The CICM magazine for consumer and commercial credit professionals.
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
DECEMBER 2015 £10.00
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
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FLC
CONTENTS
DECEMBER 2015
www.cicm.com
REGULARS
4 Editor’s column
6 News
34 Freeths Legal Matters
38 International Trade
43 HR Matters
52 Forthcoming Events
54 Branch News
58 New members
59 Cr£ditWho? directory
63 Crossword
FEATURES
11 INSOLVENCY NEWS
David Kerr takes a look at the latest news
from the world of insolvency.
22 EDUCATION
Which qualification is right for you?
24 BUSINESS APPS
Credit Management takes a look at the
most useful business apps for tablets
and the most popular games for passing
the time.
26 VIEW FROM THE SEAFRONT
Feature special
David Andrews discusses his various
attempts at acting and how suffering
for one’s art is a cliche.
28 MAKE YOUR CASE
Front cover feature
What’s in a word? Well quite a bit
apparently, especially if you are navigating
your way through the relatively new
regulatory landscape of the Financial
Conduct Authority (FCA). Sean Feast
reports.
32 SOAPBOX CHALLENGE
Chris Sanders FCICM shares our managing
editor’s dislike of jargon, and specifically
how it has infiltrated the world of the
consultant.
13
28
12 OPINION
Philip King reflects on a successful 12
months.
13 ASK THE EXPERTS
Stephen Pigney considers the issues of
‘dirty money’ and the implications of the
4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive on
banks and businesses.
33 DEEPER POCKETS
Salaries are increasing for credit
professionals, but it is career development
that you really want says Karen Young.
34 LEGAL HELP FOR CICM MEMBERS
The CICM’s legal partner Freeths provides
legal advice for CICM members and their
employees.
16 LEGAL MATTERS
Peter Walker says that banks have
to question complicated financial
arrangements as a result of a recent
case of money laundering originating in
Gibraltar.
19 INTERVIEW
Sean Feast speaks to Kevin Still MCICM
about the future of debt management.
36 PAYMENT TRENDS
Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad) analyses .
the latest monthly business-to-business .
payment performance statistics.
45 EDUCATION
Once you have made the decision to
pursue a CICM Credit Management
qualification you need to decide on your
preferred method of study.
26
CICM GOVERNANCE
PRESIDENT
Stephen Baister FCICM
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Philip King FCICM CdipAF MBA
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Bryony Pettifor FCICM(Grad) - Chair
David Thornley FCICM
Gerard Barron FCICM
Laurie Beagle FCICM – Vice Chair
Larry Coltman FCICM – Treasurer
Victoria Herd FCICM
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Bryony Pettifor FCICM(Grad) – Chair
Carole Morgan FCICM
Catherine Bradford MCICM (Acting)
Charlie Robertson FCICM
Chris Sanders FCICM
David Thornley FCICM
Edward Judge MCICM
Eleimon Gonis MCICM
Gerard Barron FCICM
Glen Bullivant FCICM
Jacky Cooper FCICM
Larry Coltman FCICM – Treasurer
Laurie Beagle FCICM – Vice Chair
Neil Jinks FCICM
Paul Woodward MCICM(Grad)
Peter Powell MCICM (Acting)
Peter Whitmore FCICM
Richard Seadon FCICM
Salima Paul FCICM
Sharon Adams MCICM(Grad)
Sue Chapple FCICM
Victoria Herd FCICM
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 3
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
the
Editor’s
column
WHERE HAVE ALL
THE FIREMEN GONE?
WHEN I was training to be a
journalist in the early 1980s,
people were beginning to tie
themselves up in knots in
how certain roles and objects should be
described so as not to offend: Firemen
became firefighters; policemen became
police officers; and air-stewardesses
became in-flight attendants, long before
they ultimately emerged as cabin crew.
Blackboards, if you recall, similarly
became chalkboards. White boards, for
some strange reason, remained white
boards, a fact I never understood then or
now.
The National Union of Journalists
helpfully provided us with a crib sheet to
ensure we didn’t get it wrong. I wish I’d
kept it. Some of the chosen alternatives
were hysterical. Chair as opposed to
chairman was a particular favourite.
Watching senior fire chiefs and police
officers being interviewed and struggling
to use the correct terminologies was
car-crash television. It wasn’t natural. It
was politically correct nonsense that they
were obliged to follow without ever truly
believing it.
Wind forward the clock 30 years and
we are now having the same debate in
relation to debtors who, for the past few
years, seem to have been transformed
into customers in the language of debt
collection. Some will argue that debtor is
a correct accounting term, and therefore
should continue to be used. Others that a
debtor is a customer who has simply
fallen behind in their repayments. But
they are still, fundamentally, a customer.
It makes for a good and healthy debate
(see article page 28).
Whatever word we choose, we must
learn a lesson from the 80s. We should
not change an accepted terminology or
word to something different, just because
of political correctness or to tick a
regulator’s box. Neither should we use a
word pejoratively. If we truly see a debtor
as a customer whose circumstances
have changed, perhaps only temporarily,
then that has to be expressed in the way
that they are dealt with, and the respect
that they receive. It must be believed and
believable and willingly embraced.
CM MAGAZINE | CONTACT AND PUBLISHING DETAILS: ISSN 0265-2099
Publisher
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
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LE15 8NB
Telephone: 01780 722910
Fax: 01780 721333
Email: editorial@cicm.com
Website: www.cicm.com
CMM: www.creditmanagement.org.uk
Managing Editor
Sean Feast
Deputy Editor
Alex Simmons
Art Editor
Andrew Morris
Telephone: 01780 722910
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
Editorial Team
Imogen Hart, Tom Berger, Iona Yadallee
Advertising
Anthony Cave
Telephone: 0203 603 7934
Email: anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
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View our digital version online at www.cicm.com Log on to the Members’
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Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international CICM
membership, as well as additional subscribers.
Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without specific permission. Opinions expressed in this
magazine do not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor
reserves the right to abbreviate letters if necessary. The Institute is registered as a charity. The mark ‘Credit
Management’ is a registered trade mark of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.
4 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 5
CICM NEWS
CMNEWS
A
round-up
of news stories
from the world
of consumer and
commercial
credit.
By SEAN FEAST
BUSINESS GROWTH SPLUTTERS
AFTER RECORD HIGHS
BUSINESS confidence and the
outlook for growth appear to be
stuttering, following two previous
quarters’ record highs.
According to the latest (Q3 2015)
quarterly barometer from the Chartered
Institute of Credit Management (CICM),
confidence has fallen in both Manufacturing
and Services.
The CICM’s Credit Managers’ Index
(CMI) shows a 7.1 percent drop in the
headline index, which closed down 4.3
points to 56.4. It is caused by a dip in both
the Manufacturing sector (down 3.7 points
to 55.5) and Services (down 2.2 points to
56.8).
Crucially, however, both sectors remain
comfortably above the 50-point threshold,
indicating that overall confidence and
performance remains positive.
The index, sponsored by Tinubu Square,
is important because it gauges nationwide
levels of credit being sought and granted by
credit managers across industry. It therefore
acts as a primary indicator of actual levels
of business being conducted.
The Manufacturing sector has taken a
significant hit over the past two quarters,
closing down 6.13 points; while the
Services sector, has fared better over the
same time period and is down 0.43 to its
current standing at 56.8.
On average, the three favourable factors
– new applications for credit, sales and
the order books – reduced by 4.1 points to
65.9. Yet with each factor remaining well
above the 50-point benchmark, the warning
bells are not ringing quite yet; however, it
will present a worrying issue if this is the
start of a longer-term trend and further
reductions are to come.
Although unfavourable factors have
remained positive for the tenth quarter in
a row, with the average currently standing
at 52.3, six out of seven of the factors
decreased in Q3 – with disputes falling by
6.8 points to close at 46.9.
Philip King, Chief Executive of the CICM,
says that the index appears to contradict
the Office for National Statistics, which has
recently announced an improvement in
Service sector performance:
“This points us to alternative factors
when explaining the UK CMI services
sector fall,” he says. “Current instability in
emerging economies, the slowdown
in China, and estimates that UK interest base
rates will remain at 0.5 percent for another
18 months, may be having an effect.
“The FTSE All Share index has shrunk
steadily over the quarter by 6.6 percent,”
he continues, “and it may be the case that
the same factors impacting the market have
contributed to the UK CMI’s 7.1 percent fall.”
In better news, 15 out of 20 sectors
remain above the crucial watermark, with
telecoms reporting the highest level of
confidence at 71.0. However, four sectors,
including oil and gas, which reported high
results in Q2, are now sub-48 – with the
basic resources sector falling 19 points to
close at 37.
The latest CMI prompted some 300
responses from credit managers in
companies of various sizes broadly split
by region, although slightly weighted to
business in London and the Southeast.
The CMI is a diffusion index, producing
‘scores’ of between one and 100 (typically
in a range of 40 – 60). Ten equally weighted
factors are included – three favourable
and seven unfavourable – and the index is
calculated on a simple average of the 10
factors.
In better news, 15 out of 20 sectors
remain above the crucial watermark, with
telecoms reporting the highest level of
confidence at 71.0.
6 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
CROSS BORDER PAYMENTS MADE EASIER
FROM 1st Feb 2016, making a cross
border payment will be easier as banks will
require less information from consumers
and businesses – customers will just need
their International Bank Account Number
(IBAN). Currently customers are required to
give their (BIC) Bank Identifier Code to help
the bank identify an account when making
SEPA transactions.
This move, which was driven by the
European Parliament, will bring the UK in
line with the Eurozone countries that use
this internationally-recognised standard
format. It will also increase efficiency and
reduce the instances of payment errors, as
more payments can be made without the
need for manual intervention through the
use of Straight Through Processing.
Although customers will no longer be
required to supply their BIC, some banks
may still need it to correctly route the
payment on behalf of their customers.
In order to ensure that the UK complies
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
has published plans for implementing a
‘regulatory sandbox’ – an opportunity for
businesses to test out new, innovative
financial products, services or business
models without incurring all the normal
regulatory consequences of engaging in
those activities.
The FCA was asked to investigate the
feasibility and practicalities of developing
a regulatory sandbox for financial services
by Her Majesty’s Treasury, following
recommendations by the Government
Office for Science.
The publication will extend the
FCA’s Project Innovate, and marks
its first anniversary. Project Innovate
was developed by the FCA to foster
competition and growth in financial
services by supporting both small and
large businesses that are developing
new products and services that could
genuinely benefit consumers. In its first
with the European legislation in this area,
Payments UK, the trade association for
the payments industry, has led the project
to develop the SEPA IBAN-Only directory,
with SWIFT and in liaison with the Bank
of England and the Financial Conduct
Authority.
Maurice Cleaves, Chief Executive of
Payments UK says the move to SEPAIO
constitutes the first change in decades to
how international payments are processed:
“Our system in the UK offers one of the
most comprehensive and sophisticated
solutions, and it will help ensure the
correct routing data is identified.
“Efficiency in payments is a key priority
of ours, and by adopting the new SEPA
standards, not only will those receiving
payments in the UK benefit from a more
streamlined system, but this simplification
also has the potential to attract and
encourage more European business.”
paymentuk.org.uk
FCA’S PROJECT INNOVATE CELEBRATES
FIRST ANNIVERSARY
year, Project Innovate has helped over
175 innovative businesses, five of which
have now been authorised to undertake
regulated activities.
Christopher Woolard, Director of
Strategy and Competition at the FCA, says
to promote competition it is vital to support
firms – both regulated and unregulated:
“Whether large incumbent or small
start-ups – that want to bring new ideas
that can benefit consumers to market. In
just one year, Project Innovate has helped
over 175 innovative businesses and
undertaken a number of steps to address
some of the challenges that firms face.”
The FCA believes that a sandbox could
deliver a number of benefits to innovators,
including reducing the time it takes for
innovative ideas to come to market. The
benefits to firms should lead to better
outcomes for consumers, such as an
increased range of products and services.
fca.org.uk
TECHNICAL
JARGON
THE latest meeting of the CICM Technical
Committee meeting discussed updates
on: the proposed Debt collection preaction
protocol, which the CICM has been
collaborating on with The Civil Courts
Users Association (CCUA); the Government
publishing an Enterprise Bill that aims
to back business to drive growth, create
jobs and ensure economic security for all;
the formation of the pre-pack pool and
oversight group activity; the strengthening
of the Prompt Payment Code and issues
around late payment; Government
publishing responses received to its
consultations: ‘Late payment: Challenging
grossly unfair terms and practices’, ‘UK
Implementation of Chapters 1-9 of the EU
Accounting Directive’, and ‘Invoice finance:
nullifying the ban on invoice assignment
contract clauses’; and cheque image
processing and proposals for the future.
NEWS IN BRIEF
GRAND FINALE
BANKS and building societies can
enable their customers to send Faster
Payments of up to £250,000 per payment,
following an increase to the scheme limit
announced by Faster Payments Scheme
Limited (FPSL). The increase from the
previous £100,000 maximum is the first
time the scheme limit has been increased
since 2010. The change has been made
in order to meet growing demand from
large corporate users. A further review of
the scheme limit is planned during 2016,
to ensure all customers’ needs continue
to be met.
fasterpayments.org.uk
CLOUDY OUTLOOK
A further sharp downturn in emerging market
economies and world trade has weakened
global growth to around 2.9 percent this
year – well below the long-run average –
and is a source of uncertainty for near-term
prospects, says the Organisaion for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). In
its latest twice-yearly Economic Outlook, the
OECD projects a gradual strengthening of
global growth in 2016 and 2017 to an annual
3.3 percent and 3.6 percent respectively. But
a clear pick-up in activity requires a smooth
rebalancing of activity in China and more
robust investment in advanced economies.
oecd.org
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 7
NEWS IN BRIEF
SOCIALMEDIA
STAY CONNECTED WITH THE CICM, WITH
THESE EASY STEPS ...
SOUTHERN COMFORT
RESEARCH commissioned by Aldermore
has found that 77 percent of businesses
in the South of England are confident
that they will grow over the next five
years.
Of key decision makers within SMEs
in the South of England, 34 percent plan
to invest in technology, 47 percent plan
to grow by increasing their marketing
spend, 37 percent plan to launch a new
product or service; and 31 percent plan
to hire more staff.
aldermore.co.uk
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• If you have any problems, contact CICM Head of Social Media, Tracy Carter.
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• Join the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) company page
and the active discussions on the CICM Credit Community Group.
THE CICM ACTIVELY USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROVIDE NEWS, COMMENTS,
PROMOTE EVENTS AND ENCOURAGE DISCUSSIONS AMONG BUSINESS
AND CREDIT PROFESSIONALS INCLUDING OUR LEARNERS.
CE Blog
TAKE A LOOK
CICM_HQ
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Chartered Institute
of Credit Management
SPOOKY FIGURES
UK retail sales decreased 0.2 percent on
a like-for-like basis from October 2014,
when they were unchanged from the
preceding year. On a total basis, sales
were up 0.9 percent, against a 1.4 percent
rise in October 2014. Adjusted for the
BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index deflation,
total growth was 2.7 percent. Total growth
was below the three-month average of
1.8 percent and the 12-month average of
1.9 percent. Retailers reported that the
timing of Halloween on a Saturday had
a negative impact on shopping that day,
while categories popular on Black Friday
registered some slowdown in October.
brc.org.uk
NAUGHTY GREMLINS
OUR November issue included a piece on
the FCA Authorisation process by Heather
Greig-Smith. Unfortunately, Gremlins
seem to have infiltrated the publishing
process between sign off and print and
some of the quote from Sara De Tute
of the Lowell Group was missing from
paragraph five on page 20.
The paragraph should have read: “It’s
not something to be concerned about,”
says Lowell Group’s Chief Risk Officer
and Legal Counsel, Sara De Tute. “They
just want to understand the business and
the business model. Everybody is going
to present their application in different
ways.”
8 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
CICM NEWS
SCOTTISH INSOLVENCIES DOWN
BY A QUARTER SINCE 2014
THE latest quarterly figures from
Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) show
Scottish total personal insolvencies,
which include both bankruptcies
and protected trust deeds, are 25.4 percent
lower than in the same quarter a year ago.
In the second quarter of 2015 to 30
September, a total of 2,230 personal
insolvencies were recorded, significantly
down on the same period a year ago.
The statistics also show fewer
companies in Scotland going into
insolvency, with 180 Scottish-registered
businesses becoming insolvent. This is
a 13.9 percent drop on the same quarter
a year ago and 8.6 percent down on the
previous quarter. There were no companies
at all entering receivership during the
quarter.
Personal insolvencies in Scotland have
been dropping consistently since 2008-09,
and the numbers fell significantly in the first
quarter this year, following the first months
since legislation governing bankruptcy
was amended by the Bankruptcy and Debt
Advice (Scotland) Act.
This legislation introduced a suite of
measures such as mandatory money advice
for people seeking access to statutory
debt relief solutions such as bankruptcy,
and a Common Financial Tool to promote
consistency in assessing whether individuals
can contribute towards repayment of their
debts.
As well as a new web-based bankruptcy
application system, the changes introduce
a lower cost access route to bankruptcy
for those with few assets and who would
be unable to make contributions, and a
requirement for those who can pay to make
payments for an additional year.
The new figures show this Minimal
Asset Process (MAP) route into bankruptcy,
which replaces the Low Income Low Asset
process, is providing access to debt relief
for those most in need. Of the 697 debtor
applications for bankruptcy in the current
quarter, 50.9 percent were MAP cases.
The number of protected trust deeds
recorded and bankruptcies awarded both
rose over the quarter compared to the last,
indicating the money advice sector and
those seeking debt relief are becoming
familiar with the wide-ranging reforms to
personal insolvency introduced in April.
However, debt payment programmes
approved under Debt Arrangement
Scheme fell by 14 percent compared to
the previous quarter to 456, which is the
lowest number.
Over £100 million has been repaid
to creditors since the reform of the
Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) in
2011, according to Business Minister
Fergus Ewing. The Minister made the
announcement at the Insolvency and
Restructuring Conference hosted by
chartered accountancy professional
body ICAS. CICM Vice President Stuart
Hopewell was also a speaker at the
conference, presenting on the Pre Pack
Pool arrangements. aib.gov.uk
CAPTION COMPETITION
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caption to the picture (right) of Credit Management’s Art Editor, Andrew Morris,
who is dressed as Santa waiting to give out the presents at CICM HQ.
Please submit entries to editor@cicm.com by 21 December.
HO HO HO
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 9
NEWS IN BRIEF
CCUA APPOINTS NEW
CHAIRMAN
AMIR AIi, Director of Client Services and
Business Development at High Court
Enforcement Group, has been appointed
Chairman of the Civil Court Users
Association (CCUA) at the Association’s
AGM.
Amir has served as Vice Chair of the
CCUA for the last six years, the last six
months as acting Chairman: “I am both
honoured and privileged to have been
elected to this position,” he says. “I am
looking forward to the challenge ahead
and immensely proud to lead the CCUA
Council which is made up of some of the
most talented, committed and ambitious
individuals I have ever had the pleasure
to know and work alongside.”
He says that the next five years will
be a very exciting time for all Civil Court
Users and the CCUA will do its utmost to
protect their collective interests.
The Association is charged with airing
and addressing the concerns of all Civil
Court users in England and Wales at
the very highest levels of Government,
MOJ, and Her Majesty’s Court & Tribunal
Service (HMCTS) to include all other
Stakeholders concerned with Policy
Change in the Civil Realm. ccua.org.uk
CICM IN BRIEF
This month's briefing includes details
of the CICM British Credit Awards,
the IRRV Completion Notices events
in Manchester and Hinckley, the ICTF
Webcast on Credit and Collections in
the Far East, and the new Hays Skills
Gap Report.
COLD CALLER’S RECORD FINE
OXYGEN, a South Wales-based
lead generation company has been
fined £120,000 by the Information
Commissioners Office (ICO) for making
unsolicited automated marketing calls
claiming to be a ‘government awareness
call’ and offering to write off debt.
The calls gave no indication of who they
were from. After an initial 214 complaints
from the public, an ICO investigation
discovered the company had made over
one million automated calls, without
people’s consent, during April 2015.
Oxygen was responsible for the marketing
campaign and used another company to
make the calls.
Steve Eckersley, Head of Enforcement
at the ICO, says this is a classic example of
a company that has ignored the regulations:
“Companies making recorded marketing
calls like this need permission, and need
to be clear who is making the calls.
Oxygen did neither, and even falsely
FOOD PRODUCERS WAIT LONGER TO
RECEIVE PAYMENT
SMALLER food and drink producers are
waiting more than two weeks longer than
their larger competitors to receive payment
from their customers, research by the Asset
Based Finance Association (ABFA) has
revealed.
Food producers with a turnover of less
than £10 million are waiting an average of
48 days to receive payment, whereas
the largest businesses – those with a
turnover in excess of £500 million – see
their invoices to customers paid within 33
days.
The ABFA adds that it is the very
smallest food and drink producers that
experience the longest delays in the
sector – businesses with a turnover below
£1 million are waiting an average of
56 days for payment, or an additional
three weeks, compared to the bigger
businesses.
The Government hopes to address
the growing problem through its recent
Enterprise Bill. It will establish a small
implied they were part of a government
campaign.
Peter Tutton, Head of Policy at
StepChange Debt Charity, says nuisance
calls are a serious problem that cause
considerable anxiety and stress: “While
this fine is welcome, there is still much more
to be done. Our research shows that over
half of British adults have been contacted
by fee-charging debt management
companies or marketers selling high-cost
credit and this is still a real, everyday
problem.
“The FCA now needs to move more
quickly and bring forward its review of the
rules on unsolicited real-time promotion of
high-risk financial products. With increased
power for regulators and a complete ban on
unsolicited high-risk credit marketing calls,
we can stop this harmful and unacceptable
behaviour before it begins.’’
ico.org.uk
stepchange.org.uk
business commissioner with the remit of
helping SMEs in disputes over issues with
larger businesses; this will include referring
SMEs with issues over payment delays to
mediation.
Jeff Longhurst, Chief Executive of the
ABFA, says payment delays are a deepseated
problem for SMEs in the food and
drink sector and it is clear that, despite the
best efforts of the Government, they’re still
suffering more than their larger rivals:
“With competition intensifying in the
supermarket sector thanks to the expansion
of the German discounters, perhaps that’s
no surprise.
“These extra delays to receive payment
hit SMEs particularly hard as they are often
relying on this income to pay their own
suppliers, and it can have repercussions
down the supply chain. Introducing
mediation is a start, but it won’t help SMEs
with their immediate cashflow problems
when payment on an invoice is late.”
abfa.org.uk
10 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
INSOLVENCY NEWS
COMPLAINTS –
CONSISTENCY, INDEPENDENCE, AND TRANSPARENCY
THE Insolvency Service is conducting
a review of complaints handing
across the insolvency regulatory
bodies with a view to making
recommendations early next year on ways
to further improve both consistency and
perceptions of the effectiveness of the
present system. But why is this necessary?
The Service’s last annual report
highlights some apparent differences
in approach, or at least in outcomes, in
2014. It is important that the Service,
in its oversight role, understands the
reasons behind this and addresses them.
Complainants, whether they be creditors or
(increasingly) debtors – 48 percent of cases
last year – have a right to expect that their
complaints will be dealt with even-handedly,
against common benchmarks, and produce
demonstrably consistent outcomes.
In part, that is about the evidential
requirements imposed on complainants, a
willingness to investigate, and the extent
of proper scrutiny at the decision-making
stage in the system. The latter is best
achieved with an appropriate degree of
independence, but also with necessary
input from other insolvency professionals
who know the technical intricacies and
practical demands of the IP’s job.
