Credit Management June 2018

CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
JUNE 2018 £12.00
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
Winds of
change
Headwinds on
the path to
economic
improvement
Sean Feast talks to
the new CEO of Hoist
Finance. Page 13
How Bexley Council
is improving supplier
relationships. Page 16

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JUNE 2018
www.cicm.com
32
COUNTRY FOCUS –
ADAM BERNSTEIN
26 CONTENTS
13 – INTERVIEW
TOWN AND COUNTRY –
COCREDO
Sean Feast talks to the new CEO of
Hoist Finance and discovers more
about the future of debt sale in Europe.
16 – OPINION
How Bexley Council is rewarding its
supply chain with rebates for early
payment and the effects it is having on
its suppliers.
20 – LATE PAYMENT
Nalanda Matia of Dun & Bradstreet
gives her take on the state of the UK
economy.
26 – TOWN AND COUNTRY
Sean Feast meets Dan Hancocks from
CoCredo to discuss the importance of
‘dual’ reports.
34 – A GUIDING HAND
Alex Simmons looks at the role and
team behind the CICM Technical
Committee.
46 – A DAY IN THE LIFE OF
A typical day of a CICM Graduate who
has now taken his first steps into the
world of credit management.
53 – SOAPBOX CHALLENGE
Glen Bullivant on the English psyche
and the predetermination to downplay
our country’s achievements.
@Credit_Magazine
Publisher
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham
OAKHAM, LE15 8NB
CICM GOVERNANCE
President Stephen Baister FCICM / Chief Executive Philip King FCICM CdipAF MBA
Executive Board Laurie Beagle FCICM – Chair / Glen Bullivant FCICM / Sue Chapple FCICM
Larry Coltman FCICM / David Thornley FCICM(Grad) – Treasurer / Pete Whitmore FCICM – Vice Chair
Advisory Council Laurie Beagle FCICM / Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad) / Glen Bullivant FCICM / Sue Chapple FCICM
Larry Coltman FCICM / Kim Delaney-Bowen MCICM / Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Edward Judge FCICM
Christelle Madie MCICM(Grad) / Robert Marr MCICM / Debbie Nolan FCICM / Bryony Pettifor FCICM(Grad) / Allan Poole MCICM
Phil Rice FCICM / Charlie Robertson FCICM / Chris Sanders FCICM / Richard Seadon FCICM. / David Thornley FCICM(Grad)
Debra Weston FCICM Pete Whitmore FCICM
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Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international CICM
membership, as well as additional subscribers
Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without specific permission. Opinions expressed in this magazine do
not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor reserves the right to
abbreviate letters if necessary. The Institute is registered as a charity. The mark ‘Credit Management’ is a registered
trade mark of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.
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Managing Editor
Sean Feast
Deputy Editor
Alex Simmons
Art Editor
Andrew Morris
Telephone: 01780 722910
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 3

EDITOR’S COLUMN
Sean Feast
Managing Editor
Big businesses are not
always the bad guys
I
was alerted to an interesting press
release recently from a merchant
services provider Paymentsense.
More than four in ten Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
in the UK admit to having no
financial buffer to keep the wolves from
the door, despite average monthly debts of
almost four thousand pounds.
With interest rates expected to rise
during 2018, that means more than two
million SMEs appear to have no financial
back-up plan if it all turns the shape of a
pear.
This ‘financial confidence gap’ between
what business owners need to feel secure,
and what they actually have, comes after
the British Business Bank published
a report revealing that small business
confidence and demand for finance are
declining.
The Government-owned development
agency found the proportion of businesses
confident of loan approval fell recently
from 58 percent to 43 percent. The report
also highlighted that lending was flat to
small businesses in 2017. These findings
arrive at a time of uncertainty over
European trade negotiation outcomes,
and reports of an expected medium-term
interest rate increase.
For those businesses that do have
something in reserve, Paymentsense found
that the most popular backup is cash savings
– held by nearly six in 10 (59 percent) of
prepared businesses. A third (34 percent)
said their buffer included property and
nearly a quarter listed an overdraft (23
percent). Plant and machinery featured
for a fifth (20 percent), with 17 percent
using business credit cards.
This is all fascinating stuff, as is the
fact that almost two thirds of SME owners
are in debt. But what really struck me
was a snippet of information buried deep
in the story that to me should have been
the lead. According to the research, more
than half (55 percent) of all SMEs admit to
deliberately paying suppliers and partners
late to ease cash flow problems, and more
than a fifth (21 percent) said they do this
at least once a month.
We are constantly told by various
interest groups, media commentators
and politicians that poor payment
practice is the reserve of big businesses.
They are the pariahs; small businesses
the downtrodden heroes. This research
perhaps confirms what many of us
know to be the truth: that the challenge
is much greater than that, and that
small businesses are as guilty (or not
– depending on your point of view) of
wanting to hold onto their cash for as long
as possible as the rest.
To every business there is a supply
chain. To have a grown-up conversation
about solving the late payment challenge
we first need to ditch the tired and
stereotypical views of big businesses as
being the only baddies.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 4

POWERED
UKCCC
2018
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STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
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BY
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CMNEWS
A round-up of news stories from the
world of consumer and commercial credit
Written by – Sean Feast and Alex Simmons
Services back on track as overall
credit picture remains mixed
Philip King FCICM
Chief Executive of the CICM
Although marginal, we
have seen a positive
overall improvement in
the Index. The confidence
in both Manufacturing
and Services appears to
have increased steadily
in the last quarter.
THE Services sector continues to
show signs of improvement in
business confidence according to
the latest results (Q1 2018) from
the UK’s Credit Managers’ Index (CMI), the
quarterly barometer from the Chartered
Institute of Credit Management (CICM).
The 1.5-point increase in Services sees the
index close at 54.6, a 0.3 percent climb on Q4
2017. Manufacturing also continues to rise,
up 1.0 on Q4 to 57.2. The CMI’s headline figure
is also on the rise, increasing by 1.4 points to
55.4, which is currently more optimistic than
the market as the FTSE All Share dropped by
eight percent.
The index of favourable factors all
performed well in the first Quarter with
increases across the board: Credit Sales rose
by 4.4 to 70.6; Order Book was +2.8 higher
(69.8); and New Credit Applications climbed
an impressive 7.4 to close on 66.4.
Results from the index of unfavourable
factors, however, were mixed, with four of the
seven measures dropping points. However,
the remaining three did show signs of
improvement: Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
was +0.9 higher (56.1); Bad Debt Provision
increased by 4.6 to close on 48.9; and
Overdues climbed 6.1 points to 52.3.
Philip King, Chief Executive of the CICM,
says the latest results show steady progress:
“Although marginal, we have seen a positive
overall improvement in the Index. The
confidence in both Manufacturing and
Services appears to have increased steadily
in the last quarter. This progress is positive
but it is important to remain cautious as
things can change quickly with various
potential pitfalls on the horizon.”
The CMI’s results show a shift in regional
confidence, with Wales, East Midlands,
Northern Ireland, North West and North
East all falling below the 50-point threshold.
Scotland, London and South East continue to
lead the way with over 60 points.
The CMI’s sector-specific results show
all but three of the 19 sectors meeting or
exceeding the positive threshold. The three
sectors that are struggling are Insurance
(42.0), Basic Resources (48.0) and Chemicals
(40.0). Oil and Gas and Personal and
Household Goods are setting the pace, both
on 70 points.
The CMI is a diffusion Index, producing
scores of between one and 100 (typically in
a range of 40 – 60). Ten equally weighted
factors are included – three favourable
and seven unfavourable and the Index is
calculated on a simple average of 10 factors.
cicm.com
>CSA ACTS TO HELP THOSE WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
THE Credit Services Association (CSA) has
proactively revised its Code of Practice to
make it easier for customers to evidence
mental health problems that affect their
ability to manage their money without having
to revert to the Debt and Mental Health
Evidence Form (DMHEF) for which GP’s often
levy a substantial charge.
John Ricketts, President of the CSA, says
that individuals should not have to pay for
medical evidence, where such evidence
may be used to help improve their financial,
physical and mental well-being: “Those who
are most vulnerable should not have to take on
more debt to prove it,” he says.
The revised Code advises members
not to ask customers to approach health
professionals for evidence in the first instance,
but rather to engage with the customer to
better understand their position, consider
what evidence of their health problem is
appropriate, and to seek other forms of
supporting evidence (such as a prescription or
appointment letter) if necessary.
Only as a last resort, or if the evidence
is directly required by the original creditor,
should the Debt and Mental Health Evidence
Form be requested – and even then, the cost
should not be borne by the individual in debt.
The change follows a series of meetings
last year, championed by the Prime Minister,
Theresa May, the Minister for Mental
Health, Jackie Doyle-Price, and the Money &
Mental Health Policy Unit, in which various
organisations (including the CSA), charities
and clinicians (including the BMA), discussed
how the Form is used and paid for.
Jackie Doyle-Price MP, praised the move
by the CSA describing it as a significant step:
“Around half of those with a debt problem also
have mental ill health and many of those with
a mental health condition cite concerns about
money as a contributing factor,” she said.
“Everyone with a mental health condition
deserves to be treated compassionately and
I encourage other groups to follow the CSA’s
lead to ensure their customers’ mental health
is both respected and protected.” csa-uk.com
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 6

Transfer ensures continuity of
UK’s main payment systems
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
OPERATIONAL responsibility for the Bacs
and Faster Payments systems, which
process a combined £6.3 trillion worth of
payments annually, has transferred to the
New Payment System Operator (NPSO).
The move is said to ensure the continuity
of operations of the UK’s main payment
systems, which are relied upon every
day for thousands of salaries, benefits,
bills, mortgage and other internet and
mobile banking payments. Users of these
payment systems will not have to do
anything differently; all payments are being
processed as usual.
The transfer of the operational
responsibility and control for the Bacs
and Faster Payments products and
managed services occurs simultaneously
with Bacs and Faster Payments schemes
becoming subsidiary companies of the
NPSO. Bringing the retail payment systems
together is a key step in establishing a
single voice for retail payments in the
NPSO and it is hoped it will enable a vibrant
economy, reduce complexity and risk and
provide a platform for future competition
and innovation.
Paul Horlock, Chief Executive of the
New Payment System Operator, says this
is the opportunity to create the future of
retail payments in the UK: “We will be the
leading payments authority that will create
a best in class payment infrastructure,
and standards in the UK for the benefit of
people everywhere.”
The Cheque & Credit Clearing Company
Limited (C&CCC), that manages the paper
processing system for cheques and
incorporates the Image Clearing System
(ICS), is also due to join the NPSO in the
coming months along with UK Payments
Administration Limited (UKPA), the
company that provides people, facilities
and business services to the payment
ecosystem.
newpso.uk
Strategic support
SUE Chapple FCICM, a familiar face in the
credit management profession and active
contributor to the CICM Think Tank, is
joining the CICM as Strategic Relationship
Manager. Commenting on her appointment,
Philip King FCICM Chief Executive said: “Sue
will be known to many at the Institute in
her roles as an Executive Board Trustee and
member of the Advisory Council, which she
has now resigned. She brings a wealth of
experience, is passionate about the Institute
and is looking forward to using both her
credit management and relationship skills
to the benefit of the CICM.”
MatchPlace launches new invoice platform
A new peer-to-peer invoice finance platform has been launched, billed as offering cash
advances of up to 85 percent of the value of an unpaid bill. MatchPlace IF is said to enable
private and institutional investors, as well as banks, to fund invoices, thus releasing capital
for SMEs. Businesses can submit their invoices through the MatchPlace IF platform for
verification and receive up to 85 percent of their face value from registered investors.
MatchPlace was founded by Tusk Capital Chief Executive, Andrew Irvine, former Global
Head of Forex at Credit Agricole, Benjamin Gedeon and IT expert Christophe Monget.
The company also offers a foreign exchange service for SMEs called MatchPlace FX.
matchplace.com
Encore encore
ENCORE has reached an agreement to
purchase the remaining interest in Cabot
held by existing shareholders, including J.
C. Flowers and Co, for five million shares of
Encore common stock and £175.5 million
(approximately $238.2 million) which will
result in Cabot becoming a wholly owned
subsidiary of Encore. In 2013, Encore made
an initial investment in Cabot representing
an approximate 43 percent ownership
interest. Encore’s decision to acquire
the remaining interest is said to reflect
Cabot’s strong performance since Everest’s
initial investment nearly five years ago.
The transaction is subject to regulatory
approvals and other customary closing
conditions. encorecapital.com
New CFO at Hoist finance
HOIST Finance has appointed Christer
Johansson as its new Chief Financial Officer.
Christer has been working at Hoist Finance
since 2014 and has held the positions of
Head of Business Control and Head of Group
Finance, and since the end of March 2018 he
has served as acting CFO.
“We have conducted a thorough
recruitment process, and we are very pleased
that we were able to find the best candidate
internally. Christer has extensive industry
expertise and the right professional and
personal qualities to support Hoist Finance
when we now are about to take the next
steps in terms of growth and operational
efficiency,” says Klaus-Anders Nysteen, CEO
of Hoist Finance.
Christer has experience from the
banking industry with several positions
within business development, advisory
and front office management at SEB. He
also has experience in strategic planning
and business development from his role
as Management consultant at McKinsey &
Company.
“Having been with the company for nearly
four years, I know the company well and
feel strongly committed to our mission. I look
forward to work together with the finance
department and our whole management
team to execute on our strategy and vision,”
Christer adds. hoistfinance.com
“We have conducted a
thorough recruitment
process, and we are very
pleased that we were
able to find the best
candidate internally’’
Christer Johansson
Chief Financial Officer
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 7

