November 2016 Credit Management magazine

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I am saddened to report the death of Oswald Royaards on 9 August, 2016 in The Netherlands at the age of 81. He may not have been known personally to many credit professionals in the United Kingdom, but his impact upon the credit profession throughout Europe borders on the legendary. A credit man to the core, he was in fact one of the co-founders of VVCM, the Dutch credit management association, being their Chairman for a full 13 years. He was substantially involved in establishing training courses in The Netherlands, leading to their Certified Credit Manager qualification. Beyond his home country, Oswald served as one of the early Presidents of the Federation of European Credit Management Associations (FECMA), an initiative promoted by the UK in 1986 under the inspiration of Sir Roger Cork, and he took his commitment to promoting cross-border co-operation and understanding seriously. So much so that he was an enthusiastic supporter of the establishment of a national association in Germany, BvCM. He became BvCM Honorary Chairman, and his legacy is undoubtedly reflected in the success of both the Dutch and German associations. The Netherlands owes much to his enthusiasm and commitment, serving on numerous committees, promoting best practice and inspiring generations who followed. At the Pan European Credit Management Congress in Budapest in 2013, I had the great honour and privilege of presenting Oswald with the FECMA Lifetime NEW DEPUTY VICE-PRESIDENT AT IPA THE Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) has appointed Lloyd Hinton FIPA of Insolve Plus as its next Deputy Vice-President. He is expected to become IPA President in April 2018. Lloyd has been a member since 2001, an IPA licence holder since 2007, is a fellow of the Association, and is Chairman of the Examinations and Training Committee. He is also a member of the IPA Council and has been progressively active in the Association’s activities since joining the Young Professionals Networking Committee some ten years ago, which he went on to chair. He also sat on the editorial board of Insolvency Practitioner and was the Vice Chair of MSC. Lloyd will support the work of the President and Vice-President over the next 18 months, drawing on his experience from firms that specialise in helping SMEs and sole traders in financial difficulty. “The IPA continues to play a pivotal role in widening the public’s knowledge and understanding of the work of insolvency practitioners; working with the professional bodies that shape policy and providing an ever-widening range of services to its membership to raise standards,” Lloyd says. OBITUARY Dr Oswald Royaards CCM Achievement Award – a sculpture by Dieter von Levetzow, which beautifully represented what was a life’s work. He was a gifted narrator and his speech of thanks mixed the Dutch, German and English languages – typical of the man that nobody should be left out. A nice man in a hard world – a team creator, team leader and team player. He was what credit management is all about and will be sorely missed. RIP. Glen Bullivant FCICM The IPA continues to play a pivotal role in widening the public’s knowledge and understanding of the work of insolvency practitioners. NEWS IN BRIEF RUNNING THE RISK A new survey conducted by business insurance provider SME Insurance (SMEi) suggests that 34 percent of UK SMEs polled could be uninsured for the biggest risks they face. Of those firms that have insufficient insurance cover, 34 percent chose cyberattacks from a list of major risks as the biggest threat to their business. Public liability is ranked in second place by 28 percent of SMEs, followed by crime at 19 percent. When it comes to cyber-crime, 30 percent of respondents state they would be most vulnerable to computer viruses, while 22 percent claim data theft is the sole digital threat. According to 15 percent of respondents, a lack of security awareness amongst its employees may be leaving their business vulnerable online. smeinsurance.com OUTDOOR PURSUIT SHOOSMITHS has advised the sellers on the disposal of retailer, Rohan Group, to H. Young Holdings. Founded in 1972, Rohan provides outdoor activity clothing, operating 55 stores across the UK and employs over 250 full time staff. The Group has experienced steady growth over recent years with sales of around £28 million. Roger Cann, Managing Director at Rohan, says the new deal will provide the resources for further development of the Rohan brand: “It will also ensure the company continues to expand and provide high quality outdoor clothing to its loyal customer base.” shoosmiths.co.uk PREMIER LEAGUE PARAGON Bank’s asset finance division, Paragon Bank Asset Finance, has acquired one of the UK’s asset finance brokerages, Premier Asset Finance (Premier). The initial consideration for the purchase is £8.5 million, payable in cash. A further £12 million is payable over the following five years, subject to performance conditions. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Premier sources in excess of £100 million of lending per annum to a range of SME customers. Working together, Paragon Bank Asset Finance and Premier say they will focus on expanding their asset finance business across a range of asset classes including wheeled assets, plant and machinery and IT. paragonbank.co.uk/lending/asset-finance INITIAL PRE-PAYMENT Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has launched 100 percent Initial Pre-payment (IP) for commercial businesses. The initiative is described as being available with immediate effect on factoring, invoice discounting and export finance facilities for qualifying commercial businesses with turnover between £300,000 and £5 million. bibbyfinancialservices.com/ GROWING CIRCLES Forums International has added Moore Stephens as its Corporate Insolvency Partner in support of its UK forums. Forums International currently operates nine forums for credit and finance professionals across a variety of industries. The forums are designed to be a community of peers who come together to share experiences and work to find solutions to common problems. forumsinternational.co.uk 10 November 2016 www.cicm.com The recognised standard