We have to recognise that the propensity
for dissatisfaction in and around insolvency
processes is such that this area of work
will likely attract more than its fair share of
complaints. Individual debtors, particularly
those in IVAs where PPI claims might be
an issue, have come forward in significant
numbers to raise concerns about the
supervision of those cases, where often
a lack of effective communication is at
the heart of the problem. In corporate
insolvencies, creditors, directors, wouldbe
purchasers, employees and others
sometimes have cause for concern, or at
least questions about the processes or
outcomes that require explanation. The
number of complaints has increased since
the Service’s gateway opened two years
ago, so the need for consistency has
become more acute.
Some aspects of the system have seen
improvement already. There are fewer
regulators in the mix than there were two
years ago, and all those now licensing IPs
are subject to the gateway process. That
assists the Service’s ability to monitor
throughput and outcomes, or will do over
time. But does the Service really have a
detailed appreciation of how complaints
work their way through the bodies’
separate systems, and the factors in play
in determining how they are decided?
Hitherto, probably not, hence the need for
this review, which must flush out those
points.
I know from cases referred to me that
some bodies put up barriers that all but the
most persistent will find insurmountable.
That is not desirable and, while all bodies
suffer the inconvenience of having to deal
with a few complainants who are simply
barking up the wrong tree, it should always
be a concern to regulators when those
who take the trouble to engage leave
the process disappointed to the point of
questioning the integrity of those who have
considered their complaint.
Transparency is one answer to that,
but also a greater degree of independence
in the decision-making. At the Insolvency
Practitioners Association (IPA), we have
decided to increase the lay input on our
Investigation Committee, which considers
most of the complaints we receive and
has the ultimate say in whether matters
are investigated. It has a healthy mix of
practitioners, but from January will have
a narrow majority of lay contributors
for the first time. We believe this strikes
the right balance between technical
and practical input from professionals
and the independent scrutiny needed
to demonstrate the effectiveness of this
public-facing aspect of regulation and
the crucially important function this plays
in winning hearts and minds amongst
those who find themselves embroiled in
insolvency for one reason or other.
The bodies are also moving towards
common Reviewers of Complaints – the
second tier, independent, review that
can be instigated where a complainant is
dissatisfied with a ‘no case’ outcome. That
should further enhance consistency by
ensuring that the same panel is considering
cases at that stage, irrespective of the body
dealing with the initial decision.
But more could be done. We still
need a level playing field on publicity; the
largest regulators have resolved historic
differences, but some bodies are not
publishing disciplinary orders, and the
Service will surely iron out those wrinkles
before long.
New obligations on IPs to report others’
misconduct may see a spate of complaints
generated within the profession, but the
Service will need to guard against the
potential for inconsistencies in how they
are addressed, especially as not all of those
matters will go through the gateway.
So, this is a work in progress. There have
undoubtedly been a number of welcome
developments driving enhancements
to the effectiveness of the complaints
process, but there is still some way to go
to convince external stakeholders that the
system serves them well in the majority of
circumstances. It’s in all our interests to
reach that destination as soon as possible.
David Kerr MCICM is the
Chief Executive of the Insolvency
Practitioners Association (IPA).
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www.cicm.com December 2015 11
OPINION
ANNUS MIRABILIS
(WITH APOLOGIES)
By Philip King, Chief Executive of the
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
WHAT an incredible year it has
been. So much has happened;
so much has been achieved.
A true Annus Mirabilis – a
Wonderful Year.
Of course our elevation to Chartered
status at the start of the year set the tone
for what followed. Outwardly, it changed
our name. It made us ‘look’ different to
the outside world, and we celebrated
by refreshing our brand. But it has done
much more than this. On the one hand, it
has changed the way that others see us;
perhaps more importantly, it has changed
the way we see ourselves.
Our members have a voice, and we
are increasingly using that voice to make
ourselves heard in government across
many departments, from the MoJ and
the Insolvency Service to HMRC and the
Cabinet Office. This work is ongoing,
and engagement with our colleagues
including the new Ministerial team at the
Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills (BIS) will continue throughout 2016
as we are consulted on direction and
policy.
Often we share a platform with other
business organisations, and have the
opportunity to share our thoughts, insights
and opinion with the national, local and
business media, and this work similarly
continues. We are invited to take part in
many different consultations and initiatives
with interested third parties, and this will
also continue as people and organisations
learn more about who we are and the value
that we can bring.
As a Chartered Institute, serving
the needs of our members remains our
number one priority. I am pleased to say
that we continue to maintain and grow
our membership, and that many more are
seeking training and formal qualification
through the CICM. More members
are recognising the importance
of staying up to date, informally
through reading this magazine
(which itself improves with every
issue) and our regular briefings, as
well as more formal learning, and
recording it using our Continuous
Professional Development (CPD)
Scheme. A scheme which now also
applies to all forms of CICM learning.
Third party research is now underway to
help us better understand our members,
their needs, and their aspirations. Please
respond to the survey you will receive
early in 2016; the results will help us set
the blueprint for the next few years and
it’s important we have as wide a range of
views as possible.
At a corporate level too we are seeing
more companies recognising the benefits
of CICMQ – the benchmark for quality
excellence in credit management – and
greater numbers seeking accreditation and
re-accreditation on a regular basis. We
are also seeing more companies taking
advantage of other initiatives that enable
us to work even more closely with the
industries we serve, such as our Corporate
Partnerships.
We know that we are hitting the mark,
quite literally, because we can monitor the
number of hits to our new website as well
as the numbers of those who engage in
our quarterly Credit Managers Index (CMI);
and through our social media channels
indeed more than half a million visits were
recorded this year of visits to our website
as the go-to destination for credit-related
resources, which is extremely pleasing
for those who work so hard to ensure
members and non-members alike have
access to the sort of information they need
to support their ongoing development.
I have talked previously about
the CICM community – a community
that informs, supports, and drives
professionalism, and I see it everywhere
I look. In 2016, of course, we want to
do more, and with the support of our
fantastic Headquarters staff, and our
volunteers who do such sterling work in
the branches, I am sure we can achieve it.
As individuals, find ways to become even
more engaged where you can, either by
attending branch meetings or standing for
election to our Advisory Council. Respond
to surveys so we can see and hear what
you’re thinking, and how we can take
our great organisation and make it even
better for our members. And think too
about what more you could do to support
new members, those starting out as
apprentices or at university, helping them
to carve a professional career in credit
management.
But for now, let us celebrate all that has
been achieved in 2015. From everyone
here at CICM headquarters, I wish you all
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
12 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
ASK THE EXPERTS
DIRTY DANCING
Stephen Pigney considers the issues of ‘dirty money’ and the implications of the
4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive on banks and businesses.
NEXT year will be the 25th anniversary
of the 1st Anti-Money Laundering
(AML) Directive published by the
EU in 1991. This first AML Directive
tailored the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) recommendations to the needs of
the EU, complemented by Member States
national rules.
One of the main drivers for the review
of the 3rd EU AML Directive was the issue
by the FATF of updated financial crime/
AML recommendations during 2012. The
European Commission engaged Deloitte
to assess the current Directive and
subsequently adopted the report making
recommendations for further development
of the existing legislation.
The 4th Anti-Money Laundering
Directive reflects the concern that the
previous Directive had been implemented
inconsistently across the EU. This was seen
as problematical for businesses operating
cross-border. It was approved by the EU in
June this year and has replaced the current
3rd AML Directive. EU Member countries
have two years to implement these rules
into national law so we can expect changes
over the next two years.
It is fair to point out at this stage that
there is unlikely to be a substantial impact
on UK businesses as the UK AML regime
is considered by many to be amongst the
‘Gold Standard’ for AML legislation.
So how do the new regulations differ
from the current 3rd AML Directive? We will
consider some of the changes in this article
but first it will be useful to look at the extent
of money laundering on a global basis to
get an idea of the size of the problem.
THE CHALLENGE
The IMF has estimated that the amount of
money laundered in the world is between
two percent and five percent of global
GDP. Last year, global GDP was USD77.8
trillion so that suggests that the figure could
be between USD 1.5 trillion and USD 3.9
trillion. As a comparison, Germany’s GDP in
2014 was USD 3.9 trillion equivalent.
Of course a common misconception
is that money laundering is primarily a
problem for banks and financial institutions.
We are all aware of the massive fines
being paid by the banks in respect of
anti-money laundering breaches but it is a
problem that encompasses every business
and individual. For the calendar year to
September 2015, the UK Financial Conduct
Authority has levied 31 money laundering
fines totalling GBP826m. This comprised
seven banks, seven corporations and 17
individuals.
Criminals go to great lengths to hide
their activities and make ‘dirty’ money
appear legitimate and it is incumbent on
everyone that due diligence is given to all of
the transactions in which we are involved.
From a corporate perspective, great care
has to be exercised when dealing with all
counterparties – do you know who your
company trades with, what processes are
in place to ensure clients – both new and
old – are an acceptable counterparty and
what processes are in place to enable staff
to identify and report any potential issues?
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 13
As an example of an area in which many
banks and corporates have suffered
losses is trade-based money laundering
techniques. These have become very
sophisticated and include over/under
invoicing, over/under shipping of goods,
multiple invoicing, falsely describing goods
and even phantom shipping.
NEW EU REGULATIONS
Now that we have had anti-money
laundering regulation for almost 25 years,
it is not surprising that the regulations and
law have changed to take account of the
experience gained during this time and to
overcome the sophisticated techniques
employed by criminals.
The 4th EU AML Directive has
introduced both new requirements and
changes to existing procedures.
The key changes for the UK can be
summarised as:
• Introducing a risk-based approach
• Ongoing Monitoring
• Increased requirements with regard to
politically exposed persons
• Register of Beneficial Owners
• Increased scope re customer due
diligence
These changes are expected to provide
benefits to businesses, Governments
and law enforcement by ensuring that
resources can be targeted towards areas
of higher risk. The Directive’s more riskbased
approach and, hopefully, a greater
consistency in the implementation of 4th EU
AML Directive across the EU member states
is designed to simplify EU cross-border
trade and implementation of the various
FATF regulations.
In addition, the AML regulations will
have to be met by any business involved
in making or receiving cash payment
for goods worth at least EUR 10,000
equivalent, regardless of whether payment
is made in a single or series of individual
transactions.
Where a business operates in the
gambling sector, the new rules apply where
individual stakes or winnings are in excess
of EUR 2,000. EU Member States can
legitimately decide to opt those companies
affected out of the requirements of the
Directive but the Government making the
decision has to justify this to the European
Commission.
Let’s consider these changes in more
depth.
Risk Based Approach
The new regulations introduced will require
EU Member States to evidence that they
have taken necessary actions to identify,
assess and mitigate both AML and Counter
The old saying, to be
forewarned is to be
forearmed, continues
to be true. There will
undoubtedly be some
consultation and
awareness sessions
where businesses
can learn more
about the new AML
requirements. It is
an investment worth
making.
STEPHEN PIGNEY
TRAINER AND EXAM BOARD
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF
CORPORATE TREASURERS (ACT)
Terrorist Financing (CTF) risk.
Whilst designated persons (now to
be called ‘Obliged Entities’) are already
required to comply with this requirements in
the existing rules, the 4th EU AML Directive,
is more explicit in the areas to be assessed.
In addition, under the 4th Directive, the
list of jurisdictions with AML/CTF legislation
which is considered to be equivalent to
that across the EU will be rescinded and
obliged entities will need to perform a
risk assessment on countries where they
do business outside the EU. This change
acknowledges that the levels of action
required by EU Member States, Supervisors
and businesses will vary according to the
nature and severity of the risk.
Worthy of particular mention is that
under the new Directive, transactions
involving public limited companies, public
bodies and some defined jurisdictions
will qualify for simplified due diligence.
Conversely, transactions involving asset
holding vehicles, cash-intensive businesses,
those where unusual or unnecessary
complex share ownership structures are
in place and jurisdictions associated with
higher risk will require enhanced due
diligence.
Politically Exposed Persons (PEP)
It has always been a requirement to
undertake enhanced due diligence where
a counterparty includes a PEP and the
4th AML Directive confirms that enhanced
due diligence is required in all transactions
where a PEP is involved.
For clarification, a PEP is considered
a person that has, or has influence, over
positions of power and includes Members
of Parliament, high ranking officials and
senior figures in Public Bodies. A close
family member or close associate of a
PEP also has to undergo enhanced due
diligence.
A PEP has been defined to include
domestic and overseas domicile, although
this currently is the case in the UK. Obliged
entities will therefore be required to review
their customers to ascertain if there is
a need for re-classification and, where
applicable, apply enhanced due diligence.
Obliged entities will be required to
monitor the risk posed when a person
ceases to be so classified for a period
of 18 months, rather than the 12 month
monitoring period.
Register of Beneficial Owners
As part of the 4th AML Directive, EU
Member States are obliged to maintain
central registers listing information on the
ultimate beneficial owners of a corporate
or other legal entity to provide greater
transparency in financial transactions.
This requirement also extends to Trustees.
Together, the measures are designed to
make it increasingly difficult to undertake
transactions to mask money laundering
activity.
This does of course raise questions
regarding potential inappropriate access or
use of the personal data held on the register.
The Directive requires the information on the
central register to be accessible to people
and organisations who can demonstrate a
‘legitimate interest’.
Increased Scope re Customer Due Diligence
The previous Directive allowed businesses
to apply simplified due diligence in certain
situations which reduced the regulatory
burden. The EU’s view was that blanket
exemptions are too permissive and lenient
and this will be changed. The new regime
will bring into force new customer due
diligence checking requirements. All
counterparties will need to be identified with
records being maintained showing what due
diligence has been undertaken.
The level of customer due diligence
undertaken will be dependent on the
perceived risk of that customer and where
the risk is considered low, simplified due
diligence is acceptable. The 4th Directive
has prescribed minimum factors to be taken
into account before simplified due diligence
is considered acceptable. If simplified due
diligence is undertaken, the obliged entity
will need to be able to evidence the factors
giving rise to reduced due diligence being
carried out.
14 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
ASK THE EXPERTS
Conversely, where a customer risk is
perceived to be high, the Directive details
additional factors for consideration in the
due diligence process.
The 4th AML Directive has also
introduced new obligations to report
suspicious transactions and maintain
records of payments. All business subject
to the Directive will also be obliged to
install internal controls to combat money
laundering and terrorist financing under the
framework.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
All businesses must take reasonable care in
establishing and maintaining AML controls
and, where a business is regulated, must
appoint a Money Laundering Office. Internal
systems and controls must be sufficient to
achieve:
• Development and documentation of
risk assessment requirements
• Internal training and awareness
• Periodic testing of policies and
procedures
• Business compliance monitoring and
reporting
It is also recommended that detailed
policies and procedures are put in place so
that all employees are aware of the action
they need to take if they become suspicious
regarding any customer or transaction.
Records of client identity, business
relationship and details of one-off
transactions need to be kept for varying
periods as set out in the relevant legislation.
Clearly, all banks will make the relevant
changes to their existing procedures
as soon as possible to ensure they are
compliant with the law. In addition to the
banks, however, businesses will need to
review the effectiveness of their current
policies and procedures; allowing their
employees to be able to identify potential
money laundering.
For example;
• Identification and scrutiny of complex
or unusually large transactions
• Unusual patterns of transactions with
seemingly little apparent economic
and lawful purpose
• Customer anonymity
• Determination and procedure relating
to a PEP.
Then of course, if a suspicious transaction
is identified, to whom should this be
referred and what reporting procedures are
in place to advise the relevant authorities?
RISK STRATEGIES
As has already been said, the UK’s AML
regime is considered to be very robust so
it is unlikely that changes in the law will
be substantial. What it will do is to ensure
that a risk-based approach is used in all
dealings with customers and there will be
some changes in processes to ensure that
the correct parameters are being applied
across all businesses.
By far the most significant change will be
the need for the UK to maintain a register
of beneficial owners. This is the one area
that is likely to be subject to much debate
before the 4th AML Directive is brought
into UK law. It may also lead to some
businesses that do not have an internal
AML process to introduce a companywide
policy for recognising and reporting
suspicious transactions.
What does seem clear is that banks
and other financial institutions, if they
are not already doing so, will question
all of their customers about their internal
AML procedures and systems to ensure
compliance with the law.
At the latest, there is still over 18
months to go before the 4th AML
Directive is brought into UK law. Financial
Institutions will already be ensuring that
their procedures will comply with the 4th
AML Directive and corporates should also
take the opportunity to review internal
procedures.
The old saying, to be forewarned is to
be forearmed, continues to be true. There
will undoubtedly be some consultation and
awareness sessions where businesses
can learn more about the new AML
requirements. It is an investment worth
making.
Stephen Pigney is a Trainer and Exam
Board member of the Association of
Corporate Treasurers (ACT)
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 15
LEGAL MATTERS
NO DIRTY MONEY
FOR THE BANK
Peter Walker explains that banks have to question complicated financial arrangements as
a result of a recent case of money laundering originating in Gibraltar.
OVER 90 years ago Chicago gangster
Al Capone reputedly used his
criminal wealth to set up laundries
to turn his metaphorically dirty
money into outwardly respectable business
assets, but the term ‘money laundering’ is
of modern times. The methods of money
launderers are now different, and we want
to trust our banks to be alert to defeat
such criminals. A case involving a bank
and allegations of money laundering was
recently referred by the Gibraltar Court of
Appeal to the Privy Council.
In Papadimitriou v Credit Agricole Corpn
and Investment Bank (2015) 1 WLR 4265
the judges were considering the facts and
law arising from the sale of a collection
of art deco furniture designed in Paris by
Eileen Gray in the 1920s and 1930s. It was
a very expensive collection worth some
US$15 million, and the sale of just 14
items of furniture and with various other
transactions, according to Lord Clarke of
Stone-Cum-Ebony, JSC, ‘were part of a
fraudulent scheme devised by’ the seller,
Robin Symes, an antiques’ dealer, who,
despite such riches, had subsequently
become bankrupt. The proceeds of sale
as part of the scheme went on a long
journey. Some US$4 million ended up with
one Panamanian company and another
Panamanian company was the recipient of
US$10.4 million.
The complications and the money’s
journey did not end there, and eventually a
bank’s Gibraltar branch received US$10.3
million for the account of a company
formed in the British Virgin Isles at the
request of the seller. A London branch
of the bank gave another of the seller’s
companies a facility of US$10.3m on the
basis of the balance in Gibraltar, of which
balance some US$9.8 million was used to
pay off the facility.
The family claiming to own the furniture
following the unexpected death of one
of its members then discovered what
had happened, and wanted to recover
the money. The judges in various courts
had to decide whether the family were
the owners, and, if so, whether the bank
had to pay the money to them. There had
been an earlier Privy Council case, Calyon
v Michaelides (Gibraltar) (2009) UKPC 34,
where the judges rejected the judgment
of a Greek court as to the ownership of
the furniture. There was also what Lord
16 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Rodger of Earlsferry described as ‘a web
of intricate and hard-fought litigations in
various jurisdictions concerning the affairs’
of the deceased family member and of
Robin Symes. There was, for example,
Phillips v Symes (2008) 1 WLR 180 which
was a dispute about an alabaster statue of
Akhanaten, an Egyptian Pharaoh, sold by
Robin Symes for US$3 million.
This time the Privy Council limited their
decision making to the bank, as to whether
in the circumstances and at the material
time it had constructive notice of the
family’s title to the funds. Two years earlier
in the Gibraltar Supreme Court Dudley
CJ had ruled that a member of the family
was the owner of the furniture. That family
member was the claimant in the case being
considered by the Privy Council.
The judges examined next what had
happened when the Gibraltar branch
of the bank became involved. It started
with a ‘know-your-client’ procedure and
account-opening forms, which were sent
to London. The completed forms and
copies of the passports of two directors
were duly returned to Gibraltar. A branch
of the bank in London prepared a credit
analysis in respect of the requested facility
of US$11.3 million of one of Robin Symes’
companies. That company wanted it to pay
an existing facility with another bank. There
was collateral in the form of a guarantee
for US$10.3 million given by the Gibraltar
bank, and there was a charge over some
antiques. The completed form anticipated
that the reliance on the antiques would be
reduced to nil. The opinion of the bank was
that it would then have a fully guaranteed
facility. There were various subsequent
transactions including transfers of funds.
CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE
The Privy Council judges had to decide
whether these circumstances gave the
bank constructive notice that the depositor
was not entitled to deal with the funds.
Lord Clarke drew attention to the decision
of Lord Neuberger in Sinclair Investments
(UK) Ltd v Versailles Trade Finance Ltd
(2012) Ch 453. He and the other judges of
the Court of Appeal were told about money
going on long journeys. Investors paid
various sums to a trade-finance company,
and their funds were to be held on trust
for them until their investments could be
used for the company’s supposed financing
purposes. The director also had a company
with a subsidiary supposedly engaging in
factoring. The latter issued debentures on
three banks secured by fixed and floating
charges.
There was consequently plenty of
money, but it was not used for trade
finance. The loan was applied to pay for
investments in the other companies, a
system known as ‘loan kiting’, while there
were other transfers between all the three
companies, i.e. ‘cross-firing’, so outwardly
they appeared to be trading genuinely.
A good time perhaps for the
shareholders to leave: the director sold his
shares for £28.69 million, and that sum was
used for various purposes including the
repayment of various loans. The factoring
company’s activities came to light, and they
had caused the trade-finance company
to make losses. The director and another
person knowingly involved in scheme or
scam were sentenced to prison sentences,
and were disqualified from being directors
for some years.
There remained a problem: who owed
what to whom? The creditors, including
the liquidator of the trade-finance company,
claimed under a constructive trust a
proprietary interest in the profits from
the sale of shares. The banks and the
factoring company in turn claimed to
be entitled to the money that had been
transferred from the trade-finance
company, such money traceable into the
banks’ possession. In the 19th century
language of Sir William Page Wood V-C,
who observed in Frith v Cartland (1865) 2
H&M 417, ‘If a man mixes trust funds with
his own, the whole will be treated as trust
property, except so far as he may be able to
distinguish what is his own.’
Neuberger MR and the other judges
of the Court of Appeal decided, however,
that in the circumstances the banks did not
have notice of the trade-finance company’s
proprietary interest at the relevant time.
In the Papadimitriou case on the other
hand Lord Clark referred to a judgment of
Neuberger MR in the Court of Appeal, when
he mentioned the decision in Barclays Bank
plc v O’Brien (1994) 1 AC 180. This was
appropriate, because Lord Neuberger was
also one of the Supreme Court judges in
Papadimitriou.
UNDUE INFLUENCE
He was interested in the O’Brien decision,
although it initially seemed to be on a
completely different topic, a wife’s guarantee
of a loan to her husband’s business. She
signed the document creating a second
charge over the matrimonial home, but
did not read it, because her husband told
her that the bank’s liability was limited
to £60,000. He further told her that the
arrangement was for three weeks. The bank
did not enlighten her by explaining what the
documents meant, and did not suggest that
she should ask a lawyer for advice.
That would have been helpful, when the
husband’s company did not repay the loan,
and the bank wanted to repossess the
property. The wife claimed that the charge
should be set aside due to her husband’s
misrepresentation and undue influence.
In the House of Lords the first
consideration was whether there had been
undue influence. Lord Wilberforce noted that
in the case of spouses there was a greater
risk of undue influence that in other cases
‘where no sexual or emotional ties affect
the free exercise of the individual’s will.’
