 HIGGIDY  Camilla Stephens ran away from school at 16 because she wanted to go to a cookery school. She has never stopped running. The passion for cooking has been channelled into a successful business with a name that reflects the product and the character of the founder.  Higgidy sounds like a recipe for confusion or a variation on higgledy-piggledy. Seven years ago when Ms Stephens started making pies in her kitchen there was hope, but little organisation. Pie-making the Stephens way means putting the filling in by hand with flavours that reflect the seasons. The end result is that no two pies are the same. "They have a 'higgidy' uneven finish," she says.  The interest in pies developed after she graduated from the Prue Leith school of cookery and helped to build up the Seattle Coffee Company in the UK - before it was swallowed by Starbucks. There are now 150 pie makers producing 140,000 pies a week at the company's base at Shorehamby-Sea in West Sussex. Quiche has been added to a menu with a total of 20 pie varieties and flavours and there are plans to add to the product range. "I do love dreaming up new recipes and coming up with new ideas and flavours," says Ms Stephens.  The business has been growing fast after struggling to get off the ground. Ms Stephens and her husband, James Foottit, sold their homes to provide the start-up capital; until Sainsbury's came to the rescue, they were limited to local sales in shops and garden centres. The business was losing ?4,000 a week when the supermarket chain's "Sell Something New" scheme picked Higgidy as one of its early "winners".  Turnover has been growing at a heady 75pc a year on the back of supermarket demand, and this year should reach ?12m as the owners face up to another big challenge - expansion or marking time. Space problems at Shoreham mean it will be difficult to scale up. "We are certainly not going to stay the size we are," says Mr Foottit. " The company is built on growth. The problem is how we do it. Do we go for a big move or a second building?"  Husband and wife are also pondering another logistical problem posed by the structure of the shopping market in the UK - the no-man's-land between the corner shop and the supermarket. Mr Foottit, who ditched architecture to join his wife, is just back from the United States where he found that the missing link was filled by mid-sized supermarkets. He says: "Over here there is nothing between the corner shop and Waitrose and that makes it harder to grow the business.  "There are risks and benefits of being tied too closely to the supermarket. If the product works then you are dealing with a central point which can put your products in an enormous number of stores. The advantage is volume. The disadvantage is that you are dealing with a very powerful customer and your negotiating position is weaker - but we are grateful to Sainsbury's for launching and watching us."  Tight controls have helped keep Higgidy on a sound financial basis backed by an invoice discounting arrangement with HSBC. Mr Foottit says: "Food is a low-margin game and low margins combined with high growth means you are in danger of running out of cash. We have managed to stay ahead and invoice discounting has been an important part of it. Customers are no different from anybody else in the food industry. They are relatively slow payers but invoice discounting means that you get the money straight away."  Roland Gribben  LCE aRCHITECTS  Energy efficiency is the name of the game at Brighton-based LCE architects, and teamwork, from designers to bricklayers, is the key to success. "Basically we are looking at the products that go into a building, looking at new materials and design methods of construction, " says projects director Graham austin.  The practice is small - 40 employees turning over ?3.5m a year - but it has punched above its weight at home and abroad. It is heavily involved in eco-homes with 10-12 projects in the domestic market and has made a distinctive impact overseas.  It ventured into Libya eight years ago, and has high hopes of making a breakthrough in the Brazilian market. In Libya, it has experienced a roller coaster of a business ride, in the construction of education, sporting and cultural projects. LCE had just built a university for the Gaddafi regime when the conflict began, and hopes to have a considerable presence when the new regime begins to exercise control. The practice was forced to leave Libya, but has maintained contact with the provisional government. Mr austin says: "We're recognised by the people in the government as having contributed to the infrastructure. There are between 15 and 20 potential projects for us in Libya, and we hope the new government takes them up."  LCE hopes to repeat the experience in Brazil, where it is backed by HSBC, and plans to add Qatar and abu Dhabi to a list of countries it expects to account for 40pc-50pc of its business in the next two to three years.  THE FaBULOUS BaKIN' BOYS  The 1987 crash brought Wall Street futures trader Gary Frank back to Britain with an appetite for doughnuts, flapjacks and muffins. Since 1989 he's had a stab at selling all of them. The Fabulous Bakin' Boys, founded in 1997, produces 20,000 muffins and cupcakes and 25,000 flapjacks an hour at Witney, Oxfordshire; Tesco and Sainsbury are customers. The staff of 150 work around the clock and the business is heading for turnover of ?23m this year.  THE WaND COMPaNY  There is no manufacturing plant, just four people working from home developing a business w 