NEWS
IN BRIEF
New Director of High
Court Compliance
COURT Enforcement Services has appointed
the experienced and authorised High Court
Enforcement Officer, Alan Smith, as Director
of High Court Compliance. He will report
directly to the Board on all compliance
aspects of High Court Enforcement.
Alan has significant industry knowledge
with over 30 years’ high level management
and operational experience within High
Court Enforcement. He was previously High
Court Enforcement Operations Director and
Head of High Court Enforcement for two
other major enforcement companies.
A former Board Director of the High Court
Officers Association, Alan played a key role
in the design, implementation and delivery
of an educational pathway for Authorisation,
by creating a degree level course in High
Court Enforcement. This was in conjunction
with the professional body ICM (now the
Chartered Institute of Credit Management).
Alan joined the enforcement industry in
1984 where he was a Sheriffs Officer for
West Midlands County, Warwickshire,
Leicestershire, Herefordshire and Kent.
courtenforcementservices.co.uk
Feeling the pinch
UK consumers spent less on leisure
activities in Q1 2018 and adjusted their
discretionary spending in order to prioritise
essentials, according to the latest findings
from the ‘Leisure Consumer Q1 2018’ report
by Deloitte.
Despite improving consumer confidence
in the first quarter of 2018, the quarterly
survey of more than 3,000 UK adults
revealed the extent to which leisure
spending is under pressure.
Consumers reported reducing their leisure
spending in seven out of 11 categories
compared to the same period in 2017.
Culture and entertainment spending fell
by four percentage points year-on-year,
while drinking in pubs/bars and in-home
leisure both saw spending fall by three
percentage points. Of those who spent less
on going out in Q1 2018, almost half (45 per
cent) said they did so because they could
not afford it, suggesting that consumers
were consciously downshifting their
discretionary spending.
The prolonged cold winter and impact
of the ‘Beast from the East’ prompted
consumers to boost their spending on
holidays, with spending on long stay
increasing by three percentage points, while
short break spending rose by two percentage
points year-on-year. deloitte.com/uk
CIFAS reports high
levels of ID fraud
A
new report from Cifas, the UK’s
fraud prevention service, reveals
that identity fraud is on the rise,
and that new ‘products’ including
telecoms and insurance are being targeted.
The report identifies and details the
fraud trends from over 300,000 cases of
fraudulent conduct recorded in 2017. The
data, from 306 organisations, including
many major UK brands, is one of the most
comprehensive pictures of fraud and
fraudulent attempts in the UK.
Although there has been an overall drop
of six percent in cases recorded by Cifas
members, the new figures show concerning
increases in a number of areas.
The number of identity frauds increased
once again in 2017, with almost 175,000
cases recorded. Although this was only a
one percent increase compared with 2016,
it’s a 125 percent increase compared with
ten years ago. The difference this year,
over previous years, is that the increase
is not down to increases in fraudulent
applications for plastic cards and bank
accounts, which are the products most
frequently targeted by identity fraudster,
but due to targeting of other sectors such
as telecoms, online retail and insurance.
This ‘retargeting’ by identity fraudsters
can be seen as a shift towards more
accessible products, such as mobile phone
contracts, online retail accounts, retail
credit loans and short-term loans.
Also increasing last year was the
number of money mules – individuals
who allow their bank account to be used
to facilitate the movement of illegal funds
– a form of money laundering. Individuals
are being targeted online by criminals
promising ‘easy cash’ or encouraged by an
acquaintance to transfer funds for them in
exchange for a payment.
In 2017, Cifas members identified almost
11 percent more bank accounts that bear
the hallmarks of money mule activity
than they did in 2016 – over 32,000 cases.
Criminals are continuing to target younger
people – there was a 27 percent growth in
the number of people aged 14-24 that have
been identified as carrying out this type of
fraud. The findings also reveal that more
than a third of victims of bank account
takeovers were over 60, so age is a key
consideration for facility hijackers when
selecting who they target.
Cifas Deputy Chief Executive, Mike
Haley says the absolute volume of fraud is
still frighteningly high: “Much more still
needs to be done to reduce its prevalence,
including greater collaboration and sharing
of fraud risk data between industry,
government, and law enforcement. Working
together, organisations who are members
of Cifas prevented over £1 billion worth of
fraud last year and Cifas will continue to
lead the way in the fight against fraud and
financial crime.”
In response to increasing numbers
of young people affected by fraud, last
month Cifas and the PSHE Association
launched four anti-fraud education lesson
plans (targeted at 11-16 year-olds) to raise
awareness of this issue in schools.
Elsewhere, a new team of fraudfighters
has already frozen £1 million
from fraudsters trying to trick people into
receiving and transferring cash, according
to the Lloyds Banking Group.
The ‘mule-hunting team’ was formed to
stop the movement of money from scams,
shutting down fraudsters’ attempts to
shift money using cutting-edge defences
developed by specialists from across the
bank. For all of the frozen funds, Lloyds
Banking Group is contacting the sending
banks in order to help them get the money
back to the victims. cifas.org.uk
Much still needs to be done
to reduce its prevalence,
including greater
collaboration and sharing
of fraud risk data between
industry, government, and
law enforcement.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 8

NEWS
IN BRIEF
Government urged to re-think
support for small businesses
THE Government is being urged to re-think
its approach to supporting SMEs after a
new survey revealed the vast majority of
entrepreneurs do not think enough is being
done to back small businesses.
Just one in five (21 percent) business
owners who responded to the survey by
Aldermore think there is enough support
from the Government, with four in ten
(43 percent) calling for better enterprise
education and training.
When entrepreneurs do try to make
use of government support services, the
results appear to be equally disappointing;
less than a quarter (24 percent) found it
easy to find information about government
schemes and only just over a fifth (22
percent) found it easy to find out who to
contact for help; less than one-fifth (19
percent) found it easy to access schemes
that were relevant to their business.
The research also highlights concerns
around existing initiatives that are in
place to help small businesses and
entrepreneurs. Four-in-ten (40 percent)
small businesses said they were aware of
government funded start-up loans, but only
six percent said they had used them. Some
36 percent said they knew about grants for
taking on apprentices, but only four percent
said they had used them. And just over
a quarter (27 percent) of those surveyed
said they were aware of capital allowances
for installing energy saving equipment,
but only five percent had made use of the
scheme.
When asked what kind of support
they would like the vast majority of
entrepreneurs responded with suggestions
that revolve around finance. More than half
(53 percent) said a cash bonus to help start
a business would be useful, four in ten (42
percent) said better tax incentives would
help and 39 percent said they would like
improved rates on business loans.
There was also support for the
creation of an Entrepreneur ISA, targeted
specifically at those looking to start their
own business and the idea of a Small
Business Savings Allowance that benefits
the self-employed.
The research also reveals why such
support is much needed: over half (54
percent) of businesses surveyed hold
less than £1,000 in cashflow while 1-in-7
(15 percent) are experiencing cashflow
problems. This suggests over 750,000
self-employed business owners across
the UK are experiencing financial
difficulty. aldermore.co.uk
Vulnerability and SMEs
top of LSB agenda
THE Lending Standards Board (LSB) has
strengthened its Board and executive team
with the appointments of Dave Pickering,
now permanently appointed as CEO, and
Martin Coppack as Deputy CEO. The LSB
says these appointments signal that it
intends to help restore trust in the sector,
with a clear focus on vulnerable consumers
and small businesses.
Martin was Head of Partnerships at the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where
he created its consumer vulnerability and
financial inclusion programmes, as well as
its model for engaging with consumer and
civil society organisations.
The LSB has also appointed two new
independent non-executive directors to
the Board. Liz Barclay, Broadcaster and
Consumer Champion and Elaine Kempson,
Emeritus Professor at Bristol University,
bring experience in consumer and small
business affairs and are looking forward
to helping develop the LSB’s consumer
agenda. lendingstandardsboard.org.uk
CoCredo launches
new DUAL service
CoCredo has launched a new DUAL
Reporting Service, helping customers
to make a more informed decision by
comparing dual data sources, opinions and
insight in a single report.
Managing Director, Dan Hancocks says
the new service has been more than a year
in the making: “From our research we have
found that a growing number of people
use multiple reports when credit checking
companies to gain a wider understanding
of a business and to give them more peace
of mind,” he explains.
“However, it can become very costly and
time-consuming logging into different
systems and comparing credit reports that
are in different formats. Our DUAL Report
aims to take away this stress and expense
and will save you time by only needing to
look at one report. You will also have the
benefit of having our Customer Services
Team on hand to discuss queries on both
sets of data in one phone call.”
cocredo.co.uk See our interview on page 26.
New UK Finance
appointment
UK Finance has appointed Charlotte
Duerden to its Board. Charlotte has been
with American Express for 17 years and
has extensive experience across product,
marketing and acquisition.
During her time with the company she
has held various senior leadership roles
in the UK, Australia and New Zealand,
including Head of Product, Pricing and
Portfolio Management for Europe, with
responsibility for consumer and business
to business product across the region.
Her expertise in the cards and monoline
industry will further contribute to the UK
Finance Board’s knowledge in the consumer
and retail space.
The Board, which is led by UK Finance
Chair Bob Wigley, has been developed
to ensure senior and fair representation
across the industry. It focuses on issues of
importance to retail, SME and wholesale
customers including ethics, financial
inclusion, financial fraud, crime, access
to markets and diversity. The consumer
voice is also represented on the board via
the inclusion of an independent consumer
champion. ukfinance.org.uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 9

NEWS
IN BRIEF
David Kerr steps down
AFTER ten years at the helm of the
Insolvency Practitioner’s Association
(IPA’s) secretariat team, David Kerr FIPA
MCICM is stepping down as CEO to explore
new challenges and opportunities in the
profession and beyond.
During David’s tenure, the IPA has grown
considerably at a time when the insolvency
market generally has been shrinking. The
Association now regulates more than 550
licensed appointment-takers, including
those of the Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA) under the
terms of a collaboration agreement entered
into in 2016, and has seen its regulated IP
population increase by 50 percent over the
period.
David, a regular contributor to Credit
Management, has overseen the development
of the IPA into one of the two main
insolvency regulators in England and Wales
and leaves the organisation in a strong
position as the professional body recognised
as the specialist in this sector.
“The IPA is now firmly established as
a professional body with a reputation as
a regulator that is second to none, but
importantly also as an organisation that
understands the insolvency profession and
those who choose to make their careers in
this specialist field,” David says. “It has a
great team at its core, many of whom are
insolvency people through and through,
and it has been my privilege to serve the
Association and its members for the last
ten years and help strengthen its standing
in the insolvency community and among
stakeholders.” insolvency-practitioners.org.uk
Knowledge Hub
The CICM Knowledge Hub is now officially
open, giving members access to more than
1,000 resources covering the entire credit
management lifecycle, anytime, anywhere.
Key articles, research papers from industry
experts, webinars, and best-practice
guidance can be found in an easy to search
format. Stay up-to-date with new and topical
resources added each month. Members can
also access tailored e-learning courses on a
wide range of subjects, and certificates make
learning visible as you track your progress.
cicm.com/cicm-knowledge-hub
Oh Lord! King’s
dismay at
poor research
PHILIP King, Chief Executive of the
CICM, has expressed dismay at the
quality of debate taking place in the
House of Lords and the Commons
surrounding the issue of late payment.
In a blog posting in May, Philip referred
to a specific debate in the House of Lords
to ask Her Majesty’s Government of their
assessment of the effectiveness of the
Prompt Payment Code. “My gripe here,” he
says, “is not the criticism voiced but the
quality of research and debate.”
The debate didn’t get off to a good start:
“In her opening statement, Baroness Burt
referred to the Payment Practices Reporting
Regulations under which, from this April,
large businesses must provide details every
six months of their standard payment
terms, how they resolve payment disputes
and the percentage of payments they make
within 30 and 60 days. “The Regulations
actually came into effect in April 2017,
not April 2018, and companies have been
reporting terms since October 2017, and
well over 1,000 have so far done so.
“Should the Baroness’s researcher not
have known this, or at least been able to
find out since the data is available on a
public portal?” Philip writes.
‘A number of Lords contributed to the
debate and much was said. Did any of
the Lords or their researchers speak to
the CICM, which manages the Code for
government, and ask for facts or data? No.
Did any of them speak to the CICM to verify
their assertions in the House? No. Would
the CICM have been willing to answer their
questions or queries? Yes, of course. Would
the debate have been improved if it had
been better informed? Yes.
“Sometimes,” he concluded, “I think we
deserve better.”
“Should the Baroness’s
researcher not have
known this, or at
least been able to find
out since the data is
available on a public
portal?”
Call to cap the cost of doorstep loans
THE MP for Horsham, Jeremy Quin, has
called for the Financial Conduct Authority
(FCA) to extend the payday loan cap to
doorstep lending.
In response, the Prime Minister,
Theresa May, said that the Government ‘is
committed to ensuring that consumers are
protected from unfair lending practices’
and has ‘given the FCA new powers to cap
the cost of credit and they'll do so if they
believe it's necessary to protect consumers’.
Citizens Advice Chief Executive, Gillian
Guy, believes there's a need for a cap on the
cost of rent-to-own and doorstep loans: “As
the Prime Minister says, the FCA has the
powers to cap the cost of these forms of
credit and better protect those consumers
who are falling victim to their high costs.
"We know the easy refinancing of
doorstep loans can lead to problem debt.
Our figures show that one in two of the
people we helped with rent-to-own debts
borrowed again in order to meet their
repayments."People should never have
to pay back more than twice what they
borrow, which is why we're calling for the
FCA to use their high-cost credit review to
put in place a cap in these markets.”
Ms Guy says that the Government's
payday loan cap more than halved the
number of people with unmanageable
payday loan debts: “By extending this cap
to doorstep lending and rent-to-own, our
research shows the FCA could protect
consumers from paying up to £165 million
a year." fca.org.uk citizensadvice.org.uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 10

FCA alerts public to rising
number of loan fee scams
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
is urging the public to be alert to the
growing threat of loan fee scams targeting
borrowers. Last year more than £3.5 million
was lost to loan fee fraud and reports to the
FCA consumer helpline almost doubled.
Victims of loan fee fraud are often
targeted while searching for loans online
and are then contacted by fraudsters
offering a loan. The scammer tells the
victim they have to pay an upfront fee
for the loan which they ultimately never
receive. Once the first payment is made
victims are often persuaded to make
multiple payments; last year the average
loss was £740.
In 2017 there were more than 4,700
reports of loan fee scams made to Action
Fraud. It has now overtaken investment
fraud as the most common scam reported
to the FCA. Scammers target the most
financially vulnerable in society, people on
lower incomes and with low credit ratings,
ANGEL OF
THE NORTH
A new partnership has been formed to provide
commercial finance to entrepreneurs who want to
launch or grow businesses across the Yorkshire region.
The Business Catalyst Club has agreed a deal with ABL
Business to create Business Catalyst Finance. The
partnership will complement the equity and venture
capital activities of the Business Catalyst Club by
providing access to a broad range of funding options
such as commercial property finance, business loans
and venture capital along with alternative finance
opportunities like asset-based lending and
peer-to-peer lending. businesscatalystclub.co.uk
who have limited access to mainstream
credit.
New FCA research shows that 34
percent of those surveyed admitted they
weren’t confident they knew how to
check if a loan provider was legitimate.
Additionally, 36 percent of those who
took out a loan product in the last three
years didn’t do any checks to ensure the
legitimacy of their loan provider.
Research shows that over a third of
people (36 percent) usually just accept what
financial firms tell them. Fraudsters take
advantage of this attitude and have a range
of genuine sounding reasons for asking for
a fee – including claiming it’s a deposit,
admin fee or insurance for those with low
credit ratings. Other warning signs include:
being asked to pay in an unusual way e.g.
by iTunes vouchers or a money transfer
service; being put under pressure to pay the
fee quickly; and being asked to pay multiple
fees. fca.org.uk
Intrum takes out time for a chat
INTRUM UK, the has become one of the
first debt collection agencies to deploy a
collections ‘chatbot’ – a consumer enquiry
service powered by artificial intelligence.
The chatbot enables customers to
receive answers to their questions 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. The technology is
being piloted in Intrum’s UK and Norwegian
businesses before it is deployed globally.
The intelligent system was created
by Norwegian Fintech firm Boost AI. The
developers claim it can answer more than
730 different questions posed by customers
as well as signposting debt advice, mental
health support, self-service payment
options and human customer support.
In the first three months of use in
Norway, the chatbot conducted 15,900 live
chats and the company claimed it was
able to answer 90 percent of the 47,500
questions received. All chatbot activities
are monitored through Intrum’s dashboard,
which will be used to adjust and further
develop the technology to meet customer
needs. In future, the chatbot will be able
to answer customer-specific questions
on accounts, such as current balance and
next payment date as well as integrating
seamlessly with human chat.
The technology offers customers the
ability to manage their accounts and seek
help at any time. As well as extending
service, Inturm says the development
means customer support representatives
can focus on complex cases such as
those involving customers in vulnerable
circumstances.
Hannah Cook, Intrum Group
Digitalisation Program Director, says
the ambition is to be the leading player
in the industry: “We want to be setting
the standard for how new technology
can be used to better serve our clients
and customers. The introduction of this
debt collection chatbot in the UK takes
customer service to the next level and is an
important step on this journey”.
intrum.com
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
2019 AWARDS
The date for the CICM British Credit
Awards has been set for 7 February
2019 and will once again be held
at the impressive Royal Lancaster,
London. For details of the awards visit:
cicmbritishcreditawards.com.
Northern steel
THE Northern Powerhouse Investment
Fund (NPIF) has invested more than £50
million across the Northern Powerhouse
region, supporting over 260 small and
medium growing companies. The significant
achievement was announced by Ken Cooper,
Managing Director, Venture Solutions at
the British Business Bank as he spoke to
investee businesses, key stakeholders,
partners and fund managers at NPIF’s oneyear
anniversary event in Leeds.
The £400 million Fund, which is
supported by the European Regional
Development Fund, HM Government, and the
European Investment Bank, was launched
by the British Business Bank as a key part
of the government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’
vision, which aims to create economic
prosperity in the North of England. npif.co.uk
An audience with...
FOLLOWING the announcement that the
Civil Court Users Association (CCUA) has
secured Susan Acland-Hood CEO of Her
Majesty’s Courts & Tribunal Service as its
Keynote Speaker for this year’s Annual
Conference in Birmingham on 16 October,
Chair Amir Ali, met and briefed Prime
Minister Theresa May about the work of the
CCUA. “She seemed genuinely interested in
what the CCUA stood for and our collective
concerns about the Court Service in general,”
Amir says. “And indeed the vital work that
we do on behalf of our members.”
ccua.org.uk
CICM
IN BRIEF
This month’s briefing includes details of
the Education Conference on 26 June, dates
for Level 3 and Level 5 Classes, the CICM
Virtual Summer School, how to become a
CICM Mentor, and the opening of the booking
window for June 2018 online exams.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 11