This principle could apply ‘to all other cases
where there is an emotional relationship
between cohabitees.’
In these circumstances a creditor should
be put on enquiry to take further steps to
ensure that all was well. This is particularly
necessary in the case of a wife acting as
surety for her husband’s debts, when the
transaction is ostensibly not to her financial
advantage, and when there is a substantial
risk that the husband has ‘committed a
legal or equitable wrong’ entitling her to set
aside the transaction. In the O’Brien case
the bank had constructive notice of the
husband’s misrepresentation, and should
have ensured that the wife had taken advice.
In light of this and other similar judgments
the Privy Council in the Papadimitriou case
ruled that the bank had constructive notice
of impropriety. There was a web of legal
entities among other factors, which should
have alerted a reasonable bank that there
was a possible improper motive behind
the proceeds of the sale of the furniture. It
was insufficient to restrict any enquiry into
the source of the funds, and the bank as
constructive trustee had to account to the
real owner for US$9.8 million.
As a result of this decision money
launderers will find it more difficult to
wash their dirty money through complicated
banking schemes. It is good to know
that the banks have to be careful with
money.
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 17
Why not
give your
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“Alloc8 has allowed
the credit controllers to
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What our customers say
Happy Christmas from the team at Rimilia
18 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
INTERVIEW
• DEMSA •
STILL TALKING
Sean Feast speaks to DEMSA Chief Executive Kevin Still MCICM about the
future of debt management.
AS the Chief Executive of DEMSA
– the Debt Managers Standards
Association – Kevin Still has
arguably one of the toughest briefs
in the world of consumer credit.
On the one hand his task is to provide
a genuine conduit with the primary sector
regulators and ombudsmen, notably the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). On
the other, it is to defend and protect an
industry that has suffered significantly in the
hands of an unforgiving media, not helped
– he admits – by the actions of a few debt
management companies (DMC) tarnishing
the good works of the many.
Although the mission may be
challenging, Kevin seems well equipped
for the role, with a CV that reads like a
‘who’s who’ of the great and the good in
the world of credit. But it might have been
different. At the British School of Brussels
in Belgium, where he mixed with the sons
of ambassadors and diplomats in a building
that was once the headquarters of General
Blucher, he had his mind set on becoming
a marine biologist: “I grew up in the era of
Jaws and had a passion for marine life, but
found that I was good at Maths and so my
future took a different direction.”
Kevin went to the University of Surrey
between 1980 – 1984, graduating with a
BSc Joint Honours in Mathematics and
Computer Sciences: “In reality,” he jokes,
“I did a degree in rugby with a little maths
thrown in!”
While at university, he spent a one-year
industrial placement at Unisys, a grounding
that was to stand him in good stead
throughout his subsequent career. Upon
graduating, he was recruited as an analyst/
programmer at Friends Provident, widening
his experience to IBM-based systems
and learning about the fundamentals of
wholesale banking, mortgages and data.
It was an exciting time to have IT and
systems knowledge within a financial
services and banking environment, and
in 1985, Kevin joined UAPT Infolink which
was, at that time, the UK’s largest and
longest-established independent on-line
information services organisation. It was the
start of a 30-year career in the credit and
financial services world not only in the UK
but also across Europe.
In that time, Kevin has held senior
executive roles at Equifax, Intrum Justitia
(working from Amsterdam), I-many
International, Credit Professionals and
Pentagon (UK) among others. (The latter
is the name behind MoneySave Solutions,
one of the UK’s larger DMCs and DEMSA
members managing over a quarter of a
billion pounds worth of debt.)
With Credit Professionals, a specialist
credit management consultancy, he helped
to establish the Lowell Group and provided
strategic advice to other debt purchasers
including Marlin and investors like Cabot
Square. He worked alongside Trevor
Phillips, a former Chairman of the Institute
of Credit Management (now the Chartered
Institute): “Trevor has the ability to bring
people and services together in a unique
and challenging atmosphere,” he says.
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 19
There is less distinction between debt
management companies and debt purchasers
than one might think. It is almost a question
of who has the biggest share of the wallet.
KEVIN STILL
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF DEMSA
20 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
INTERVIEW
Being authorised and under the
scrutiny of the FCA, will increase
confidence in our industry and
among consumers. It demonstrates
that we are not unregulated, and we
are not cowboys.
KEVIN STILL
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF DEMSA
Kevin’s knowledge of consumer and
commercial credit spans virtually every
discipline from software to strategy, crossborder
receivables management to pan-
European debt purchase.
He is a former Director of the Credit
Industry Fraud Avoidance Scheme (CIFAS)
and Registry Trust (RTL), the UK clearinghouse
for County Court Judgments and
Decrees. He is also a former DEMSA
auditor, working not only with DMCs but
also Debt Purchasers and Insolvency
Practitioners, all of who have a role in
managing people in debt. “There is less
distinction between debt management
companies and debt purchasers than one
might think,” he explains. “It is almost a
question of who has the biggest share
of the wallet. To put that relationship
into context, up to 25 percent of
revenues in some DPs is comprised of
debt management plans, such are their
importance.”
In 2010, he set up the Association of
Professional Debt Solution Intermediaries
(APDSI) with two other directors with the
aim of raising standards in the commercial
debt advice sector. In August, APDSI
merged with DEMSA, Kevin taking on the
role as CEO of the combined body.
Kevin is under no illusions as to how big
the regulatory challenge will be, and one
already detects a note of frustration in his
voice at the current position:
“In the 18 months since the new FCA
authorisation process began, not a single
DMC has been authorised,” he says. “Some
of the submissions have been with the FCA
for more than 12 months and although
there have been many requests for further
information during that time, we are still yet
to see our first member over the line.”
Kevin ponders why organisations such
as StepChange Debt Charity are still on the
waiting list and why there has been such a
delay. He accepts there is a legacy issue,
and is not surprised that his members are
considered in the highest risk category
following the Thematic Review, a review,
he believes, that was actually a fact finding
mission by the FCA, and that what it
discovered did not necessarily correlate
with what it might have been told.
“The profile of consumers within a debt
management plan, and their general lack of
engagement with their debt situation, came
as a shock to the FCA,” he says. “Many
are homeowners, with a regular income
and a minimal reliance on benefits. As
homeowners, it means that a rise in interest
rates or a rise in property values can
impact their financial position. When a debt
management plan is cancelled, the reaction
seems to be that they must have been given
bad advice, when the reality can be that
they have moved from an unmanageable to
a manageable debt position.”
DEMSA in many ways finds itself in
the same position as its colleagues in the
world of debt collection, and the Credit
Services Association (CSA). Like the CSA,
it is not a quasi regulator. But it is further
developing its Code of Conduct and
reviewing its Quality Assurance framework
so that the Code is focused around the
suitability of debt advice, and on training
and competency standards: “It needs to
be principles based and outcome focused
to treat customers fairly,” he explains. “But
that does not mean hiding behind rhetoric
or mission statements. “We need to align
the rulebook with the practicality of high
quality advice. It is not about ‘free or fee’,
but more about making sure consumers
are aware of all of the options available to
them. If it has the kite mark from Trading
Standards, then it has to mean something; it
has to give consumer confidence.”
Also drawing parallels with the CSA,
DEMSA is launching a new data gathering
initiative. Kevin sees data as being the key
to lobbying, PR, creditor liaison activity
and strategic responses to regulatory
consultations: “The more routine the
collection and analysis of anonymised data,
the better equipped DEMSA is to support
the sector,” he argues.
“Robust data can be used to defend
what we do and to prove the benefits of the
services supplied. The data once amassed
can be used to demonstrate the size of the
sector and the value placed on it by the
consumer.”
Another similarity is the Association’s
focus on training and development, and its
need to support its ‘smaller’ members who
are struggling with the cost of compliance.
Despite the challenges, however, he still
views the authorisation process as a glass
that is half full: “Our members operate in a
very challenging environment but despite
that, complaints against our members are
very low.
“Being authorised and under the scrutiny
of the FCA, will increase confidence in
our industry and among consumers,” he
says. “It demonstrates that we are not
unregulated, and we are not cowboys.”
Kevin is nothing if not phlegmatic. He
acknowledges the difficulties that lay ahead
but is not afraid of tackling them head on.
In many ways, it could be an allegory for his
rugby career, playing Prop in the front row:
“My hero was Jason Leonard,” he says,
“but both of us had the good grace to retire
with the advent of lycra.”
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 21
EDUCATION
CICM IS THE RECOGNISED STANDARD IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
WHICH QUALIFICATION IS RIGHT FOR ME?
Looking to gain recognition and build your knowledge skills?
This article helps you identify the qualification which is right for you.
CICM professional qualifications are the recognised standard in credit management, debt collection, enforcement
and money and debt collections. They are specifically designed to raise knowledge and performance at work.
Specialised units and a flexible structure gives the opportunity to build qualifications to suit roles and career
ambitions. Find out more about the credit management qualifications below:
LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
This level covers baseline skills in credit management and is suitable for anyone new to credit or looking to broaden credit
management knowledge and skills. The Certificate is the recommended start for credit professionals and helps you understand the
significance of your role and how to maximise cash collections and customer relations.
LEVEL 3 DIPLOMA IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
This level has a choice of two pathways:
The vocational pathway focuses on skills and combines training and assignments with an examined course in credit management
covering all areas of credit.
The knowledge pathway provides essential knowledge for credit roles through coverage of key areas of credit management,
business environment business law and accounting. If you aspire to more senior roles and would like to build in-depth knowledge
and skills, this pathway, assessed by four exams, covers all aspects of the credit management function, while developing core
business understanding. The knowledge pathway is for credit professionals with some experience and graduate entrants who
would like to progress to leadership roles. The route covers the units required to progress to the CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit
Management MCICM(Grad).
LEVEL 5 DIPLOMA IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
The CICM Graduate Programme provides essential knowledge and skills for senior credit controllers. The qualification demonstrates
a high level of knowledge and expertise in credit management and the ability to maximise the efficiency of the credit function. It
covers strategic planning, credit risk management, compliance, process improvement, strategic communications and leadership and
legal proceedings and insolvency. Pass rates are good with over 80 percent of candidates passing recent assignments in process
improvement and strategic planning.
(You need Level 3 qualifications in credit management, accounting principles, business law and business environment to progress to
this level).
EXEMPTIONS
The CICM accredits prior learning and you can apply for an exemption if you have passed a relevant subject in an equivalent
qualification this must be at the same level or higher. You can also apply for recognition of credit from other business related
qualifications, including CICM debt collection, enforcement and money and debt advice awards.
FURTHER INFORMATION
CICM qualifications offer a choice of study methods to suit your personal circumstances. (See page 45)
For advice contact the team at professionalqualifications@cicm.com,
call 01780 722909 or visit www.cicm.com
22 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
The B2B
debt recovery
specialists
The expertise of an award
winning law firm with the cost
of a debt collection agency
24 hour turnaround for bulk LBA distribution
Dedicated client teams with legally qualified case handlers -
even for ‘pre-legal’ chasing
Online case management system with real-time reporting on all debt cases
Highest customer service standards with
a net promoter score of 71%
Cost-effective recoveries
Flexible charging structures to suit
From ‘Early Arrears Collections’ through
to expert Litigation, all handled in-house
by a Legal 500 ‘Tier 1’ law firm.
“ 93.5% of cases have
been resolved without
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progress through court,
thus keeping our legal
costs to a minimum.”
Alison Martin
AR Manager – Shared Services
Marley Eternit
The recognised standard in credit management
0800 294 6555
www.fbdebt.co.uk
www.cicm.com December 2015 23
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
BUSINESS APPS
CLOUD MAGIC
Cloud Magic has been hailed as the best combined email
app available for iPhones, and it’s certainly one not to miss! It
supports a maximum of 5 email accounts, displaying individual
inboxes separately and also offering one combined inbox to view
all of your mail at once. The app is colour coded so that your
different emails are easily identifiable. It integrates other features
such as Evernote, Pocket, Trello and OneNote, so all work can be
completed without having to go elsewhere.
AVAILABILITY: iOS
COST: Free
PSYCH
This is a tricky game which requires speed, but is great fun for
playing on-the-go and a perfect time killer. The aim is essentially
to avoid black obstacles, with simple one-touch controls. The
app keeps things interesting with ‘psychedelic’ effects and colour
variations introduced randomly in-play.
AVAILABILITY: Android/iOS
COST: Free
LETTERSPACE
This minimalist note-taking app will organise your jumbled
thoughts into one clear and simple interface. The swipe-bar
navigator enables you to move your cursor and edit your text
in a fun and different way from the conventional iOS notes
application. It includes a useful to-do-list feature on iPhone and
iPad with checkboxes to mark once actions are completed. The
app automatically organises your ideas as you go along, using
your hashtags and mentions (@) to categorise the notes. You can
also sync with iCloud for further accessibility.
AVAILABILITY: iOS
COST: Free
MINESWEEPER – WIDGET
VERSION
This popular classic has been reinvented for iOS, enabling you to
play Minesweeper instantly as a widget in place of the pull down
notifications screen. Quickly kill time on the go, even when your
device is locked. Varied difficulty levels offer a challenge if you
prefer, in an ultimately fun and simple game which will save and
load your game progress automatically. Compete with friends,
share your scores on Facebook, and take the boredom
out of that train journey to work.
AVAILABILITY: iOS COST: 79p
AROUND ME
This handy little app is a quick guide to the places – restaurants,
bars, coffee shops, hotels, ATMs, petrol stations etc – around you,
wherever that may be. Using your location services, AroundMe
provides a list of all the facilities in the selected category and
specifies the exact distance away from you, offering a map with
clear directions and extra information on the opening hours and
contact details of your chosen destination.
AVAILABILITY: Android/iOS
COST: Free
KHAN ACADEMY
Khan Academy is used as an app by millions of students, teachers,
and adults from all walks of life to learn about maths, economics,
science, humanities and computing. Portable, practical and freely
accessible for all, the app has unsurprisingly been enormously
popular. Users may access all the content that is available online,
including over 4,000 educational videos and engaging practical
exercises. You can also see your own stages of progression in this
personalised learning resource and unlock achievements as an
incentive to expand your knowledge on any given subject.
AVAILABILITY: Android/iOS
COST: Free
In our ongoing series, Credit Management takes a
look at the most useful business apps for tablets
and the most popular games for passing the time.
Is there an app that you can‘t live without or a game
that you are currently hooked on that helps you
while away the time on the long journey to work?
Let us know at editor@cicm.com
24
December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Hoist Finance.
Season’s greetings.
Christmas is a time for giving and receiving, and over the last 12 months we
have given thousands of pounds and hundreds of hours of our time to good
causes in our local community. We’ve funded school trips for children who
have never been away; sent food parcels to the most in need; and provided
vital support and advice to those seeking to better manage their income
and expenditure. This year, as in 2014, we’ve not sent Christmas cards,
but made a donation to one of our local projects. To us, Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) is not a tick in a box. It’s at the heart of our culture,
a sustained commitment to help people have better lives. With this in mind,
may we wish you all well over the festive season, and a Happy New Year.
Hoistfinance.com
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for matters governed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (amended 2006).
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 25
VIEW FROM THE SEAFRONT
I WAS AN ACTOR
David Andrews discusses his various attempts at acting and how
suffering for one’s art is a cliche.
POST-GRADUATE drama school
training after university. Immersed in
the method as taught by Stanislavski,
with ambitions to get to LA and hit
the big time.
A few hysterical months as a standup
comedian, occasional Tarzanogram
and endless fringe theatre jobs, and I
finally secured the elusive Equity card. I
was a professional. Finally. Now for world
domination, I thought.
As with all the best laid plans, mine
were derailed very early on. The freezing
winter of 81/82 pretty much did for me.
Having played a singing, dancing bear in a
fringe pantomime production at the Grove
Theatre, Hammersmith, I began to have
second thoughts about my career path
when I could not afford to buy a hot dog
(they were 37 pence…I still get a Proustian
whiff of those sizzling onions as I emerged
blinking into the London gloom) from the
stall which lurked tantalisingly outside
the theatre. Finding the rent that winter
was a nightmare. I remember one day in
desperation joining a concrete laying gang.
For a 10-hour, back-breaking shift in the
pouring rain I was paid £18. I spent most
of it in the pub that night and then suffered
a terrible bout of ‘flu’ which laid me up for
a month.
I did get a few breaks – one of the
Chariots of Fire producers, Paul Knight,
cast me in a couple of episodes of the
popular kids’ series Robin of Sherwood,
which first screened in 1985. Can you ride
a horse, he asked, barely looking up from
his desk.
No. I mean...yes, I mean. I could learn.
Learn to ride David. Learn to ride. Script
will be in the post. Filming starts at the
beginning of June. We will be in touch. And
with that I was dismissed. Around ten
riding lessons later, I am on the set of Robin
of Sherwood, filmed mostly in and around
the Cheddar Gorge, a few clicks from
Bristol.
You can check me out getting an
arrow through the chest, courtesy of a
grumpy Ray Winstone, who was cast as
Will Scarlett and spent much of the shoot
getting hammered in bars and clubs in
and around Bristol. Ray didn’t like me very
much. I think he thought I asked too many
questions. Was too full of myself. Mea
culpa, probably. I can’t remember exactly. It
was a long time ago.
26 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
FEATURE
SPECIAL
But in the purest sense of the pursuit of
art and beauty actors, and fellow travellers
like writers and musicians, have a sense of
destiny. One that does not rely on being glued
to a screen full of figures day-in day-out.
You’ll be able to read more about
my adventures on stage and screen in
a collection of stories which are to be
published next year (The Book Guild,
Lewes).
I always regarded myself as an artist,
one way or another. I know I was side
tracked into journalism and then formed my
own PR consultancy, but hey, a man needs
to make a living. And you try bringing up
two kids on the typical actor’s income.
Being an artist and grinding penury
often go together. Mozart, on his brief stay
in Soho, literally starving, stealing food
where he could find it. Know the feeling,
Wolfgang.
Van Gogh, constantly in poor health
through lack of regular nutrition and damp
living conditions. James Joyce, forever
dreading the rent collector’s knock on the
door and wondering how he would clothe
and feed his young family.
The poet Rimbaud, half crazed with
malnutrition despairing of another freezing
winter in a hostile and unforgiving Paris.
Dostoyevsky, skeletal and ill, the bank
account and the cupboards bare, all hope
long since evaporated. F.Scott Fitzgerald,
before the spectacular success of The
Great Gatsby, reduced to begging in the
streets to help fund the next marathon
drinking session.
Suffering for one’s art is a cliché. Oscar
Wilde, while entertaining lavishly in the
salon of Paris, would remark that when
bankers got together they liked nothing
better than to discuss art. But when artists
got together the theme was invariably
money, the folding stuff, and the lack of it.
Art and artists come in all shapes
and sizes. Along with the painters and
illustrators, poets and writers, musicians
and composers, filmmakers and dramatists,
there are the actors, the thespians - the
grubs that populate this seductive world.
Back in Shakespearean times, which
is around the time that theatre troupes
were properly established in a more or
less coherent form, medieval actors were
the absolute dregs of society, occupying
a social standing barely elevated above
common thieves and pimps – the so called
travelling players, nomadic performers
typically regarded with contempt, fear and
suspicion.
Fast forward a few hundred years and
actors are still having a rough time of it.
Despite being unequivocally aligned
to an industry which contributes billions
of dollars to the global economy, recent
data reveals that over 75 per cent of actors
earned less than £5,000 from being on
stage or in front of the cameras last year
(2014). Less than £5,000. That’s not even
£100 a week.
And despite the undeniable glamour
that is invariably associated with this
penurious world, Casting Call Pro (CCP), a
professional casting website, found that just
two per cent of our thespians earned over
£20,000 in 2014.
A further one in five failed to secure
a paid acting job at all over the last 12
months.
Track back to 2013 and another bleak
statistic is revealed: 46 percent of actors
made less than £1,000 from acting jobs
and a further 30 percent had made a paltry
£1,000 to £5,000.
So many a bitter thespian eyebrow
would have been raised by the recent
revelation that Daniel Craig, the actor par
excellence du jour, has trousered around
£39 million from his latest outing as 007.
Thirty nine million pounds. It might not
be enough to get him onto next year’s
Sunday Times Rich List, but it will keep the
diminutive performer in Aston Martins and
Omega Speedmaster wristwatches until
they are banging the nails in.
The sheer imbalance in the harsh
realities of this precarious world become
even more pronounced when you look at
the vast fortunes amassed by the likes of
Robert Downey Jnr, a man alleged to make
north of £50 million every time he climbs
into an Iron Man whistle.
These riches of Croesus are rewards
granted to just a handful of actors, who
by some fortuitous route or other have
managed to achieve the near on impossible
– make it big in Hollywood.
Millions chase this dream. Millions fail.
And I speak from experience.
There are lots of actors based in
Brighton, where I rest my head. Many a
time I would overhear conversations in my
local gym, of glum faced actors, sighing in
between grunts on the bench deck.
The subject is invariably the next job.
Where – if at all – it was coming from. News
of the steady success of the wider economy
to those who have staked all on a career on
stage – and screen, if they are fortunate.
The phone seldom rings in many of
these conversations I overhear, and I am
struck by how useless and bleakly hopeless
one feels at these times.
A couple of older actor chums of mine,
both at one time very successful in their own
right, with lots of high profile film and TV
credits between them, recently had to move
out of Brighton to a much cheaper area as
the strain of bringing up young children on
irregular or entirely absent incomes began
to tell.
An actor who was in the same couple of
episodes of Robin of Sherwood (The Swords
of Wayland, check it out on YouTube) as me
went on to become a household name. He
now lives in Brighton with teenaged children
and rarely works. It is hard.
Tales of bailiffs pounding on the front
door looking to take away the television or
whatever else might be removed to cover
the mounting debt pile are common. I
wondered how in 2015 anyone could really
live like that. The nobility of art must seem
distant at these times.
But in the purest sense of the pursuit of
art and beauty actors, and fellow travellers
like writers and musicians, have a sense
of destiny. One that does not rely on being
glued to a screen full of figures day-in dayout.
Worship of Mamon, then, is not a good
reason to pursue a life in art – whichever
discipline it might be. Art should be for art’s
sake, and if you happen to strike a chord
along the way, then that is all to the good.
I think of Rothko, finally, after 30 or so
years of struggle to make his voice heard,
drawing the knife deep into the vein below
the elbow, despite having had the success
of the Seagram Building series of works and
the spotlight of fame slowly panning in his
direction. And of Van Gogh, whose poverty
was so pitiful that days would pass when
he would lie in a semi coma, too weak to
call for help. How he would have laughed
to think his canvases are now being fought
over in auction rooms around the world, the
stratospheric price tags only within reach of
the oligarch and the billionaire hedge fund
founder.
And I wonder, glumly, what will happen
to the mass rank and file of artists in a world
so determined to be seduced by the cult of
‘celebrity.’
Daniel Craig got lucky, by some miracle
of fate and happenstance, and has made the
transition from ‘actor’ to ‘celebrity’. A man
who has been able to command astonishing
sums of money by being cast in the role of a
1950s fictional Secret Service creation.
It may not be art. But it is a living, of
sorts.
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 27
MAKE YOUR CASE
CALL ME MAYBE?
What’s in a word? Well quite a bit apparently, especially if you are navigating your
way through the relatively new regulatory landscape that has been ushered-in to the debt
collection world. Sean Feast reports.
At the UK Credit and Collections
Conference (UKCCC) in the
Autumn, delegates were treated to
a genuinely fascinating debate on
the subject of whether ‘debtors’ should in
fact be called ‘customers’ and/or vice versa.
