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Here are 10 companies who have succesfully developed using the Web.

1) Lastminute.com In many ways, the archetypal dot com. It flew, then slumped. But unlike many of its B2C e-commerce contemporaries, the online travel and leisure specialist has bounced back. Founders Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox (above) took the company public at the height of the new economy boom and then saw the share price plunge from 375p to a mere 17p as investor sentiment changed. Now, though, cash flow has improved, smaller rivals have been snapped up and analysts expect Lastminute to make a profit next year. As a result of its renewed health, its share price has at the time of writing climbed back above the £1 level.

2) Friends Reunited
Husband and wife entrepreneurs Steve and Julie Pankhurst started up the school reunion website from their home in Barnet, Herts less than two years ago. A staggering word-of mouth success, it now has over 7.5 million registered users and attracts 3 million hits a day. Employers, teams, clubs and associations have progressively been added to the mix as it has become apparent that the public's appetite for tracking down old friends is almost insatiable. The first Friends Reunited baby has already been born, marriages have failed due to old flames being reconciled and the Pankhursts are considerably wealthier than before they launched the site.

3) Global Recycle
Founded by Pat Daly in February 2001. It is a B2B marketplace for the recycling industry that enables buyers and sellers across the world to meet, negotiate and complete transactions. Revenue is generated by a 1% commission fee levied on buyers. Global Recycle has members in over 80 countries. Shunning hype, the business has focused on delivering results to scrap dealers, whether it be lower transaction costs, better prices, more accurate information or cross-border opportunities.

4) Needapresent.com
Martin Gerhard, a former BBC journalist and Jason Hick, a Web designer, launched their e-commerce site in April 2000 - at a time when many other e-tailers were coming unstuck. But by pursuing a strategy of providing "unique and funky" presents sourced from suppliers in places like London, Paris and New York , Needapresent has carved out a workable niche for itself, and has won praise from many quarters.

5) AKQA
The online advertising recession has taken its toll on a raft of new media agencies, but AKQA is still going strong. Set up by Ajaz Ahmed in 1995, the agency now has offices in London , Singapore , San Francisco and Washington DC and develops Websites and digital communication programmes for a wide selection of blue chip clients, from MTV and MSN to the British Council and the Smithsonian Museum . In September it was voted the most respected agency in a New Media Age poll of the UK digital agency marketplace. Also this year, Ahmed's achievements were recognised through the award of an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University .

6) Autonomy Corporation.
A global leader in Internet infrastructure technology, well known in particular for products that make sense out of "unstructured information", Autonomy was founded in Cambridge in 1996 by Dr Mike Lynch. Four years later, the company went public, netting Lynch £75 million - even though he still hung on to nearly a fifth of the company. As with other tech stocks, its shares soon crashed. Yet in the face of difficult market conditions, Autonomy has recorded 11 consecutive quarters of profitability.

7) Confetti.co.uk
Online wedding site Confetti, the brainchild of ex ISP marketer David Lethbridge, showed it has forged a strong brand positioning this summer by adopting a "bricks and clicks" strategy though the acquisition of homewares retailer Jerry's Home Stores of London's Tottenham Court Road for around £1 million. The store has been rebranded with the Confetti name. ABC Electronic audit figures for the site show that as at 31 January 2002, Confetti had 327,368 unique users viewing an average of 23 pages.

8) ThinkNatural
The health product e-tailer founded by Carol Dukes has outlasted rivals such as the heavily promoted Clickmango, in part through a link up with Superdrug - which paid £4.5 million for a stake that also allowed ThinkNatural products to be sold in its high street stores.

9) Iglu
Richard Downs' online ski accommodation business has not plunged downhill the way of many other dot coms. One of its leading VC investors, Jeremy Morgan, director of Barclays Ventures, maintains it is "among the few business to consumer Internet companies with real potential to succeed."

10) Figleaves.com
Michael Ross' lingerie e-retailer was originally known as easyShop, but changed its brand name after making an acquisition. Now offers more underwear brands than such retail giants as Selfridges, has its own call centre, distribution system and still harbours ambitious plans for global expansion.

By Robert Gray