Some British designers have opted to take their talents abroad. The most prominent of the expatriates is Jonathan Ive, leader of the California-based in-house Apple team that has designed everything from the iMac to the iPod, and a man with a strong claim on the title of Eworld’s most influential designer. But Italy also remains a Mecca for top product designers, among them James Irvine and Sebastian Bergne.

At home, British-based product design consultancies have widened the scope of their skills adding the new creative subtleties required in a world economy that is more technology and brand focused. Companies such as Seymour Powell, PDD and IDEO have sustained their positions among the world's elite product consultancies by recognising that 'products' today can mean vehicles, interiors and marketing devices as well as traditional hardware.

London's emergence as a global design centre has also boosted Britain’s reputation as a hothouse of product creativity. In recent years British-educated graduates from Spain (El Ultimo Grito), Germany (Gitta Gschwendtner, Rainer Spehl), Japan (Tomoko and Shin Azumi) and Holland (Tord Boontje) have joined young native designers such as William Warren. Carl Clerkin and Barber Osgerby in choosing London as the launch pad for their careers in product design. Many of these up and comers will be hoping to match the success of older designers such as Tom Dixon, Matthew Hilton, Terence Woodgate, Jasper Morrison, Michael Sodeau, Michael Young and Ross Lovegrove in moving from the experimental fringe to the international mainstream. By David Readhead