The host, journalist and broadcaster John
Humphreys, seemed somewhat perplexed
at the thought of a collections agency being
focused on ‘customer service’. His co-host,
Julia Hartley-Brewer, was more vociferous:
she would have debtors in Queer Street or
placed in the Stocks.
Notwithstanding these rather extreme
views, what is apparent is a lack of true
consensus: some agencies undoubtedly feel
obliged to call debtors ‘customers’ because
it is the language of the FCA. Others are
more truly devoted to the cause, and see it
as a cultural mind-set that ultimately leads
to better outcomes for the ‘debtor’ and
agency alike.
REWIRING THE HARD DRIVE
Stuart Knock, Managing Director of EOS,
is certainly one who is not afraid to talk
openly and honestly about the issue: “I
don’t think I am alone in having to rewire
my onboard hard drive to ensure that I utter
‘customer’ every time that I want to refer to
an individual who is enjoying the ‘benefits’
of our service,” he says. “Colleagues still
find it amusing that I struggle with this, but
over 20 years of conditioning takes a while
to archive off the system.”
This naming convention, Stuart says,
appears to be the preference of the FCA
and it seems that they will address an
individual as such throughout their journey
through the debt collection process.
“In old talk the individual would have
been a debtor of course, or god forbid as
they were when I first joined this company,
a ‘defendant’ even though we actually sued
very few debtors. I changed our reference
term to ‘liable party’, a throwback to my
banking past which seemed to identify the
individual’s plight quite accurately, be they a
business or a consumer.”
Fast-forward to the present and the
naming convention of ‘customer’ actually
suits the EOS mix of business quite well:
“We do quite a bit of work in the water utility
market where an individual can still be
receiving current supply as a customer as
well as owing a debt for the prior year.”
Using the example above and without
getting overly technical, Stuart thinks the
suitability of the term ‘customer’ might
actually vary: “Might it be appropriate for
an individual who will be welcomed back
by the creditor into a normal ‘customer’
trading status once the current debt event
has been resolved to be addressed as a
‘customer’ in order to foster the hoped-for
future relationship?” he ponders. “But does
this mean that those individuals who aren’t
wanted back by the creditor under any
circumstances should be referred to as a
debtor? Perhaps.
“Also, a company being labelled as
a debtor appears to be viewed as less
confrontational than an individual being
identified in the same way. So should we be
at ease with our conscience if we use the
‘debtor’ label more freely in business-tobusiness
transactions?”
Nick Cherry, Managing Director of
Philips & Cohen Associates, is similarly
confused. He says that both descriptors are
technically correct and wonders whether
it is simply a matter of perception or
something more substantive:
“A customer, by definition, is
somebody who buys goods or services
from a business, and whether willingly
or not, customers of agencies and debt
purchasers ‘buy’ or at the very least,
agree to honour the payment solutions we
provide. Similarly a debtor, by definition,
is a person or organisation that owes
money, which - excluding any disputed or
fraudulent accounts - is an irrefutable fact
in all matters handled by the industry.”
Is the choice of terminology therefore
merely semantics? Nick thinks not:
“Our business focuses on demographic
change and we have studied how attitudes
to credit have moved on generationally, to
the current state where the use of credit is
accepted as a part of everyday life. The ‘old
world’ stigma attached to being in debt no
longer carries weight and this is mirrored
in many facets of life, not least the gradual
evolution in insolvency law to a far more
proportionate and forgiving regime.
“For me the change in terminology
reflects this generational change. Whilst
some regulators still refer to debtors in their
codes, the introduction of the regulatory
concept of Treating Customers Fairly (TCF)
in the early ‘noughties’ has also driven
an evolution of thinking. Akin to those
organisations who are actually selling goods
and services, businesses in the recovery
space have truly started to embrace the
benefits of a more positive, long-term, twoway
relationship with customers, regardless
of whether the customer actually chose us
in the first place.”
Nick believes that the phrase ‘debtor’
harkens back to the distant past: “It
conjures images of a small number of
disreputable businesses who would do
anything to persuade customers into paying
their debt first, without a second thought to
the customer’s personal circumstances or
of the broader impact of their actions,” he
continues.
“Dealing with customers is therefore
not only the modern incarnation of the
phraseology, but also speaks of treating
‘customers’ with basic dignity and respect,
of being cognisant of their circumstances,
of offering assistance where appropriate
and critically of focusing on finding the
appropriate solution in each situation.
Whilst the recovery industry still has a job
to do and a balance to be struck, our goal
should be to fulfil this obligation in the best
manner possible and in so doing, look to
turn our customers into advocates of our
businesses.”
QUESTION OF INTERACTION
Carol Ord Lowell Group’s Head of Customer
Experience, agrees that the debtor/
customer/consumer debate is certainly an
interesting one - but says that in many ways
the term used to address individuals who
interact with debt recovery companies is
irrelevant; what is more important is the way
in which companies working in financial
services (whether at the application end
or the collection end) interact with these
individuals.
“That said, several years ago the
industry shifted from using terms such
‘debtors’ or even ‘defendants’ (which may
28 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Both descriptors are
technically correct and I
wonder whether it is simply
a matter of perception or
something more substantive.
FRONT
COVER
FEATURE
NICK CHERRY
MANAGING DIRECTOR
OF PHILIPS & COHEN ASSOCIATES
imply that people are ‘guilty’ of falling into
debt’) to the now more common term
‘customer’. This did feel indicative of a
change in industry practices and a growing
focus on treating customers fairly, which in
part was initiated by the Financial Services
Authority (FSA).
“At Lowell, our customer focus is based
upon the understanding that we are dealing
with individuals from different walks of life
with varied (and indeed ever changing)
circumstances. This means that they require
tailored and flexible solutions. Culturally, we
have sought to ensure our team members
identify with these individuals throughout
their interactions. We have found the use
of the word ‘customer’ to be an important
enabler and supporter of this approach. It
also has external benefits, both in terms of
encouraging engagement and supporting
our recruitment.”
EMOTIONAL THINKING
This is certainly an interesting approach,
but it is as much a practical solution as
an emotional one: “Our customer base
is incredibly diverse,” she continues.
“It covers some people who have fallen
behind on many payments, it also includes
individuals who have simply moved away
(and therefore did not realise they had
an overdue account) and everything inbetween.
There is a mix of high net worth
individuals and those in financial difficulties.
“Given this diverse range, the term
‘customer’ feels like a more appropriate
‘catch all’. And, last but not least, in terms
of the consistent journey, these individuals
began their interaction with the original
provider as a customer and we believe
there is merit in the continuation of this
term.”
Deborah Green, Head of Customer
Journey at Cabot Credit Management,
chooses to illustrate her view with
something of a parable: “A young lady,
aged 28, bought a watch for her husband
for his birthday and used her credit card to
pay the bill. She had been a customer of the
bank for many years and her intention was
always to pay the credit card bill on payday.
“Unexpectedly, her hours decreased
at work and in turn her income dropped.
After her bills were paid each month
she found herself struggling to keep up
with her payments and over a period of
several months started paying less and
less towards her credit card, until she
found she could not afford to make any
payments. She still had her bank account
and continued to go into the branch and
managed her account adequately on line.
She was a customer of the bank for over
ten years.
“Then one day she received a letter
that her credit card account had been
purchased by another company, a debt
recovery company. From her perspective,
she is still the same person (loyal to the
bank) and therefore was expecting the
same level of customer service.
“She was a customer of the bank,
having a two way interdependent
relationship of mutual trust and respect,
so then she should seamlessly become a
‘customer’ of the debt recovery company,
who should also seek to build a relationship
of equal trust and respect.”
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 29
MAKE YOUR CASE
DIFFERENT TREATMENT
Deborah’s argument, therefore, is that a
change of ownership should not result in
her being labelled a ‘debtor’ or treated
differently than she was before. She is still
the same person, a customer, and she has
the same expectations and needs, although
this is now a 'forced' customer relationship.
“There is such a strong link between
customer satisfaction and positive customer
behaviour,” she continues. “Where trust
and mutual respect can be built, it can
help build partnerships and loyalty with
customers. It is imperative we understand
the needs of customers and build trust
with them, to help them take positive steps
towards repaying their accounts.”
If we stereotyped all account holders
as ‘debtors’, Deborah says, we wouldn't
be recognise them as true individuals and
would be emphasising the one negative
experience they had which resulted in
them getting into debt: “Those working
in the debt recovery industry need to
recognising people as customers, enabling
them to connect with them as an individual,
responding to their unique circumstances
and the appropriate treatment required.
“Customers have higher expectations in
today's savvy social media environment, so
we need to recognise that if our service is
substandard to someone else's then there
will be a commercial impact. If you don't
have a relationship with the customer, you
are going to have less success in recovering
their outstanding debt.
“Furthermore, a business centred around
the customer, which measures customer
feedback so that it can systematically
improve, will result in better, more efficient
processes and generate improvements in
customer experience and in turn drive up
commercial revenue.”
In Deborah’s opinion, calling someone
She was a customer of
the bank, having a two
way interdependent
relationship of mutual
trust and respect,
so then she should
seamlessly become a
‘customer’ of the debt
recovery company,
who should also seek
to build a relationship
of equal trust and
respect
DEBORAH GREEN
HEAD OF CUSTOMER JOURNEY
AT CABOT CREDIT MANAGEMENT
a derogatory name such as 'debtor' when
you are trying to establish a relationship of
trust with that person, is likely to lead to
a poor experience and outcome for both
the customer and the business. And that
is certainly an interesting way of looking at
things.
Najib Nathoo, Chief Executive of
Hoist Finance UK shares similar thoughts:
“It can rightly be argued that ‘debtor’ is
a correct accounting term but there is no
getting away from the fact that the word
has a stigma attached to it. But more
importantly, perhaps, it fails to accurately
describe the relationship between the
individual and the creditor, whether it’s a bank
or a DCA.
“Certainly the word ‘customer’ is preferred
by the FCA, and to that extent there seems
little point in swimming
against the tide, but again it is more than that.
It is not about semantics. Seeing and treating
somebody as a ‘customer’ brings
a different mindset both within the DCA
and to the individual concerned, and that
in turn leads to a better relationship and
ultimately a better outcome from all
parties.
“Individuals start their ‘journey’ as a
customer, and to switch to become a ‘debtor’
somehow implies a change to how they can
expect to be treated, and that is simply not the
case.”
STICKY LABELS
Leigh Berkley, President of the Credit Services
Association (CSA), says that there are some
who still prefer ‘debtor’, especially since
a ‘debtor’ is a factually correct term, but
‘customer’ would now be considered the
norm:
“The reality is that to many the word
‘debtor’ has a negative connotation to the
point of even being offensive in today’s world,
and a better alternative needed to be found. A
more accurate description, perhaps, would be
‘a customer in debt’.
“The simple truth is that by thinking of a
‘debtor’ as a ‘customer’ we are helping to
break down barriers and avoid a label that
does not accurately reflect an individual’s true
position.”
Stuart Knock, however, does not mind
admitting that he still finds it all a challenge:
“Of course, I’m pretty sure that ‘debtor’ will
remain on the list of accepted accounting
terms; it’s just that we all have to access
our hard drive more frequently to select the
appropriate word in polite conversation.”
30 December 2015 www.cicm.com
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THE CICM British
Credit Awards 2016
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The recognised The standard standard in credit management in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 31
SOAPBOX CHALLENGE
SOAPBOX
challenge
RETURN OF THE JEDI
Chris Sanders FCICM shares our managing editor’s dislike of jargon, and specifically
how it has infiltrated the world of the consultant.
I
read that a senior management recruiter
said that people who have to wrap an
idea up in meaningless jargon probably
don't have an idea...or at least not an
original one...how very true!
As a Jedi Master Level Process
Imagineer, I know about this stuff as I was
a QAT Leader (Quality Action Team) back in
1990, proving the Six Sigma 'revolution' is
nothing new, but hey, give it some Jargon
(especially foreign jargon such as Japanese)
and you have a new idea. By the way we
called it 'fish bone' back in the day! Also,
sadly, we had about the same level of
success with this management initiative
as Six Sigma has ...why? Management
commitment...big on jargon and soundbites
small on long term commitment! Of course
there are exceptions but they are very few
and far between.
Some jargon gets into everyday
business language which is a worry, like
'thinking out of the box' or something that
is equally annoying now 'we don't have a
box' who works in a box? Why do people
say 'Let’s take that offline' in other words
I don't what to talk about that, I don't
understand that or we will just ignore it
later...why have the meeting if you don't talk
about stuff people want to talk about? There
is a workshop equivalent, the 'Parking Lot' a
flip-chart page with loads of good stuff on it
that people want to talk about but never do.
When I had a 'proper job' in industry
(Cable & Wireless) I had a senior manager
whose favourite phrase was 'moving it
forward for what it is about'. What the
hell does that mean? We also had a huge
management programme called 'Imagine'
which seemed to be essentially advocating
anarchy...it was a bit bonkers, but the
management speak that surrounded it
was even crazier. We had to 'stand in our
listening', if someone can tell me what that
means please do...I have been racking my
brains on that one for 20 years!
Business jargon is nothing new but sadly
it never gets any better. If you are a thought
leader fed up with reinventing the wheel and
vanilla solutions, try embedding some game
changing blue-sky thinking through a deep
dive session, drive out the duck shufflers
from your right-sizing programme to push
the envelope of strategic thinking and
aligned enablement...do me a favour! Hang
on 'Thought Leadership' haven't I got that
on a banner stand? Oops!
I am too impatient for this nonsense now
(apart from 'Thought Leadership' obviously)
so if someone talks jargon to me, trying
to baffle me with management speak,
especially if they are a ‘smart consultant’,
I just say 'Interesting, specifically what do
you mean by that?' Sit back and watch as
their nonsense jargon unravels.
I leave the last nonsense comment to
a candidate on The Apprentice who said
'There is no 'I' in team...but there are five
in individual brilliance!'...so bad it was
brilliant...thank you Sir Alan for firing him!
Chris Sanders FCICM
'Thought Leadership Consultant and Jedi
Level Process Improvement Imagineer'
Do you have an issue worthy of the soapbox challenge?
If you do, the editor would love to hear from you. Send your email to editorial@cicm.com
32 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
OPINION
DEEPER
POCKETS
Salaries are increasing for credit professionals, but it is
career development that you really want says Karen Young,
Director for Hays Credit Management.
CREDIT professionals are at the height
of demand, and appetite for hiring is
increasing salaries as organisations
are competing to attract and retain
the best credit management professionals
to help them harness their cash flow.
Pay for credit professionals increased on
average by two percent in the past year,
with some of the highest salary increases
for some roles reaching double-digit
percentages.
Findings from the Hays UK Salary
and Recruiting Trends 2016 Report show
that the average salary Hays Credit
Management have recruited on for credit
management professionals within the last
12 months is now £35,115, two percent
up from £34,594 in 2015. The salary
increases received by credit professionals
is above the 1.7 percent salary increase
that accountancy and finance professionals
received overall. In fact, last year 66 percent
of employers said they would increase
salaries, but this year a much higher
proportion of employers, 76 percent, said
that they actually did so. Further good
news for credit professionals looks to be
on the horizon, as 74 percent of employers
say their workforces’ salaries are likely to
increase again over the next 12 months.
Salary increases are not isolated to
London and the South East, with many
areas of the UK receiving above average
salary increases. Credit Managers in
Wales, the West Midlands and Northern
Ireland received salary increases of six
percent or more, such is the demand for
their skills. This is all good news for credit
professionals, however, despite these salary
increases, salary rises are not the answer.
Over 1,400 employers of finance
professionals and nearly 250 credit
management professionals shared their
views with us on employment prospects
and what they value most from their
employer. Employees tell us they feel they
have the skills needed to fulfil their current
role, however many think they won’t have
the opportunity to further develop these
skills, as nearly two-thirds of employees do
not think that there is scope for progression
within their organisation.
With employees feeling positive about
their skills but uncertain about their futures,
employers must look at what is most
important for their staff to retain them and
attract professionals looking to move. One
in three credit management professionals
are planning to move jobs in the next
six months, fuelled by expectations of
higher salaries and career progression
opportunities elsewhere.
Credit professionals tell us that their
career progression is most important
to them, more so than their salary and
benefits, so employers must place this at
the top of their agenda. For employers, my
recommendations are to create an open
dialogue and put in place career plans,
offering new project work to employees.
Don’t get caught up in the day-to-day
running of things and overlook the longterm
development, skills and motivations
of staff.
We know the demand for credit
management professionals has not
diminished, credit professionals have the
confidence to move and employers have
the appetite to hire offering increased
salaries. To ensure organisations don’t miss
out on the best talent, offering an attractive
salary and benefits package is not enough
on its own. Employers must prioritise the
career development opportunities that
these credit professionals are asking for.
For further information visit hays.co.uk.
Karen Young is Director for Hays
Accountancy & Finance in the UK. She
has 17 years of recruitment experience
and leads a team of 400 accountancy
and finance recruitment professionals.
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
Further good news for credit professionals looks
to be on the horizon, as 74 percent of employers
say their workforces’ salaries are likely to
increase again over the next 12 months.
The recognised standard in credit management www.cicm.com December 2015
33
LEGAL MATTERS
CONSUMER
RIGHTS ACT 2015
EMMA EMERY IS A PARTNER AT FREETHS : emma.emery@freeths.co.uk
In this month’s legal matters we explain the introduction of the Consumer Rights Act 2015
that came into force on 1 October 2015.
THE Consumer Rights Act 2015
(“the Act”) aims to consolidate
existing legislation in the hope that
the law in this area becomes more
straightforward so that both businesses
that supply goods and services to
consumers and consumers themselves
understand their rights, responsibilities and
remedies.
The Act (amongst other things) governs
what should happen in various situations
involving consumers and businesses such
as if goods or digital content are faulty or if
services are not provided with reasonable
care and skill.
All businesses which supply goods
and/or services directly to consumers
are affected by the Act and it is therefore
vital that businesses and their employees
understand the Act and its implications.
An overview of the changes
GOODS
A consumer’s rights concerning goods
are similar to previous legislation in that
the goods should correspond with the
description given, be of satisfactory quality
and be fit for purpose.
The consumer’s 14-day right to decide
that they no longer want a product still
applies under the Consumer Contracts
Regulations 2013. This means that a
consumer can cancel a contract within this
time frame if they change their mind – even
if there is no problem with the service.
However, the Act now provides
consumers with the right to reject faulty
goods within 30 days. The 30-day period
begins after ownership or possession of the
goods has been transferred to the consumer
and consumers are also able to request that
the trader repairs or replaces these faulty
goods. In this instance the period of 30 days
can be paused and, as a result, extended
to account for the time taken to meet the
request of replacement or repair.
By law, a consumer is entitled to request
a repair or replacement after the 30-day
short-term period and up to six months
after purchase. A consumer who agrees
to a repair however, cannot require a
replacement and vice versa. If the repair or
replacement takes place but the goods are
still faulty, the consumer can then request a
price reduction or refund.
Consumers cannot make a claim if:
• the work was carried out with reasonable
care and skill;
• the defects in the goods provided was
brought to the consumer’s attention
before the sale;
• the consumer is responsible for something
that has gone wrong;
• faults appear due to general wear and
tear.
SERVICES
The legislation concerning services again
largely remains unchanged. Services
must still be carried out with reasonable
skill and care, within a reasonable time
frame and for a reasonable price. If the
service does not meet the minimum
statutory requirements, the consumer
can demand: (a) a reduction in price if the
service cannot be repeated; or (b) a repeat
performance if the service is not carried
out with reasonable care and skill.
For example, the business that
provided the service must bring it into line
with what was agreed with the consumer
or, if this is not practical, they must give
some money back. However, it is for the
consumer to prove that the service did not
meet their statutory rights.
The remedies under the Act do not
include a right for the consumer to have
someone else complete the service and
then claim reimbursement from the initial
trader.
When a consumer makes a complaint,
the trader is under a legal duty to respond
to the complaint as quickly as possible,
and to make their best efforts to resolve
the issue. The trader must respond to
emails and letters of complaint and return
phone calls in a timely manner.
It is highly important that you ensure
you know your responsibilities as
suppliers to consumers as otherwise
you could face potential claims from
consumers if you have not acted in
accordance with the requirements under
the Act.
AS A CICM MEMBER YOU CAN RECEIVE FREE LEGAL ADVICE FROM FREETHS
CALL THE CICM LEGAL HELPLINE 0845 0779698
34 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
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www.cicm.com December 2015 35
PAYMENT TRENDS
ONE STEP FORWARD,
ONE STEP BACK?
Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad), Head of Sales Ledger Consultancy at Creditsafe Business
Solutions analyses the latest monthly business to business payment performance statistics.
ONCE again our monthly analysis payment performance suddenly 8 7 showing 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
of trade payment data databases significant improvement now seems
9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4
is showing very little overall
little more than a blip, as Construction,
movement in the national picture, Manufacturing, Transportation, Energy Region
and while we can see 8a small 7 6improvement
5 4 3 2 Supply 1 0 and Water 0 1 and 2 Waste 3 4make 5 up 6 7 8 Region Getting Better
from September to October, we are still this month’s top five in terms of worsening
Region
+0.3 Scotland
Getting Better
seeing average days beyond terms stay at performance and equally disappointingly
25
an unacceptably high level, and more than they are all showing numbers well above
Getting Better
20
15.
+0.9 North +0.9 WestScotland
a day worse than at this time last year. the national average.
15
While we have seen a number of changes On +0.3 the positive Scotlandside there has been a
10
+0.1North Yorkshire West &-2.3
Humberside
across regions and sectors, it would seem very real improvement in the Finance and
+0.9 North West
5
that these are cancelling each other out at Insurance and IT and Comms sectors
Yorkshire West Midlands & Humberside -9.7 -4.1
0
a national level.
which +0.1 is always Yorkshire an encouraging & Humberside sign.
No
These sector swings have seen
Once again the Hospitality sector retains
Scotland
West Midlands -9.7
East Midlands West Midlands -2.8 -3.3
October’s encouraging signs in the larger its position as one of our ‘Top five’ better
17.7 DBT
East Midlands paying industries -2.8 and after last month’s East Anglia East Midlands -3.7 -5.7
dip, we can see the public sector-oriented
East areas Anglia of Education -3.7 and Health and Social
+3.5
East
Wales
Anglia -1.0
back +3.5 in their Wales usual stronger position. At the
South West -4.3
other end of the scale International Bodies
Wales -5.2
Northern
South have West seen -4.3 a small improvement, but is still
Ireland
+1.6 South East
23.1 DBT
the North Yorkshire &
+1.6 worst paying South sector East with days beyond
South West -3.9
20.1 Humberside
DBT
terms of nearly a full month.
London -2.7
14.0 DBT
London -2.7
South East -3.2
REGIONS
+2.6 Northern Ireland
+2.6 Northern Ireland
Last month saw the apparent flattening
London -3.8
sectors reversed, showing a continued
level of volatility and a static broader
picture as some of the poorer performing
areas experience corresponding
improvements. Unsurprisingly, this is
also the case on a regional basis with
the changes across the country leading
to a somewhat unchanged situation. It is
of course misleading to see a stagnant
national position as an excuse for not
checking out the position within your
own industry or region. We have already
highlighted the possible variances and
month on month movements you might be
seeing in your own area and believe that
credit managers should get the very latest
information to help in both setting terms
and prioritising collections. Back on my
soapbox I would just ask whether we are
Getting out of Worse the traditional North-South divide,
but this month’s analysis would seem to
have well and truly put that behind us.
