Property market affects growth plans
By Catherine Woods
London-based FC Exchange targets hot property spots around the world when deciding where to expand its business internationally.

Smile and the world smiles with you
By Carryn Dewing
Sisters Haleh and Golnar Abivardi opened their first Swiss Smile clinic in Zurich in 2004. Today, Swiss Smile clinics are filling cavities and polishing teeth in St Moritz and London, and are set to take on the world over the next two years.

Web Mission: why bother?
By Mark Prisk
Earlier this week, the Shadow minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk flew out to Silicon Valley with a bunch of UK tech entrepreneurs as part of a "web mission". In his final blog from the US of A, Prisk asks, "couldn't we have done it electronically?"

What do VCs want ?
By Mark Prisk
In a Dragons' Den-style series of pitches, 20 UK businesses flew out to Silicon Valey to confront an audience of VCs and local tech leaders. Were they up to Stateside standards? Mark Prisk, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise, gives us the lowdown in his third blog from the US.

Does size matter?
By Mark Prisk MP
In his second blog from Silicon Valley, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk talks about his trip to software giant Oracle – and why big corporates can still have the entrepreneurial touch.

Queen's Awards: the big winners
By Matthew Rock
This year, more awards than ever were given out, for international trade, innovation and sustainable development. One of the big winners: a former Real Business "Company of the Year.

Web missionaries hit the Valley
By Kate Pritchard
A team of UK web entrepreneurs has just touched down in San Francisco. Real Business has its own man on the scene – Mark Prisk, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise. Over the next few days, he’ll be posting back all the news, talk and tech trends from across the pond.

"I've never seen anything like it," says Grant Bovey
By Kate Pritchard
Grant Bovey's buy-to-let business is in the eye of the storm. Here, the entrepreneur behind Imagine Homes (and Anthea Turner's other half) tells us why the economic crisis is only going to get worse.

Five tips to cracking China
By Kate Pritchard
Feng shui seating plans. Scorpions for dinner. Karaoke performances. Doing business in China isn’t for the faint hearted. Mike Norfield, managing director of radio communications firm Team Simoco, reveals how to crack the Land of the Dragon.

ICU Global grabs international opportunities
By Catherine Woods
China, India, Ireland, Germany. They’re all countries ICU Global, a videoconferencing provider, is targeting, according to founder and chief executive Stephen McKenzie.