INSOLVENCY
Regulation – the natural
tensions
Will current reviews bring about change?
AUTHOR – David Kerr MCICM
David Kerr
REGULATORS fight a constant
battle in which
the warring factions are
combinations of independence,
accountability,
effectiveness and
perceptions of all three. The hearts and
minds they are trying to win are usually
the regulated population, overseers and
the public to varying degrees.
The UK insolvency regime is closely
aligned with the accountancy profession,
and the current review of regulatory
arrangements in that arena has the
potential to have some impact on what
happens in the insolvency world. The
Business Secretary of State called for
a review of the Financial Reporting
Council (FRC), the accountants' overseer,
following the Carillion collapse. It is
interesting to note that a high profile
insolvency case has triggered what could
become a chain reaction and rebound on
insolvency regulation.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Some MPs have criticised FRC's perceived
ineffectiveness in certain cases, seeming
to attribute this to a lack of independence.
This appears to hinge on the participation
in the decision-making process of
individuals who have a background with
the large accountancy firms.
There are parallels in the way
insolvency work is regulated. There is
always likely to be what some perceive to
be a conflict of interests when those in the
profession become involved in regulating
it, and yet to be effective the regulator
needs that input. What it does create is
some natural tension, which has to be
carefully managed.
Insolvency regulators have moved to
increase lay input into the process. The
Association of Chartered Accountants
(ACCA) was one of the first to make its
committees and tribunals independent,
and the IPA recently appointed a lay chair
of its Investigation Committee which
reviews complaints against Insolvency
Practitioners. But are these real gamechangers
or cosmetic adjustments to
create an appearance of independent
gloss on processes dominated by the
people who make up an element of the
regulated population?
The trick is to find a balance that
can deliver effective regulation through
independent decision-making – free of
any direct conflicts and inappropriate
influence, while retaining necessary
expertise without which it would be
difficult to challenge poor practice. The
best lay minds will acknowledge that they
need professional help. The Insolvency
Service oversees the processes of the
recognised professional bodies in the
UK and has passed their systems fit for
purpose on more than one occasion, but
the review functions of the oversight
regulator are ongoing – it is a rolling
review, but with an important milestone
coming up. In 2015 the Service took a
back-stop enabling power (which expires
in 2022) to set up a single regulator for the
insolvency profession if it concludes that
the present regime is not effective.
The changes made by the insolvency
regulators are real enough, and the
integrity of their processes are not
seriously in doubt, but a recurring question
is whether they deliver sufficiently robust
outcomes. Perceptions around this can
be influenced by delay, and/or merely by
decisions that may cause raised eyebrows
among informed bystanders. Those
observers would perhaps be the first
to acknowledge that they haven't seen
all the evidence; however, perceptions
count and putting into the public domain
sufficient information to explain what has
happened, and why, is a challenge. It is
particularly difficult for regulators when
the decision is to make no adverse finding
and/or not to act. In those circumstances
the balance of responsibilities usually
lies with the regulator's obligations
to the regulated person in terms of
confidentiality.
ALL CHANGE?
When interested parties – whether
regulated entities, overseers or the public
– make sufficient noise about their
perceptions of the (in)/effectiveness of
regulators, ministers are likely to want
to see something change. There is a
temptation for overseers to intervene,
and for things to be shaken up. The
question that should be asked is whether
alternative structures would produce
'better' results. Would a single insolvency
regulator in England and Wales be more
effective than the two main professional
bodies in keeping IPs in check? Or would
the creation of a shiny new organisation
merely satiate the critics for a while until
the next decision raises those eyebrows?
The outcome of the FRC review
may have some bearing on where the
Insolvency Service goes with its own
assessment of the case for a single regulator
or some more modest changes to increase
independence and transparency. The
natural tensions referred to above must
be policed by the regulators themselves
and by the oversight bodies. The privilege
of self-regulation, or at least the delegated
statutory model enjoyed in insolvency,
is highly valued by practitioners, and
generally works in creditors’ interests
as well, even if they are only indirect
beneficiaries.
But even if insolvency has its house in
order, is there a risk that the findings of
the FRC review will bring consequences
for insolvency regulation? And would
change be beneficial to creditors? The 2022
deadline is nearer than at first appears, as
any case for change has to be assessed in
good time to activate the provision before
its expiry. The FRC review, expected to
be concluded by the end of this year,
will be timely, and any curtailment of
professional input in the regulation
process could have implications in other
areas.
David Kerr MCICM is an insolvency
practitioner with extensive regulatory
experience.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 12

INTERVIEW
CLASS ACT
Sean Feast speaks to Klaus-Anders
Nysteen, the new CEO of Hoist Finance,
about the pan-European market for debt
purchase, new asset classes and the
Royal Navy’s tradition for sticky buns
and tea.
KLAUS-Anders Nysteen is a
man on a mission. As the new
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of Hoist Finance, he already
knows what success looks
like: “I see more mergers and
acquisitions in the coming years and further
consolidation, resulting in a smaller number
of much larger players. Our mission is to be
one of those players.”
It seems appropriate, given his comments,
that we meet in Milton Keynes at the former
offices of Compello, one of Hoist Finance’s
acquisitions. “There are perhaps 15 ‘names’
who can deliver a truly pan-European service,”
he continues, “and I expect that in five years’
time there will only be five or six of us in the
market. Alongside the major transactions I
also expect to see a continuation of ‘bolt on’
deals as businesses look to build scale.”
One thing that is immediately apparent
about Klaus-Anders Nysteen is that he is
entirely transparent. He says what he thinks,
but what he thinks has been meticulously
thought out. It is not about shooting from the
hip; everything has a logic and a purpose.
EARLY CAREER
A Norwegian by birth, his father was an
engineer and fancied that his son might one
day do something in the engineering field.
Klaus-Anders, however, had different ideas,
having always been attracted to the concept
of business and finance. His early career,
however, took off in an entirely different
direction when he turned the obligation of
National Service to his advantage:
“At the time you had to wait until your time
came around but I decided to jump the queue
and volunteer for the Royal Norwegian Naval
Officer training programme. It was at the time
of the Cold War and felt very ‘real’,” he explains,
“but it was a tremendous time in my life when
I learned a great deal about companionship
and leadership, and the importance of teams.
You were given considerable responsibility at a
comparatively young age, and although I never
intended for it to be a long-term appointment, I
ended up staying in the Navy for 11 years!”
Klaus-Anders’ time at sea was spent
mainly in fast patrol boats and frigates and
included a secondment to the Royal Navy on
the assault ship, HMS Intrepid. “It was steam
powered,” he recalls, “and below decks it was
all rather old and rusty, like the submarine in
Das Boot!”
He smiles now to remember the culture
shock of stopping every day for sticky buns
and tea, and the obligatory visit to the bar
before lunch. He also laughs when he thinks of
the huge terrines of soup that preceded every
dinner, and the enormous silver spoons with
which they ate.
But although the Navy was an important
part of his formative years, he is keen not to
be thought of as a naval man. Certainly there
is nothing ‘military’ about his character; he is
much warmer and more approachable than
some typical ex-servicemen in the UK, and while
he has the title of CEO he is not hierarchical in
either his culture or his manner. That’s not to
say that the navy did not teach him lessons that
he now uses in later life. It also enabled him
to study for an MBA at the Norwegian School
of Management that ultimately took him down
the path to where he is today.
SEAFOOD STARTER
His first shot at real business came when he
applied for and was appointed to the role as
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Hydro Seafood
GSP and was appointed Country Manager for
Scotland: “I was based in Stirling,” he recalls,
“and had to travel all around Scotland and the
Highlands to Fort William, the Outer Hebrides,
the Shetland Isles and all over the country. It
was such a beautiful place to work, and even
though I still own a bottle of 21-year old Oban
(it’s probably now 42, he jokes) I never really got
the taste for Whisky!”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 13
continues on page 14 >

Being part of the Norsk Hydro Group meant belonging to a
business likened to being the GE of Norway with a vision of
‘harvesting the sea’: “It was fascinating to be part of a global
industry,” he says, “and the management had a culture that
nothing was too complicated.”
Klaus-Anders played an important part in restructuring
and turning the Scottish subsidiary around after a successful
exit from Norsk Hydro, implementing new processes and
reporting systems and integrating new businesses as they were
acquired. Tempted away to Norway Post, he spent six years as
CFO (and later acting CEO) helping to manage a business at a
critical point of industrial and social change: “Use of letters and
the ‘traditional’ post was on the decline and we went from a
workforce of 25,000 to 13,000 in only two and half years,” he
explains.
“It was at the same time that the Royal Mail went through
its disastrous rebranding to Consignia but we were more swift
and decisive in our actions, replacing old revenues with new
revenues, and launching new logistics and express delivery
services that reflected the consumers’ increasing use of online
shopping.”
CORE COMPETENCIES
His strategy to redefine its business idea and enter new markets,
coupled with a renewed focus on core competencies, had the
desired effect. Quality improved, as did levels of customer
satisfaction. The numbers also improved: in 2005, Norway
Post delivered the best annual figures ever in the history of the
company.
Tempted away again, Klaus-Anders joined Storebrand
Bank for his first foray into the world of banking and credit:
“I thought it was easy,” he smiles, “and for a time it was. Then
came the financial crash and I had to learn about counter-party
risk, short funding and non-performing loans the hard way!”
Happily, Storebrand Bank survived when others didn’t, again
thanks to decisive action: “We brought our costs down partly by
shifting our employees to lower cost environments and we got
through it. It was a case of ‘all hands’ on deck’!”
Happy in his role as the bank’s CEO he had no intention
of reverting to his previous duties as CFO, until Statoil came
knocking: “When Statoil calls you listen,” he laughs. “It is an
iconic name in Norway and it had an interesting proposition
to IPO its fuel and retail business on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
My role was to manage the IPO process and I was given until
October (I had started in June) to achieve it. I was told that delay
was not an option, and by 22 October the listing was complete.”
Klaus-Anders says this was a particularly rewarding time:
“We had to work around the clock to make it happen,” he recalls,
“but it was great fun. We were pioneers in taking a business that
was non-core to the oil and gas industry and making it ‘core’ –
in effect creating an industry to run on its own merit.”
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Klaus-Anders
joined Entra, a government-owned real-estate business, in 2013
as CEO, once again leading the business to an IPO before taking
the post as CEO of Lindorff Group, part of Nordic Capital which
later merged with Intrum Justitia: “The timing was awkward,”
he remembers, “because I had only just IPO’d Entra and there
was still work to do. We had a new team on board, however, and
the investors are happy since the value of their investment has
doubled in four years.”
RED THREAD
The ‘red thread’, as Klaus-Anders calls it, that runs through his
senior management career is that he is drawn to particular
challenges rather than industries: it might be a turnaround
situation; a strategy shift; consolidation; growth; survival; or
taking a company public. In joining Lindorff he was faced with
very complex issues around culture and leadership: “As a valuesbased
leader I was intrigued by the challenge,” he admits, “and
“Without credit, growth stops and
transactions don’t take place. If
credit defaults and creditors are
not paid, then trust in the system
breaks down, so while our clients
are important, the relationship
with our customers is perhaps
even more so.”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 14