Yorkshire and Humberside is no longer the
nation’s swiftest paying region with the
South West taking that particular crown,
followed closely by East Anglia, and the
East Midlands has taken a step forward.
Finance &
Insurance
Getting Worse
Wales
19.1 DBT
Getting Worse
West
Midlands
14.7 DBT
Northern Ireland -2.2
Education
all happy to see this ongoing picture as Top Five The Prompter other side Payers of the equation, Wales has Bottom Five Poorer Payers
Getting Better
-15.3 -14.5 -12.7
acceptable. There are many countries in the taken a step backwards and Northern
Top Five Prompter Payers
Region Oct 15 Change on Sept 15
Region Oct 15 Change on Sept 15
world where the thought of an average of Ireland is once again up near the top of
Getting Better
South West 13.3 -4.3 Getting Worse Energy Northern Supply Ireland Construction 23.1 Water +2.6
16-17 days beyond terms would be seen as the chart for poor payment performance.
& Waste
East Anglia 13.6 -3.7
+11.9 North West Top Five +5.0 Prompter 20.1 Payers +0.9 +2.8
a badge of national shame.
It’s always worth singling out London for a
East Midlands 13.8 -2.8
Wales South West 19.1 +4.5 +3.5 13.3 -4.3
Yorkshire bit & Humberside of further analysis, 14.0 and +0.1 while it’s good London East Anglia 17.7 -2.7 13.6 -3.7
INDUSTRY SECTORS
West Midlands to see some improvement 14.7 -9.7 in days beyond Scotland
East Midlands 17.7 +0.3 13.8 12.2 -2.8 -5.7
Last month’s encouraging signs in seeing terms, it still remains firmly nearer the
Yorkshire & Humberside 14.0 12.3 +0.1 -4.1
the industries with traditionally poor
bottom than the top.
South West Midlands West 14.7 12.9 -9.7 -3.9
Wales 13.4 -5.2
East Anglia 13.5 -1
36 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
South West
13.3 DBT
Health &
Social
East
Midlands
13.8 DBT
London
17.7 DBT
East Anglia
13.6 DBT
South East
17.3 DBT
IT & Comms
-10.9
Intern
Bo
-8
Bott
Manufacturing
Transportation
Region Oct 15 Change on Sept 15
Regio
+1.1 Bot
Getting Worse Energy Nor Su
Region August 15 Change on July 15
Reg
+11.
Nor
Getting Be
Wal No
Lond Sco
Getting Scot No W
We
Lo
67 56 45 43 23 12 01 0
9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Top Five Prompter Payers
0 10 21
32 43 45 65 76 87 8
15.9 16.3 15.7 15.8 16.2 1
18.2
15.7 15.9 16.3
15.9 16.3 15.7 15
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar A
Nov Dec Jan F
Northern
12.3 DBT
Ireland
East
+2.6 Northern Ireland
Finance Finance & 23.1 DBT &
Midlands
19.0 DBT
Health & Health &
International International
Finance &
North West Yorkshire
Insurance Insurance Education Education 13.8 Health &&
International
+1.6 South London East -3.8
Social DBT Social IT & Comms IT & Comms Bodies Bodies
Insurance
Education
Getting Worse
20.1 Humberside
West DBT
Social East
IT & Comms
Bodies
Getting Getting Better Better -15.3
-14.5
Midlands -12.7 14.0 Midlands
-12.7
DBT
Getting Better
-15.3
-10.9 -8.5 -8.5
Business -14.5
East Anglia
Wales
Mining & -12.7 Professional
London -2.7
14.7 12.2 DBT International -10.9
Health -8.5
Northern Ireland -2.2
DBT
from 13.6 DBT
Northern
19.1 Home Quarrying West & Scientific Bodies
& Social
DBT
Midlands
Ireland
East
East Anglia
Getting Getting Worse Worse
Wales
Energy Supply
Construction
Water
23.1
+2.6 Northern Ireland
Energy Supply
16.0 DBT
Getting Worse
Getting Worse Getting Energy Better Supply
Construction
-14.2 -12.2 Water -10.7 Manufacturing
-10.0Transportation
Transportation -6.5
London Midlands 13.5 DBT
DBT
13.4 DBT
Yorkshire &
& Waste && Waste Waste
North West
+11.9 +11.9 +11.9 +5.0
+5.0
17.7 DBT
13.8 +2.8 +2.8 +1.1
DBT
20.1 Humberside
DBT
+4.5 +4.5
+1.1
South East
Getting Worse
West
London
Getting Worse
14.0 DBT
South West Midlands 17.3 IT & Comms
DBT
East Anglia
Wales
15.8 DBT
13.3 DBT 14.7 DBT
South East 13.6 DBT
+2.6
19.1 DBT
South West
15.4 DBT
East
12.9 DBT London
Midlands
Finance &
Health &
International
Insurance
Education
Social
IT 17.7 DBT
13.8 Top Five Prompter Payers
Bottom & Five Comms Poorer Payers Bodies
DBT
West Top Five Top Bottom Five Prompter Prompter Five Payers Poorer Payers Payers
South East
Getting Better
-15.3 -14.5 -12.7Bottom Bottom Five -10.9 Five Poorer Poorer Payers -8.5 Payers
Sector Oct 15 Change on Sept 15 South West Sector 17.3 DBT Oct 15 Change on Sept 15
Midlands
East Anglia
Region Oct Wales 15 Change on Sept Sector 15 Sector Region Oct 15 Oct 15 Oct Change 15 Change on Sept Change on 15Sept on 15 Sept 15 Sector 13.3 DBT
Top Five Prompter Payers
Hospitality Sector Oct 15 Oct 15 Change Change on Sept on 15Sept 15
14.7 DBT
Bottom Five Poorer
9.7 -4.5
International Bodies 27.4 -8.5
13.6 DBT
South West 19.1 13.3 DBT -4.3 Getting Worse
Education Top Five Prompter Business 10.3 Payers -14.5 Mining & Professional Professional International
& Bottom Scientific Five 25.0 Health Poorer -4.8 Payers
Hospitality Hospitality Energy Northern Supply Ireland Construction 9.7 9.7 23.1 -4.5 -4.5 Water +2.6
Manufacturing
International International Bodies Transportation
Bodies 27.4 27.4 -8.5 -8.5
& Waste
East Anglia 13.6 Yorkshire -3.7&
Finance & Insurance
from
10.7
Home
-15.3 Quarrying & Scientific Energy Supply Bodies
24.7 & Social +11.9
Region North West
August 15 Change on Education July 15Education +11.9 North Region West Sector
Finance +5.0 10.3 & 10.3 20.1 -14.5August +0.9 15 15 Change on
Health Professional on
+2.8
July 15
& Professional 15 & Scientific Sector & Scientific +1.1 25.0 25.0 International -4.8August -4.815 Change
London Getting Health Better & Social -14.2 11.7 -12.7
East East Midlands Midlands 13.8 Humberside -2.8 Finance Finance & Insurance Wales & Insurance Insurance 10.7 10.7 19.1 -15.3 Education -15.3 +4.5 -12.2 -10.7 Water & Waste -10.0 22.0 -6.5 +4.5
+3.5
SocialEnergy Supply Supply IT & Comms 24.7 24.7 Bodies+11.9
18.2
12.2 -5.7
Northern International Ireland Bodies 21.2 5.9 -2.2 -10.0
Mining & Quarrying 22.9 -12.2
DBT
Agriculture 12.7 -7.8
Manufacturing 20.3 +2.8
17.7 DBT
Yorkshire Yorkshire & Humberside & Humberside 14.012.3 +0.1 Health Health & Social London & Bottom Social Five 11.7 Poorer 11.7 17.7 -12.7 Payers
Getting Better
-12.7-2.7
Water Water & Waste & Waste 22.0 22.0 +4.5 +4.5
-4.1
Scotland Business from Home
DBT
South East -15.3 -14.5 19.0 6.2 0.9 -14.2
Energy Supply 22.7 -2.6
-12.7 -10.9 -8.5
West South Midlands West 14.712.9 -9.7 -3.9 Agriculture Agriculture Getting Scotland 12.7 12.7 17.7 -7.8 -7.8 +0.3
Manufacturing 20.3 20.3 +2.8 +2.8
South West
17.3 North Worse
Public
West
Administration
18.2
11.8
-2.3
-6.0
Business Admin & Support 20.6 -2.4
IT & Comms
DBT
Region Wales Oct 13.4 15 Change -5.2 on Sept 15
Region Education
West Midlands 16.0 Oct 11.9 15 -3.3 Change -5.4 on Sept 15 Water & Waste 18.6 -0.8
13.3 DBT
+2.6
South East West Anglia 13.3 13.5 -4.3 Getting -1 Worse Energy Northern London Supply Entertainment Ireland Construction 15.8 23.1 12.1 Water -3.8 +2.6 -3.0
Manufacturing Transportation Transportation
& Storage 18.1 -2.5
& Waste
East Anglia 13.6 -3.7
+11.9 North West +5.0 20.1 +0.9
East
+2.8 +1.1
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 37
Top Five Prompter Payers
East Midlands 13.8 -2.8
Midlands
Yorkshire & Humberside 14.0 +0.1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Getting
1
Getting
0Better
Better 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
WHILE WE HAVE SEEN A NUMBER OF CHANGES
+0.3 +0.3 Scotland Scotland
Getting Better ACROSS REGIONS AND SECTORS, IT WOULD SEEM
+0.9 +0.9 North North West
Getting +0.9 West
Better Scotland THAT THESE ARE CANCELLING EACH OTHER OUT AT A
NATIONAL LEVEL.
+0.1 +0.1 Yorkshire North +0.3 Yorkshire West Scotland & &-2.3
Humberside
– Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad)
4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2
West West Midlands Midlands -9.7+0.9
3 4 North
5
West
6 7 8
7 6 5 4 3Yorkshire 2 1 & 0Humberside 0 1 -4.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Region East East Midlands Midlands -2.8+0.1
Yorkshire & Humberside
25
4 3 2 1 0 0 West 1 2Midlands 3 4 5-3.36 7 8
Region West Midlands -9.7
20
East East Anglia Getting Anglia Better
25
-3.7 East -3.7 Midlands -5.7 UK DBT Trend
15 20
+0.3 Scotland
East Midlands Getting -2.8 Better
Region +3.5 +3.5 Wales Wales
25
East Anglia -1.0 UK DBT Trend
10 15
East
+0.9
5
20
South South West North Getting
West West Better +0.9 AngliaScotland
-3.7
-4.3 -4.3
25
10
+3.5 Wales -5.2
25
0 5 15
+0.1 +0.3 North Yorkshire +1.6
Scotland
+1.6 West South & South Humberside -2.3 East East
20
20
18.2
17.4 17.3 10
South South West West -4.3 -3.9
15.9 16.3 15.7 15.7 15.8 15.9 16.2 16.1 16.3 16 15.7 15.8 17.1 0 16.2 16.9 16.7 16.1
Scotland
West Yorkshire Midlands +0.9 & London Humberside -9.7
5
London North -2.7 West -2.7 -4.1
15
17.7 DBT
South +1.6 South East East -3.2
15
Scotland
0
East Midlands +0.1 -2.8
10
+2.6 Yorkshire +2.6 Northern Northern & Humberside
19.0 DBT
West Midlands London -3.3
London -2.7 Ireland Ireland -3.8
East Anglia -3.7
510
Scotland
West Midlands Getting East Getting Worse -9.7 Midlands Worse +2.6 -5.7Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland -2.2
17.7 DBT
0
+3.5 Wales Getting Worse
5
East Midlands East -2.8Anglia -1.0
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Getting Worse
Northern
South West -4.3 Scotland
Sector
Ireland
East Anglia -3.7Wales -5.2
0
17.7 DBT
23.1 DBTNorthern
North West Yorkshire &
+1.6 South East
Sector
Ireland
20.1 Humberside
DBT
+3.5 Wales
Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
South West -3.9
21.2 DBT
14.0 DBT
Sector
North West Yorkshire &
London -2.7
18.2 Humberside
DBT
Scotland South West South -4.3 East -3.2
+4.5
Wales 19.1 +3.5
London 17.7 -2.7
Sep Oct Nov Dec
MONTHLY ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST STORIES
IN GLOBAL TRADE BY ANDREA KIRKBY.
STEEL YOURSELF FOR A CHALLENGING FUTURE
METALS producers everywhere are hurting
from low prices and an oversupply of
productive capacity. Consumption is down,
and will be further hurt by a softer Chinese
economy, but investment in new facilities
has boosted total supply, so that some
observers say it will take 20 years for a full
rebalancing of the sector to happen.
Worse, according to a study by UBS,
only three of the largest 10 producers of
steel are profitable at current price and
utilisation levels. Other metals are also
under pressure – lead for instance has been
hit by a slowdown in both car and electric
bike production, as well as Chinese destocking.
Europe seems to be doing the best,
with recovery in Germany and Poland in
particular based on turnarounds in the
construction and automotive sectors.
European steelmakers are also benefiting
from an anti-dumping tax on Chinese steel
for six months from August – though that's
obviously a short-term effect.
But Atradius warns that there are
still problem areas – in particular Turkey,
where the weak currency has exacerbated
already low profit margins. Atradius expects
payment delays – and further insolvencies
– so anyone involved in this supply chain
needs to keep their payment policies tight
and ensure they're on the ball when it
comes to collections.
ABRACADABRA! OR NOT?
MAGICIANS know how to distract you with
one hand while the other is doing the trick. I
don't think anyone's actually being tricked,
but a lot of people are being distracted by
China at the moment.
Slowing Chinese growth? Yes, it's true
China might not hit the seven percent target
– but that's a distraction. Six percent plus
is pretty good, considering the number
of nations in full recession, and the fact
that global growth will be lucky to hit three
percent this year.
The thing we're being distracted from is
the fact that a low growth world seems to
be here to stay. This will be the fourth year
of subdued growth, despite huge amounts
of stimulus from the central banks. Interest
rates are low, but so is growth. There
are a few bright spots, but on the whole,
business isn't booming.
There aren't a lot of upgrades around,
and there's a swathe of downgrades
coming through. Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,
Tunisia, and Hungary have all seen their
ratings cut in the past couple of months –
That may be good news for some - less
chance of companies going bust through
overtrading – but it also means no getout-of-jail-free
cards for badly planned
investments. Industries with overcapacity
have got a problem that isn't going to be
solved soon. It also means the magicians
in the central banks may have run out of
magic tricks – if the last lot of QE hasn't
boosted global trade, don't expect the next
lot to work.
IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF EXPORT
THE Music Export Growth Scheme recently
announced a further £200,000 grants to
boost British exports of music. These
grants are targeted at the independent
music community, rather than the big record
labels. They'll be spent on such activities
as marketing and promoting overseas
tours – helping sell tickets now, and further
products in the longer-term.
Another company making sweet export
music is Liberty Drums, a niche producer
in what's often thought of as a commodity
market. They've signed up Farhad
Humayun, frontman of a leading Pakistani
rock back, to promote their products in
Asia. As part of the deal, they'll tailor their
drums to his individual sound. It seems
an imaginative way for a company to
move into a new export market, and other
brands could well learn from it - don't hire a
distributor, find a brand ambassador.
38 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
INDIA SPICES UP ITS GROWTH
INDIA has just cut its repo rate a full half
point, from 7.25 percent to 6.75 percent, in
an attempt to spice up its economy.
Inflation, at 3.7 percent, is well below
target, but it’s weaker growth in both
external demand and domestic investment
that has the bankers worried – hence the
decision to provide some stimulus.
India can probably afford to do it. The
country has managed to lower its current
account deficit, and the Government’s
economic management appears pretty
credible, even if not all its promises have
been kept. Foreign investors have benefited
from changed regulations, which should
get investment funds flowing. So at the
moment, India looks to be one of the few
economies set for significant growth.
Definitely a market I’d be interested in.
ONE MAN’S MEAT IS ANOTHER MAN’S POISON
OR rather, one company’s problem is
another's opportunity. Trade Finance
Partners is doing excellent business in the
metals sector. While the mining giants and
the banks are stymied, TFP can provide
transactional financing for metals, timber
and other bulk commodities.
It can do it because it's not lending – it
actually buys the physical assets and owns
them till they've arrived at their destination.
HIGH LOW TREND
GBP/EUR 1.4194 1.3391 Up
GBP/USD 1.5495 1.5029 Down
GBP/CHF 1.5346 1.4602 Up
GBP/AUD 2.1721 2.0972 Up
GBP/CAD 2.0318 1.9820 Up
And if they’re not paid for? It simply sells
them to someone else – and TFP makes
sure they already have a dozen phone
numbers to call.
As so often in the world of finance, the
small and nimble are prospering where the
big banks don’t want to get their fingers
burned, and offering a valuable alternative
source of financing for exporters, too. Good
luck to them!
YANKEE DOODLE NOT SO DANDY?
WATCH out! While investment managers
everywhere are telling us that bonds look
cheap following the summer sell-down,
the ratings companies aren't buying that
line – in the US, they're downgrading more
corporates than at any time since 2009.
Equities analysts, meanwhile, are warning of
a second consecutive quarter of declining
earnings from big companies.
While everyone's expecting a train crash
in China, it looks as if the US economy is
hitting the buffers. Oil and energy companies
account for about a third of the downgrades
- shale oil in particular has been badly hurt
by low prices – but the pain is everywhere,
with companies from Petsmart to McDonalds,
wireless phone company Sprint and Barbie
maker Mattel all downgraded. Some major
companies are now announcing layoffs,
particularly where they have been hit by lower
Asian demand. If I were exporting to the
US I'd be keeping a pretty close eye on the
ratings agencies and the next earnings season
- and on my customers’ balance sheets.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE SPECIALISTS
FOR THE LATEST
EXCHANGE RATES VISIT
CURRENCYUK.CO.UK OR
CALL 020 7738 0777
Currency UK is authorised and regulated
by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
NEWS IN IN BRIEF
IT'S GIN O'CLOCK
ANOTHER company which shows
the importance of good research is
Pickering's Gin. It’s a fledgling drinks
producer – it only launched in 2014
– but it’s already exporting from its
Edinburgh base to Canada, Hong Kong,
and Europe, having identified these
as key global gin markets it wanted to
break into. Germany, Austria, Benelux
and Switzerland have all proven good
markets; gin has become increasingly
popular in Germany in recent years, with
both local small producers and imported
gins on a roll. Pickering’s is now looking
down under for further export growth,
and will be joining the Edinburgh Tattoo
on an antipodean tour.
SPUDS YOU'LL LIKE
THINK of potatoes and you don’t
automatically think of the Middle East. But
King Edward Catering Equipment has found
the area a great export market for its potatobaking
ovens. The Herefordshire based
company sent a 20ft container full of spudbaking
equipment to Lebanon this summer,
and will be attending the next Gulfood Show
in Dubai to promote its wares.
I'm always surprised how some
companies I speak to say “Oh, there
won't be any demand over there” without
checking it out – and how many companies,
like King Edward, do well in what seem at
first glance like unlikely markets. A lesson to
do your research properly!
BRAZIL GETS JUNKED
BRAZIL has suffered the indignity of S&P
reducing its bonds from investment grade
to junk bond status. The reasons for the
downgrade included increasing public debt
and political infighting, but behind it all are
sliding commodity prices, which in a big oil
and soft commodity producing country have
hit exports and corporate profitability hard.
Latin America as a whole is suffering.
Coface has also downgraded Chile and
Ecuador, suffering from the impact of low
copper and oil prices, respectively. But it's
Brazil – erstwhile industrial powerhouse
of the region - that is the biggest
disappointment. Getting to investment grade
was a dream for many emerging markets,
and one that Brazil achieved; now it's all
gone wrong, and Brazil seems to be walking
backwards to Christmas.
GBP/JPY 187.6064 182.3902 Up
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www.cicm.com December 2015 39
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ANNOUNCED ON
1 DECEMBER!
CICM BRITISH CREDIT AWARDS 2016
THE RECOGNISED STANDARD
10 FEBRUARY 2016, THE BREWERY, LONDON
Thank you to all those who submitted an entry
for the CICM British Credit Awards!
We received a record number of entries, and the
shortlist will be announced on 1 December!
Jointly hosted by the Chartered Institute of Credit
Management (CICM), and Jobs in Credit, the
CICM British Credit Awards are the recognised
standard in the credit and collections industry,
representing the pinnacle of achievement and
rewarding outstanding performance.
BOOK YOUR TABLES TODAY!
To book your tables contact
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40 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
THE RECOGNISED STANDARD IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
THE RIGHT TOOLS
FOR THE JOB!
Plus...
TRAINING
DAY OFFER
Book and attend a CICM
training day before the
end of the year and get a
training webinar free for
yourself or a
colleague.
CICM Training days offer inspiring and motivational training covering
all aspects of credit and collections with current and relevant content,
built firmly around the skills that employers require.
E: training@cicm.com or T: 01780 722907
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR DETAILS
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Annual General Meetings
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS
On 10 December 2015 at the offices of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management, The Water Mill,
Station Road, South Luffenham, Oakham LE15 8NB at 13:00 (or at the rising of Advisory Council from
its preceding meeting, whichever is later) for the business of Ordinary General Meetings.
Notice convening the Seventy Sixth Annual General Meeting
of the INSTITUTE OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT
1. To receive the Balance Sheet and Accounts of the Institute
and Report for the 18 months ending 30 June 2015, together
with the Auditors’ Report in accordance with the provisions
of the Articles and of the Companies Act.
2. To note that all assets and property held by the Institute of
Credit Management have been transferred by a resolution
of the Executive Board dated 12 June 2014 to the Chartered
Institute of Credit Management and an application for it
to be struck off the Company register will be filed in due
course.
3. To reappoint the auditors, Moore Stephens LLP.
4. To receive any questions and transact any other relevant
business.
Notice convening the First Annual General Meeting of the
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT
1. To receive the Balance Sheet and Accounts of the Institute
and Report for the 6 months ending 30 June 2015, together
with the Auditors’ Report in accordance with the provisions
of its Charter and By-laws and of the Companies Act.
2. To note that all assets and property held by the Institute of
Credit Management have been transferred to the Chartered
Institute of Credit Management by a resolution of the
Executive Board dated 12 June 2014.
3. To receive any questions and transact any other relevant
business.
By order of the Executive Board
Philip J King FCICM
Chief Executive
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www.cicm.com December 2015 41
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UK & INTERNATIONAL
WITH EMAIL ALERTS
EXISTING CUSTOMERS
CONNECTIVITY
EVIDENCE
HR MATTERS
HR MATTERS
Gareth Edwards emphasises the need for employers to fully
document any decisions regarding employees.
THE European Court of Justice
(ECJ) has confirmed, in João
Filipe Ferreira da Silva e Brito and
Others, that a business which has
been broken up and assimilated into its
parent company’s structure, still retains its
identity, bringing it within TUPE.
TUPE is intended to apply where there
is a sale of a business as a going concern
or where there is a ‘service provision
change’ (say an outsourcing). On the sale
of a business, TUPE only applies where
the business 'retains its identity' after the
transfer. This has not been an easy test to
apply in practice.
In February 1993, Air Atlantis SA
(AIA), a charter flights airline, was wound
up following a resolution by its main
shareholder, Portuguese airline TAP. This
resulted in the dismissal of a number of
AIA’s employees (claimants).
Following the winding up, TAP
subsequently took over everything – the
contracts, leases, equipment and kept
TAP employees who had previously been
seconded to AIA.
