRF's Industry Awards . . . Best Agency On Line (Small), and perhaps most significantly, Best New Agency.

"We had all worked previously for another agency, " said John Duffy, speaking of himself and the other founders of Big Fish (Marc Larsen and Matt Upton). "But we felt that we could offer something more professional, a more relevant package for the construction industry.

It was a conscious decision to focus on this sector, because we wanted to bring the quality of recruitment in construction to a higher standard. That is not to say that there are not some very professional agencies working in construction, but we saw that there was room for improvement."

A key feature to the service provided by Big Fish is the information that it provides to its candidates and clients.

"Some companies would send out CVs to clients having never spoken to the candidate about whether or not the job was suitable, " said Marc Larsen. "We, on the other hand, inform people of the opportunities available before we send out their CV. We prime them on the position and the company which is offering it . . . and we arm the candidate with information before they meet the company."

Big Fish deals across the spectrum of construction position, and, as the business evolves, it is finding itself placing more and more professional people into senior positions.

"Initially, we were dealing mostly with the mid-level positions, " said Duffy. "Mid-level architects, site engineers, those sorts of people. But we now do a lot of senior placements, at project manager and associate levels. We tend not to place tradespeople, as many of these are contract workers, but from mid-level upwards, companies seem happy for us to do their recruitment for them."

As a new company, Big Fish has invested heavily in the technological side of recruitment, and the NRF Award for Best Agency On-Line is testament to the quality of the approach adopted, which was always designed with the candidate in mind.

"We were concerned with how the website would work for our customers, " said Duffy.

"Functionality was the key, because if our search results were not up-to-date and pertinent, it would render the process useless. For an on-line candidate, we needed to know issues such as how easy the site was to navigate, how quickly the jobs came up, and, perhaps most importantly, how quickly we could respond to our candidates once they showed an interest."

In order to design the most effective site for jobseekers, the Big Fish directors put themselves in the shoes of potential applicants.

"We asked ourselves, "if we were looking, what kind of website would we want", " said Larsen. "We carried out extensive research into the sorts of sites that would best suit our candidates, and with that information to hand, we developed a site which we believe offers the most to people."

While the Big Fish website is a crucial tool for jobseekers, the award-winning quality of the company is more down to the personnel working there . . . even outside of the three founders.

"We are more focused on training and academia than on prior experience in the industry, " said Duffy. "Our training takes place in the classroom and on the job."

As a successful new agency, Big Fish is currently in expansion mode, although few new agencies would be as ambitious as Big Fish. Having moved into new premises on Westmoreland Street with nine staff members, the plan is to have doubled the employee numbers by next year.

But, obviously, any future growth will be based not only on the quality of work carried out, but also on the industry and the candidates being aware of its existence.

"The message is definitely getting through, " said Larsen.

"We advertise in newspapers and trade magazines, we work with the major players, and we have a serious marketing drive planned for next year, where we could be looking at advertising on TV and the radio. We have a good brand, and that brand is beginning to become very recognisable."

And, speaking of the brand, why call a construction recruitment agency "Big Fish"?

"We were looking for a name that had a professional feeling, but which was a bit quirky and memorable, " said Duffy. "We didn't want a name that had a purely corporate feel . . . we wanted a name that people would remember. So we came up with "Big Fish". Job seeking is a serious business, but there is no reason why there can't be a bit of humour with it. And anyone can be a big fish, no matter what position they are in. They could be a big fish within their department, or they could harbour aspirations of becoming a big fish into the future."