Knowledge is power - so said Sir Francis Bacon - and his assertion is just as true today as in the 16th century. In fact, some knowledge is so powerful that it can be sold in the form of intelligence and such a practice forms the basis of Oxford Analytica.

The company, based in the centre of Oxford, sells open-source intelligence, meaning information that is not classified, although according to new chief executive Alfred Rolington, it is not that straightforward.

He said: "What may be termed open source in the West, may well be termed classified or partially secret in other parts of the world."

Mr Rolington, 55, (pictured) who ran defence specialist Jane's Information Group for 14 years, is only the second chief executive in the company's 33-year history. He replaced its founder Dr David Young, who, at 71, has become executive chairman.

Dr Young, who hails from the United States, began the company in 1975 to provide a detailed analysis of global events for clients.

He got the idea from working in the Nixon administration. The president received daily briefs that honed down the information he needed to two or three pages of analysis and Dr Young decided to do the same for the private sector.

He also decided that, rather than recruiting in-house writers, he would commission information from a network of specialist and academic contributors. Today the company continuously tracks, monitors and evaluates geo-political, macro-economic and social developments in more than 175 countries.

Every weekday a morning conference takes place, attended by senior academics. They look at events in the news and whether it is worth commissioning articles for their clients. These are edited in-house before being sent out through electronic media.

The firm also provides specialists for monthly or bespoke conference calls to these clients, which include about 50 governments and more than 150 Fortune 500 global corporations and financial firms.

Oxford Analytica breaks down into roughly three services: n The Daily Brief Service: The company's flagship product, it generates 55 per cent of the company's revenue and provides up to 30 executive summary paragraphs on important global developments as well as about eight daily articles that enlarge on those developments. Modelled on the Daily Brief that US presidents receive, it looks at the likely geo-political, economic or social impact of a particular event; n The Global Stress Points Matrix which monitors the threat level of various unlikely but possible events in the short to medium term, such as an Israeli attack on Iran.

n Consultancy: Started as an adjunct to the Daily Brief, the academic network is employed to research specific economic, political, policy or industry issues for clients; looking at how their business, organisation or country could be affected. It can also help clients develop an appropriate response. In recent years it has grown to provide 40 per cent of revenue.

Having developed the company to a medium-sized enterprise with 64 full-time staff, a network of 1,500 academic associates and an impressive client list, Dr Young got to the stage where he wanted to delegate day-to-day control of his business.

Mr Rolington's background is in publishing. He became interested in intelligence early in his career when chief executive of business publishing at Lloyds of London.

During his 14 years at Jane's, he oversaw its change from a very traditional military book publisher into a global electronic brand, increasing its reach and value more than 20-fold in the process.

Then, having known Mr Rolington for a decade, Dr Young approached him last year about becoming chief executive.

By that time, Mr Rolington had left Jane's and was taking a year out to write a book on open-source intelligence. "I thought that Oxford Analytica was somewhere I could definitely work," he said. "Having these discussions with him, I realised the issues weren't the same with Jane's, but they were similar, and I thought I could add to that."

His brief is to increase the size of the business, partially through extending the intellectual network and continuing the process of providing high-level, focused analysis for its clients.

"The intention is to have relationships with places like the Massachussetts Institute of Technology and the London School of Economics and actually build the network across the globe," he said.

These universities will have satellite departments that produce their own copy, so that at some point Oxford Analytica can provide a 24-hour service. Meanwhile, Dr Young remains very committed to the business.

"I run the day-to-day strategy of the business and he goes out and sees the very big clients," Mr Rolington explained.

Mr Rolington is clearly enjoying his new job. "It is a great place to work, the people are fantastic and the clients treat you like colleagues. It's not like you're a service industry to them. They actually discuss their issues in a way that's quite unusual."

Given his impressive track record, his appointment augurs well for Oxford Analytica's future.