Credit Management magazine October 2017

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News in Numbers – provided by the Money Charity THE.news . IN NUMBERS 46.2 MILLION PLASTIC CARD PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS WERE MADE EVERY DAY IN MAY 2017, WITH A TOTAL VALUE OF £1.927 BILLION £46.910 BILLION UK’S TOTAL INTEREST REPAYMENTS ON PERSONAL DEBT OVER A 12 MONTH PERIOD £376 AVERAGE RENT FOR A SINGLE ROOM IN THE 12 MONTHS TO MARCH 2017 0.1% FALL IN HOUSE PRICES IN AUGUST, ACCORDING TO NATIONWIDE £600 AVERAGE RENT FOR A SINGLE LONDON ROOM IN 12 MONTHS TO MARCH 2017 1.464 MILLION PEOPLE CLASSED UNEMPLOYED BETWEEN APRIL AND JUNE 2017 £988 ANNUAL AMOUNT OF INTEREST PAID FOR EVERY ADULT IN THE UK 3,321 CONSUMER COUNTY COURT JUDGMENTS(CCJS) ARE ISSUED EVERY DAY, WITH AN AVERAGE VALUE OF £1,495 13 PROPERTIES ARE REPOSSESSED EVERY DAY, OR ONE EVERY ONE HOUR AND 50 MINUTES >NEWS IN BRIEF UK SMEs failing to embrace smartphone opportunities British small businesses could be failing to cash in on the boom in mobile shopping by not having websites that automatically adapt for the different screen sizes of smartphones and tablets, according to new research from PayPal. A UK-wide survey of more than 2,000 small businesses and 2,000 consumers reveals a growing gap between online shoppers’ mobile preferences and what small businesses are offering – which could be costing them potential sales. PayPal research shows that mobile shopping growth is outstripping overall online spending by four to one in the UK. This trend looks set to continue, with 30 percent of Brits expecting to use their smartphones to shop more often in the next 12 months, rising to 44 percent for 16 to 25-year olds. Mobile devices are already central to today’s shopping experience with six in 10 (59 percent) ‘millennials’ browsing for new purchases on their smartphone every day. Overall consumer appetite for mobile shopping is also growing quickly: the estimated annual spend on mobile nearly doubled from £13.5 billion to £27 billion from 2016 to 2017 and it is estimated to hit £43 billion by 2020. Despite this, only 18 percent of UK small businesses have a website that is friendly for mobile devices, an increase of just 1 percent on 2016. paypal.com Universal nonsense Citizens Advice has warned that thousands of people risk getting into debt because of delayed payments from universal credit. Citizens Advice has helped people with over 100,000 issues with the new benefit scheme, and in August the equivalent of 12 percent of people applying for the benefit turned to the charity for help. In a report published in September, Citizens Advice analysed over 50,000 cases where it has helped people with their debt problems and found that one in five people applying for universal credit are waiting longer than six weeks for their first payment. citizensadvice.org.uk Member benefit The CICM has secured a half-price early booking offer for members wanting to attend the 2018 Credit Summit, where CICM will be hosting the Trade Credit Conference. The standard creditor price is £799, and the special discounted delegate rates for CICM members working in operational credit roles are: £400 before end December; £500 before end January; £600 before end February; and £700 before Conference. Attractive, discounted delegate rates are also available for CICM members working in the vendor community. To secure the special rate, CICM members should call 020 7940 4835 quoting their membership number. For sponsorship and exhibition rates for vendors contact Credit Strategy. Further details about the conference are available at creditstrategy.co.uk/credit-summit. The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / November 2017 / PAGE 8
Support for customers with addictions and utilities debt THE Money Advice Trust (MAT) has launched a new face-to-face training course designed to help creditor staff to better support customers affected by gambling, alcohol and substance addictions. The course has been developed in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, and can be tailored to creditor organisations across a range of sectors. The course has been developed by the Trust’s Vulnerability Lead Chris Fitch, who co-authored the University of Bristol Personal Finance Research Centre’s recent ‘21 steps’ research into the experiences of collections staff with customers in vulnerable circumstances. The research found that one in four frontline collections staff find addictions either ‘very difficult’ or ‘difficult’ to discuss with customers – more than any other kind of vulnerable situation. Eight percent of frontline staff and 28 percent of specialist staff said they encounter customers with an addiction ‘every day’ or ‘most days’. The Trust’s new face-to-face course aims to equip staff to identify, understand Global SMEs shun international trade NEW research suggests that SMEs across the world are shunning international trade to focus on their domestic markets amid global uncertainty. The annual Global Business Monitor report, from Bibby Financial Services, reveals that nearly two-thirds of SMEs (65 percent) are concerned about the state of the global economy and just seven percent say international trade is the greatest growth opportunity for their business. The study surveyed SME owners and decision makers in Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, the UK and the United States. Findings reveal that the political situation in the U.S. is seen as the greatest threat to global economic growth among SMEs (29 percent), followed by Brexit (20 percent) and conflict, war or terrorism (15 percent). SMEs are significantly more confident about the prospects for their domestic economies. More than half (53 percent) describe the performance of their local economy over the past 12 months as good, while a third (33 percent) expect their local economy to improve over the next year. This rises to 53 percent among businesses in France. In