The claimants brought an action
seeking reinstatement and compensation,
claiming that their contracts of
employment had transferred to TAP under
the Portuguese equivalent of TUPE. The
claimants went through the Portuguese
courts to the ECJ. It held that the
business did retain its identity and, as a
result, the employees had transferred to
TAP.
A key factor in determining this was the
fact that tangible assets were transferred,
enabling TAP to pursue business activities
previously carried out by AIA. This is not
an overly surprising decision on the facts.
However, it is a useful illustration of how
attempts to avoid the application of TUPE
can be risky.
VICTIMISATION CLAIMS – WHO YOU
KNOW?
Has the scope for discrimination under the
Equality Act 2010 (EqA) widened further to
include victimisation by association? The
recent case of Thompson v London Central
Bus Company Ltd (2015) suggests that it
has.
Mr Thompson was a bus driver for the
London Central Bus Company Ltd (LCBC).
After giving his high visibility vest to another
employee, he was dismissed. Thompson
issued various claims, including one for
victimisation.
Thompson claimed that he was subjected
to a detriment because of the 'protected
act' of other members of his trade union,
which he was associated with in the mind
of his employer, and that this amounted to
victimisation. Thompson himself had not
undertaken ‘a protected act’.
In a preliminary hearing, the Employment
Tribunal (ET) assessed whether a claim
for victimisation by association could be
brought under the EqA. The ET concluded
that the EqA should be interpreted as
including victimisation where there is
detriment to another ‘because of a
protected act’, rather than the claimant's
own protected act. This decision was not
appealed by LCBC.
A second preliminary hearing was to
decide the causal connection between the
detriment and the ‘protected act’. It was
held that the link between Thompson and
the individuals who performed the act was
too tenuous, and therefore the claim for
victimisation was struck out. Thompson
appealed against this decision to the
Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
The EAT allowed Thompson's appeal
against strike out. The ET should have
considered whether there was a link
between the claimant and third party ‘in the
mind of the employer’ rather than assessing
how strong the link was in practice. The
ET therefore struck out the claim on an
incorrect legal basis and the case was
remitted for rehearing.
This case reminds employers about the
need to carefully document the reasons for
making a decision in order to defend any
allegations that the decision is motivated by
improper purposes.
MOST TRIBUNAL ISSUE FEES PAID
OUTRIGHT
The Ministry of Justice has published
statistics for all types of tribunal claims
from April to June 2015. The report shows a
continued decrease in the number of claims
compared to last year.
There were 5,412 employment tribunal
issue fees requested for this period. Sixtyeight
percent were paid outright; 21 percent
were awarded either a full or partial issue
fee remission (meaning they did not have
to pay depending on whether they received
certain state benefits or whether their gross
monthly income was below the threshold).
This is a three percent increase from the
same period last year; and 11 percent were
not taken further. It is possible some of
these have not yet progressed through the
system.
Other interesting statistics note that
there were 12,563 new ET claims from
April to June 2015; In 2014/15, there were
1,129 claims that received compensation
for unfair dismissal. The maximum award
was £238,216, but the average award
was £12,362; and the EAT received 1,207
appeals (30 percent less than in 2013/14)
and disposed of 1,340 appeals (20 percent
less than last year).
Gareth Edwards is a partner in the
employment team at Veale Wasbrough
Vizards.gedwards@vwv.co.uk.
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 43
THE CICM British
Credit Awards 2016
“Read all about it”
2016 CICM events
NOT TO BE MISSED
Masterclasses
ICM granted
Royal Charter
ICM
granted
Royal
Charter
Webinars
British Credit Awards
Law Conference
Fellows Lunch
Showcases
ICM
granted
Royal
Charter
Have you booked
Now CICM even Best more Practice
your seat?
the recognised standard
Jointly hosted by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), and jobs in Credit, the
WATCH OUT FOR THE FULL PROGRAMME COMING SOON
CICM British Credit Awards are the recognised standard in the credit and collections industry,
Join
representing
online Just another today
pinnacle
to
of great achievement
enhance reason and
your
rewarding to career be outstanding a member and
performance.
earnings
potential, and experience Contact the Anthony benefits Epega of networking with
Europe's T: 020 largest 7316 9092 professional E: anthony.epega@incisivemedia.com
credit community
For more information contact T: 01780 722902 E: events@cicm.com
ICM
granted
Royal
Charter
Education Conference
www.cicm.com | +44 (0)1780 722900 | info@cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
44 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
CICM IS THE RECOGNISED STANDARD IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
EDUCATION
STUDY OPTIONS
Once you have made the decision to study CICM Credit Management qualifications
you need to decide on your preferred method of study. Fees vary according to the
amount of support you would like to have. Below is a summary of the different study
options and how to get started. See CICM website for full details.
EVENING CLASSES
CICM teaching centres offer classroom-based learning in Credit Management (trade, export and consumer), Accounting Principles,
Business Law and Business Environment towards the CICM Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management and some centres offer units
towards the CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit Management. See CICM website for details of teaching centres.
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
The CICM Credit Academy has virtual classes for Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management examined units (Credit Management
(trade, export and consumer), Accounting Principles, Business Law and Business Environment) and all Level 5 Diploma units. Classes
are led by an experienced tutor, are interactive and there is plenty of opportunity to ask questions and test your knowledge. You will
hear the presenter through the telephone and see interactive PowerPoint slides on your PC.
IN-COMPANY CLASSES
Some teaching centres and CICM Credit Academy offer in-company classes for CICM Level 3 examined units and Level 5 units.
Fees depend on location, length of course and are generally cost effective for groups of ten learners or more.
SUPPORTED HOME STUDY WITH 3 SATURDAY CLASSES
Some centres offer home study with the support of 3 tuition days for Credit Management (trade, export & consumer), Accounting
Principles, Business Law and Business Environment towards the CICM Level 3 Diploma and units towards the Level 5 Diploma.
SUPPORTED HOME STUDY
This is a practical option for those unable to attend college classes or who wish to study on their own. Tutorial support is included for
CICM Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management examined units as well as support with preparation for exams or submission of Level 5
assignments, support is also available for Debt Collection, Money and Debt Advice,and High Court Enforcement.
UNSUPPORTED HOME STUDY
CICM has prepared study texts for Level 3 Diploma examined units, Level 5 Diploma units and CICM qualifications in Debt Collection,
Money and Debt Advice, and High Court Enforcement qualifications. These consist of notes covering main syllabus topics and a
number of self-assessment questions and exercises. This is not a correspondence course and in using this method you work alone.
OPEN AND IN-COMPANY TRAINING
Training days provide knowledge and skills to support CICM assignment units at Level 2 and Level 3 in Credit Management, Debt
Collections, Money and Debt Advice and Enforcement.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For advice contact the team at professionalqualifications@cicm.com
call 01780 722909 or visit www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 45
EDUCATION
CICM IS THE RECOGNISED STANDARD IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
TOP CLASS
GRADUATES
Catherine Edmonds and Agnieszka Nabialczyk scooped credit management prizes
at Plymouth University’s graduation ceremony in September.
CATHERINE Edmonds and Agnieszka
Nabialczyk scooped credit
management prizes at Plymouth
University’s graduation ceremony in
September.
Professor Salima Paul, Professor
of Credit Management, and Professor
Nikolaos Tzokas, Executive Dean of Faculty
of Business, congratulated the graduates
and introduced them to Dr Debbie
Tuckwood, CICM Director of Learning and
Development, and Sue Chapple, Head of
Revenue Management at EDF Energy.
Catherine Edmonds, who won the CICM
Prize for top credit management student,
was delighted with the award: “I thoroughly
enjoyed the range of content that was
covered during my credit management
module, and I was particularly interested in
the topical issue of late payments and their
effects on SME’s and how past, current
and proposed actions have influenced their
impact,” she says.
“Having such an inspirational and
knowledgeable lecturer who encouraged
us to inquire and innovate also contributed
heavily to my enjoyment of the module,”
she continues. “The reason I really enjoy
credit management is because there are
no black and white answers, you are able
to think creatively and really challenge
yourself.”
Students on Plymouth University’s BA
(Hons) degree courses in Accounting and
Catherine Edmonds
Finance, Business Studies, International
Finance and Economics all have an
opportunity to select a third year module
in Credit Management Theory and Practice
led by Professor Salima Paul, CICM Chair in
Credit Management. The course is popular
with over 100 students choosing credit
management in the 2014/15 academic year.
Salima encourages students to find oneyear
placements in a credit management
department to gain practical experience.
Agnieszka Nabialczyk who won the EDF
Energy prize for best credit management
assignment says she thoroughly enjoyed
Agnieszka Nabialczyk
the course and would love to get into credit
management as it is such a vital career:
“Nowadays nearly 80 percent of business
transactions are made on credit,” she says.
“To remain competitive businesses grant
credit to their customers. However, firms
constantly face two risks: the risk of being
paid late or not being paid at all; and the
risk of losing sales if credit is not granted.
Ability to weigh both risks is therefore
critical to the survival and performance
of every business. Such ability lies 'at
the heart' of credit management,” she
concludes.
Nowadays nearly 80 percent of business
transactions are made on credit. To remain
competitive businesses grant credit to their
customers.
– AGNIESZKA NABIALCZYK
46 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
FROM LEFT: Professor Salima Paul, Catherine
Edmonds, Dr Debbie Tuckwood and Professor
Nikolaos Tzokas
FEATURE
SPECIAL
“Having such an inspirational and knowledgeable lecturer who encouraged us to inquire
and innovate also contributed heavily to my enjoyment of the module. The reason I
really enjoy credit management is because there are no black and white answers, you
are able to think creatively and really challenge yourself.”
– CATHERINE EDMONDS
FROM LEFT: Sue Chapple, Agnieszka Nabialczyk and Professor Salima Paul
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 47
IS IT TIME
TO GET
QUALIFIED?
WITH busy work and personal lives, study towards qualifications can be hard to fit in.
Also expectations about qualification levels vary between organisations. However, as
new classes start in January for CICM qualifications, is it time that you signed up?
Choose an answer for each to help make your decision.
1. Which option best describes your department?
A. Best practice team, high expectations and regular
improvements.
B. New manager introducing new processes.
C. First class manager, successful department with new initiatives
D. Experienced manager and established procedures.
2. The training I receive is:
A. Comprehensive and ongoing.
B. Changing, our manager plans to offer more.
C. Targeted to meet specific requirements.
D. Limited, mainly support from an experienced colleague when I
started.
3. What additional support do you receive?
A. KPIs and personal development plans reviewed in monthly
one-to-ones.
B. Recent introduction of more regular one-to-ones with our line
manager.
C. One-to-ones to review KPIs with line manager.
D. Some advice at departmental meetings and an individual
meeting with the manager if there’s a problem.
4. Which option best describes your department’s
approach to qualifications?:
A. Established qualification pathway for the credit team
B. Manager encourages engagement in qualifications.
C. Limited focus on qualifications.
D. Qualifications are not valued – personal qualities and experience
thought to be more important.
5. Which option best describes your views about
qualifications?:
A. They are highly valued and make a significant difference to
people’s knowledge, skills and confidence.
B. Our manager thinks they are important but I don’t want to get
involved at the moment.
C. Personality and experience are more important than
qualifications.
D. Never really thought about it.
Is it time for you
to get qualified?
Mainly As
You’re probably already partly qualified being lucky to be
in a department which supports personal development and
recognises the value of qualified credit professionals. Look out
for advice in Study Updates and aim to progress to the Level 5
Diploma in Credit Management. The Level 5 Diploma will get
you involved in a range of projects which will raise your skills
tremendously and make a significant difference at work.
Mainly Bs
Your manager is obviously keen to support you. Why not give it a
go? A local class would be perfect because you’d have plenty of
support. If there isn’t a class nearby, perhaps try a CICM Virtual
Classroom. Classes are interactive and you meet regularly with
your teacher and class over the web. If you don’t fancy this at the
moment, perhaps have a go at an assignment on cash collections
or telephone collections? I bet your manager would give plenty
of support.
Mainly Cs
Sounds like you are good at your job and work in an exciting
department. It is a shame though that few have invested in
qualifications because these would broaden your knowledge
and skills and help your department move into another league.
If you’re a large department, ask about CICM corporate
membership or if your company would offer an in-company
evening class for credit management. If a group shows interest
you are likely to get support. Just think how stimulating it would
be to spend time with a class of like-minded people and a first
rate credit management teacher.
Mainly Ds
You should definitely try a qualification course. It would help
fill gaps in your understanding and give you confidence. Why
not start with the credit management unit? In classes you would
meet other credit professionals and discover new aspects about
credit management which will make you better at your job. Also
qualifications may give you opportunities in the future.
Visit cicm.com to view more about your options, or contact one of our education advisors
to find out more. Book a place early to avoid disappointment because classes, particularly for
CICM Virtual Classrooms, fill up quickly. For details E: professionalqualifications@cicm.com.
48 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com
At Portfolio Credit Control we pride ourselves on our
commitment to service delivery, business ethics, honesty
and integrity and ensuring our service exceeds your
expectations every single time. We have achieved enormous
growth over the last couple of years because we offer a uniquely
specialist approach that no-one else in the market provides and our
goal is to be the largest specialist recruiter of Credit Control staff in
the UK.
We know Credit Control and we also understand what makes
a good Credit Controller and the correct skills to succeed in this
industry. If you are planning to recruit or looking for the next
step in your career please get in touch with the Credit Control
recruitment specialists on 0207 650 3199 or contact us at
recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com. We look forward to
working with you.
ROLES WE RECRUIT FOR:
CREDIT CONTROLLER
SENIOR CREDIT CONTROLLER
CREDIT MANAGER
HEAD OF CREDIT CONTROL
CREDIT AND BILLING MANAGER
COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT
COLLECTIONS MANAGER
SALES LEDGER/ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
CREDIT ANALYST
THE
CREDIT CONTROL
RECRUITMENT
SPECIALISTS
tel:020 7650 3199
The recognised standard in credit management
New Liverpool House, 15 Eldon Street,
London EC2M 7LD
email: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com
www.cicm.com December 2015 49
PARTNERS
WITH THE BEST
IN BUSINESS
Hays Credit Management is the award winning
national specialist division of Hays Recruitment,
dedicated exclusively to the recruitment of
credit management professionals in the public
and private sectors. Whether you are looking
to further your career in credit management,
strengthen your existing team, or would
simply like an overview of the market, it pays
to speak to the market leaders.
hays.co.uk
Data Interconnect provides integrated
e-billing and collection solutions via its
document delivery web portal, WebSend. By
providing improved Customer Experience
and Customer Satisfaction, with enhanced
levels of communication between both
parties, we can substantially speed up your
collection processes.
datainterconnect.com
Experian is the leading global information
services company, providing data and
analytical tools to clients around the world.
The Group helps businesses to manage
credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing
offers and automate decision making.
Experian also helps individuals to check
their credit report and credit score, and
protect against identity theft.
experian.co.uk
Freeths is one of the UK’s leading regional
law firms with offices across the UK.
We advise on book debt collection and
asset recovery in insolvency situations and
everything in between. We are very proud
to be the CICM’s Corporate Legal Partner
and host the CICM Legal Helpline, providing
free and quick initial legal advice to CICM
members.
freeths.co.uk
Key IVR provide a suite of products to assist
companies across Europe with credit
management. The service gives the end-user
the means to make a payment when and
how they choose. Key IVR also provides a
state-of-the-art outbound platform delivering
automated messages by voice and SMS.
In a credit management environment,
these services are used to cost-effectively
contact debtors and connect them back into a
contact centre or automated payment line.
keyivr.co.uk
OnGuard is a leading supplier of sophisticated
software in which Credit, Collections,
Complaints and Cash Allocation are
integrated into a single solution. With
customers around the world we offer a truly
global, proven, low-risk high-value proposition
enabling you to achieve results in process
optimization, cost savings, lower DSO and
reduced write-offs whilst strengthening the
relationship with your valued customers.
onguard.co.uk valuable time savings.
This
Rimilia provides award winning Cash
Application & Cash Allocation software
products that deliver industry leading
tangible benefits like no other. Having
products that really do what they say is
paramount – add to that a responsive
and friendly team that are focused
on new and ongoing benefit realisation and
you have the foundations for successful long
term business relationships.
rimilia.com
50 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Ability to manage cashflow is crucial and
control and management of debtors is
often a ‘painful’ task involving manual and
repetitive processes. Safe Credit Control
solutions enable your credit management
team to improve cash flow, reduce debtor
days, increase customer service, cut the
cost of cash collection, eliminate manual
processes and speed up the query
resolution process.
safe-creditcontrol.co.uk
Sidetrade’s market-leading Cloud solutions
co-ordinate the activities of finance, customer
services and sales involved in the
Order-To-Cash cycle, reducing late payment
and controlling customer risk. Sidetrade’s
Clients reduce their DSO the first three
months and increase the productivity (31%)
of their collection teams, allowing Credit
Managers to dedicate more time to building
long term customer relationships and
achieve their goals.
sidetrade.co.uk
Tinubu Square is a trusted source of trade
credit intelligence for credit insurers and for
corporate customers. The company’s B2B
Credit Risk Intelligence solutions include the
Tinubu Risk Management Center, a cloudbased
SaaS platform; the Tinubu Credit
Intelligence service and the Tinubu Risk
Analyst advisory service. Over 250
companies rely on Tinubu Square to protect
their greatest assets: customer receivables.
tinubu.com
InnovationSoftware
- CreditForce
Innovation Software is a global software
house with clients in 26 countries. Our team
of highly educated, talented and creative IT
and Management consultants are focused on
providing elegant solutions to optimise your
Accounts Receivables.
We are authors of CreditForce, with
functionality to manage Collections,
Customer Service enquiries and Disputes,
Automated Cash Allocation, Automated
E-Bill Collection Tracking, Electronic Payment,
Direct Debit Management, Computer
Telephony Integration with automated
Dialing and Caller identification, Risk and
Workflow Management utilising Big Data
Algorithms.
innovationsoftware.uk.com
M.A.H. is a global leader in Export Debt
Collection & Trade Dispute Resolution
Services. Headquartered in Switzerland,
we specialise in resolving cross-border
cases swiftly and amicably. Our mission is to
ensure that all creditors receive full payment
for products or services sold out of the UK
without expensive and lengthy litigation.
Having recovered payments from 112
countries, we rank as first choice among major
international exporters, export credit insurers,
governmental organisations, and other B2B
customers in all industries.
mah-international.com
Credica are a UK based developer of specialist
Credit and Dispute Management software.
We have been successfully implementing our
software for over 15 years and have delivered
significant ROI for our diverse portfolio of
customers. We provide a highly configurable
system which enables our clients to gain
complete control over their debtors and to
easily communicate disputes with anyone in
their organisation.
credica.co.uk
The recognised standard
in Credit Management
For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a Corporate
Partnership with the CICM, contact Peter Collinson, Director of Business Development
and Marketing on 01780 727273 or email peter.collinson@cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 51
FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2015
FULL LIST OF EVENTS CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE:
WWW.CICM.COM/EVENTS
CICM
EVENTS
8 December
CICM Thames Valley Branch –
Christmas Ghost Tour of Oxford
OXFORD
The ghost walk lasts approximately 1 hour 15 minutes
and involves less than 1 mile of walking. The cost for the
tour is £5 per head (payable on the day).
Contact: E: jonathan.swan@hachette.co.uk
or T: +44(0)7818 542617
Venue: Trinity College, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BH.
8 December
CICM Kent Branch – Wine and
Wisdom Evening
KENT
We would like to invite you to our final branch event of
2015, our ever popular Wine and Wisdom Quiz.
Contact: Simon Paterson at E: simon.paterson11@
gmail.com or telephone 07775 195727
Venue: The Assembly Rooms, Faversham Building
Preservation Trust, 66 Preston Street, Faversham, ME13
8PG
9 December
CICM North East Branch – Christmas
Quiz
NEWCASTLE
Free entry with Christmas buffet and top prizes, hot
competition. Book early to avoid disappointment
Contact: E: angie.deverick@inchcape.co.uk by
Wednesday 2 December 2015.
Venue: The Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle
upon Tyne, NE1 1EE
TRAINING
DAYS
3 December
INTRODUCTION TO CREDIT RISK
ASSESSMENT
LONDON
Pro-active, upfront assessment of credit risk and
an appreciation of the basics will improve your
ability to manage credit risk.
Contact: E: training@cicm.com T: 01780 722907
Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
7 December
CICM WEBINAR – NEGOTIATING AND
INFLUENCING SKILLS
Details to follow.
Contact: E: training@cicm.com T: 01780 722907
Venue: Webinar
8 December
COLLECTING WITH CONFIDENCE
LONDON
Highly interactive programme which helps
improve your collections performance especially
by educating the customer about future business
dealings.
Contact: E: training@cicm.com T: 01780 722907
Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
OTHER
EVENTS
3 December
IRRV – Completion Notices
MANCHESTER
This Professional Meeting is aimed at those working
within both Local Government and the Private Sector. It
will focus on the importance of serving completion notices
for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rate, when (and when
not) they are served, how they are served and the options
then available to the owner, billing authority and valuation
/ listing officer.
Contact: Enquiries can be made by email to
conference@irrv.org.uk or by telephone 020 7691 8987.
Venue: INFORM Offices, 2nd Floor, 5 New York Street,
Manchester, M1 4JB
8 December
ICTF Webcast: Credit and Collections
in the Far East – China, Japan, South
Korea
WEBCAST
As you may have already experienced, due to the
language and cultural barriers doing business and
understanding the credit and collection environments the
Far East is often very challenging. Though it’s complicated,
our presenter will provide you with a framework and
important ideas that will give you confidence to extend
credit to customers in Japan, China, and Korea. This is a
must hear and see webinar!
CICM members can obtain a US$50 discount against
the advertised registration fees by emailing tim.lane@
ictfworld.org
Contact: http://www.ictfworld.org/events/event_details.
asp?id=701912&group=#
10 December
Experian Credit Forum
– Oil and Fuelcard Ireland
DUBLIN
Ireland Oil & Fuel Card Group Credit Forum Established in
2008, meet quarterly in Experian offices, Dublin
Membership includes companies from the Oil and Fuelcard
sector. Agenda includes accounts for discussion, best
practices, topics and guest speakers
Contact: Email: brent.cumming@experian.com
CPD
4
10 December
Experian Credit Forum
– FMCG Ireland
DUBLIN
Ireland FMCG Group Credit Forum (Fast moving
Consumable Goods, Manufacturers) Established in 2008,
meet quarterly in Experian offices, Dublin Companies from
confectionery, drinks, tobacco, frozen, ambient and bakery
sectors attend. Agenda includes accounts for discussion,
best practices, topics and guest speakers.
Contact: Email: brent.cumming@experian.com
15 December
CPD
4
Experian Credit Forum
– On-trade Supplies
NOTTINGHAM
Details to follow
Contact: Email: brent.cumming@experian.com
15 December
IRRV – Completion Notices
HINCKLEY
This Professional Meeting is aimed at those working
within both Local Government and the Private Sector. It
will focus on the importance of serving completion notices
for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rate, when (and when
not) they are served, how they are served and the options
then available to the owner, billing authority and valuation
/ listing officer.
Contact: E: conference@irrv.org.uk or T: 020 7691
8987.
Venue: The Atkins, Lower Bond Street, Hinckley, LE10
1QU
16 December
Experian Credit Forum
– Recruitment (APSCo)
LONDON
Recruitment Credit Forum (APSCo)
Experian host a Credit Control Forum for Credit Managers
of companies who are members of APSCo (Association of
Professional Staffing Companies), the professional body
that represents the interests of organisations engaged in
the acquisition of business professionals.
