There would be a few candidates for the word or phrase of 2009, should such an award exist. Two of the most obvious are recession and credit crunch. Having avoided a return to boom and bust for most of the 2000s, the middle of 2008 saw the UK join the rest of the world on a nostalgic trip down recession memory lane. For many, 2009 was about survival.

The fallout from the collapse of the banking system a year earlier had a direct impact on businesses looking for finance. Banks once again looked closely at their own capital structures. As a result, business lending ground to a halt. Even some successful firms found credit lines cut overnight. It's ironic that one of the funniest films of 2009 was The Hangover. Because this was a year in which the painful effects from the biggest lending party in history were felt. Except it wasn't funny. 

And the year ended with the collapse of another house of cards. This time it was Dubai's previously unstoppable property boom. Without government guarantees, the appeal of building desert-based winter wonderlands faded. The entire extent of the fallout isn't known. But UK banks will be affected and it's likely there will be a knock-on effect on domestic business lending.

There were few high-profile business casualties and none with the impact of the collapse of Woolworths or Lehman Brothers. A few retailers went under, most recently books and music retailer Borders. But there was also tentative talk of recovery, notably as stockmarkets and investment banks' profits rose. There was even a major takeover to discuss, as US firm Kraft launched a hostile bid for Cadbury's. As a salutary lesson to all shareholders, the year also witnessed the spin-off of AOL from TimeWarner. This was the final chapter in a story that at the start of the decade had been heralded as the greatest merger of all time. In the end it had been one of the most disastrous.

Around the world, governments were keen to show that direct intervention-the so-called global fiscal stimulus-saved us from a fate worse than recession. This was the year of the armchair economist. Almost everyone had a view as to what shape the recession would be, while phrases such as "fiscal stimulus" and "quantitative easing", became as much part of the national conversation as the merits of various ballroom dances or Cheryl Cole's clothing. April's G20 meeting in London saw a global plan to inject money into the world economy on a scale not seen since the Second World War. Who will ultimately pick up the tab for these debts isn't yet clear.

A major beneficiary of this desire for a "new Keynesianism" was the car industry. Several countries adopted versions of what in the UK we called the "scrappage scheme". Subsidised car buying. Welcome to the 21st century. While climate change roared up the international political agenda, the West set about saving some of its most archaic petrol-based industries. The government also funded schemes to help other businesses, including a new scheme to match working capital investment in small firms. Evidence of those benefiting is scarce. But then no one likes a good-news story.

A positive tale emerged via the internet, where social networking got a boost thanks to millions of 140-character messages on Twitter. Previously the preserve of a technology-savvy hardcore, in 2009 this mini-comment site tipped into the mainstream. Almost everyone felt the need to "tweet", with motivations ranging from directing traffic to websites to simply airing public grievances. Raising an army of the irate—or merely the irritated—has never been easier.

And what of the claim that a crisis is good for creativity and the book trade? What were the best business books of the year? Matthew Stewart's The Management Myth and Jo Owen's The Death of Management both poured scorn on the idea that the single, universal theories of management are much use when it comes to real management problems, while Henry Mintzberg's Management offered suggestions for what management should be doing instead. But the best books about the crash were Roger Bootle's The Trouble with Markets and John Calverley's When Bubbles Burst, both of which offered insights into the how markets are meant to work and why they don't.

Elsewhere, there were plenty of examples of UK business shooting itself in the foot. While most leaders acknowledge the duty they have to prepare their firm for their own departure. But there were two high-profile examples of publicly bungled succession. ITV's very public attempt to attract BSkyB's Tony Ball to replace Michael Grade went awry. Eventually, Archie Norman stepped out of the shadows and into the chair. Meanwhile over that another national institution, Marks & Spencer, incumbent Sir Stuart Rose went so far as to "audition" prospective replacements in an X-Factor style at the AGM. In the end, Marc Bolland agreed to take on the task of filling Sir Stuart's shoes.

All told, it was a tough year for British directors, who can do little more than take comfort from two things. If 2009 is as bad as it's going to get, they've survived. If it's not and there is worse to come, they are better prepared than they were a year ago.

Richard Cree

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