CICM BEST PRACTICE QUALITY ACCREDITATION BY THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT The 12-strong credit team at John Lewis Partnership has now become CICMQ re-accredited, and the assessor’s report had no immediate recommendations for improvement. The business, which includes department store John Lewis and Waitrose, became the first retail company to achieve CICMQ RE-ACCREDITATION FOR JOHN LEWIS re-accreditation following its success in 2014. Joy Randev, Manager Accounts Receivable, explains the importance the company places on maintaining success: “CICMQ was one of our annual objectives that are set by our directors,” he says, “so it is great news to achieve re-accreditation.” The team has also automated its processes since the initial accreditation, helping to improve the reporting function, something that Joy says is hugely important: “To become a CICMQ-accredited team you really have to know what you’re doing, have clear job descriptions for every team member, and active key performance indicators and objectives.” GREAT EXPECTATIONS CICMQ re-accreditation has been awarded to EDF Energy (UK), in what is another example of a household-name company seeking further business accolades. Over the past two years, the revenue management team has seen an internal merger of two departments, organisational restructure, streamlining through reduced staffing levels and the implementation of a new system. But these challenges were overcome. The credit management team has seen continuous improvement, and its accreditation is highly valued by the wider business. “The accreditation is now used in EDF Energy’s bid process,” says Sue Chapple, Head of Revenue Management at EDF Energy. “It is an expectation of a number of our customers as a standard entry requirement into some tender processes. “This expectation ensured we worked hard to gain and retain the accreditation,” she continues. “Not being a CICMQ business is definitely not on our radar.” MILEAGE ON ACCREDITATION The regional newspaper group Local World has become CICMQ re-accredited, following its acquisition by publishing business Trinity Mirror. Since its initial accreditation, the credit team has had to manage this acquisition and the operational challenges, while it has also been running a nationwide programme to forge more constructive relations with Local World’s sales department. The project saw the credit team travel in excess of 5,000 miles to present to every sales team within Local World’s portfolio, as Mark Mackey, Head of Credit Management and Customer Services explains: “It was both a logistical challenge, literally involving planes, trains and automobiles, and also a challenge in some places where our role within the business was little understood. “We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the sales division, and that has led to positive results,” Mark concludes. MOTIVATING SUCCESS TalkTalk Business has reached a two-time CICMQ milestone following year-on-year performance improvement, according to its Head of Credit and Risk Sharon Dunlop. “Accreditation is viewed highly within the business, and the team works hard every single day to succeed and improve. “We employ clear objectives with bonus driven targets,” she adds. “That, together with concise communication, is the key to running a successful credit department. “The team needs to fully understand the department’s objectives and how they are performing against these, while stakeholders, who have a professional and productive outlook of the team, continue to engage with us to ensure business support.” With this strong team, the CICMQ report from assessor Chris Sanders notes TalkTalk is already planning its award entry for the CICM’s British Credit Awards. Third-time accredited Siemens is in the ‘upper quartile’ of all accredited organisations, according to assessor Chris Sanders. Active in over 200 countries, the global engineering and technology company says continuing with CICMQ is important as it harbours extended communication with likeminded companies, which in turn ensures its internal processes are at the highest standards. Siemens is a constantly evolving business, and Gail Armstrong, its Head of Cash Collection Services, explains this progression is vital within the technology sector: “This very GOING GLOBAL much applies to the credit department as well, we have recently moved into a global arena, where best-practice sharing around the globe is deemed business as usual.” With the understanding that the credit function is often the first point of post-sale contact, Gail adds that establishing solid relationships is crucial for the longevity of future business: “We have recently further developed our strategic roadmap, using the concept of Nine Mandatory Elements, which focuses employees on improving its core business competencies.” This roadmap was highlighted by Chris Sanders: “The new programme is driving quality and performance,” he says, “and improves efficiency demonstrating the credit function is not standing still as continuous improvement never stops.” Siemens’ people and the way that they are trained has also helped it to achieve re-accreditation, Gail continues: “First and foremost, credit management needs to take care of its people, from their wellbeing to career aspirations and training requirements. Ensuring the processes used are lean and seamless will ensure our customers see the benefits.” The recognised standard www.cicm.com November 2016 11
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