The name Carlsbro was once familiar to music fans who went to live gigs in the 1960s and 1970s or who fancied their chances as rock guitarists. Today it would be merely a memory if Andrew Bishop (pictured below) had not bought the business for £1 on New Year’s Eve 2000 and masterminded a comeback for the maker of public address and music amplification equipment. Since then, Carlsbro has almost quadrupled its sales and started to show a profit, thanks in large part to Mr Bishop’s decision to internationalise production and sales.

In overseas markets and at home, Mr Bishop has made the most of Carlsbro’s British roots. His success – like that of W. Moorcroft, manufacturer of fine art pottery, and Lossie Seafoods, a once-embattled white fish business that reinvented itself as a premium-grade smoked salmon exporter – contains a strategic lesson. Even in declining industries, companies that combine heritage and quality with innovation can prosper, provided they think globally.