UK micro makers are winning unlikely footholds aboard while the UK scene struggles out of the doldrums.

ACT has emerged as a strong candicate for a large education deal in France, and Memotech has caught the eye of micro fanciers in the Soviet Union. ACT, still hopeful of persuading the BBC that it needs at least one UK micro to put its name to, is a front-runner in France for a contract that looked certain to go to a native French manufacturer.