APSCO provides a powerful unified voice for the
Professional Staffing Industry. www.apsco.org.
The group meet quarterly at Experian offices in Victoria,
London, and Experian have chaired the forum since 2001.
Best practices, guest speakers, accounts and topics make
up the agenda.
Contact: Email: brent.cumming@experian.com
CPD
4
CPD
4
52 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
CM
Credit Management magazine for consumer
and commercial credit professionals
THE CICM'S HIGHLY ACCLAIMED MAGAZINE
SPECIAL
FEATURES
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEWS
ASK THE
EXPERTS
GLOBAL
NEWS
LEGAL
MATTERS
INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
CURRENCY
EXCHANGE
HR
MATTERS
MOBILE DIGITAL
EDITION
EDUCATIONAL
STUDIES
THE LEADING JOURNAL FOR CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
TO SUBSCRIBE CONTACT: T: 01780 722903| E: ANGELA.COOPER@CICM.COM
CICM MEMBER
EXCLUSIVE
CHECK YOUR SPAM!
REMEMBER TO
WHITELIST
Your CICM lapel badge demonstrates your
commitment to professionalism and best practice
TAKE PRIDE IN
WEARING YOUR BADGE
If you haven’t received your badge
E: cicmmembership@cicm.com
YOU COULD BE MISSING
IMPORTANT EMAIL UPDATES!
WHITELIST KEY CICM EMAIL ADDRESSES:
watermill@cicm.com | info@cicm.com
professionalqualifications@cicm.com
events@cicm.com | consultations@cicm.com
cicmq@cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 53
CICM BRANCH NEWS
To include your
branch reports in the
December issue of
Credit Managment magazine,
submit your copy by
7 January via email to
branches@cicm.com or
andrew.morris
@cicm.com
TAKE
TO THE
SKIES
ANDE Peachey, Learning Support
Administrator at the Watermill, recently
completed a Glider experience in aid of
the Cottesmore Military Wives Choir, of
which she is the Events Manager.
She completed the 20-minute flight,
even taking the controls for a short while,
raising £300 in the process. The money
will go towards travel expenses and
childcare when the choir is performing
– most recently at De Montford Hall in
CICM HEADQUARTERS
Leicester for the Royal British Legion’s
Festival of Remembrance.
“A sincere thank you to everyone that
donated,” says Ande. “The Cottesmore
Military Wives have ten events booked for
2016 already and this will help us to keep
to those dates.”
To see where the choir are performing,
visit: Cottesmore@militarywiveschoirs.org
or visit our Facebook page: CMWC
Author: Ande Peachey
SOUTH WALES BRANCH
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER!
WELL we certainly will! Thursday 5
November saw Tracy Carter and Philip King
attending at Atradius UK’s HQ in Cardiff,
to present to the assembled members and
guests.
After an initial period of networking and
breakfast rolls Tracy gave a fascinating
talk on the power of social media, and as
a twitter user myself (@thornburycs) it was
good to see others in the room tweeting
during the talk. She also covered LinkedIn
and Facebook. On the back of this I have
made contact with some local people in the
credit arena that were unaware of the CICM
and will be visiting soon!
After a lively Q&A session Philip then
spoke about the history of CICM and the
road to gaining the Charter and some very
amusing anecdotes surrounding it.
The time flew by and before you know
it people were drifting away and out into the
bright Cardiff sunshine.
Many of us stayed behind and were milling
around, some to catch up with old colleagues,
or make new acquaintances, but I know it was
because there were some spare bacon rolls!
Our next event is on 9 December, see the
events page or the website for details. Fiftynine
attendees at a CICM event in South Wales,
who’d have thought it! Author: Steve White.
54 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
FULL NAME:
Calum Daniel Baxter
YORKSHIRE RIDINGS BRANCH
A FIVER, FROM A
YORKSHIREMAN?
THE October CICM Yorkshire Ridings
Branch Conference in Leeds has become
a very successful annual event, hosted by
DWF at its splendid Leeds headquarters
at Bridgewater Place. This year was no
exception, with an array of presentations
from best-in-class speakers. Upwards of
40 delegates were welcomed by David
Scottow FCICM of DWF, without whom
the event would not have been possible.
The speakers were introduced by Alan J
Smith MCICM, Chairman of CICM Yorkshire
Ridings Branch.
The first to speak was our very own
Philip King FCICM who not only managed
to persuade a Yorkshireman to lend him
five pounds, but was able to give a real
insight into the long road to the Institute’s
chartered status. It was clear that the Chief
Executive and the gallant band at The Water
Mill faced deadlines that many would have
found impossible to meet, but meet them
they did. It is hard to believe that as recently
as 2001, today’s CICM charter was little
more than a distant dream – not even that,
in reality it was not considered possible to
achieve in what was then the foreseeable
future. But achieve it, Philip and his team
did, and as for what it means – as Philip so
succinctly put it: “Who’d have thought it?
Nobody, unless we tell ‘em’.
Next up, John Curbison, the Official
Receiver in Leeds, who gave a fascinating
insight into The Insolvency Service.
Although 2015 is the 25th anniversary of
The Insolvency Service as an Executive
Agency, the subject of insolvency itself
dates back centuries, with perhaps the first
formally recognisable Bankruptcy Act being
in 1542. It was the Bankruptcy Act of 1883
that in effect created the role of the Official
Receiver. In 2015 there are just 14 Official
Receivers in England and Wales, many OR
offices having been replaced by a network
of Remote Interview Facilities for use when
required by the 14 ORs. John went on to
highlight the current and future roles of the
OR, discussing the introduction and growth
of Debt Relief Orders, the investigative work
involved and the planned move in 2016 of
bankruptcy applications from the courts
to an online portal run by The Insolvency
Service.
After a break the conference was
intrigued to hear from Andrew Gregory on
the hotly debated topic of Pre-Packs and
the Pre-Pack Pool. After a brief history
of the whys and wherefores of pre-packs
themselves, Andrew introduced delegates
to one of the main recommendations
put forward by Teresa Graham in her
report. This was the establishment of a
Steering Committee, with 20 experienced
business men and women who would
be able to pronounce on any particular
pre-pack referred to them. Although the
exact way this will operate is still being
discussed, the objective is to be able to
offer an independent review of the pre-pack
process referred to the Pool. The aim is
not to substitute the role of the insolvency
practitioner in assessing what is considered
to be in the best interests of creditors, but
to try to achieve more public confidence in
the process.
The final speaker was James Perry,
Technical Director at DWF, who alongside
David Scottow is a firm supporter of CICM
branch activities. James aimed to highlight
how to get the best results from Summary
Judgments and Set Aside Applications.
He described these as being a bit like nonidentical
twins in that both share the same
‘test’ feature – is there a real prospect of
success? Suffice to say, delegates were
entertained by James’ ability to describe in
detail a series of scenarios and examples,
which in less capable hands could have
been similar to watching paint dry – James
had us on the edge of our seats, intrigued,
better informed and very much willing to
make sure we get it right next time!
The conference ended with a very lively
Q&A session, dominated as it was by prepacks
– it was clear that credit managers
would take a lot of convincing! Very many
thanks to Davis Scottow and DWF, to all
the speakers and to all who attended. I look
forward already to 2016.
Author: Glen Bullivant FCICM
Philip King FCICM not only managed to
persuade a Yorkshireman to lend him five
pounds, but was able to give a real insight into
the long road to the Institute’s chartered status.
CURRENT JOB TITLE:
Credit Manager
CURRENT COMPANY
NAME:
Newbury Investments (UK) Ltd
YEARS IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT: 21
60SECONDS
NUMBER OF YEARS IN CURRENT ROLE: 14
HOW DID YOU GET INTO CREDIT
MANAGEMENT?
Completely by accident; I was working in
administration in the motor trade and just fell
into it. I liked the detail aspect of the work and
the investigations you had to do for some credit
applications.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT WHERE
YOU WORK?
The ability to work on your own and make your
own decisions (which of course you have to
be able to justify!). I also have a fantastic team
around me and a great boss.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?
At work it is the results, having low bad debts
and tidy aged debts. I have the same philosophy
at home and I have a great attention to detail
when carrying out a task.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL?
A smelly Camembert, some crusty French bread
and a bottle of wine, absolute heaven.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY
DESTINATION?
Brussels,. I grew up there as a teenager and
find it a home from home. It’s such a pleasant
city, not too big, easy to get to and plenty to do
when you get there.
NAME THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD
INVITE TO A DINNER PARTY AND WHY?
The actress Patricia Routledge, I think she
would be a riot at the dinner table, the politician
Diane Abbott as she is as daft as a brush but
not disconnected from real life unlike most
politicians and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor
of the internet which has completely changed
our lives and shaped the way we all work.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PASTIME/
RELAXATION ACTIVITY?
Eating out, I always seem to be doing that these
days as I’m not keen on cooking. I am also
extremely interested in genealogy, and I have
traced quite a few family trees for friends as I
enjoy the detective work.
WHAT IS THE BEST/WORST QUALITY IN A
LEADER?
Stick to your principles and people will respect
you even though they may not agree with you. I
find it very irritating when people blame others
for their failures or misfortunes; personal
responsibility seems to be dying in this country.
IF YOU WEREN’T WORKING IN CREDIT
MANAGEMENT, WHAT WOULD YOU BE
DOING?
Working for the Police, probably in forensics. I
do wish I had pursued that path, I really would
have enjoyed the detail and I love gathering
facts about people and events.
WITH
The recognised standard in credit management www.cicm.com December October 2015 55
DON’T MISS YOUR
NEXT BIG CAREER
MOVE IN CREDIT
At Hays Credit Management, our consultants are all affiliate members of the
CICM and understand both the demands you face and the skills you need to
thrive within your industry. We can therefore offer you personalised careers
advice and the support that you need.
MEDIA ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER
PROGRESS YOUR CAREER
City of London, up to £35,000
A rare opportunity has arisen for a progressive media
biller/revenue controller to join a globally recognised
communications organisation. With strong emphasis
on WIP billing and client contractual agreements, you
will work closely with the credit control department to
resolve queries, assist with annual budgets and produce
regular reports including monthly profit and losses.
Strong Excel skills and previous experience working for
a media/public relations company is required. You will
be a team player with the ability to work autonomously
and thrive in a vibrant workplace where hard work is
recognised. Ref: 2551548
Contact Julia Foster on 020 3465 0020
or email julia.foster2@hays.com
LITIGATIONS TEAM MANAGER
ESTABLISH STRATEGY AND STRUTURE
St Mellons, £27,911 + benefits
A leading utilities company based in South Wales is
seeking an experienced professional in litigation and
team management to join its growing collections team.
The company has received many accolades including a
Responsible Business in the Community award. You will
be required to lead the litigation team in issuing and
enforcing county court claims for the recovery of debt
and reduce the bad debt in line with business targets.
You will have experience managing teams of around
10 in size and be passionate about improving the
performance of others.
Ref: 2551769
Contact Abigail Claydon on 02920 222500
or email abigail.claydon@hays.com
If you are looking to further your career, want to strengthen
your team or would like an overview of the market, it pays to
speak to the market leaders.
Contact us at creditcontrol@hays.com
hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
56 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TEAM LEADER
PROVIDE SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
Manchester, £27,000 + benefits
This expanding company established in the 1970s has
been growing rapidly in recent months. Reporting
directly to the Credit Manager, the role will have a strong
emphasis on people management and the general dayto-day
running of the department. You will also play
a crucial role within the accounts receivable function.
You will have previous management or team leader
experience, with a strong background in credit control/
accounts receivable. Ideally you will also have a good
understanding of SAP software.
Ref: 2523182
Contact Richard Salmon on 0161 236 7272
or email richard.salmon@hays.com
REGIONAL CREDIT
CONTROLLER (EUROPE)
WORK WITH A LEADING GLOBAL BRAND
Sunderland, up to £25,000
An exciting opportunity has arisen with a wellestablished
international engineering consultancy and
inspection services organisation. As a credit controller
you will interact closely with the accounting team
travelling across Europe addressing any overdue
payments, providing regular reports and managing
invoicing and allocating payments. You will have
extensive experience in credit control, as well as
exceptional communication skills and a genuine interest
and passion for credit management. This is an excellent
opportunity to communicate with clients across Europe
in an exciting, fast-paced role. Ref: 2593685
Contact Hasan Hamid on 0191 261 3996
or email hasan.hamid@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROLLER
EFFECTIVE QUERY RESOLUTION
Norwich, up to £22,000
This prestigious, expanding organisation based in
the heart of Norwich is looking for an effective credit
controller to bolster its team. You will be responsible for
chasing debt via telephone, email or letter, attend regular
meetings with client portfolio managers and liaise with
treasury team over allocation of funds. You will also
be required to prepare monthly and quarterly reports,
instructing solicitors and other third parties and dealing
with all internal and external queries. Previous experience
in a credit control position or equivalent type of role
is desirable.
Ref: 2572016
Contact Matthew Jones on 01603 760141
or email matthew.jones2@hays.com
MULTI-LINGUAL CREDIT CONTROLLER
MANAGING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Basildon, up to £26,000
A global leader in technology solutions is looking for
an experienced credit controller to join its’ reputable
team. With excellent communication skills you will build
good rapports with in-house teams and customers
and have the opportunity to travel. Previous credit
experience either in credit control or a wider accounts
job is essential. You will be fluent in English and speak in
either Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. This is a fantastic
opportunity where you can influence, achieve results and
be rewarded accordingly.
Ref: 2604015
Contact Claire Grainger on 01702 352452
or email claire.grainger@hays.com
KEY ACCOUNTS CREDIT CONTROLLER
MANAGE AND MAINTAIN
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
Leeds, £22,000 per annum + competitive bonus
+ CICM Study
An internationally known service provider who has
been a market leader for over 20 years is looking for
a confident credit controller to manage a ledger of its
corporate accounts. This role gives you the opportunity
to develop your career in credit, maintain your own
debtor’s ledger, manage the cash allocation for your own
set of accounts and take on a trouble shooting role within
the team to reconcile and resolve issues on delinquent
accounts. In return the role offers plenty of growth and
development opportunities.
Ref: 2582879
Contact Kerry Ferguson on 0113 200 3735
or email kerry.ferguson@hays.com
TRAINEE CREDIT CONTROLLER
DISCOVER A NEW CAREER
Barnsley, £14,500 + full ICM study support
With a great presence in South Yorkshire, this
organisation specialises in manufacturing and fitting
bedroom, kitchen and bathroom furniture to both public
and commercial properties. The company now seeks
a motivated credit controller to join an established
£multimillion turnover PLC. With great emphasis on
training and supporting team members through studies
and on-the-job learning, you will be keen to develop a
career in the credit industry. This opportunity is suited
to any new professionals. In return, the role offers great
potential for further internal promotion.
Ref: 2603235
Contact Anna Smith on 0114 273 8775
or email anna.smith@hays.com
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 57
NEW CICM MEMBERS
THE INSTITUTE WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS WHO JOINED DURING OCTOBER
FELLOWS
NAME
Jeffrey Longhurst
Geoffrey Swain
MEMBER BY EXAM
NAME
Gillian Couvreur
Annie Stephenson
COMPANY
Asset Based Finance Association
Midland Food Group Ltd
COMPANY
Yorkshire Building Society
Cartus Ltd
MEMBER
NAME
Abdorahman Ahmed
Andrew Brown
Peter Gordon
Gary Grant
Chrisoula Heffernan
Angela Miller
Neil Miller
Joanne Morley
COMPANY
Gates Engineering & Services
Sola Technology Ltd
Baker Hughes
Citygate COC
Excel Group Services Ltd
Total Financial Solutions Ltd
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp
Les Mills Fitness UK Ltd
ASSOCIATE
NAME
Albert Boateng
Sharon Gordon
Maria Murray
Ashley Norton
Stephen Shone
Beverley Yates
COMPANY
The Bridge Centre Ltd
Workstylz
Live Nation Merchandise Ltd
DLA Piper UK LLP
Atlantic Container Line UK Ltd
AFFILIATE
NAME COMPANY NAME COMPANY
David Acton
Bristow & Sutor
Davinia Alexander
Southwark Council
Mark Armstrong
Bristow & Sutor
Jeremy Ball
Ageas Insurance Ltd
Jacqueline Barbar
Towergate Insurance
Raymond Barrow
Bristow & Sutor
Stephanie Bean
Hays Credit Management
Sarah Beck
StepChange Debt Charity
Erika Bone
Credit Reporting Agency Ltd
Mark Boucher
Cardiff County Council
Jacob Box
Kennet Equipment Leasing Limited
Holly Bray
Norse Commercial Services
Katie Brown
South Cambridgeshire Distict Council
Shaun Brown
Precise Media
Paul Bugeja
ARP Enforcement Agency
Neeta Bulsara
Local World
Pavel Burda
Edwards Services s.r.o.
Alan Burrows
Bristow & Sutor
John Burton
Yell Ltd
Granville Campbell Arcadis LLP
Riikka Carr
StepChange Debt Charity
Tanvi Chatralia
NSL LTD
Rachel Davies
Matthew Clark Wholesale Ltd
Sadia Deen
Southwark Council
Barbara Desax
Patsy Dorset
Canal & River Trust
Joy El Bamby
Thomas Farmer
Bristow & Sutor
Stuart Fawcett
StepChange Debt Charity
Neale Finney
Bristow & Sutor
Mark Foster
Cofely
Sharmarke Gabayre
Tradex
Rebecca Gale
Belvoir
Carlos Garrido
JDA Software UK Ltd
Rafal Gibas
Electronic Arts Ltd
Simon Gibbons
Styliani Gketsiou
Lisa Gunning-Price
Shaw Healthcare Ltd
Claire Hathway
Cardiff County Council
Kevin Healey
Finlays Bureau of Investigation Ltd
Joris Henry
WSP Group Ltd
Laura Heritage
NHBC National House Building Council
Ian Higley
Bristow & Sutor
Jennifer Hopgood
Zurich Financial Services
Allison Horrell
Claudia Howden
David Hoyal
Jamie Hughes
Clare Hunt
Gemma Jacklin
Riley Jay-Crage
Angela Jennings
Sanaa Karrar
Shazad Khan
Sulliman Khan
Mansell Lawrence
Chantelle Lowe
Shona McLennan
Dene Mercer
Barrie Minney
Ali Mohammed
Julija Morozova
Holly Naughton
Katherine Ochoa-Cardenas
Thomas O'Connell
Carlos Pannell
Elaine Pickering
Sean Prescott
David Rees
Sarah Reis
Mahjouba Rguiti
Marcia Robinson
David Rose-Wardle
Fabiano Saraceno
Carl Shaw
Rebecca Shirley
Katharine Smith
Katrina Thomas
Emma Thomas
Julia Tyzack
Marie Vachkova
Simon Waller
Dean Watkins
Mark Watt
James Wiafe
Deborah Wingate
Matthew Wynn
Shahid Younis
Six Consulting Ltd
Oxford University Press
Bristow & Sutor
Danone- Nutricia Medical
Good Energy Limited
ARP Enforcement Agency
Total Gas and Power Ltd
Canal & River Trust
Oxford University Press
WSP Group Ltd
Bristow & Sutor
Bristow & Sutor
Co-Op Energy
Organised Computer Systems Ltd
Ryder ltd
Brighton & Hove City Council
Sues - Environnement
The Informa Group
StepChange Debt Charity
Carlsberg UK
Looprevil Limited
StepChange Debt Charity
Local World
George and Dragon
Cardiff Council
Wolverine Europe Limited
Cabinet Gide
Direct Collection Bailliffs Ltd
Southwark Council
StepChange Debt Charity
Southwark Council
South Holland District Council
Capita Plc
South Holland District Council
GBP Loans Limited
Edwards Services s.r.o.
County Legal Services
Cardiff Council
Direct Collection Bailliffs Ltd
ACCO UK Ltd
Jet2.com
South Cambridgeshire Distict Council
Hepworth PME LLC
58 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
COLLECTIONS
COURT ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
Premium Collections Limited
Office 3, Caidan House Business Centre, Canal Road,
Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1TD
T: 0161 962 4695.
F: 0333 121 3843
E: enquiries@premiumcollections.co.uk
W: www.premiumcollections.co.uk
Premium Collections Limited has the credit management solution
to suit you. Operating on a national and international basis we
can tailor a package of products and services to meet your
requirements. Staffed by dedicated professionals with over 60
years combined experience of handling virtually every type of
debt issue, the company was formed in December 2002 and
is owned by our Managing Director, Paul Daine FCICM. Paul’s
particular areas of expertise are the motor finance, insurance
and international debt collection sectors. Services include B2B
collections, B2C collections, international collections, absconder
tracing, asset repossessions, status reporting and litigation
support.
INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS
Lovetts Solicitors
Lovetts, Bramley House, The Guildway,
Old Portsmouth Road, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1LR
T: +44(0)1483 457500
E: info@lovetts.co.uk
W: www.lovetts.co.uk
Lovetts has been recovering debts for 30 years! When you
want the right expertise to recover overdue debts why not use a
specialist? Lovetts’ only line of business is the recovery of
business debts and any resulting commercial litigation.
We provide:
• Letters Before Action, prompting positive outcomes in more
than 80% of cases • Overseas Pre-litigation collections with
multi-lingual capabilities • 24/7 access to our online debt
management system ‘CaseManager’
Don’t just take our word for it, here’s recent customer feedback:
“...All our service expectations have been exceeded...”
“...The online system is particularly useful and is extremely easy
to use... “...Lovetts has a recognisable brand that generates
successful results...”
Court Enforcement Services
Wayne Whitford Director – Business Development
M: 07834 748 183
T: 01992 663 399
E: info@courtenforcementservices.co.uk
W: www.courtenforcementservices.co.uk
We are a new Court Enforcement company that has over 100 years’
experience, of helping credit professionals to enhance both data and
collection performance.
Court Enforcement Services provides faster resolution of unpaid
County Court Judgments (CCJs) over £600 with our free transfer
up service to High Court Enforcement. We offer tailored solutions for
Businesses, DCA’s, Debt Purchasers, Solicitors and Utilities.
As owners of the company we lead and manage all aspects of
the services that are provided on your behalf. Court Enforcement
Services brings a fresh, modern and above all personal customerfocussed
approach to High Court and Civil Court Enforcement.
CREDIT INFORMATION
M.A.H. INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
Breitenweg 6, 6370 Stans, Switzerland
Ms. Melina Schuler – Business Development Manager
T: ++41 41 618 30 54
F: ++41 41 620 90 26
E: m.schuler@mah-international.com
W: www.mah-international.com
M.A.H. is a global leader in Export Debt Collection & Trade
Dispute Resolution Services. Our head office is located
in Stans, our group law office in Zurich. We specialise in
resolving cross-border cases swiftly and amicably (99
percent of our cases are settled out of court).
We have recovered payments from 112 countries on all five
continents for exporters and other B2B customers of all sizes
in all industries. We rank as first choice among international
export companies, export credit insurers, and governmental
organisations.
Our mission is to ensure that all creditors receive full payment
for products or services sold out of the UK without expensive,
stressful, and lengthy litigation.
Contact us to benefit from our personalised, full-package,
No Collection – No Fee services, provided by our qualified
multilingual global negotiators, collection attorneys, and
affiliate local partner law firms in 65 countries.