relation to international trade, foreign exchange fluctuation is seen as the greatest obstacle by one in five businesses (20 percent), followed by government regulation (14 percent). and support customers who are experiencing an addiction. The charity plans to complement this course with a new e-learning option in the coming months. The Trust has also launched a new guide for energy suppliers in collaboration with Energy UK to help better identify and support consumers in vulnerable circumstances. The guide, ‘Vulnerability, mental health, and the energy sector: a guide to help identify and support consumers’, provides practical tools for frontline staff to use with consumers in a range of vulnerable situations. Consumer vulnerability is high on the energy industry’s agenda following Ofgem’s recently modified domestic Standards of Conduct requiring gas and electricity suppliers to better identify consumers in vulnerable situations. With the number of energy suppliers increasing, the Trust says the guide comes at an important time to assist energy suppliers in training staff to improve their support to customers. moneyadvicetrust.org Despite concerns about the global economy, SMEs are optimistic about their own future growth. Half (49 percent) of businesses said they’ve grown over the last 12 months, while more than half (55 percent) expect to grow in the next 12 months. Canadian SMEs are most confident about future sales with 70 percent expecting growth. In contrast, SME owners in Hong Kong are the least confident in their local economy with just over a quarter (28 percent) expecting sales to grow and a third (35 percent) expecting sales to decline. Elsewhere, The British Exporters Association (BExA) has said that Export is not ‘the new black’, and has called for the Government to show clearer direction to business through a comprehensive, cohesive Trade Policy. BExA believes that Brexit provides the Government with a once in a lifetime opportunity to lay foundations for new UK export growth; it says that Government departments must be energised and coordinated to achieve UK export success: “BExA calls on the UK Government to publish and follow a transparent, comprehensive, co-ordinated Trade Policy to give UK exporters the tools they need to be successful overseas,” says BExA’s Co Chairman, Marcus Dolman. “Export is not a fad, it is essential to the economic success of this country and Government needs to give business a tangible framework to operate in.” bibbyfinancialservices.com >NEWS IN BRIEF Flying high IRISH peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance has appointed Michael Cawley, the former Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair, as its new chairman. The company has seen lending to Irish SMEs in the first half of 2017 increase by 243 percent on the same period last year. Michael will replace Kingsley Aikins as Chairman, one of the company’s original investors, who will continue to sit on the board as a non-executive director. linkedfinance.com SHORTLIST OUT SOON Entries for the 2018 CICM British Credit Awards have now closed. The shortlist for the awards is due out on 27 November. The awards gala dinner is being held at the Royal Lancaster in London on 8 February. To book a table visit cicmbritishcreditawards.com. Village people METRO Bank has provided YMCA London South West with £30 million of funding to support the planned development and regeneration of social housing accommodation. Richard James, chief executive at YMCA London South West says the funding will be used to regenerate homes for young Londoners, as well as improve and expand its community services across East, South and West London. metrobankonline.co.uk Navigation Tools HOGAN Lovells has launched regtech, a new tool to help fintech firms navigate through the process of FCA authorisation. It will assess their status and preparedness for regulation and help them to identify specific requirements they need address. hoganlovells.com CICM IN BRIEF THIS month's briefing includes details of the four companies to be awarded CICM Centre of Excellence status, Legal Partner DWF discusses fixed fee reforms, the CMI Q3 opening, and Company Watch becoming a Corporate Partner. The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / November 2017 / PAGE 9
Page 1 and 2: CREDIT MANAGEMENT CM NOVEMBER 2017
Page 3 and 4: NOVEMBER 2017 www.cicm.com CONTENTS
Page 5 and 6: OURAML SOLUTION WILL HELPYOU SEAL T
Page 7: Online retail sales on the rise UK
Page 11 and 12: INSOLVENCY The ‘d’ problem - re
Page 13 and 14: OPINION Money for Nothing? Speaking
Page 15 and 16: OPINION AUTHOR - PHIL ARISS mass ad
Page 17 and 18: THE RECOGNISED STANDARD CICM Britis
Page 19 and 20: FRANK Anderson is a contented man.
Page 21 and 22: TOWN AND COUNTRY AUTHOR - SEAN FEAS
Page 23 and 24: HQ PROFILE - MARKETING AND INFORMAT
Page 25 and 26: COUNTRY FOCUS AUTHOR - ADAM BERNSTE
Page 27 and 28: INTERVIEW FECMA Country Profile In
Page 29 and 30: TRADE TALK AEO - putting cargo in t
Page 31 and 32: US BUDGET SQUABBLE CONTINUES THE US
Page 33 and 34: COLLECTIONS businesses are subject
Page 35 and 36: For more information call 01206 322
Page 37 and 38: OPINION AUTHOR - CHRIS SANDERS will
Page 39 and 40: PAYMENT TRENDS Sector Getting Bette
Page 41 and 42: THE CREDIT CONTROL RECRUITMENT SPEC
Page 43 and 44: OPINION AUTHOR - DEREK SCOTT ‘‘
Page 45 and 46: Don't miss this essential legal upd
Page 47 and 48: EDUCATION Train to Gain UNITED UTIL
Page 49 and 50: THE 2017 CICM TURNER LECTURE Friday
Page 51 and 52: OPINION Five best ways to prepare f
Page 53 and 54: Proud supporters of CICMQ With over
Page 55 and 56: BE ONE CLICK AWAY FROM OUR WEBSITE
Page 57 and 58: New CICM members The Institute welc
Page 59 and 60:
BRANCH NEWS Wine and Wisdom Kent Br
Page 61 and 62:
CREDIT CONTROLLER ACHIEVE YOUR FULL
Page 63 and 64:
Cr£ditWho? CICM Directory of Servi
Page 65 and 66:
Cr£ditWho? CICM Directory of Servi
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