Abbey Road Studios is probably the most famous recording studio in the world. The Beatles not only recorded most of their albums there between 1962 and 1970, they also named their 1969 album, Abbey Road, after the street where the studio is located.

 The cover photo for that album was taken outside Abbey Road Studios, with the result that the pedestrian zebra crossing outside the studio, where the Fab Four were photographed soon became a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans from all over the world.

It has been a long-standing tradition for visitors to pay homage to the band by writing on the studio perimeter wall, although it is painted over monthly.

Bowers & Wilkins is the UK's leading manufacturer of loudspeakers, sound systems, headphones and car audio with distribution in over 60 countries around the world. Ever since the company was founded by John Bowers in 1966, innovative acoustic engineering has been the hallmark of its products. Bowers & Wilkins' technological advances have resulted in rave reviews and the company's products are sought after by recording professionals and music lovers alike.

Bowers & Wilkins has always enjoyed a close relationship with recording engineers who provided vital feedback on how loudspeakers could be improved. As a result of this relationship, Bowers & Wilkins' famous 801 was launched in 1979 and soon became the reference speaker in nearly all of the world's classical recording studios, including EMI Abbey Road, Decca and Deutsche Grammophon. The phenomenal success of this product pushed Bowers & Wilkins to the fore of all loudspeaker manufacturers.

Since Classé built its first amplifier in 1980, the company has pursued a single, simple vision: to develop audio equipment that offers unrivalled expression of music, irrespective of artist, genre or taste.

The company's amplifiers, source components and processors have been embraced by audiophiles and professionals worldwide for the purity and musicality of their sound.

Contact is a software house creating open and enterprise-centric software solutions for all stages of product development. With customers in industry sectors such as electronics, automotive, mobility and public infrastructure, Contact provides consultation, implementation and maintenance services as well as dedicated training programmes for their tailor-made products.

As a keen promoter of new talent in software development Contact cooperates with universities and research institutions, offering students the education programme 'Contact University' and awarding – in collaboration with German universities – an annual research prize to graduates.

cutcost.com is a company with a long standing track record in simplifying the office procurement process whilst achieving substantial financial savings.

The company offers a range of services designed to make purchasing every day items from validated suppliers both easy and economical, by sourcing product catalogues and negotiating the keenest prices on behalf of its clients.

Datatrain specialises in software development and training and was founded in 1996. The company develops tailor-made solutions for housing associations and property companies working within the SAP environment.

The aim is to streamline and automate business processes from intial tennant contact, through commissioning as well as administering repairs and renewals to final payment and invoicing.

DKB Service is a subsidiary of DKB Bank. The company offers its building and facility management clients an SAP based management software that is run on central servers in the DKB data centre. The firm’s clients benefit from all the functionality and features of a fully comprehensive management suite without having to worry about their own IT infrastructure or maintenance.

Ecosse is a French company specialising in high-end analogue and digital cables. In 1996, Ecosse introduced their first product to the hi-fi cable market, the award-winning Monocrystal™ conductor. Ever since, they have built up a strong reputation for producing high-end products at competitive prices. Thomas Manss & Company has worked on corporate literature for Ecosse.

First Sensor is a group of highly specialised companies offering a full range of tailor-made silicon PINs and avalanche photodiodes, position sensors and optoelectronic modules for use in medical, industrial, military/aerospace, security and automotive markets.

In addition, the group develops a wide ranges of measuring systems for the life science, medical technology, engineering research and industry.

Hardware Associates Limited (HAL) specialises in buying, selling and servicing second hand computers. The company name was inspired by the fictional HAL computer in the novel and film "2001 A Space Odyssey". Rumour has it that the three initals were derived by a one letter shift from the name IBM.

McLaren is Britain's best known and most successful Formula One team. With 12 drivers' championships and 8 constructors' titles to its name, the team is the second oldest competitor of the sport after Ferrari.

Founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, the team won its first Grand Prix at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1968, but arguably their most successful era was when Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna took between them seven drivers' championships and McLaren six constructors' championships – winning all but one race during the 1988 season in the process.

The company's racing DNA and expertise has also been used to create automotive icons like the McLaren F1 and more recently the P1 hypercar.

Micropelt develops the worlds smallest cooling and power generation systems: innovative solutions for semiconductor chip spot cooling, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning), telecommunication and life science. The company's solid state Peltier coolers and thermogenerators are based on a scalable semiconductor platform technology.

Myryad produces high quality electronics for home theatre and hi-fi systems. Precise engineering and intense listening, combined with a keen eye for pleasing design, have helped Myryad to win numerous awards for their products and gain a strong reputation in the hi-fi market.

Oxford PV started life as Oxford Photovoltaics, a spin-off from Oxford University, that has set-out to right all the wrongs of existing solar power technology: high cost, dependence on toxic materials, short life cycles and complex manufacturing processes.

Building on ground-breaking research by Dr. Henry Snaith and his team of scientists, the company’s solar cells are screen printed directly onto glass and can easily be integrated into a building's facade or cladding in applications known as Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV).

Little wonder that the world's most forward thinking architects and energy producers are amongst the firm's staunchest supporters.

Physicist Pablo Diniz Baptista's career escapes the usual categorisation. His multi-disciplinary and holistic vision of science has led to numerous collaborations with fellow researchers and institutions, both in Brazil and abroad.

Rotel is a fifty year old high performance audio and video manufacturer of receivers, preamplifiers, surround sound processors, power amplifiers, DVD players, CD players, tuners and multi-zone electronics for hi-fi and home theatre.

For more than 60 years, the name Sennheiser has stood for top-quality products and tailor-made solutions in all areas of sound recording, transmission and reproduction. Microphones and headphones of every kind, RF transmission equipment ranging from vocals microphones to complete systems for musicals, conference and visitor guidance systems, products for the hearing impaired and headsets for aviation – Sennheiser products have become firmly established at the pinnacle of audio technology throughout the world.

Supstance specialises in IT- and process consulting for large enterprises with a focus on Enterprise Content Management projects, comprising web publishing, collaboration, workflows, portals and usability. In addition to consulting and project management services, Supstance offers software engineering and customisation based on mainstream technologies.

Symtec, now part of the Alphameric PLC, provides enterprise-wide software solutions to some of the UK’s leading organisations. The group is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Integrated e-Business Solutions & Microsoft Business Solutions. The extensive blue chip client base includes many of the UK’s leading retailers in the leisure sector such as Coral, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Stanleybet, Totesport and Betfred, and key hospitality brands Costa Coffee, Pret a Manger, Enterprise Inns, Deep Pan Pizza and TGI Fridays. Thomas Manss & Company developed an exhibition design for Symtec that made the firm the talk of Munich’s international banking fair.

Transformal offers consulting and management services in information technology. The company delivers the key to effective application of this technology. Transformal offers its industrial clients project navigation and strategic consultation in product development as well as small and medium-sized companies planning and realisation of IT-solutions for internal communication.

VEM sistemi is an Information and Communication Technology firm offering IT and telephone infrastructure as well as network management services.

With offices in Forlì and Milan VEM sistemi has focussed its activities on government organisations and commercial enterprises in Northern Italy.