INTERVIEW
AUTHOR – SEAN FEAST
attracted by the international challenge
and bringing the business together.”
It was a similar intrigue that ultimately
led to his joining Hoist Finance: “I had
met Jorgen (the previous CEO) on several
occasions and it was clear that we shared
similar thoughts on the importance of
culture, values, ethics, compliance and
regulation. He was very visionary and entrepreneurial.
My challenge now is continuing
to grow the business and ensure
we have the processes and structure to accommodate
future growth without losing
momentum. Growth is our number one
ambition, so we need to focus on operational
excellence and ensure our strategies
are aligned throughout the business.”
Klaus-Anders has been quick to put
his personal stamp on the business,
explaining his vision to the team across
Europe in a series of ‘town hall’ meetings
and canteen lunches. His views on credit
are refreshing: “What we do is important,”
he explains. “Without credit, growth stops
and transactions don’t take place. If credit
defaults and creditors are not paid, then
trust in the system breaks down, so while
our clients are important, the relationship
with our customers is perhaps even more
so.”
PAN-EUROPEAN COMPARISONS
Being pan-European, Klaus-Anders is able
to compare and contrast the experiences
of different consumer types and their
attitudes towards credit: “Whether you
are talking to a consumer in Duisburg
or Milton Keynes, most people want
to repay their debts and honour their
commitments. Our role is to help them
and motivate them to achieve that and
return to financial health.”
In terms of how he intends to deliver
on his vision, the new CEO tells me of a
story recently published in the Guardian
newspaper about the success of the
Norwegian Alpine Skiing team and its
‘no jerks’ policy: “One reason they are
so successful is that although it is an
individual sport, they help each other, and
try and learn from each other, working
as a team. They won’t tolerate jerks, and
that’s why they win!”
Klaus-Anders is keen to see the same
concept of ‘sharing’ knowledge and
experience throughout the group as a
key ingredient to success. A good idea in
Germany, he believes, will be a good idea
in the UK or Spain. “The challenge is in
knowing what we know,” he explains, “and
then documenting it so that everyone can
benefit.”
His views on the pan-European market
for debt sale and purchase are especially
interesting. While the UK is a mature
market, he sees this as an advantage: “The
UK is mature, professional, sophisticated
and highly regulated, and I expect the
other markets to follow which will be
a good thing,” he explains. “I welcome
regulation as a friend; it raises the bar and
means that the thresholds for entering the
market are higher.
“I like mature markets,” he continues.
“They are rational and competitive, and
the risk/reward is positive. We are also
looking at new and less mature markets
like Italy (Intrum recently completed a
large deal in Italy), Spain and Greece.
In Spain, the unemployment numbers
are coming down, but at 16 percent,
Spain is still a laggard. At the peak of
the crisis, 40 percent of those under 30
were unemployed. Although things are
improving, the crisis is not resolved. In
Greece, too, they are enjoying a recovery
and we are early to the market through a
partnership and now our own platform,
so that too is exciting.”
In terms of portfolio types, Klaus-
Anders quashes previous discussions that
may have been aired about diversifying
into different markets. “Our core strength
is the banks and being a bank ourselves
we have a better understanding of how
the banks’ agendas can move, and what
we need to do to add value. A specialist
will beat a generalist every time; focus is
good. Focusing on a few markets and one
customer group is our mission – to have
wider products and deeper penetration.”
ASSET CLASSES
While Klaus-Anders rules out acquiring
non-banking portfolios, he does not rule
out extending the asset-classes of interest.
Whereas traditionally Hoist Finance
has focused on non-performing loans,
it recently acquired its first portfolio of
commercial mortgage loans and is looking
at what he describes as ‘adjacent’ asset
classes such as SMEs, secured loans and
other paying/performing assets. Servicing
also remains key: “We like our business
model,” he laughs, “and have access to
very efficient funding. It is good to be
regulated to the same level as the banks
and investors are happy with our healthy
balance sheet.”
The new CEO is perhaps conscious that
previous roles have not lasted as long as
he originally envisaged. It is with some
hesitation, therefore, that I ask him where
he sees the business in three years’ time
and what success will look like: “Success
will be when we are one of the big five and
have a reputation as a reliable, innovative
partner with a culture, values and beliefs
that stand out. Success will also come by
being a leader in the digital space, not just
in how we interact with our customers,
but also in how we use data.
“All of us talk about the volume of data
we hold, but actually what is important is
using that data to gain knowledge, from
knowledge we gain insight, and from
insight we deliver action.”
Given his naval background, it is
perhaps unsurprising that he owns a boat
and a second home on the coast which he
shares with his spouse Maria – when they
are together: “She is the CEO of DEA AG,
an oil and gas major based in Hamburg,
so we FaceTime during the week and see
each other at weekends,” he says.
As well as four grown-up children
between them, they also have joint
custody of a 14-year old Norwegian Forest
Cat called Nemi. “Everybody asks about
the cat,” he laughs. “It is very much part
of the family.”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 15

OPINION
WISE COUNCIL
Credit Management spoke to Bexley Council to find
out more about its early payment drive that’s supporting
its supply chain.
AUTHOR – Alex Simmons
THE will to tackle late payment
culture in the UK has intensified
in recent months, with the topic
leading the headlines in the
Chancellor’s Spring Statement and
underlining how significant this
problem – and the determination to address it – has
become. The consultation, announced by Philip
Hammond and due for publication any day, will
aim to identify the most effective way of changing
long-ingrained behaviours.
For too long, it has become the norm to see
large buying organisations holding on to their
cash (despite earning minimal returns), while their
suppliers that need cash find it very hard to secure
finance and often, very expensive. As a result,
many SMEs are forced to increase their prices to
offset the delayed payment, but sometimes the
consequences can be more severe. It is estimated
that late payment is responsible for the failure of as
many as 50,000 businesses each year, at a cost to the
economy of £2.5 billion.
The public sector has a better record of paying
suppliers in a timely manner than private sector
organisations. In 2017, the Time for Change report,
compiled using information obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, revealed how the
majority of invoices (90 percent) sent to local
authorities are paid on time, but also detailed how
the administrative weight of the payment process,
which is further exacerbated by aging accounting
infrastructure and a lack of digitisation, makes
payment performance a challenging area for
councils to address.
Undeterred by the scale of the challenge, the
London Borough of Bexley has really grasped
the nettle when it comes to tackling its payment
practices. With an annual spend of more than
£160 million, the Council introduced its Supplier
Incentive Programme (SIP) in January 2016 to
support suppliers, many of whom are small
local businesses, by making wholesale changes
to its payment function. The programme offers
the Council’s suppliers early settlement of their
invoices in exchange for a discount directly related
to how quickly the payment is made.
Having partnered with Oxygen Finance to deliver
the scheme, the council is now paying suppliers
who have joined the programme within an average
of seven days, with thousands of invoices having
been processed early to date, injecting millions of
pounds of liquidity into the economy.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 16

OPINION
Marc Colman from RC Services in Bexley, which
provides maintenance and emergency repair services
for the council’s outdoor recreation facilities, is one
such supplier who is enjoying the benefits of the new
scheme, as he explains: “We’re a family-run business
and have been working with Bexley, which is our
biggest client, for more than twenty years. Labour costs
are our biggest outlay and being paid faster means we
have the peace of mind that we can pay our contractors
on time. Since the SIP was introduced, we’ve seen
a difference in how quickly we are paid. If I send an
invoice on a Monday, it is usually paid by Thursday and
that’s enormously helpful when you’re running a small
business with high labour costs.”
Andrew Hubbard, Managing Director of Bexleybased
property management company, Under My
Roof, one of the largest suppliers of temporary
accommodation to the council, also welcomes the
benefits: “Cashflow is the lifeblood of a business and
having access to swift payment, especially from major
clients, is hugely reassuring – we can be confident that
we’ll get paid as quickly as we can submit an invoice.
Using the SIP has enabled us to grow our business in,
what can only be considered, a very difficult time in
the housing market.”
“In our experience, once an
organisation recognises the
benefits of a more strategic
approach to its payment
practices it doesn’t need the
threat of a penalty. It just makes
good business sense all round.”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 17 continues on page 18 >

OPINION
“Cashflow is the
lifeblood of a business
and having access
to swift payment,
especially from major
clients, is hugely
reassuring – we can be
confident that we’ll get
paid as quickly as we can
submit an invoice.
Mick Sullivan
The Council attributes the success
of the programme to the effective
collaboration of several teams, as well as
the robust technology and on-the-ground
support provided by Oxygen Finance to
transform processes. Mick Sullivan, Head
of Procurement at the London Borough
of Bexley, says: “There was genuine
commitment among staff from a number
of departments to work together to improve
our processes – both the Council and our
suppliers are now reaping the rewards.
Today, we believe our internal processes
are second to none, with our ‘no PO, no
pay policy’ being particularly significant in
improving efficiencies.”
Leigh Whitehouse
The revenue generated from the
Supplier Incentive Programme, is being
channelled into frontline services for the
benefit of local residents and the council
is on track to raise £740,000 during the next
five years. Leigh Whitehouse, Director of
Finance for the Council, described the
programme as a “win-win”, highlighting
the fact that “businesses get paid quicker
and the council generates an income
stream that helps us protect the delivery of
frontline services to residents.” The Council
chose to work with Oxygen Finance
because the model means there are no
upfront costs – all of the implementation
investment is made by it and its payment
model is based on performance. If the
programme doesn’t work, it doesn’t get
paid. “That kind of guarantee is essential
when funding is so stretched,” Leigh adds.
Ben Jackson
The challenge facing the Government is
to create an environment in which prompt
payment, and even better, early payment
is recognised as normal business practice
across the board. Ben Jackson, CEO at
Oxygen Finance, is hopeful this is not too
distant a possibility: “In our experience,
once an organisation recognises the
benefits of a more strategic approach to
its payment practices it doesn’t need the
threat of a penalty. It just makes good
business sense all round.”
If you are supplier to the London
Borough of Bexley and want to find out
more, please visit response.oxygenfinance.com/LBBSIP
to register your
interest.

The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 19

EXCLUSIVE REPORT
State of the Nation
An in-depth analysis of the health of the UK economy.
AUTHOR – Nalanda Matia
AMONG fears that Brexit
could damage the United
Kingdom’s economic
growth, the past few
quarters did show rising
global concerns regarding
the country’s overall credit health.
Although there remains a general pattern
of imbalance within the growth structure,
the UK economy has shown pockets of
growth, despite the disquiet.
For example, according to the Office
for National Statistics, overall UK GDP
grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter
of 2017, followed by 0.5 percent in the
final quarter of the year, slightly topping
consensus estimates. A look into the
vertical specific view shows a wide range
of growth by vertical with Manufacturing
and Professional, Scientific and Technical
activities staying on one end of the spectrum
registering quarterly growth rates of one
percent and above in the final quarter of
2017. The growth in Manufacturing could
be driven by accelerated global growth
that improved UK exports. Agriculture
and Other Natural Resources (including
Mining) and Construction remain on the
other side of the spectrum with these
verticals registering negative growth.
Clearly there remain some headwinds for
the British economy to contend with in
order to correct the imbalance among the
major verticals.
Moving from economic growth
towards business deterioration metrics
provides a similar account. A look at
business liquidations over time shows
a turbulent environment over several
quarters following the 2008-09 recession,
with stabilisation and improvement
commencing mid-2013. The last few
quarters highlight a deterioration in
business liquidations, signalling some
stability in the business environment
compared to the last year. Looking at
the same metric by vertical displays
some pockets of weakness on this
front – the Utilities and Transportation
sector shows the highest increase in
business liquidations. On the other
hand, the Government, Agriculture and
Manufacturing sectors demonstrate the
highest levels of deterioration in business
liquidations. It seems that although the
Agricultural sector did not register an
impressive growth in terms of GDP, the
underlying environment for business
stability in the sector may have improved
over the past year.
For a view into the Delinquency and
Failure Risk perspectives, we refer to
Dun & Bradstreet’s UK Failure Risk and
UK Delinquency scores. These scores
represent the probability that a business
will experience significant risk of
operational stress or severe delinquency
within the next 12 months and classifies
them into low and high-risk segments.
The chart shows the percentage of
businesses for each major sector that
fall into the high-risk categories of both
the Delinquency and the Failure Risk
scores. These businesses are identified as
facing extreme risk in the next 12 months
from both operational stress and severe

EXCLUSIVE REPORT
delinquency perspectives. The Materials
Processing/Mining, Transportation and
Utilities and Eating/Drinking Places
sectors have the highest percentage of
businesses at highest risk, and Agriculture
(excluding Mining) has the lowest of one
percent.
Considering the verticals in this
disaggregated manner shows that the
Materials Processing/Mining subsector
may be the one where performance
has been suffering. Specifically, the last
several years have been quite turbulent for
the Mining sector, with commodity prices
reaching both historic highs and lows.
Faced with digital innovations, established
rules of operation within the sector
have also shifted considerably, causing
several businesses some financial distress
recently.
This is also reflected in the payment
performance of the businesses within the
two sectors. We consider the percentage
of trade credit payments that are paid
promptly within the terms of the
transaction by industry. The UK average
for this metric is 31.9 percent, and the
industries provide a similar picture of
being distributed along a significantly
broad range. The Agriculture sector seems
to have the strongest payment health with
over 50 percent of payments being made
promptly, followed closely by Construction
with 42 percent of prompt payments.
Despite slowing growth over the final
quarter of 2017, businesses within the
Construction sector seem to be maintaining
good payment health, possibly indicating
an optimistic outlook in the near-term. The
seasonal nature of this sector on which the
winter weather prevailing within UK and
the Euro area may have some bearing on
this performance and following outlook.
Materials Processing/Mining looms
below the UK average level with an average
26 percent of prompt payments; a contrast
with Agriculture. However, Government
and Machinery Manufacturing remain the
sectors with the lowest percent of prompt
payments, with each paying only 22.1
percent and 24.8 percent (respectively) of
their suppliers promptly within the terms
of the transaction.
Although prompt payments are very
good indicators of the general health of
businesses within an industry sector,
it also remains true that each industry
vertical follows their own norms around
payment of suppliers, so a study of prompt
payments within an industry over time
will provide more insight into the health
of the industry. The chart provides this
temporal comparison of prompt payments
by industry.
A closer look at the metrics over time
shows that almost all verticals have made
some improvement in the percent of
transactions for which they make prompt
payments over the past 12 months. The only
exception being the Eating/Drinking Places
sub-segment, where prompt payment
declined by two percent. The Government
sector, which registers the lowest percent
of prompt payments across verticals, also
shows the least improvement (1.4 percent)
over the past year. The Construction sector
topped the list with a considerably large
improvement in prompt payments – a little
over 14 percent. The two Manufacturing
sub-segments – Consumer and Machinery
– follow closely, registering 10.5 percent
and 10.2 percent hike in prompt payments
over the past year.
Although the primary industry
they belong to has a strong bearing on
businesses’ organisation, conduct and
performance, the area in which they
are located and their size are often
quite significant. Locations often offer
advantages to businesses like local
regulations, local government aid
programs, proximity to other relevant
businesses, and business performance can
differ substantially on location choice. This
is evident in the distribution of prompt
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 21
continues on page 22 >

EXCLUSIVE REPORT
payments by businesses in the regions
within the UK. Businesses located in East
Anglia and the South-Western regions pay
their suppliers most efficiently, with nearly
40 percent of payments being prompt in
both areas, with the country’s average
lingering around 32 percent. On the other
hand, the Greater Manchester and Greater
London regions are paying only about
respectively, 25 percent and 26 percent of
accounts promptly. This range, although
on a slightly lower degree than the range
seen within industry distributions, is still
quite wide and the imbalance is seen to
persist on the regional distribution of
payment health as well.
Looking into the improvement in
the percent of payments over the past
year, East Anglia and South West remain
on the top five regions with 14 percent
and 13 percent gain in prompt payment
rate. Northern Ireland tops this list with
a 15 percent increase in promptly paid
accounts. This disparity in gains may be
driven by location specific circumstances
that all businesses are subject to.
Another interesting study is how
business performance – particularly
payment performances – differ with
business size. The size determines critical
business specifics like credit availability,
access to advanced technologies and
resilience after disruptive events like a
natural disaster. Small businesses usually
remain on the adverse side of the scale for
these particularities and often find them
a menace to their stability, while large
businesses usually come out as the most
This clearly brings to the forefront the predicament for
small businesses, which due to their credit and cash
constrained status, do not receive very favourable
terms from their suppliers. These businesses are
required to pay very promptly on most of their accounts
in order to maintain their supply side relationships and
a steady flow of their input merchandise.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 22

