Accuracy International
In the wake of a management buy-out in 2005, rescuing the company from bankruptcy, this Portsmouth sniper rifle company has undergone a remarkable recovery.

It shipped £9m-worth of products during 2008 – the second highest volume recorded in its 31-year history, 45 per cent of which was exported to 26 countries.

The highlight of the year was the delivery of the final rifle in a major contract for the British military – a £3.7m deal to deliver 582 weapon systems.

The high-tech L115A3 rifle was delivered on November 14, in the culmination of the MoD's Sniper System Improvement programme.


Apollo Fire Detectors
Twenty-eight-year-old Apollo, based in Havant, exports 66 per cent of what it makes to 500 clients in 103 nations.

In 2008 the company doubled its Spanish sales team, added a sales representative to its US organisation, and set up a joint venture agreement with a large Chinese manufacturer.

It also launched a lean processing drive to improve efficiency, and has succeeded in growing export sales by 15 per cent on the previous year's figures, to £63m.

It has added another 21 customers to existing clients such as the Statue of Liberty and Nato, including none other than the United Nations headquarters in New York and the world's tallest residential building, the Q1 Tower in Australia.


KMX Karts
Founded by fireman Barry Smith in 1996, KMX began simply as a project to make go-karts for his children.

But the eye-catching contraptions were a hit, and Barry continued to hone his designs in his own small garage workshop.

He initially had plans to build just 25 per year as a way of earning extra cash, but after trialling the devices at cycling shows to rapturous reception, he decided to have his designs built in Taiwan.

In 2003 the firm was formally founded, and received its initial order of 300.

After some initial teething problems, the company expanded production to 3,000 per year, and to date it has sold 15,000 worldwide, in Ireland, Europe and the USA.

He now exports to 14 countries across the globe, and is looking to expand this with a new range of karts.


McMurdo
The Hilsea-based producer of life-saving electronic beacons earns the bulk of its sales from outside the UK, and is a by-word across the globe for extreme environment emergency equipment.

With 55 employees, turnover is £9m, and 81 per cent of sales are destined for overseas markets, mostly to mainland Europe, but also with strong sales in the Far East, Scandinavia and US.

In the past 12 months the company has appointed new distributors in Iceland, Spain, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece, and is pursuing the Chinese market – where demand has more than doubled – Australia, which has grown 250 per cent, and New Zealand, 525 per cent.


Straightpoint (UK)
Straightpoint designs and manufactures a force measurement and weighing equipment, used the world over – even in Hollywood.

The firm employs six people in Southbourne and turns over £800,000 – of which 50 per cent is from exports.

The export side of the business is still growing, driven by a weak pound, and Straightpoint (UK) has identified Spain, Italy and Russia as countries to appoint new distributors in 2009.

The year's successes include a last-minute delivery to Pinewood Studios stunt rigger Extreme Locations Rigging, which needed force measurement systems in China to test crowd-control barriers, and helping acquire testing equipment for the firm's shoot of James Bond film Quantum of Solace.


Terra Firma
Terra Firma is a landscape architecture firm with offices in Petersfield, Hampshire and Dubai.

One of only two such firms to have offices in Dubai, Terra Firma began with a single employee in the country, but now has 13 – and it turns over around £1m, against £600,000 in the UK office.

It is tendering for one of the world's most ambitious eco-development projects – Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, a six million-sq m zero-carbon microcity.

The inventive landscaper is also awaiting decisions on projects under consideration as far away as Egypt, Iran, and India – and as close to home as Pompey's planned new stadium.