Jan:Feb 2017 Credit Management magazine

CICM LENDS SUPPORT TO THAT
WAS THE WEEK THAT IS!
THE Chartered Institute of Credit Management
has confirmed its role as an official supporter
for Credit Week, partnering the organisers,
Credit Strategy, to deliver a range of
supporting activities and resources throughout
the event.
In the week commencing 27 March, a
series of parliamentary events, conferences,
and debates will see MPs, CEOs, regulators
and academic experts meet to discuss how
to feed the UK’s demand for affordable
credit, and how to protect consumers from
problematic debt. It will also focus on the
crucial role of commercial credit, and the
part played by specialist insurers, information
providers, and credit reference agencies in
managing and mitigating risk.
Some 1,500 leaders in credit are expected
to attend events throughout the week - from
banks and building societies, through to credit
management companies, local and central
government bodies, utility providers and credit
reference agencies.
Philip King, Chief Executive of the CICM
will be chairing the Trade Credit stream at
CICM
IN BRIEF
This month's briefing gives details of
CICM in-company and open training
days, the Vulnerability Workshop on 22
February at CICM HQ, and the 9th Utility
Week Consumer Debt Conference on 16
March; CICM members can receive a 15
percent discount on tickets.
the Credit Summit on Thursday 30 March,
and will also take part in the Parliamentary
Reception on the opening Tuesday.
“Credit managers are responsible for
managing more than £4 trillion of trade
debt each year, and with their professional
status and national recognition continuing to
grow, events like The Credit Week provide
an excellent environment to bring the credit
community together to discuss the challenges
in a post-Brexit world,” Philip says.
Mike Jeapes, head of production for
the week, added: “This is a gathering of
everyone involved in providing credit to
people and small businesses in the UK. To
put it into perspective - London Fashion
Week represents an industry worth £26 billion
per year (according to the British Fashion
Council). Credit professionals lend more than
that every month.”
Discounts for CICM members wishing
to attend the event are available.
Full details of Credit Week, including
individual events and agendas, can be found
here creditweek.co.uk/.
NOT IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST
THE Scottish government has been accused
of threatening the viability of small firms by
not paying its bills on time, according to new
figures produced by Scottish Labour that
show more than a fifth of undisputed invoices
are paid late.
The revelation will prove embarrassing
to Scottish ministers who have introduced
new measures to tackle the problem of
companies failing to settle bills on time. In
an answer to a parliamentary question, SNP
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has now
admitted that more than a fifth of undisputed
invoices were not paid on time by the Scottish
Government and the bodies which share its
finance system.
This could have a major knock-on effect for
firms that need the cashflow to keep trading.
The SNP Government’s Business Pledge
scheme, designed to encourage the private
sector towards ethical business practices,
includes a prompt payment criteria.
Labour’s Economy Spokesperson, Jackie
HOIST ELEVATION
JULIAN Winfield has been appointed the new
Country Manager for Hoist Finance UK, the
debt restructuring partner for international
banks. He joined the business in 2014 as
Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Julian has
more than 20-years’ experience in financial
services, insurance and retail, having started
his career with Kwik Save and Argos. More
recently he was the Finance Director for Shop
Direct Group (Financial Services) and CFO at
Paymentshield. He holds an MBA from the
Alliance Manchester Business School (part of
the University of Manchester).
Baillie, says that the SNP Government
should set a new target to have 100 percent
of undisputed bills paid within five working
days: “This would set good practice for
business and make sure organisations on
government contracts are getting their
payments on time.”
Scottish businessman Ken Lewandowski
has been leading a campaign to persuade
governments at Westminster and Holyrood to
introduce legislation, leading to the Scottish
government creating Project Bank Accounts
for public sector contracts. They were
designed to stop main contractors being
paid by the government but holding back
payments to sub-contractors. The money
instead goes into the PBA and everyone is
paid at the same time.
He accused many big companies of using
small firms as an overdraft facility, hanging
on to thousands of pounds, sometimes for
several months.
scottishlabour.org.uk
NEWS IN BRIEF
SERVICE EXPANSION
THE final batch of UK PMI survey data for 2016
from IHS Markit and CIPS signalled that the
dominant UK service sector expanded sharply
in December, rounding off the strongest
quarter of the year. The rate of expansion of
activity accelerated for the third month running
to the sharpest since July 2015, fuelled by
stronger growth in new work.
Employment rose at a pace unchanged from
November’s seven-month high, and sentiment
towards the 12-month outlook strengthened
despite ongoing uncertainty regarding Brexit
and European elections. The survey data
also signalled that inflationary pressures in
the sector remained substantial, with prices
charged rising at the strongest rate since April
2011. markiteconomics.com
BOARD DIRECTOR
JO Kenrick has been appointed as a new
Independent Director has been appointed to
the board of Bacs Payment Schemes (Bacs).
She has already held senior non-executive
leadership positions in a number of financial
services firms, as well as executive roles in a
wide range of high profile organisations from
Homebase and B&Q to Camelot and Asda. Jo’s
appointment to the main Bacs board comes as
a result of the company’s governance review
which identified the need to broaden the
range of experience on the board. She will
also become the first independent chair of
the Current Account Switch Service Executive
Committee, fulfilling one of Bacs’ undertakings
to the Competition and Markets Authority
(CMA) following its investigation into the
personal current account market.
bacs.co.uk
NEW CHAP IN CHARGE
CHAPS Co has appointed Tim Everest as its
Chief Operating Officer (COO). He has been
working as interim COO at CHAPS for the last
14 months, where he has been responsible for
operations, technology, change-management,
security as well as integrating new scheme
Participants. Tim has spent the last 25 years
working in banking, with a particular focus on
technology and change-management. Before
joining CHAPS, he worked at Deutsche Bank
and for many years at Lloyds Banking Group.
chapsco.co.uk
NEVER TOO LATE
ALMOST half of the UK’s SMEs are being paid
late, according to Bacs Payment Schemes
(Bacs), with the average late payment debt now
standing at £32,185 or £26.3 billion total across
the 47 percent of SMEs that say customers and
clients stray beyond agreed payment terms.
Mike Hutchinson from Bacs says that adopting
better invoicing practices and making payment
terms absolutely explicit can help: “We would
urge businesses to look at automated payments
like Direct Debit to help reduce the time and
money they are spending to recover late
payments due to them.”
bacs.co.uk
10 January / February 2017 www.cicm.com
The recognised standard