EXCLUSIVE REPORT
AUTHOR – Nalanda Matia
resilient ones. We categorise businesses
into various size groups based on their
number of employees, where businesses
with less than five employees belong to the
smallest size band, while businesses with
over 1,000 employees make up the largest
one.
Both the distribution of prompt
payments by business size and their
advancement over the past year present
dramatic narratives. There is a very high
correlation between the size of a business
and the number of people it employs. The
smallest businesses, pay their supplier
most promptly – registering 37.8 percent
prompt payments.
This metric deteriorates systematically
by business size, with the largest
businesses (over 1000 employees) show the
least percentage (5.8) of prompt payments.
The temporal view shows deterioration
in the rate of prompt payments among the
businesses on the larger side – with 101
employees and over. The businesses on
the smaller side of the band, businesses
with 100 employees and less, continued
to diligently improve the percentage of
accounts they paid promptly over the past
year.
This clearly brings to the forefront the
predicament for small businesses, which
due to their credit and cash constrained
status, do not receive very favourable terms
from their suppliers. These businesses are
required to pay very promptly on most of
their accounts in order to maintain their
supply side relationships and a steady
flow of their input merchandise. On the
other hand, large businesses by virtue of
their higher resiliency and in most cases,
established brand are able to acquire very
favourable terms from their suppliers.
Often, these suppliers of large businesses
are on the smaller side of the spectrum and
do not have sufficient bargaining power
over payment terms from their large-sized
customer. Reform of regulation or other
aids to small businesses by federal or local
agencies, needs to be accelerated in order
to rectify this imbalance that works against
these businesses.
The major segments within the
UK economy – by sectoral, regional or
size dimensions – show some scattered
sluggishness mixed in with pockets of
growth. While the overall commercial
environment still faces some headwinds
on the path to sustained improvement, the
fundamentals of the business community,
which manifest themselves primarily in
payment performance and credit quality,
seem to be progressing.
Nalanda Matia is Senior Director,
Econometrics Practice, Dun & Bradstreet.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 23

VIEW FROM THE SEAFRONT
A Diabolical Liberty
Giving money away at the expense of others is not
the answer to our current problems.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 24

VIEW FROM THE SEAFRONT
AUTHOR – David Andrews
I
wonder what the legendarily mean J under 25 idea – despite having been the recipient of
Paul Getty Snr would have made of the an extremely generous gift, albeit from his own family,
Resolution Foundation’s recent (May 2018) over 100 years ago.
recommendation that all young people in the If such an idea did get a green light, how would it
UK should receive a cash gift of £10,000 when be funded? Principally by a change to inheritance tax.
they reach their 25th birthday.
As inheritance is currently taxed at 40 percent above
The payment, described as a ‘citizen’s inheritance”, a threshold of £1 million for many, it is proposed that
is designed to redistribute wealth at a time when the current system would be replaced with a new 20
young people need it most to find housing, return to percent tax on all gifts or inheritances throughout one’s
education or start a business.
life up to £500,000, and then at 30 percent above that.
It is also intended to reduce resentment towards Inheritance tax in the UK clearly needs to be
the so-called silver surfer generation, baby boomers overhauled. As we have seen time and again, crafty
(born 1946-65) who have typically done better out of and judicious estate planning by the extremely wealthy
the housing market and pensions than any subsequent – such as the late Duke of Westminster, who passed
generation.
away last year but whose estate has been ring-fenced
The idea has emerged from the imperious Resolution by clever family trust planning – will always prove
Foundation’s intergenerational commission, which has divisive and unpopular in the extreme.
been labouring on the issue for two years and has just But it is also grossly unfair, with many ordinary
published its final report.
citizens obliged to pay 40 percent tax on their estates
I was casually pondering the Getty scenario apropos once beyond the personal allowance – even though
the Resolution Foundation as I researched JP’s early they have already for the most part been punitively
life. There are connections.
taxed while earning the money in the first place.
As a 22-year-old in 1914, the young, hugely With enormous divisions in the wealth of the
ambitious JP was handed a gift of $10,000 by his dad, country there are bound to be resentments from all
George, who had handily made a fortune by drilling for quarters regarding the bright idea of gifting £10,000
oil in Oklahoma in the early 1900’s.
to those weighed down with substantial student debt
At a time when the average American worker was and faced with the prospect of having to save tens of
lucky to earn $600 a year, $10,000 was a mind-boggling thousands of pounds for a deposit just to get a foot onto
amount of money for a young man to be handed on a the property ladder – assuming they will then be able
plate.
to jump through endless hoops to secure a mortgage.
As a kid in the 1960s – with pocket money of three Inheritance tax laws in the UK are both archaic and
shillings (30p) a week and a four-hour Saturday milk cynical, and there is no real place for them in 2018.
round securing a further two shillings and sixpence Giving money away at the expense of others is also not
(25p) – I recall being fascinated by the mythology the answer. But there is a genuine need for the gaping
surrounding Getty and his billions of dollars, all divisions of wealth in our country to be properly
ultimately stemming from that $10k ‘gift’.
examined.
The notion that one person could accumulate It is not just the young who may hope for a £10k
such staggering wealth was hard to get one’s head bung. The food banks I regularly see sprouting up
around. Very, very rich people with more money than around my home town of Brighton are by all accounts
they knew what to do with (Getty reckoned that if used most frequently by breadline families where the
you could count your money you were not seriously parents are aged 40 plus and cannot cope. In 2018, at
loaded) were few and far between. More commonly, a time when the country is haemorrhaging money
the crazily rich were more likely to be encountered on an NHS obesity crisis, this strikes me as an absurd
on the big screen. Fictional nut jobs, like Ernst Stavro paradox.
Blofeld – or Auric Goldfinger, compellingly played by Thankfully, however, this is not Venezuela, where
the generously proportioned Gert Frobe – who drove a astonishing 400 percent inflation levels effectively
solid gold vintage Rolls Royce and would think nothing mean that millions of ordinary families currently do
of building a lethal rocket or two inside a hollowed out not have enough to eat in the face of a horrendous
South Pacific island while examining ways to plunder economic crisis triggered by a collapse in the price of
the world’s cash reserves.
oil on which the country is so implicitly dependant.
But, as ever, life is stranger than fiction, and Getty As is the case in so many parts of the world today,
was the real ticket, a money fixated workaholic who, mismanagement of economies by incompetent or
according to legend, exhibited miserly ways that were avaricious administrations has directly led to a collapse
surreally disproportionate to his means.
in the living standards of entire populations. This is
Of the many stories alluding to the oil tycoon’s clearly not evident in the UK, one of the world’s richest
parsimony, one of my favourites is the occasion when and most successful economies. But give away £10,000
Getty allegedly invited a group of friends to accompany to all under the age of 25? That’s a big ask.
him to a dog show in London (see Wikipedia), only to As Phil Ancell, one of my tennis club mates, said
have them walk around the block for 10 minutes until the other day (in between glaring at me following my
the tickets became half-priced at 5pm, because he superb backhand return of serve) – a move such as this
didn't want to pay the full five shillings per head (about would be seen by many of a certain age as a diabolical
£12/$17 in 2018).
liberty. I daresay J Paul Getty would have a view.
I suspect I know what J Paul Getty’s view would
be on the Resolution Foundation’s £10,000 to all those David Andrews is a freelance business journalist.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 25

TOWN AND COUNTRY
COUNTRY LIFE
Sean Feast caught up with CICM Think Tank member
Dan Hancocks MCICM of CoCredo to find out more
about the importance of dual opinion reports and
working in the Buckinghamshire countryside.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 26

THERE are worse places
to go in the world for a
meeting than Missenden
Abbey, a former 12th
Century Abbey converted
into an 18th Century pile.
Nestling in the picturesque town of
Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire,
it’s now not only a wedding venue and
conference centre, but also home to a
number of entrepreneurial businesses,
among them CoCredo, a credit checking
and business information provider
owned and managed by CICM Think
Tank member Dan Hancocks.
After University and an early career
in mobile phones, Dan’s entry into the
world of credit generally, and business
information specifically, came with
Dun & Bradstreet in 1998. “I became
what they called a Risk Management
Consultant,” he explains, “at a time
when D&B was beginning to see that
business information was not just about
mitigating risk but also maximizing
opportunity. There were four of us in
the team to cover the country in a hybrid
role that was somewhere in-between
Field Sales and Telesales.”
RISK MANAGEMENT
As a Risk Management Consultant
Dan excelled, and describes his time
at D&B as being amongst the happiest
in his working career: “I had always
been interested in buying and selling
and treated my customers in the way
that I’d wanted to be treated myself.
My approach was to offer the inch and
deliver rather than promising the mile
and falling short of expectation. By
focusing on doing that little bit extra for
your clients, in ways that are achievable,
we grew ‘small’ clients into significant
accounts, and everyone benefited.”
After five years with D&B, and with
a strong desire to move into Field Sales,
he joined a division of BT but found
the work both monotonous and lonely.
“Having been used to working closely
with colleagues I was out on the road,
making seven appointments a day, and
never really having the opportunity of
building a relationship with the client.”
This ‘transactional’ nature of the
relationship prompted Dan to consider
other options, until he received a call
out of the blue from Jeremy Hall, a
well-known local entrepreneur and the
name behind Wyse Leasing Plc. He was
interested in setting up a broker credit
reference agency to add value to the
leasing offer, and Dan took on the role
of Business Development Manager: “It
was a mix of Field Sales and Telesales,”
he says, “and I admit I was attracted by
the BMW Convertible!”
The business became an Experian
reseller, but the relationship did not go
entirely to plan: “We found that we were
using a legacy system with a different
scorecard, so when our reports were
compared with Experian reports directly
they differed, and that impacted our
credibility.”
They turned instead to support from
D&B in 2007: “D&B had not historically
been interested in resellers but we came
to an agreement where we focused on
the smaller customers and D&B focused
on the larger customers. It worked very
well, and most of the customers we
acquired then are still our customers
today.”
CHANGING BUSINESS
A change in the business ownership
came in 2009 when Dan and the Finance
Director completed an MBO, and the
company re-branded as CoCredo. A
move to Great Missenden was followed
by a more recent MBO in 2015,
with Dan now owning the business
outright. Throughout the changes,
D&B remained supportive and the two
businesses worked well together until
mid 2017. Dan and his team invested
significantly in new IT and systems to
support their expanding operation and
began exploring new ways of creating
company reports with greater added
value.
“One of the simplest ideas,” Dan
explains, “was to include online news
(such as Google News and later other
Newsfeeds) so that the reports were not
just about credit risk but more about
due diligence. We also incorporated
other elements, checking ethical
trading records, Advertising Standards
Authority records, The Living Wage
register and other sources to give
customers the fullest picture possible.
This was all based on customer
feedback about what they wanted to see,
presenting personalised and bespoke
information to a level of detail and in a
format of their choosing.”
In developing their offer, CoCredo
also chose to expand its panel of
providers beyond D&B: “We asked
customers where they were trading and
where they found it difficult to come by
business information, and then chose
different providers accordingly. We did
this principally by ‘blind testing’ the
data and looking at historic failures (e.g
the recent collapse of Toys R Us) and
retrospectively looking at what each of
the providers was saying at the time and
how early this was predicted accurately.”
CoCredo now works with a panel
of around ten premium business
information providers including
Experian, Creditsafe and Graydon, all of
whom have their particular advantages,
either in the breadth of companies they
cover, or in their geographic reach.
Further customer research, and testing
their proposition at various Forums,
has since led to the launch of the most
recent innovation, a dual report:
“Credit managers often want and
see more than one opinion but that
often means logging onto two different
systems with different preferences
and passwords and it can all be rather
inflexible,” he says. “Bringing two
opinions together into a single report
is the obvious conclusion; although
it may seem disruptive to some, to
others disruption is good if it’s in the
best interests of the customer.” Dan
acknowledges that the latest move may
not be well received by everyone in
the business information world, since
it will highlight the differences in the
respective providers’ data. He argues,
however, that it will allow his analysts to
explain the context for the differences,
and as such, protect the providers’
reputation: “As an example, a CCJ
was appearing on one data set but not
another, and we thought me may have
missed something. Then it became clear
that one provider keeps CCJ data for six
years, and another for longer, which
immediately explained the discrepancy
and put minds at rest.”
FUTURE CHALLENGE
The biggest challenge in the future,
Dan believes, is how he can take
the dual report concept beyond
limited companies and include nonlimited
companies and those trading
internationally: “That is a huge IT
challenge,” he admits, “but we will get
there by continuing to map and test what
we have and learn from experience.”
With more than 6,500 customers in
the UK, alongside a small but growing
number of international clients,
CoCredo has an ethos of putting its
customers first, a fact reflected in a
customer retention rate last year of 99.3
percent. It also likes to look after its
staff: “We have created a very familyoriented
environment,” Dan says, “and
are putting the foundations in place for
a business that future generations can
take on and grow.”
The company has already been
acknowledged for its work in raising the
bar. A winner of the CICM British Credit
Award in 2014, for the past seven years
the business has never failed to make
the shortlist: “It is more important to me
that we are consistently benchmarked
against the best,” he says.
Dan is also an active supporter of
the CICM Think Tank: “It is an excellent
opportunity to network with likeminded
professionals not just from our
own area of business information, but
also the wider credit community,” he
says.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 27

