Credit Management March 2018

NEWS
IN BRIEF
CICM ELECTIONS
The CICM Advisory Council elections
have now started and members are being
encouraged to consider standing for one of
the 23 vacancies available. Those elected
will provide guidance and help steer the
direction of the Institute.
Visit: cicm.com or email
elections@cicm.com to find out more.
SHARE AND
SHARE ALIKE
EQUIFAX has launched technology to
support Commercial Credit Data Sharing
(CCDS), part of a scheme implemented
by the last Government to give lenders a
comprehensive picture of the financial
health of companies with a turnover of up
to £25 million.
The CCDS uses data from nine banks
and will be able to provide lenders with
information on a company’s cash flow,
debit and credit turnover, alongside
minimum and maximum balances.
The firm says this will be of particular
benefit to SMEs that rarely apply for
finance and have not built up a traditional
credit score. It should also make it easier
for smaller firms to access funding. The
CCDS comes ahead of new EU General
Data Protection Regulation, which is due to
come into force from May.
equifax.co.uk
JOB VACANCY
AT CICM
The CICM is looking for an experienced
Business Development professional to
manage and develop commercial activity
for the Institute. An understanding
of credit management would be an
advantage but is not essential.
Visit: cicm.com/about-cicm/vacanciesat-cicm/
for further details.
CICM In Brief
This month’s briefing includes details of
the new CICM Mentor Hub, the CICM Trade
Credit Conference at the Credit Summit on
15 March, new Duty to Report data, and free
webinars as part of the Shared Services
Forum’s Big Share Week.
Businesses are not saving
for a rainy day
BUSINESSES are failing to put enough cash
into savings to cover unforeseen events,
research from Aldermore has claimed.
The research found self-employed and
small businesses are holding inadequate
amounts of savings, leaving them
unprepared for times where they may not
be able to work such as through illness.
One fifth of businesses said they have no
cash savings, while four in 10 hold less than
£1,000. Fewer than one in 10 of those firms
with a turnover of less than £10,000 held
more than £1,000 in savings.
Despite the low level of savings, more
than half, 54 percent, said they have had
periods where they have been unable to
OBITUARY
earn money because of ill-health.
Aldermore has been calling for the
establishment of an entrepreneur ISA
that could follow a similar model to the
help-to-buy ISA (HISA) but rather than
allowing money to be put aside tax free
for a property deposit, it could be used to
launch a business. Similar to the HISA,
the Government would pay a 25 percent
matched bonus on contributions worth
up to £3,000. Aldermore is also calling for
a small business savings allowance that
would let sole traders, limited companies
and partnerships earn up to £4,000 of
income from savings, tax-free per year.
aldermore.co.uk
Alan Watson –
An Appreciation by Nigel Price
ALAN Watson, a long-time member and
ardent supporter of the CICM, died recently
after a sudden and rapid deterioration
in his health, at the age of 78.
Alan began his career in credit management
with the Mathew Hall business,
moving to Briggs Amasco and then on to
Tarmac, before crossing over to the world
of insolvency in 1981, with a move to Cork
Gully. This gave Alan a role, to which he
was admirably suited, in advising and assisting
credit professionals, particularly
within the construction industry, when
they were faced with the prospect of bad
debts due to the potential, or actual, insolvencies
of customers.
As well as giving support on specific
customer problems, Alan also spent a
great deal of time in giving talks and passing
on his extensive knowledge, and compendium
of ‘war stories’, to gatherings of
Institute members and his vast array of
commercial client contacts, which must
number in their hundreds.
After admiring his professionalism as
a competitor, in the world of insolvency
work, for many years, I was lucky enough
to have the privilege of working alongside
him for 15 years or so, when, after retiring
from Cork Gully, in 1999, Alan came
to work with me at Moore Stephens and,
later, at Begbies Traynor. Unsurprisingly,
Alan’s loyal and extensive group of credit
manager contacts, which he referred
to as ‘the friends’, followed him and we
then jointly hosted their industry credit
forum, affectionately known as ‘the Bath
meeting’, which Alan had run for many
years.
That forum still meets today and his
memory will live on within it. We were
all delighted that Alan was able to join
us at our November meeting, last year,
little knowing that it would be the last
time that he would grace us with his presence.
One member of that forum, Brian
Lewis of Hanson summed him up very
well, when he said: “I was lucky enough
to know Alan Watson for almost 30 years
and worked with him for a short time at
PwC, where we shared the same cell. He
always referred to me thereafter as his excell
mate!
“Throughout his life, Alan treated
everyone he met with the same dignity,
respect and thoughtfulness and no small
amount of humour. Alan was a wealth of
knowledge regarding all things insolvency.
No question was too daft, he responded
just the same, then took the mickey
out of you! Alan was great company, a
great mate and a great man.”
As well as possessing, and willingly
passing on, his encyclopaedic knowledge
of credit management and insolvency,
Alan was also one of the very best people
you could ever be lucky enough to meet
and he possessed a keen sense of humour.
He loved mixing with friends, colleagues
and meeting new people, and had a wonderful
talent for making acquaintances,
both old and new, feel incredibly valued
and totally at ease.
All in all, Alan was an exemplary professional,
a loyal and very able colleague,
a true gentleman, in every way, but also
great fun to be with. He was an all-round
‘good bloke’.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / March 2018 / PAGE 10