A recent poll published by the Confederation of British Industry has led the agency to believe that the lingering credit crunch has made companies more "risk averse", promoting it to warn firms across the country to adopt a more cautious approach to business, even if it means lower profits for a while.

The paper was published on Monday, and detailed how the CBI thinks business would evolve over the next decade. The group, based on the findings, asserted that the recent financial crisis which was faced by the whole world has put the traditional Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism under question.

"After the shock of the last two years, this report suggests that what we now need is a more balanced, less risky pathway to growth. One in which the short term returns may be lower, but the long term rewards for management success will be a lot more sustainable and secure", said CBI Director General Richard Lambert.

As per the poll, which was conducted for CBI by Deloitte, future business model was more likely to be more collaborative and flexible, with minimum reliance on debt. There will be an increased focus on firms nurturing their relationship with suppliers and customers, and operations will be more ethical.

Over 50% of British firms which participated in the poll were of the opinion that lending conditions would not improve over the coming 10 years, leading CBI to believe that the credit crunch had made them less willing to depend upon debts to finance their operations.