Ordinarily the holiday season is a fairly quite time, with not an awful lot happening as the world of print winds down after a frenetic year-end.

Not so this year though; with 2014 ending with a raft of high-profile appointments, funding deals and M&A activity – all suggesting that we’re in for a very exciting and interesting year ahead.

Many of the industry figures featured in our predictions feature also seem to think that 2015 will be a year of opportunity, not without it’s challenges, of course, but with plenty of potential for progress nonetheless.

In fact, judging by the results of our Christmas poll, the majority of you seem to agree.

And many of those quoted on pages 16-21, albeit with some notable exceptions, seem to think that one of the biggest opportunities in the industry will be collaboration.

The alliances in question, though, may take many different forms; from developing partnerships to bring in new services, working closer with customers to better understand their rapidly evolving challenges, better engagement with your people, or simply opening up to share some of your experiences with peers and in return learning from their own.

With the trickle of optimism in 2014 hopefully turning into something more resembling a torrent over the year ahead, there’s probably no better time to take a collaborative approach to your business.

Because it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier to spot an opportunity if you’re not the only one looking for it.