Such firms are undoubtedly knowledge-intensive, and will obtain reputational benefits as a result of the work they produce. Hence, while valuable assets may well have been created, the benefits that from the trading value such assets produce will be exploited by others. Software, designs and other artistic originals that are produced by a company for its own use are likely to represent an important value driver that will not necessarily be apparent from analysis of IP databases. An alternative method of detecting these companies is to use national employment surveys which can provide a “horizontal” means of considering where assets may be found, to complement a “vertical”, sector-specific approach. These methods relate to their absolute size (in turnover, or employees) and their stage of development (early stage/growth stage/maturity).