TRADE TALK
Sticky wicket
The next stage of Brexit discussions around trade are
proving to be tricky.
AUTHOR – Lesley Batchelor
Lesley Batchelor
THE Brexit negotiations have
of course moved onto the
topic of trade and as has been
predicted by many in world
trade the exact nature of our
future customs relationship
with the EU is proving to be quite a sticking
point. The UK Government position in May
2018 appeared to rule out a ‘Customs Union’
but nonetheless looked to preserve barrier
and tariff free trade between the UK and
the other EU member states. At the time of
writing, the options being suggested are a
loose ‘Customs Partnership’ that somehow
avoids a customs border on the one hand,
and a ‘Streamlined Customs Arrangement’
acknowledging checks and controls on the
other.
The ‘Customs Partnership’ indicates
that the UK and the EU would consider
‘innovative approaches’ that could
facilitate trade outside of a Customs
Union arrangement while removing the
need for border checks and controls. This
would likely resemble a Customs Union
but without the politically sensitive name,
allowing the UK to set up its own tariffs,
but requiring a complex system for goods
imported into the UK to then be sold onto
the EU in a way that would equalise the
tariff at the EU rate. This could be a difficult
system for UK businesses to comply with
given the potentially complicated nature of
the tariff equalising process.
The ‘Streamlined Customs Arrangement’
or Max Fac (short for facilitation) would
admit that some form of customs clearance
would be inevitable, regardless of duties
charged on goods. There are a few options
for facilitating this in a way that would
reduce the delays and costs anticipated
from a hard border. These include
various technological solutions and
data sharing arrangements with the EU,
simplifications of the customs procedure
to move it away from the border, and a
mutual recognition and benchmarking
of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)
status.
It appears likely that some sort of
customs controls and checks will be
brought in should the UK continue to look
for an arrangement outside of a Customs
Union. Even if the two negotiating parties
were to arrange a form of new ‘Customs
Partnership’, there would nonetheless be
new compliance and tariff requirements
for businesses looking to move goods
between the UK and the EU.
HMRC is currently estimating that
this could lead to a significant increase
in the numbers of customs declarations
submitted by businesses – some figures
predict this will jump from 60 million
per year to over 250 million. HMRC
also predicts that 180,000 businesses
currently trading with the EU would need
to submit customs declarations for the
first time.
It is paramount that we don’t end up
with the dreaded situation whereby a
sudden new influx of declarations and
exports leads to significant delays and
chaos at our ports. The UK Government is
understandably anxious to find a solution
that moves customs interventions away
from the border. Authorised Economic
Operator (AEO) – which allows for some
traders to become ‘trusted traders’ who
can move goods under customs control
to an inland destination (such as their
premises), with their declarations to be
completed or resolved at a later date – is
an interesting suggestion.
Only around 700 UK businesses are
currently accredited with AEO status,
of which over 50 percent are freight
forwarders and logistics companies.
HMRC is preparing for a substantial
increase in applications leading up
to Brexit but whether companies are
sufficiently prepared to apply successfully
is an interesting point.
Businesses must be able to
demonstrate high standards in customs
and security procedures in order to
attain AEO. Customs competency –
something that UK businesses currently
just selling into the EU haven’t really
had to think about in decades – is a key
requirement. Businesses will need their
individuals involved in customs to be
able to demonstrate their competency in
customs matters. To demonstrate this, the
individual is required to have ‘successfully
completed training covering customs
legislation consistent with and relevant
to the extent...involvement in customs
related activities’.
At the Institute we provide this training
through our Diploma in World Customs
Compliance and Regulations or our oneday
training sessions. It’s fair to say that we
haven’t had individuals from all 180,000
businesses signing on to take the course
since Brexit, but those who have taken
it have gained a greater understanding
of how international customs works and
have been much better able to prepare
their businesses for the potential changes
ahead in the customs environment,
including but not limited to Brexit.
Whatever the solution to the UK’s
customs conundrum, businesses will
undoubtedly be faced with greater
customs requirements than they’ve been
used to within the EU. It’s only by learning
about the complexities of international
trade and gaining greater customs
competency through courses like our
Diploma that they will be able to prepare
for the future.
Lesley Batchelor OBE FCICM is Director
General of The Institute of Export and
International Trade.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 28

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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 29

INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
Monthly round-up of the latest stories
in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END?
COFACE isn't predicting
doom, but its latest 'State of
the Global Economy' paper
suggests we're sitting on the
top of the wave and it might
all be downhill from here.
According to Coface, low unemployment
is now the biggest constraint on most firms'
output. In Japan, it's the lowest it has been
for 25 years; in the EU, unemployment is
below the level at which economists expect
CHINA: RISK EXACERBATED
WHEN fund managers have anxiety dreams,
a hard landing for the Chinese economy
tops the list – ahead of 'going into the office
without my trousers on' or 'pursued by giant
spiders'.
So far, China has managed a decade of
avoiding a hard landing while moderating
some of the speculative excesses in its
economy. But have we become complacent?
A couple of stats from Atradius had me
wondering. Apparently, 40 percent of
Chinese companies surveyed use no credit
insurance at all. So, there's nothing to
EULER Hermes upgraded Chile this month,
and it's an interesting story. The country is
a huge copper exporter, and it's suffered in
the past couple of years from low copper
prices and a strike at its big Escondida
mine; but there's a lot more to the country
than that.
It's invested time and effort in striking
over 20 free trade agreements covering a
vast number of other countries, as well as a
scarce employment resource will start
pushing wage inflation up.
There's another worrying sign. At this
stage of the cycle you'd expect most people
to be feeling pretty happy with the economy;
the persistence of discontent, and the
prevalence of protectionist discourse as
well as election of way off-centre parties,
suggest this isn't the case – and things
could blow up badly if the economy starts
to falter.
stop a domino effect of insolvencies if one
company goes bust.
Add to that the fact that over a fifth
of companies now report that ultra-long
payment delays represent more than ten
percent of their turnover (and since 80
percent of that will probably never get
paid, basically they're running on turnover
that's eight percent less than the financial
statements say), and that anxiety dream
could become a full-on nightmare.
As always, be very careful when dealing
with the Middle Kingdom!
COME ON IN THE WATER'S…CHILE
sound democratic system and a businessfriendly
environment – perhaps unusual
for the region. The country has a solid fiscal
base, with public debt less than a quarter of
GDP, and it's seeing three percent growth.
With commodity prices now recovering,
this could be time to do a bit more business
in Chile.
Britain already exports machinery,
vehicles, and pharmaceuticals, and is
Add to all this an uptrend in commodity
prices with oil at $65 a barrel, higher interest
rates, and the fact that many business
confidence measures are beginning to
decline across the globe – and things look
mighty risky.
So, is this the beginning of the end? I
wouldn’t bet on things turning suddenly
south – but you might want to tighten up
your credit policies and batten down the
hatches, just in case.
increasingly selling consumer products
into the retail sector. But there are huge
education and consulting opportunities
as well. And perhaps the best news of all,
not only does Chile have all those FTAs,
but it has a well-developed banking sector,
particularly when it comes to foreign trade
finance – a huge advantage over the rest of
South America if you're looking for a local
trade hub.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 30

CUSTOMS UNION… 'A' OR 'THE'?
AN interesting new spanner has been
thrown into Brexit works with the House
of Lords' insistence that ministers should
seek to negotiate a new customs union
with the EU.
The vote may not succeed in keeping
Britain in a customs union, but it's certainly
shown the Government which way the
wind is now blowing – particularly as a
large number of Tories have joined the
rebel peers. The Government appears so far
to be sticking to its guns – but given the
way it backed down over citizens' rights
and then fudged the Irish border issue, I
wouldn't mind betting we'll see some kind
of move to conveniently rebrand customs
union in Brexit-friendly terms. Labour, with
its talk about not 'the' customs union but
'a' customs union, is certainly going that
route.
What does this mean for British
exporters? They certainly cannot relax.
The bomb is still ticking, and it hasn't been
defused – and the closer we get to B-day,
the greater the chance that it will explode
while David Davis and Theresa May are still
holding it. Keep working on your strategies
for dealing in a WTO environment, for the
time being; prepare for the worst, and hope
it doesn't happen.
CURRENCY UK
EXCHANGE RATES VISIT
CURRENCYUK.CO.UK OR
CALL 020 7738 0777
Currency UK is authorised and regulated
by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
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GBP/USD 1.4340 1.3486 Down
GBP/CHF 1.3832 1.3382 Down
GBP/AUD 1.8466 1.7941 Up
GBP/CAD 1.8147 1.7242 Up
GBP/JPY 153.733
147.271 Up
THE LONGER YOU DO IT THE BETTER IT GETS
Another nerdy blog turned up some food for thought this month. A post from a Bank
of England economist analysed export relationships in terms of country/product pairs.
It found that over 60 percent of the total value of 2014 exports came from were in product-country
relationships that had been in place since the 1960s. New exports, it seems,
take a long time to build to significant levels. Losing an existing trade hurts much worse
than not getting a new one. Or to look at it more optimistically: it’s a long haul, but the
rewards are likely to be exponential.
CURRENCY VOLATILITY ON THE RISE
THE prospect of full scale trade wars
has got forex traders going. Result: more
volatility in the currency markets. Normally
immune currencies like the rouble and
Kazakh tenge, as well as the Hong Kong
dollar, have seen big price movements in
recent weeks.
There's also an interesting shift in
views on the dollar. Central banks are now
apparently looking to other currencies in
building their reserves – a change from
policy over the last few years; the euro, in
particular, is benefiting, as the eurozone
sees the fastest growth in a decade and
banks that have so far been euro-light start
rethinking their strategies.
At the same time, China seems to be
thinking about whether the renminbi could
eventually take the dollar's place as reserve
currency. A recent launch of renminbi
denominated and foreign-tradable oil
futures revives the liberalisation trend.
Certainly, nothing's going to happen
overnight, but like the early moves in any
chess game, it will be interesting to see
what's going to happen. Meanwhile keep a
close eye on your currency rates, and hedge
appropriately.
SEA ROAD NOT SILK ROAD
I was fascinated by Coface's think on
trade in the Mediterranean. In contrast to
South-East Asia, where intra-regional trade
has rocketed, the Med hasn't managed to
establish strong trade links.
Now, Coface says, trade routes are
finally beginning to grow – but along the
south and east, not the EU-dominated
northern shore. Morocco and Turkey have
joined global value chains, particularly in
the automotive sector, while Egypt and
Cyprus are becoming major
regional chemicals players, and Tunisia
and Morocco have started exporting
ICT products and services within the
region.
Coface believes a rise in protectionism
could force the southern and eastern
Mediterranean countries into more reliance
on each other – in which case, having
a hub in a relevant country might be a
prudent strategy for exporters.
MORE FREE TRADE
ACCORDING to Atradius, 2018 will be the year
of the Free Trade Agreement – or at least,
it will be the year the EU actually gets its
latest batch of FTAs signed off. As Trump's
protectionist stance becomes more and more
evident, getting the deals finalised becomes
more urgent. But it's also the EU's best way of
making its products more competitive - if US
trade stutters, Europe could benefit.
Currently queued are deals with Japan
(the world's third largest economy), Mercosur
(combined, the world's seventh largest, and
the EU's tenth largest export market), Mexico,
Singapore, and Vietnam. It's worth noting
that the Singapore deal will include services
as well as goods – opening up one of Asia's
biggest finance markets to EU players.
It's a pity the UK won't benefit. If you want
to gain the advantage of these deals, though,
you could always open an EU base; something
Easyjet, insurer XL Group, and fancy-dress
supplier Smiffys have already done.
LEBANESE CREDIT
INSURER
LOCAL trade and finance hubs could
become increasingly important in a more
protectionist climate, and Lebanon shows
signs of becoming quite handy in that regard.
LCI has just expanded its debt collection
service to 11 African markets, including
Mauretania, Senegal, Gambia, Kenya, and
Nigeria, as well as offering
trade credit insurance
across the middle
east and Africa. Given
payment behaviour is not
impeccable across the
region, it's providing a
welcome service.
But how creditworthy
is LCI itself? Reassuringly,
it gets a BBB+ rating -
investment grade. Not
triple-A perhaps…but then
nor is the UK these days.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 31

COUNTRY FOCUS
Adam Bernstein
looks at how to do
business in Italy and
the implications
of tax.
Italy: Part two
MARKET
FORCES
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 32

COUNTRY FOCUS
DATA from the UK Government
from 2014 notes that the
biggest markets for UK
exporters to Italy were in:
crude petroleum; natural gas;
chemicals, fertilisers, nitrogen
compounds, plastics and synthetic rubber;
vehicles; and pharmaceuticals. On top of this
comes travel, transport and financial services.
That said, opportunities also lie in aerospace
which is rated as being the third largest in
Europe and the seventh worldwide – there are,
the UK Government believes, more than 100
firms serving this sector.
Not to be forgotten is the Italian automotive
sector which, in 2017, the US Government
reported as the fourth largest market in Europe
with 1.82 million vehicles sold in 2016. Half of
the manufacturing is undertaken by 1,300 firms
in and around Turin. While oil-based engines are
clearly popular, also relevant is the alternative
fuel market which was worth around $3.8 billion
in 2016. But while manufacturing is of interest,
so is the supply of componentry, which in 2016
was valued at $14.2 billion.
Opportunities also exist in defence and
security in relation to countering terrorism,
organised crime, cybersecurity, as well as
disaster relief and immigration – the latter a
function of Italy’s preponderance to earthquakes
and proximity to countries with emigrating
refugees.
Education has recently seen reform with
a focus being placed on foreign languages,
digital skills; further training for teachers;
and investment in school broadband and
Wi-Fi. Similarly, the Italian Health Service is
having to cope with an aging population, a
focus on prevention, and more outpatient
care. Those supplying medical devices and
diagnostic systems could find a market to
crack.
Italians are well known for their fashion
sense and have one of the highest spends
on these types of goods anywhere in the
world; fashion, accessories, shoes, cosmetics,
perfumes, furniture and interior design are
all of interest. A 2017 Deloitte report, ‘Global
Power of Luxury Goods’, says 16 percent of the
$212 billion revenue generated by global luxury
brands went to Italian firms. Allied to this are a
number of large shopping centre developments
that have opened (in Milan, Verona, Torino and
elsewhere) which no doubt will be followed by
others.
Carrying on the luxury theme, the Italian
marine sector produces 40 percent of the world’s
superyachts. Sub-sectors linked to this should
be of interest.
Lastly, UK firms shouldn’t lose sight of
the drive towards smart cities – cars, homes
and cities themselves. Milan is leading this
charge and there are opportunities for energy
efficient buildings, public lighting and waste
management.
While some consider that selling to Italy is
often best achieved by appointing an agent
or a distributor, Italian law allows firms to
set up forms of partnerships (standard and
limited), corporations, sole traderships, branch
or representative offices. For those taking
the corporate route, the most common types
of companies are Società per Azioni (S.p.A)
– companies with liability limited by shares
and Società a responsabilità limitata (S.r.l) –
companies with liability limited by quotas.
There are variations on each here which will
need specialist advice. To set up a company in
Italy the necessary procedures can be completed
through business assistance organisations
known as Sportello Unico Attività Produttive
(SUAPs). But before a company can trade, it must
deposit 25 percent of its share capital in a bank
account and then register with the Italian Trade
Register.
BUSINESS REGISTER
Companies in Italy need to be registered in the
Business Register. The company must then apply
for a VAT number. The current rate of VAT (locally
known as IVA) is 22 percent. A reduced rate of
four percent is applied to basic food products,
some social services, some publications, and
some seeds and fertilisers. Some ten percent is
charged on tourist services and some other food
products. The corporate tax (IRES) rate in Italy
is 24 percent. This fixed rate must be paid by all
resident companies on income from any source,
whether earned in Italy or abroad. There is also
a regional tax on business activities (IRAP) of 3.9
percent, which varies from region to region.
Personal income tax (IRPEF) is levied
on resident individuals on their worldwide
income. Non-resident individuals are only
subject to tax on their Italian source income.
There are five income bands with rates from
23 percent (for taxable incomes up to €15,000)
to 43 percent (for those earning over €75,000).
Social security contributions (INPS) apply to all
workers. Employers withhold 9.19 percent of the
employee's wage and the employer contributes
34.08 percent of gross pay. These rates are high
because of widespread tax evasion which in 2015
was estimated at €180 billion.
Firms will undoubtedly want to protect their
trademarks, designs, patents and copyright.
Italy, offers protection to companies and
individuals. However, the law here, especially
for patent protection, is not totally harmonised
within the EU. Applications for IP protection
should be done through the Italian Patent Office
of the Ministry for Economic Development.
Italy is clearly a substantial market that
will need time and effort to break into. But the
results and rewards may well make the effort
worth the investment. With the Brexit transition
agreement now on the way to being finalised,
exporters should feel confident for the short to
medium term at least.
Adam Bernstein is a freelance business writer.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 33

