Credit Management magazine October 2017

EDITOR’S COLUMN
Move over celebrity – let’s see
what a real businessman can do
Sean Feast
Managing Editor
IT has been a long time coming,
but the Government has at last
completed on its promise to
appoint a new Small Business
Commissioner tasked with
‘empowering small businesses’.
The role, so I gather, will be ‘crucial to
supporting small businesses resolve
disputes with larger businesses and will
help drive a culture change in payment
practices’.
Firstly, I must congratulate Paul Uppal
on his appointment. Frankly, I’ve never
heard of him, though I’ve since learned
that he has 20-years’ experience as a small
business owner in the real estate sector,
where he saw how even sound businesses
could struggle when faced with a culture
of late payment by customers. (I’ve been a
small business owner for longer than that
but no-one came knocking at my door.
Perhaps it was that letter I wrote to Mr
Callaghan when I was still at school?)
Secondly, I’d like to congratulate the
Government on resisting the temptation to
appoint yet another ‘celebrity’ to the role.
After the likes of Lord Sugar (you’re fired!)
and various Dragons’ Den cast-offs as
similar (if not specifically identical) small
business ‘champions’, it’s good to have
someone less high profile, though I have
an inkling that as a former Member of
Parliament, Mr Uppal will have an inside
track that may work to his advantage!
While I remain optimistic, I am already
concerned by the tone of Greg Clark’s
announcement that up until this moment,
no-one has ever done anything to tackle
late payment, or drive a culture of better
payment practice. Has everyone forgotten,
for example, the Better Payment Practice
Group, ultimately brought down by a lack
of funding from, yes you’ve guessed it,
the Government! I worry also about his
‘small company good, big company bad’
approach, and the oft-repeated mantra
that small businesses are the backbone of
the economy. Thank you for that insight.
But I suppose what really concerns
me is the lack of any reference to existing
tools that are already in place and would
be more widely known and often used
if only the Government would invest in
their promotion. I have said before, that
Government should stop re-inventing the
wheel, or looking for a silver bullet, and
work harder with what they’ve got.
It is, I should be clear, only my personal
view, but I hope the Commissioner’s role
does not turn out to be a gimmick; one
man cannot change a culture, but he can
act as the conduit for bringing together
those with real knowledge and experience
of credit management and listen to what
they have to say. Let’s hope he’s in a
listening mood.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / November 2017 / PAGE 4