COLLECTIONS (LEGAL)
Blaser Mills LLP
Head Office: Park House, 31 London Road,
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP11 1BZ
T: 01494 478660/478661
E: Jackie Ray jar@blasermills.co.uk or Gary Braathen
gpb@blasermills.co.uk
W: www.blasermills.co.uk
Established in 1888, leading multi-disciplinary law firm Blaser
Mills specialises in services for businesses and individuals.
The Firm has particular expertise in Dispute Resolution and
Debt Recovery working with experienced credit managers and
finance directors providing solutions to both contested and
uncontested claims.
Blaser Mills provides an experienced team including CICM
qualified legal representatives and the Firm is cited in the
Legal 500 law directory based on quality of work and strong
client feedback.
Offices in Aylesbury, London (Central), London (Harrow), Old
Amersham, Rickmansworth, Staines-on-Thames
CONSULTANCY
Company Watch
Centurion House, 37 Jewry Street, LONDON. EC3N 2ER
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300
E: info@companywatch.net
W: www.companywatch.net
What would happen if one of your key customers failed? Do
you rely on company information that is up to 18 months’ old?
Company Watch provides a credit management system that’s
predicted around 90 percent of company failures. Not only
that, our interactive system allows you to input more up-to-date
accounts, and to stress-test company financials to generate an
instantly updated analysis of a company’s financial health. With
a portfolio and email alert system, and a user interface showing
5-year trends along with everything you need to know at a
glance, Company Watch is an invaluable resource in the credit
management process.
Freeths Solicitors
Third Floor St James’ Building,
61-95 Oxford Street, M1 6FQ
T: +44(0)845 634 2540
F: +44(0)845 634 2541
E: emma.emery@freeths.co.uk
W: www.freeths.co.uk
Freeths is one of the UK’s leading regional law firms with
10 offices across the UK. We have a specialist team that
advises on book debt collection and asset recovery in
insolvency situations and everything in between. We believe our
role is not just to collect your debts but also to increase your
recoveries by working smarter. We have a range of flexible
funding options to suit businesses of any size and advise on
all matters from debt recovery and retention of title to disputes
about the quality of goods and services. For undisputed claims
we can offer low fixed rates or ‘no win no fee’ and we work fast
taking the first steps in recovering your debt the same day. We
are very proud to be the CICM’s Corporate Legal Partner and
to be hosting the CICM Helpline providing free and quick initial
legal advice to CICM members.
The recognised standard in credit management
Sanders Consulting Associates Ltd
T: +44(0)1525 720226
E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com
Sanders Consulting is an independent niche consulting firm
specialising in leadership and performance improvement in all
aspects of the order to cash process. Chris Sanders FCICM, the
principal, is well known in the industry with a wealth of experience
in operational credit management, billing, change and business
process improvement. A sought after speaker with cross industry
international experience in the business-to-business and businessto-consumer
markets, his innovative and enthusiastic approach
delivers pragmatic people and process lead solutions and significant
working capital improvements to clients. Sanders Consulting are
proud to manage CICMQ on behalf of and under the supervision
of the CICM.
CoCredo Limited
Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD
T: 01494 790 600
E: helpdesk@cocredo.com
W: www.cocredo.co.uk
CoCredo were proud winners at the CICM British Credit Awards
for ‘Credit Information Provider of the Year 2014.’ We provide
live online company credit reports and related business
information within the UK and overseas. We have direct
feeds from Dun & Bradstreet, Companies House and other
premium providers. We provide business information on over
228 million companies across 240 countries. Our information
is updated over 500,000 times per day and we have some
excellent tracking mechanisms which provide proactive
daily monitoring of changes in the global information
on record. We can offer a wealth of additional services
including D.N.A portfolio management, CoData marketing
information, Consumer and Director Searches. We pride
ourselves in delivering outstanding customer service
offering you unrivalled support and analysis to protect your
business.
www.cicm.com December 2015 59
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
CREDIT INFORMATION
CREDIT INSURANCE
Experian
The Sir John Peace Building,
Experian Way,
NG2 Business Park,
Nottingham
NG80 1ZZ
T: 0844 481 9920
E: Business.Information@uk.experian.com
W: experian.co.uk/businessiq
Managing commercial credit can be a real challenge. That’s
why we’ve created a business management system called
BusinessIQ – an advanced web portal that meets all your
credit risk assessment, customer management and collection
needs in one easy-to-use integrated platform.
Powered by our intuitive business information – blending
business, director, consumer and payment performance data,
BusinessIQ offers a more informed solution for today's credit
risk challenges. It makes credit management operations far
more sophisticated without adding complexity.
EFCIS Limited t/as ICBA UK
Specialist Trade Credit Insurance Broker
The Office, Mill House Farm,
Mill Street, Hastingwood,
Essex, CM17 9JF
T: 01279 437662
E: amoylan@efcis.com
W: www.efcis.com
EFCIS Limited - Trade Credit Insurance, Debt Collection,
Dispute Resolution and Legal action for small/medium &
multinational businesses. EFCIS secures limits for clients
where the financials alone do not support the full limit. We are
tenacious when negotiating settlement of claims, securing full
payment for claims and proactively working with our clients in
claims avoidance. We are the industry’s only Broker to develop
policy compliance software to ensure client’s maximum benefit
and protection from the policy. We believe that a well-managed
ledger supports business growth within increased profit and an
improved return on investment.
Credica Ltd
Building 168, Maxell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT
T: 01235 856400
E: info@credica.co.uk
W: www.credica.co.uk
Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections
and Query Management System has been designed with 3 goals
in mind:
• To improve your cashflow
• To reduce your cost to collect
• To provide meaningful analysis of your business
Evolving over 15 years and driven by the input of 1000s of
Credit Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is
successfully providing significant and measurable benefits for our
diverse portfolio of clients.
We would love to hear from you if you feel you would benefit from
our ‘no nonsense’ and human approach to computer software.
Creditsafe Business Solutions
Bryn House, Caerphilly Business Park, Van Rd,
Caerphilly, CF83 3GG
T: 0292 088 6500.
E: ukinfo@creditsafeuk.com
W: www.creditsafeuk.com
Creditsafe is Europe’s most used supplier of credit &
business intelligence. Creditsafe have helped over 60,000
customers across Europe and the USA with a range of
products which includes our UK, European and International
Company Credit Reports, which reach over 129 countries
and 90m companies; customer and supplier Risk Tracker and
our 3D Ledger product which has captured over 35 million
Trade Payment Data Experiences since its launch in 2012.
All of which will help companies manage their exposure to
risk, make informed decisions in relation to credit limits whilst
looking at how you can identify gaps within your sales ledger
to prioritise collections and leverage sales.
Arthur J. Gallagher
Insurance Brokers Limited
7 Floor, Temple Point, 1 Temple Row
Birmingham B2 5LG
T: 0121 203 3127
W: www.ajginternational.com
With the risk of default by customers still a major threat to UK
and Global companies there has never been a better time to
consider trade credit insurance. Arthur J. Gallagher’s Credit
and Surety team, which now includes the 2014 – CICM award
winning ‘broker of the year’ team, has considerable experience
and market influence and recognises the unique nature of the
credit insurance market. Our team of experienced professionals
deal with a wide range of businesses, from SME to large
corporate and global risks. Please contact us to discuss how
a specifically tailored trade credit solution can benefit your
business
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Prof. Schumann GmbH
innovative information systems
Weender Landstr. 23, 37130 Göttingen, Germany
T: +49 551 38315 0 F: +49 551 38315 20
E: info@prof-schumann.de W: www.prof-schumann.de
Our Credit Application Manager (CAM) is a leading credit
risk management solution for major corporations, as well as
insurance, factoring and leasing companies. In their daily work,
CAM allows credit and sales managers to call up all the available
information about a customer or risk in a few seconds for decision
support: real-time data from wherever they are. CAM keeps an
eye on customers whose payment behaviour stands out or who
have overdue invoices! CAM provides an up-to-date forecast
of customers’ payments. Additionally, CAM has automated
interfaces for connecting to leading suppliers of company credit
data, payment record pools and commercial credit insurers. The
system is characterised by its great flexibility. We have years
of experience in consulting and software support for accounts
receivable management.
Top Service Ltd
2&3 Regents Court, Farmoor Lane, Redditch,
Worcestershire, B98 0SD
T: 0152 750 3990.
E: enquiries@top-service.co.uk
W: www.top-service.co.uk
Top Service is the only credit reference and debt recovery
agency to specialise in the UK construction sector. Top
Service customers benefit from sector specific information,
detailed payment history intelligence and realtime trade
references in addition to standard credit information.
There are currently 3,000 construction sector companies
subscribing to the service, ranging from multi-national
organisations to small family firms. The company prides
itself on high levels of customer service and does not tie
its customers into restrictive contracts. Top Service offers
a 25% discount to all CICM Members as well as four free
credit checks of your choice.
Co-pilot Limited
73 Flask Walk, London, NW3 1ET
T: +44(0) 20 7813 2182
E: info@co-pilot.co.uk
W: www.co-pilot.co.uk
Credit Managers who manage large or multiple ledgers have
come to realise that they need to use specialist software to
achieve or maintain performance improvement – be that risk,
collections or both.
For many Credit Managers a key question is where to start.
How do you examine and evaluate the options? How and
when do you start the budgeting process? What are the
steps?
Co-pilot has advised on credit management software for a
number of years. We have good knowledge of the available
solutions, what’s good, how they work and what type of
solution best fits given situations. We combine this with
considerable experience of credit management Best Practice
so that you can pull everything together into one place and
achieve a flexible and sustainable position going forward.
We work with you through a structured evaluation process
which is designed to enable you to have a clear view of
what you can achieve going forward, what is practicable,
the business case implications, the preferred supplier(s) and
what the implementation process would sensibly look like (in
our opinion, there is no such thing as “Plug and play”).
STA International
3rd Floor, Colman House, King Street, Maidstone, ME14 1DN
T: +44(0)844 324 0660.
E: enquiries@staonline.com
W: http://www.stainternational.com
Getting Business Paid
STA is an award winning B2B and B2C debt collection, receivables
management and tracing supplier. ISO9001 quality accredited,
and with the CSAs Collector Accreditation Initiative, duty-of-care
is as important to us as it is to you. In the past 12 months we’ve
collected from 138 countries worldwide; with Your Debts Online
giving you transparent access to our collection success and the
cost of each and account placed with us for collection. Collected
funds are remitted via BACS. We look forward to getting your
business paid.
60 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Tinubu Square UK
Holland House, 4 Bury Street, London EC3A 5AW
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577
E: uksales@tinubu.com
W: www.tinubu.com
Tinubu Square’s mission is to control and minimise trade credit
risk. Founded in 2001, Tinubu Square has become a trusted
source of trade credit intelligence for credit insurance leaders
and now offers the service to corporate customers enabling
them to assess their credit risk. Tinubu Square’s B2B Credit
Risk Intelligence solutions – including Tinubu Risk Management
Center (RMC) cloud-based SaaS platform, Tinubu Credit Intelligence
service with real-time credit risk intelligence reporting
and Tinubu Risk Analyst advisory service provide companies
with an accurate picture of their customers’ financial health from
sales and marketing through the entire order-to-cash cycle.
Based in Paris, Tinubu Square has offices in London, Brussels,
Singapore and Mumbai.
CICMos (CICM Online Services)
www.CICM.com
T: 01780 722 907.
E: training@cicm.com
W: www.cicmos.com
CICMOS has been designed to help busy credit managers by
providing them with a suite of online tools to support and
quickly develop their teams. The virtual learning centre is an
open platform system, accessed via the website, which is
easy to use, modular and each module is completely optional,
which means the system can be tailored to suit specific
requirements and time constraints. This wide ranging system
is more than just a training tool it is easy to set up and use
and can be accessed securely via the CICMOS website for a
low annual subscription.
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
OnGuard
40 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0BT
T: 0203 4403 825
E: info@onguard.com
W: www.onguard.co.uk
OnGuard is a leading supplier of sophisticated software in which
Credit, Collections, Complaints and Cash Allocation can be
integrated in a single solution. With customers around the world
we offer a truly global, proven, low-risk high-value proposition
which focusses on maintaining positive customer relationships
helping to contribute to improving your competitive edge. Our
integrated accounts receivables solution enables you to achieve
faster payment of your invoices plus the benefits of improved
insights into customer behaviour and valuable time savings. This
not only results in process optimisation, cost savings, a lower
DSO and reduced write-offs but contributes to a stronger,
positive relationship with your valued customers. See more at
www.onguard.co.uk.
Safe Computing Limited
20, Freeschool Lane, Leicester, LE1 4FY
T: 0844 583 2134
E: info@safecomputing.co.uk
W: www.safe-creditcontrol.co.uk
Designed to manage your customer credit accounts effectively,
Safe credit control enables your credit management team to:
• improve cash flow
• reduce debtor days
• increase customer service
• cut the cost of cash collection
• eliminate manual processes
• speed up the query resolution process
Our unique approach is centred on changing the perception of
the credit control function, from a series of reactive processes
to proactive ones. Credit controllers are traditionally regarded
as an essential element in business, to chase late payments
and respond to customer queries. Safe credit control has
taken the concepts of customer relationship management
(CRM) and applied it to the credit control function, enabling
a softer, service orientated team of customer service
representatives.
Data Interconnect Ltd
Unit 7, Radcot Estate, 7 Park Rd, Faringdon,
Oxfordshire. SN7 7BP
T: +44 (0) 1367 245777
F: +44 (0) 1367 240011
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
Data Interconnect provides integrated e-billing and collection
solutions via its document delivery web portal, WebSend.
By providing improved Customer Experience and Customer
Satisfaction, with enhanced levels of communication between
both parties, we can substantially speed up your collection
processes.
SIDETRADE
Sidetrade UK: Amadeus House, Floral Street, Covent
Garden, London WC2E 9DP
T: +44 203 608 9850
E: Samantha@sidetrade.com
W: wwwsidetrade.co.uk
Sidetrade offers companies the opportunity to digitise the
management of their financial relationships with customers.
Sidetrade's market-leading solutions, complementary to ERPs,
meet the challenges of securing what is often a company's
largest asset, its accounts receivable, by reducing late payments
and controlling customer risk. With sales in 65 countries and 34
million invoices managed annually, the Group enables 69,000
users from companies of all sizes and all sectors to collaborate
via its cloud solution and accelerate cash-flow generation.
FINANCIAL PR
Gravity London
Floor 6/7, Gravity London, 69 Wilson St, London, EC21 2BB
T: +44(0)207 330 8888.
E: sfeast@gravitylondon.com
W: www.gravitylondon.com
Gravity is an award winning full service PR and advertising
business that is regularly benchmarked as being one of the best
in its field. It has a particular expertise in the credit sector, building
long-term relationships with some of the industry’s best-known
brands working on often challenging briefs. As the partner
agency for the Credit Services Association (CSA) for the past 13
years, and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management since
2006, it understands the key issues affecting the credit industry
and what works and what doesn’t in supporting its clients in the
media and beyond.
Chartered Institute of
Credit Management (CICM)
The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham,
OAKHAM, LE15 8NB
T: 01780 722910 E: info@cicm.com
W: wwwcicm.com
The Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) is Europe’s
largest credit management organisation. The trusted leader
in expertise for all credit matters, it represents the profession
across trade, consumer, and export credit, and all credit-related
services. Formed over 70 years ago, it is the only such organisation
accredited by Ofqual and it offers a comprehensive
range of services and bespoke solutions for the credit professional
(www.cicm.com) as well as services and advice for the
wider business community (www.creditmanagement.org.uk).
RECRUITMENT
Hays Credit Management
107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN
T: 07834 260029
E: karen.young@hays.com
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CICM
and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and
credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this
challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within
it. Whatever your needs, we have temporary, permanent and
contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate
registration process is unrivalled, including face-to-face screening
interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively
for Hays by the CICM. We offer CICM members a priority service
and can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and
recruitment issues.
PORTFOLIO
CREDIT CONTROL
Portfolio Credit Control
Portfolio Credit Control, New Liverpool House,
15 Eldon Street, London, EC2M 7LD
T: 0207 650 3199
E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com
W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com
Portfolio Credit Control, solely specialises in the recruitment of
permanent, temporary and contract Credit Control, Accounts
Receivable and Collections staff. Part of an award winning
recruiter we speak to and meet credit controllers all day everyday
understanding their skills and backgrounds to provide you with tried
and tested credit control professionals. We have achieved enormous
growth because we offer a uniquely specialist approach to our
clients, with a commitment to service delivery that exceeds your
expectations every single time.
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 61
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
RECRUITMENT
Jobs in Credit
Foxhall Business Centre, Foxhall Road,
Nottingham, NG7 6LH
T: 0207 316 9533
E: info@jobsincredit.com
Established in 2004, jobsincredit.com is the only UK job board
dedicated to the credit and collections industry. The site attracts
over 30,000 monthly visits, and advertises over 1,000 roles from
a broad mix of employers and recruiters. For candidates our
service is free of charge, and offers an easy way of searching
for and securing your next role. For employers jobsincredit.com
offers the most cost effective recruitment method, no matter the
seniority. Many leading employers are clients, including Barclays,
RBS, Deloitte, Centrica Barclaycard. For more information about
advertising your vacancy, please visit www.jobsincredit.com
ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING
SmartSearch
Station Court, Station Road, Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 8EY
T: 0113 238 7660
F: 0113 238 7669
E: info@smartsearchuk.com
W: www.smartsearchuk.com
SmartSearch is the first system to bring together Business
and Individual AML Verification on a single platform. Our data
providers Experian and Dow Jones provide SmartSearch
access to over one billion data items enabling AML
verification in all Markets. AML verification data subjects are
automatically screened against the latest Sanction, PEP and
SIP Lists. Ongoing monitoring for the duration of your contract
is provided at no extra cost. Efficient processes; less than 3
minutes to execute a business AML check and a sub 60 second
individual check. Why not let your Compliance Team test drive
SmartSearch for 14 days free of charge? (Ref:CM101)
ATTENTION PRODUCT
AND SERVICE PROVIDERS
You can connect with them all now by
having a listing in CreditWho.
For just £1,247 + VAT per annum:
- your business will be listed in Credit
Management magazine, which goes out to
all our members and subscribers and has an
estimated readership of over 25,000
To book your listing in CreditWho contact
Anthony Cave on 020 3603 7934
For even greater exposure to
our membership and a closer
association with CICM, why not
enquire about becoming a Corporate
Partner. To find out more contact
Peter Collinson (07584 993548).
CICM Corporate Partners now get
CreditWho included.
10%
DISCOUNT
On
CICM IN-COMPANY
TRAINING
WE CAN HELP YOUR TEAM
SMASH THEIR TARGETS
Smash your targets Improve your DSO
Build lasting customer relationships Reduce legal costs
Advanced Telephone Collections Negotiating and Influencing
Psychology of Collections Credit Risk Analysis/Assessment
CICM qualifications, training and webinars are the recognised standard in the credit industry.
They can be delivered at your premises and tailored to meet specific organisation or industry-sector
requirements. Visit our website to see our full Training Directory
For an informal chat about your specific requirements, contact Julie
t: 01780 722907 e: julie.dalton@cicm.com
62 December 2015 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard in credit management
Puzzle by © 2012 Mirroreyes Internet Services Corporation. All Rights Reserved - CROSSWORD NBR 35
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
in association with
CREDIT CONUNDRUM
FOR ALL EMAIL ENTRIES FOR THE CROSSWORD PLEASE EMAIL:
ANDREW.MORRIS@CICM.COM
NAME ....................................................................................................................................
ADDRESS ..............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
POST CODE .................................. TELEPHONE NUMBER .....................................................
The CICM is registered with the UK's Information
Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the
"Act"). All the data contained on this form, is held and
processed electronically in accordance with the Act.
The Institute holds and processes your personal data in
order to give you the full benefits of being a member and
for administrative purposes.
We might from time to time notify you by post or email of
details of CICM events or other similar CICM services or
products which we think July / August be of interest to
you. If you do not wish to receive such notification please
tick here q
If you subsequently decide that you do not wish to
receive such notifications please email the Institute at
unsubscribe@cicm.com or write to the Data Controller at
the address given below.
The Data Protection Act gives you the right at any time to
see a copy of all the data that we hold about you. If you
would like a copy, please send a letter requesting this
information together with a cheque for £10 payable to :
The Chartered Institute of Credit Management to:
Data Controller, CICM, The Water Mill, Station Road,
South Luffenham, OAKHAM, LE15 8NB.
CREDITMAN by MIKE FLANNAGAN
MONTHLY PRIZE CROSSWORD
ACROSS :
1. Trades
6. Puts down
10. Hairdo
14. Lengthways
15. Baking appliance
16. Component of urine
17. Bog hemp
18. Quash
19. Fit snugly into
20. Showman
22. Strikes
23. A sizeable hole
24. Picture
26. Orchards
30. Transparent
32. Work hard
33. Scaremongers
37. Sweeping story
38. Skedaddles
DOWN :
1. Indian dress
2. Test
3. Not stiff
4. Den
5. Roomette
6. A green fabric mixture
7. Affirm
8. Abominable Snowman
9. Spies
10. Sanctioned
11. Apple or orange
12. Odd-numbered page
13. Trees of the genus Quercus
21. Female sib
25. An unskilled actor
26. Delight
27. Whacks
28. Death notice
29. Lexicon
39. Ardor
40. Set up
42. Latin name for our planet
43. Tiny balls strung together
44. Fervent
45. A thin porridge
47. Actress Lupino
48. Sense
49. Overplaying
56. Ancient Peruvian
57. It comes from cows
58. Forbidden
59. Terror
60. Being
61. Any compound of oxygen
62. Catch a glimpse of
63. Accomplishment
64. Ascends
30. Elegance
31. Strip of wood
33. Corrosive
34. Arid
35. Mountain pool
36. Thin strip
38. Raced on skis
41. Spelling contest
42. Farm vehicle
44. American Dental Association
45. Segments of DNA
46. Summary
47. Annoyed
48. A small high-pitched flute
50. Workbench attachment
51. If not
52. Cab
53. Nile bird
54. Connecting point
55. "Comes and ____"
THERE WILL BE THREE PRIZES
OF £20 EACH FOR THE FIRST THREE
NAMES DRAWN
CROSSWORD SOLUTION 34
NOVEMBER CROSSWORD
WINNERS ARE :
Frances Langley CICM(Grad)
Christine Barradell MCICM(Grad)
DH Feder FCICM
For the chance of winning £20,
forward your completed solution to:
Art Editor, Andrew Morris,
Chartered Institute of Credit Management,
The Water Mill, Station Road, South
Luffenham, OAKHAM, LE15 8NB
or email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
DON’T ALLOW LONG-STANDING
DEBTS AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS
For a detailed discussion on how we can help your business or for a quotation for any of our services
please do not hesitate to contact: Paul Daine FCICM, MIoD, Managing Director
Office 3, Caidan House Business Centre, Canal Road, Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1TD
F: 0333 121 3843 E: enquries@premiumcollections.co.uk W: www.premiumcollections.co.uk
For all your credit management requirements Premium
Collections Limited have the solution. Staffed by
professionals with over 50 years combined experience.
Call: 0161 962 4695
The recognised standard in credit management
www.cicm.com December 2015 63
CreditForce
Richly featured end-to-end
revenue, collections, customer
service and query management
software for the world’s
leading businesses.
Our state-of-the-art software systems
are proven to improve Cash Flow
whatever your business. With clients
in 26 countries, and integration with over
40 of the world’s leading ERP systems,
you can have confidence in making
CreditForce the centre of your revenue
and collections management processes.
Visit www.innovationsoftware.uk.com
or call +44 (0)1 634 812300 for more
information.
Innovation Software
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