Bluebird Care
This Petersfield home care company has exploded in size, growing 769 per cent in 18 months as its franchise network conquers large chunks of the British Isles.

Bluebird's offices each employ around 10 care staff who visit the homes of elderly and special-needs clients to provide an in-house alternative to going to a care home.

It was founded with a single office in 2004, and opened its first franchise branch in March 2007.

Today it has around 35 offices, a collective headcount of 500 staff, and turnover of close to £5m – up from £650,000 in March 2007.

It has plans to open another 25 offices next year.


Burgess Marine
Forming a stand-alone company from the Burgess Group in 2006, the firm has since distinguished itself in civil marine engineering, especially with high-speed fast ferries.

In the last year it has knitted itself into partnerships with global ferry-builder Incat, propulsion giants MAN Diesel, and warship firm BVT.

Now recruiting extra staff, Burgess offers manufacturing services to Incat in Tasmania, as well as providing emergency support.

It is now working on the world's biggest aluminium fast-ferry refit, changing a US Naval troop carrier, Incat 050, into an Isle of Man passenger vessel in Portsmouth Naval Base.

Alongside BVT, Burgess will refit five high-speed ferries, five Wightlink ferries, and numerous other vessels, in 2008/2009, with a possible deal to work on Antarctic Survey ships.


Netbasic
Quite simply one of the fastest-growing technology firms in Britain.

Netbasic produces price comparison websites, including accepted.co.uk for loans, and protected.co.uk for debt management and life insurance, with companies paying commission for services sold on their sites.

The company has taken turnover from £255,000 in 2004/2005, to £9.6m for 2007/2008, and now has a staff of 14.

Its startling growth saw it placed third in the 2008 Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100.

Despite many rivals in the financial service industry floundering or failing, Fareham-based Netbasic expects to cater to even more customers in 2009.


Novatech
This 22-year-old Portsmouth IT creator builds and resells PCs, laptops, components, LCD TVs and software.

Novatech's production lines have the capabilities to build and quality assure as many as 10,000 PCs and laptops each month.

The company has increased from a £43m turnover in 2006, to £45.5m in 2008.

Novatech opened a fourth retail outlet for its products in Cardiff this year, and has another three retail stores in the pipeline for 2009/2010.

Other praiseworthy innovations over the last few months include being the first firm in the world to bring the Intel Centrino 2 mobile technology to the market.

Novatech also designed and launched a new calibre of PC called the Solo – the 'world's first all-in-one PC' based on Intel's Centrino 2 mobile technology.

It has a raft of new products it is waiting to unleash in the coming 12 months.


Saab Seaeye
This Fareham firm is at the cutting edge of robotic innovation.

It builds and designs a range of self-designed underwater 'remotely-operated vehicles', capable of operating swiftly and accurately deep beneath the sea.

It has had buoyant growth over the last year, supported by high fuel prices, as revenue-flushed hydrocarbon giants invest in the technology to help work on hard-to-get oil deposits or pipelines.

In late 2008 Saab Seaeye moved to a new 24,000sq ft purpose-built facility, increasing capacity by 50 per cent.

Turnover for 2007 was approximately £16m, and 2008 has also brought a 50 per cent increase in turnover.


Technograph Microcircuits
Originally a printer of sheet music, this hi-tech Portsmouth manufacturer builds some of the most sophisticated circuitry in the UK.

Its products help control some of the most vitally-expensive hardware on the planet – and beyond – going into everything from jet engines to satellites.

The company developed a specialist type of green glass for landing lights so pilots can see them when wearing night vision goggles.

Its entry explained in clear, crisp terms why Technograph was a contender – its order book has grown robustly from £2.4m last year to £3m this year and, flying in the face of a general drop-off in spending, the company has been investing £500,000 on new plant and equipment.