One of the greatest shifts of the last 25 years has been the rise of the ‘knowledge economy
’, typified by small, highly creative businesses developing unique goods and services. With its status as a publisher rather than a producer of television programmes, and therefore with no in-house studios or production teams, Channel 4 has found itself not only the principal patron of a growing network of independent producers, but the inspiration for an army of talented but previously unrecognised individuals. Channel 4 has enjoyed such success as a catalyst for new talent that it has become a leading symbol of British creativity – a power-house of the new economy, sustaining more than 20,000 jobs, generating a couple of billion pounds a year.