INTERVIEW
FECMA Country Profile – Italy
Sean Feast asks the questions of Alberto Cotti of the
ASSOCIAZIONE CREDIT MANAGER ITALIA.
Alberto Cotti
How many members do you have?
We currently have 500 members
Where are you based and what events
do you hold?
We have two main events – the ACMI
Day and the Annual Congress - and
some additional events focused on
specific matters (e.g Electronic billing,
Factoring tools, Credit Limits etc). Our
headquarters is in Milan and we have
two small branches in Veneto and in the
Centre/South of Italy.
What training do you provide?
We are in the process of creating a
certificate for the role of the Credit
Manager. We also deliver qualified
training at different levels and on
various disciplines and skills.
How would you describe the country’s
attitude to late payment?
Italy has shown along the years a
constant attitude to delaying payments.
Many small companies believe that
paying late is an intelligent approach -
until somebody pays them late!
Are there any specific laws/regulation
regarding late payment?
EU rules about payment terms are
becoming more respected than in
the past, especially between bigger
companies. Even in Italy a Prompt
Payment Code was delivered two years
ago, but there is much still to do.
What support do you provide to fellow
FECMA members?
We support FECMA granting access
under request to our associates and will
answer any questions related to the
world of Credit Management.
Contact for further information:
Alberto Cotti – acotti@dkny.com
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 34

CICM Southern Branches
Inaugural Credit Day
21 June 2018
HG Wells Conference Centre, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6HJ
Start: 08:30 for Registration/Refreshments. Finish: 16:00
This is a free event.
CPD
6
Care about
your career?
Care about your
business?
Want to ‘stay
relevant’?
Hear from over ten speakers, including: Paralympic athlete
Tim Lodge plus Paul Bohill and Steve Pinner from TV’s CAN’T PAY?
WE’LL TAKE IT AWAY! , on topics such as latest developments in
credit checking, collections, debt recovery, litigation, high court
enforcement and more.
Sponsored by:
Herrington Carmichael Solicitors & ARC EUROPE LTD
More Information / Reserve your place,
E: thamesvalleybranch@cicm.com
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
The fourth Annual General Meeting of the
Chartered Institute of Credit Management will be
held on Thursday 7, June 2018 at the offices of
Moore Stephens, 150 Aldersgate Street, London,
EC1A 4AB at 13:00 (or at the rising of Advisory
Council from its preceding meeting, whichever is
later).
By order of the Executive Board
Philip King FCICM
Chief Executive
To read the Notice, visit:
http://www.cicm.com/about-cicm/governance/
As a CICM member you have
access to a wide range of
FREE advice and guidance
from industry experts
Credit management and specialist business advice –
our team of industry specialists are waiting to give
you free advice.
Legal Advice – CICM Corporate Legal Partner, DWF LLP
will give you 30 minutes free advice on legal issues.
Insolvency Advice – CICM Corporate Partner, Moore
Stephens, a top ten accounting and advisory network,
will give you free advice.
Simply complete the form at:
https://www.cicm.com/member-helpline/ and we’ll put
you in touch with one of our team of specialists right
away.
Some feedback from members includes:
“The guidance had a really positive impact.”
“Some great advice as anticipated, which will really
help me in my role.”
“The advice will aid us in our business model.”
“Great timescales for response and very efficient
service.”
Advice and guidance
As a CICM member you have access to a wide range of
FREE advice and guidance from industry specialists
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 35

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
A GUIDING HAND
The work and people behind the CICM’s
Technical Committee.
AUTHOR – Alex Simmons
THE CICM Technical Committee
consists of 28 industry experts who
meet three times a year to review and
formulate responses to Government
consultations, white papers and new
legislation.
Consultations that are relevant to members
are advertised on the CICM website, promoted on
social media channels and sent to the Committee
and/or individual experts from the CICM Technical
Panel, which consists of a further 84 individuals, for
comment and engagement. All technical updates
and consultations are also sent out to members in
the monthly member Technical Briefings, which are
also accessible via the CICM website.
Members of the Committee are also on hand to
answer any questions that members have posed via
the CICM Advice Line. The Advice Line is accessed
via the homepage of the CICM website and is a free
member benefit. CICM Technical experts aim to
respond within 24 hours and some of the most recent
topics have included: banning credit card charges;
pre-action protocol for Partnerships; legalities
around contract clauses; dealing with vulnerable
customers when collecting debt; benchmarking
payment practices with competitors; gaining entry
to property advice; advice on drafting guarantee
letters; and fraud avoidance. The areas of specialism
are wide and varied – with questions in the
Insolvency field being covered by Corporate Partner
Moore Stephens, and Legal questions dealt with by
Corporate Partner, DWF LLP.
New members joined the Committee in February:
Kevin Shakespeare, from The Institute of Export;
Alistair Chisholm, of PayPlan; David Sheridan
MCICM, of ARC (Europe); Hans Meijer FCICM, from
Atradius Collections; and from the Conviviality
Group, Andrew MacDonald FCICM.
In recent months, the Committee has considered
more in-depth consultation responses such as: HM
Treasury – Breathing Space Call for Evidence; BEIS
– Retention payments in the Construction Industry;
Ministry of Justice – County Court Judgments; and
Independent review of the funding of Debt Advice in
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The
FCA’s ‘Assessing creditworthiness in consumer credit’
and BEIS ‘Late Payment Inquiry’ were particularly
important consultations for the panel.
Advice and guidance
As a CICM member you have access to a wide range of
FREE advice and guidance from industry specialists
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 36

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
AUTHOR – Alex Simmons
the CICM to comment on white papers
or formulate responses to proposals and
consultations.
“From a personal point of view, it is
a fantastic opportunity to network with
experts from other fields within the world
of credit.”
“I write many papers and articles and
lecture on debt recovery so to have access
to this panel of experts is invaluable as all
the sessions are productive, convivial and
very interesting. The CICM is at the sharp
end of credit and wider business issues
and thanks to the Technical Committee
it remains informed in what is an everchanging
environment.”
CONSUMER EXPERTS
Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) advises the
panel on everything related to Consumer
Debt: “There was a historical perception
that the CICM had a larger focus on
business-to-business credit, when in fact
it looks at all areas of credit no matter
which phase of activity it relates to. The
world of consumer credit is very different
in terms of regulation with many
changes implemented since the FCA was
established – so having its finger on the
pulse is very important.
“As it’s such an enormous subject,
the CICM needs experts in the various
fields so they can advise what’s
happening. I attend countless meetings of
organisations including the Money Advice
Trust, Consumer Forums, Christians
Against Poverty and filter through what is
most important to the committee so it can
be communicated to members.
“I would like to encourage members
to use the advice line more often. They
should get in touch with any question no
matter how trivial they feel it is – we are
here to help.”
TWO-WAY BENEFITS
Mike Sargeant MCICM specialises in
Insolvency and feels the benefits are
two-way: “By being on the Committee my
knowledge is broadened which means
I can pass it on to clients and contacts
further up the line. The Committee is
an incredibly valued resource that helps
guide the CICM’s thinking and inform the
Government and other associations how
business should be done.
“It’s a real privilege to be involved and
back up the important advisory work
the CICM does. I think the gravitas of
the CICM has been improved by having
all these sector experts on board, which
in turn has enhanced its professional
standing and reputation.”
Steve Mayos MCICM looks after
International Trade and has 20 years’
experience: “The large proportion of
my work focuses on the international
markets and especially the EMEA
region and Africa. I recently attended
the International Credit Professionals
Symposium in Budapest to ensure I
have all the most current knowledge
at my disposal to pass on to members
of the Committee. The role we play is
fundamental to maintaining the CICM’s
position as a mouthpiece for the credit
profession.
“Any CICM member with any level
of experience should feel comfortable
getting in touch with the Advice Line
– even if we don’t know the question
immediately – we will know someone that
does and will be able to help.”
Lauren Carter FCICM (B2B Debt
Collection) feels the Committee is
key in helping the CICM to deliver its
strategies by being a mouthpiece for the
industry and collating information and
disseminating it to members.
“We all have a crucial, informative
role to play. I have attended meetings
with Payments UK among other bodies to
represent the CICM to gather information
and relay it to members of the Committee.
This helps us to stay informed and enables
Stephen Cowan FCICM helps
to keep the panel informed of
activities in Scotland: “My role
involves keeping members upto-speed
with the political mood
and any legislative changes that
could impact on credit control
issues in the UK, for instance
the Debt Arrangement Scheme
which has been lauded as a great
success and is regularly updated by the
Accountant in Bankruptcy.
Members are asked to
complete a short survey after
they have received a response
from the Advice Line. Feedback
has included:
“The guidance had a really
positive impact.”
“Some great advice as anticipated,
which will really help me in my role.”
“The advice will aid us in our
business model.”
“Great timescales for
response and very efficient
service.”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 37

PAYMENT TRENDS
The Silent Treatment
The latest monthly business to business payment
performance statistics.
AUTHOR – Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad)
ACCORDING to the Federation
of Small Businesses (FSB),
50,000 companies cease
trading each year as a result
of late payments, which
costs the UK economy
approximately £2.4billion in lost output.
The culture of keeping quiet on late
payment is still rife, particularly among
SMEs. Smaller suppliers fear that they will
be dropped by big company clients if they
complain and often draw on their own
finances in order to plug payment deficits.
There was hope that the appointment of a
Small Business Commissioner last year would
lead to a more rigorous attitude toward late
payment, but in reality, SMEs are raising very
few complaints so the issue goes untreated.
From our own data, which tracks payment
performance across 20 different business
sectors and 11 UK regions, we can clearly see
that the picture of payment performance is
in constant flux. In the last month, we have
seen how long a business takes to pay its
invoices beyond the agreed payment terms,
ranging from a figure of ten Days Beyond
Terms (DBT) at best and over 19 DBT at worst.
For the year to date, we have an average DBT
figure of nearly 14.
Prompt payment is often discussed as
an ‘ethical’ business issue. Whether you
view this language as hyperbole or not, the
premise is entirely fair. The business case for
prompt payment is clear and unquestionable,
and the fear of speaking out should no longer
be the status quo.
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT
To shift to a slightly more positive note, there
are some sectors this month that have shown
significant improvement when it comes to
reducing DBT. The Energy sector needs a
particularly loud shout out this month, after
decreasing its DBT score by over a third to
fall just under the 15-day mark after a threemonth
hiatus up in the low 20s.
We have also seen significant
improvements for the International Bodies
sector, Home Businesses and IT sectors this
month. The IT sector in particular has been
on something of a DBT rollercoaster this year,
with a score as low as 7.8 DBT at the end of
2017 and as high as 17.8 DBT last month.
Let’s hope this trend matches the continued
growth of the UK digital tech economy we
have seen despite Brexit uncertainty.
In spite of these much improved scores,
the main swathe of sectors we track
monthly have edged toward worsening
payment performance, albeit very
marginally. 75 percent of the sectors
increased their DBT scores in the last
month, but only two sectors by two days
or more – Manufacturing and the Mining
sectors.
The Mining sector, alongside the
Business Administration and Finance
sectors all sit at 18 days or more this
month beyond agreed payment terms.
While it’s good news to report that no
sector has reached 20 days or more DBT
this month, the trend suggests we may see
this return in next month’s summary.
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The average DBT score across the
country this month is 15.2 days – slightly
higher than the industry average of 14.6
days. This broader picture also shows
that like the sectors, nearly a third of
regions have either improved or kept their
payment practices the same this month
and two thirds have shown a loosening
grip on late payments.
Northern Ireland wins our best
payment performer award (there is no
actual award, fyi) for the month and
Wales delivered the greatest drop in DBT,
after shaving nearly a day off its score.
On the flipside, East Anglia gets the
worst performance label, with a rise in
DBT of over two days to reach 17 days in
total. This returns the region back to the
level of late payment it had reached at the
end of 2017, which is always a worrying
sign in such close proximity.
It is the West Midlands, however, that
increased the number of days it pays
suppliers the most, rising from 11.6 days
last month to 15.4 days this month.
To end on a positive, there are a few
regions that have maintained a steady DBT
for the year to date. London in particular,
while still averaging at a high score of 15.1
DBT for 2018, has stuck fairly tightly to
this figure. In a melting pot of constantly
changing DBT scores, consistency is
always worth celebrating.
Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad),
Head of Credit and Collections at
Creditsafe Business Solutions.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 38

n
1.5 q East Midlands
0.8 q London
1.8 q North West
-0.4 p Northern Ireland
0 u Scotland
0.6 q South East
Top 2.5Five q Prompter South Payers West
-0.8 Wales
p
Education 10.1 0.2
West Midlands
Public Administration 10.7 0.5
Entertainment 10.8 -0.6
International Bodies 11.2 -3.6
Hospitality 12.0 0.6
Top Five Prompter Payers April 18 Change from March 18
q
Region
3.8
2 q
Sector
Bottom 2.1 q Five Poorest East Anglia Payers
Getting Better
1.5 q East Midlands
Mining & Quarrying 19.2 2.2
Top Business 0.8 Five Prompter Admin q 7.5& London
Support Energy Payers 18.7 Supply 0.1
Financial & Insurance 18.3 1.6
3.6 International Bodies
Water
1.8
& Waste q North West
17.4 1.5
Northern Manufacturing -0.4
Ireland p 2.3Northern Business
12.3 16.0 Ireland from
-0.4
Home 2.1
South East 14.0 0.6
Wales 0 u 2.1Scotland
IT & Comms
14.1 -0.8
Yorkshire & Humberside 15.4 2
0.6 q
West Midlands 0.6South Entertainment
East
15.4 3.8
2.5 q South West
-0.8 p Wales
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
3.8 q West Midlands
2 q Yorkshire & Humberside
Bottom Five Poorest Payers April 18 Change from March 18
Region April 18 Change from March 18
Region April 18 Change from March 18
East Anglia 17.0 2.1
Scotland 16.7 0
London 15.9 0.8
East Midlands 15.7 1.5
tter - Getting Worse
North West 15.6 1.8
East Anglia
Top Five Prompter Payers
East Midlands
Top Five Prompter Payers
London
Northern Ireland 12.3 -0.4
North
South East
West
14.0 0.6
Education 10.1 0.2
Wales 14.1 -0.8
Public Administration 10.7 0.5
Northern Yorkshire & Humberside Ireland 15.4 2
Entertainment
Region
West Midlands 10.815.4 -0.6 3.8
International Scotland Bodies 11.2 -3.6
Hospitality 12.0 0.6
South East
Bottom Getting Five Better Poorest - Getting Payers Worse
Bottom South Five West Poorest Payers
2.1 q East Anglia
Wales East Anglia 17.0 2.1
Mining &
1.5
Quarrying
q East
19.2
Midlands
2.2
Scotland 16.7 0
Business West Admin Midlands
& Support 18.7 0.1
London
0.8 q London15.9 0.8
Financial & Insurance 18.3 1.6
East Midlands 15.7 1.5
Water Yorkshire & Waste
1.8 q
& Humberside
North West North
17.4
West 15.6
1.5
1.8
Manufacturing 16.0 2.1
-0.4 p Northern Ireland
0 u Scotland
0.6 q South East
2.5 q South West
rompter -0.8 Payers p Wales
3.8 q West Midlands
April 18 Change from March 18
2 q Yorkshire & Humberside
Top Five Prompter Payers April 18 Change from March 18
Region April 18 Change from March 18
Bottom Five Poorest Payers April 18 Change from March 18
land 12.3 -0.4
14.0 0.6
14.1 -0.8
Humberside 15.4 2
ds 15.4 3.8
Yorkshire & Humberside
Getting Better - Getting Worse
Region April 18 Change from March 18
PAYMENT TRENDS
Region
Top Five Prompter Payers
Getting Worse
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.9
1.8
Northern
Ireland
12.3 DBT
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 39
Top Five Prompter Payers April 18 Change from March 18
Education 10.1 0.2
Public Administration 10.7 0.5
Entertainment 10.8 -0.6
International Bodies 11.2 -3.6
Hospitality 12.0 0.6
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
Mining & Quarrying 19.2 2.2
Business Admin & Support 18.7 0.1
Financial & Insurance 18.3 1.6
West
Water & Waste 17.4 1.5
Midlands
Manufacturing 16.0Wales
15.4 2.1DBT
14.1 DBT
Scotland
Mining & Quarrying
15.5 DBT
16.7 DBT
Manufacturing
Health & Social
Professional & Scientific
Northern
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing
Northern
Ireland
12.3 DBT
Scotland
16.7 DBT
Northern
Ireland
12.3 DBT
North West Yorkshire &
Humberside
15.6 DBT
Bottom Five Poorest Payers April 18 Change 15.4 from DBT March 18
Ireland
12.3 DBT
Wales
14.1 DBT
Scotland
16.7 DBT
Wales
14.1 DBT
North West
15.6 DBT
Scotland
16.7 DBT
South North West
15.5
15.6 DBT
DBT
Wales
14.1 DBT
South West
North West
15.6 DBT
South West
15.5 DBT
Yorkshire &
Humberside
15.4 DBT
West
Midlands
15.4 DBT
London
15.9 DBT
East
Midlands
15.7 DBT
London
15.9 DBT
Yorkshire &
Humberside
15.4 DBT
West
Midlands
15.4 DBT
East
Midlands
15.7 DBT
Yorkshire &
Humberside
15.4 DBT
West
Midlands
15.4 DBT
London
15.9 DBT
Sector
East
Midlands
15.7 DBT
East
Midlands
15.7 DBT
London
15.9 DBT
East Anglia
17.0 DBT
South East
14.0 DBT
East Anglia
17.0 DBT
South East
14.0 DBT
East Anglia
17.0 DBT
South East
14.0 DBT
East Anglia
17.0 DBT
South East

