In 2004 entrepreneur Rob Keve had a pivotal moment. The former venture capitalist realised there were changes afoot for customer service and came up with a concept to enable businesses to receive consumer feedback in real-time.

Image is everything. Just ask Doren Gabriel, the founder of photography firm, image 1st.

His business comprises DG Corporate, which specialises in taking company headshots. It has experienced an 80 per cent increase in revenues over the past year as companies seek ways to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

Bread is big business. Despite rising food inflation and curbs on consumer spending, sales of bread are on the rise, particularly among the artisan varieties.

Both Tesco and Waitrose have reported significant increases in sales of "speciality bread" and have expanded their ranges to cope with customer demand.

Ignore social media at your peril. Such a warning is sounded by Michael Raibin of niche property firm, Hatton Real Estate.

Earlier this year the young company, nominated for the Estates Gazette's Business Launch of the Year, became what is believed to be the first UK agency to execute a commercial property deal via Facebook.

Tzachi Wiesenfeld probably has access to most of the world's buildings. If not, he could no doubt find a way of getting in.

The Israeli engineer is the vice president of Assa Abloy, the world's leading door solutions and lock company. He heads the Europe, Middle East and Africa multi-billion dollar arm - the group's largest division.

An increasing number of Jewish investors are putting their faith - and cash - into Germany.

According to David Kaye, commercial director at leading investment-banking group Shore Capital plc, which reported a pre-tax profit of £4.3 million for the first half of the year, Israelis in particular are playing a more prominent role when it comes to investing in Germany.

Restaurateur Mitchell Tillman has obviously not read the financial menu. While many businesses struggle to cope with the impact of the downturn, his First Restaurant Group is expanding with trade better than expected this year.

"London's eating-out market is growing," says Mr Tillman, 36.

Richard Tibber is never late. Hardly surprising considering he owns several dozen watches and has access to millions.

Mr Tibber is the managing director of Zeon, the UK's leading watch company. It sells more than 2.5 million watches a year, achieves around £30 million worth of sales and has a 15 per cent market share.

David Reiss is something of an anomaly in retail. For one, he is still smiling amid the depressing high street conditions. His Reiss fashion chain has reported a 43 per cent rise in UK profits this year to £13.1 million and the head honcho believes these are the most exciting times in the group's 40-year history.

Online gaming is one of the world's largest growth markets. According to some sources it has been growing faster than Facebook and is expected to rise at double the rate of land-based gambling over the next two years.

Israel, a global leader in the industry, is hoping to cash in on the boom.