In a series of articles in recent months in association with BT, The Times, has examined how collaboration in business and an enlightened approach to risk are essential to economic recovery.

Through interviews with experts and case studies we have shown that companies that keep an open mind and recognise the advantages of flexible working and a collaborative approach may be able to bolster revenue in tough times and create relationships that will flourish in a more benign environment.

Collaboration between companies is hardly a new concept in business but, with the spread of globalisation and increasing competition, it is becoming more common. Businesses can work together on everything from sales and marketing to product research and development, aided by continual advances in technology.

At the same time companies must adopt a detailed and continually updated approach to managing the range of threats to their survival, from floods to the failure of a major supplier. We have argued that good risk management, done repeatedly and communicated across a company, will create a competitive advantage, increasing predictability and guiding strategic decisions.

These fundamental truths emerged again when 100 business leaders gathered in London this month for The Times debate on “the shape of the financial world to come”. Led by Sir Brian Pitman, former chairman of Lloyds TSB, and David Mayhew, the chairman of J P Morgan Cazenove, and hosted by Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT, they discussed the causes of the crisis, the actions necessary to lead the UK, and Western economies in general, out of recession and the most responsible approach to tougher regulation.

Their hard-hitting views and trenchant opinions are reported in this supplement, together with articles on the role that technology has to play in the recovery, the state of the housing and commercial property market and the controversial opinions of Claire Fox, the director of the Institute of Ideas.