LEGAL MATTERS
Tools of the trade
Using construction legislation to unlock debt and
get some cash in.
DD +44 113 261 6180 E andrew.symms@dwf.law W www.dwf.law/recover
Andrew Symms
Construction & Infrastructure
MORE than 20 years ago
Parliament identified
the problem of deliberately
delayed payment
in the construction
industry.
The result was the Housing Grants
Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the
Act). This legislation provides the potential
to release debts quickly and for very
limited cost. Equally it provides traps for
the unwary who have legitimate reasons
not to pay.
For anyone involved in ‘construction
operations’, it is worth investigating
the application of these processes and
seeing whether they can be used to your
advantage.
THE HGCRA APPROACH
The Act adopts two parallel paths to achieve
its objectives:
• a payment regime– if the contract does not
include a compliant one, then the Act will
imply one
• a fast track dispute resolution regime (adjudication)
which allows parties to get an
enforceable decision within 28 days and
without exposure to the other side's legal
costs. Again, if the parties do not include
a compliant procedure, the Act will imply
one.
THE PAYMENT PROCEDURE
The Act puts the onus on the paying party
to respond to any application for payment.
It is not open to the paying party to do
nothing without seriously risking that it
must pay the amount applied for.
In order to avoid paying the amount
applied for, the payer must do one or both
of the following:
• within five days of the application,
certify the amount that the payer is
prepared to pay; and/or
• prior to the date when payment is to be
made, inform the payee, by a document
called a ‘pay less notice’, that the payer
does not intend to pay the amount due
to be paid. In the absence of an agreed
period, it must be at least seven days
beforehand.
Failure to follow either of these
procedures will usually mean that the
amount applied for will need to be paid.
Even if the payer has valid reasons not to
pay, the message behind the legislation
is that the payer has lost its immediate
right to raise these arguments. It does not
lose them entirely, but it shifts the onus
on to the payer to prove his entitlement to
recoup the money paid over.
Coupled with fast-track dispute
resolution, the payee is in a powerful
position to threaten to put the payer's
failure to follow the procedure in front of
an adjudicator. The adjudicator's award is
enforceable in front of the courts.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Each case will examine the following:
• was there a valid application
• was a payment certificate issued in the
right form and within the timescales
• was a valid pay less notice issued within
the timescales
• was there a final date for a payment and
has that date passed
The key for payer and payee is to follow
the procedures in substance, form and
intent, and be free from ambiguity.
However, if you are looking for
payment you will need to pick your
claims. What you do not want to do is go
to the trouble of an adjudication to then
have the courts refuse to enforce. Often
this will be because the courts will see
certain contractors looking to ambush
innocent payers who have inadvertently
failed to follow the correct procedures.
DANGERS
The recent cases illustrate the key
message: where there is a clear payment
application and a failure to issue a
payment notice and/or pay less notice,
adjudicators will make awards and the
courts will enforce.
However, you do need to be aware of
the potential counter-arguments. These
are: a challenge to the procedure; or the
running of a counter-adjudication.
CHALLENGE TO THE PROCEDURE
The courts view is that, given the
potentially draconian impact of these
provisions, if a payee wishes to rely on
a ‘technical knockout’ it must submit its
applications with proper clarity.
COUNTER-ADJUDICATION
There are various disincentives to a
payer taking this step, so it is unusual.
However, the typical reason is where
the first adjudication has resulted in a
windfall to the payee, purely because of
simple failure to follow procedure. The
payer then runs a counter-adjudication to
get his own decision to set off against the
payee's.
CONCLUSIONS
For those chasing payment, not all
applications will be appropriate for
adjudication. However, even a quick
analysis of compliance with the
procedures and the payer's motives for
not paying, should give a sense of which
applications are worth pursuing.
There will be many, many examples
where reluctant payers have received
valid bona fide claims and have no reason
to challenge, but have simply refused to
pay and have not issued a certificate or
a pay less notice. These are the ones to
identify.
As a CICM member you can receive free legal advice from
DWF visit the cicm website and click on the free advice line.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 40

THE PERFECT VENUE FOR THIS YEAR’S
CICM Fellows’
Lunch 2018
This year, we are inviting you to one of the most iconic buildings in the world, no
other venue is more instantly recognised than the Palace of Westminster. It is
impossible to walk through its corridors or dine in its imposing function rooms
without a deep sense of awe. Their reputation for outstanding events makes the
House of Commons the ideal venue for this year’s Fellows’ Lunch.
FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2018
Arrival drinks served at 11:30am
Tickets £135.00+VAT per person, which includes a tour after the lunch.
Please email fellowslunch@cicm.com to book
(please note that spaces are limited)
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Leader or follower?
CICMQ accreditation is a proven model that has consistently delivered
dramatic improvements in cashflow and efficiency
CICMQ is the hallmark of industry leading organisations
The CICM Best Practice Network is where CICMQ accredited organisations
come together to develop, share and celebrate best practice in credit and
collections
Be a leader – Join the CICM Best Practice Network today
To find out more about flexible options to gain CICMQ accreditation
E: cicmq@cicm.com, T: 01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 42

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Membership
Benefits
CICM membership gives you access
to all of these benefits
Credit Management
magazine
National and
regional events
Knowledge
Hub
Qualifications
and training
Professional letters
after your name
Branches around
the country
Industry
resources
Monthly
e-newsletter
Webinars
Mentor
Hub
Recruitment
Hub
Monthly
technical brief
Networking and collaboration
including social media
Legal, insolvency and
business advice lines
Continuing Professional
Development (CPD)
Benefits that keep you informed, help you in your
work and support your professional development
For details visit www.cicm.com,
call us on 01780 722900, or email
cicmmembership@cicm.com
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 44

CICM VIRTUAL
SUMMER SCHOOL
IS BACK
Places are filling up fast, so if you would like to study over the summer for the
October assessments, please book now to avoid disappointment.
Classes are led by an experienced teacher and are interactive, and there are plenty
of opportunities to ask questions and test your knowledge.
You will hear your teacher and fellow learners over the telephone and see interactive
PowerPoint slides on your PC.
Classes start in June for Level 3 examined units in Credit Management, Business
Environment and Business Law and for Level 5 units in Strategic Planning and
Compliance all leading to October 2018 assessments.
To find out more contact CICM Credit Academy to book a place.
T: +44 (0)1780 722907 or E: creditacademy@cicm.com.
Level 3 Classes
Credit Management (Trade, Consumer,
Export) w/c 11 June (almost full)
Business Law w/c Thursday, 21 June
Business Environment w/c Monday, 25 June
Level 5 Classes
Compliance w/c Wednesday, 20 June
Strategic Planning w/c Tuesday, 26 June
Check out the CICM
website for more details of
CICM Qualifications and
study options

’
It’s been almost a year now
at Anixter and studying
for my L3 CICM Credit
Management Diploma, I
am still very committed to
succeeding in a career
in credit.
A Graduate’s pathway
to Credit Risk Analysis
Dan talks about his career since graduating at
Sheffield Hallam University and a typical day in his
current role at Anixter.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 46

EDUCATION
DAN is part of a twoman
team that make up
New Accounts UK and
New Accounts EMEA at
Anixter.
Anixter is a leading
global distributor of network and security
solutions, electrical and electronic
solutions and utility power solutions. It
helps to build, connect, protect and power
valuable assets and critical infrastructures.
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
Originally from Nottingham, I chose to
move to Sheffield and seek a degree level
education at university. I graduated from
Sheffield Hallam University with a BA
Honors degree in Business Economics in
2015.
Like most people at university, I was
unsure which career path to take after I had
finished my studies. With the economics
degree, I realised from very early on that
this would be a vital tool to opening many
doors within the business world.
After a few months of working for the
Royal Mail in a steady accounts receivable
job, I started to slowly realise that life
was a bit too short to jump straight into
a career as I wanted to see the world (a
cliché I know).
This led me to travel to Australia for the
next two years, while most of my friends
were working in bars or other jobs as a
stop gap. I realised that time was a valuable
asset and wanted to enjoy travelling but
also have meaning towards my future
possible career.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO CREDIT
RISK MANAGEMENT?
After completing the standard farm work
picking watermelons (which was needed to
apply for a second-year visa), I then moved
to Sydney where I was lucky enough to
get a job interview for Hays Recruitment,
based in the central business district.
Credit control was a career path I had not
previously considered.
After a few months of working as a
credit controller, I enjoyed the prospect
of working my ledger and building
up relationships with customers.
Unfortunately, you can only stay working
for a company in Australia for six months
at a time on a working visa. The time had
come to move on and travel Indonesia.
After returning to the UK in 2017
it was time to start thinking about a
career that would take me to the top.
With a background working in a credit
department already, I wanted to know
what other roles would suit me. After
reading about the position credit risk
analyst, I started to realise this was the
right path for me. With my economics
degree I was used to looking at data and
recognising trends in the economy and
looking at influencing factors.
This led me to apply for a role at Anixter.
Bryony was very kind to offer me a role but
also had her preconceptions that I may
fly off and travel again. It’s been almost a
year now at Anixter and studying for my
L3 CICM Credit Management Diploma, I
am still very committed to succeeding in a
career in credit.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT
YOUR ROLE?
Variation is the main factor that makes
my job enjoyable – ‘no day is the same’.
Although I liked working as a credit
controller, the credit risk side involves
more data analysis and a greater sense of
achievement. Having more power to make
decisions has made me feel more a more
valued member of the team. The day-today
fundamental jobs that I undertake
help maintain the continual monitoring
of a customer’s risk and credit worthiness.
Looking at the detail within financials and
recognising common trends has helped
to develop my perception and diligence
to identify key risk areas that can lead
to the prevention of possible bad debt.
The relationship you build with not just
customers, but also sales within the
company is another aspect of the role that
makes it like no other.
HAS IT MET EXPECTATIONS?
It has more than met my expectations. I
know that there is more advanced learning
to be completed in the future, not just
understanding credit but the methods
used to manipulate data and coming up
with new ideas to help take the company
towards its corporate goals. Efficiency and
time saving is a must within the credit
team as colleagues’ ledgers grow, the
risk team look at ways to help minimise
troublesome customers and create macros
to automate day-to-day tasks.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE
FUTURE?
I am currently near the end of L3 CICM
qualification. The future looks bright,
I know where I want to be and I know
what needs to be done to achieve this.
Although this is the start of my ‘adult
career’, I still have a passion to travel
and see the world. This can hopefully be
achieved by becoming more educated and
experienced, which in-turn would allow
me to travel to countless destinations.
My manager Bryony stands out as a role
model within this field. She currently
covers the Nordics, Europe and the
Middle East. Although it’s very tiring
for her to be travelling from place to
place, it’s something I strive towards. The
sense of achievement from a managerial
perspective would be the next goal within
my career in credit.
A typical day
Morning reporting
• Running AMEX payments, creating
remittance for previous days
Worldpays
• Receive a monitoring list from our
credit platform, CoCredo, which
identifies key changes such as
financials, directors leaving, a
change in risk scores, change
in limits). I check accounts via
these updates and look at overdue,
payment patterns – any factors
that may give us reason to decrease
limits or put credit on hold/stop
orders
• Run the cash trackers daily (involves
inserting previous days cash into
an excel macro). This helps keep
track of what has come in against
expected. Also gives a running
monthly target
Emails
• Limit increase request for order
releases
• Change of profile request for
customers
• Credit checks on potential customers
(projects expected and orders)
• Extended terms requests
Annual Reviews
• Checking customers per year –
looking to see if the limit is still
needed, trade levels, payment
performance, financial trends
• Making a decision to see if we need
to increase or decrease the limit,
thus decreasing credit exposure
New customer accounts
• Setting up new customers, VAT
check, export checks, financial
checks, making sure a customer
is legitimate and giving them a
proposed limit
Edelivery
Maintaining email version database –
setting customers up on email invoice
delivery as per request.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 49

CICM EDUCATION
CONFERENCE 2018
Tuesday, 26 June 10:00 – 16:00
Cultivating an agile Credit and Collections team
EDUCATION, Education, Education! Book
now for the unmissable annual CICM
Education Conference being held in
Birmingham on Tuesday, 26 June.
Reserve your place at this popular event
to discover from education specialists and
senior credit and collections managers
about ‘Cultivating an agile Credit and
Collections team’. With a programme
packed with forward-thinking and
inspirational speakers, the conference
will quickly bring you up-to-date with
latest developments and help progress
you and your team’s professional
development. A focus this year is on
creating a culture of self-led learning.
Learn about new CICM standards and the
host of new membership resources to
support your learning goals. Find out more
about the Credit Champions initiative
and how apprenticeships are building
the profile of credit as a career. Book
an appointment with an an Education
Adviser and Member Assessor to facilitate
your application to the next CICM
membership grade. A range of workshop
sessions will suit you and new learners,
and give plenty of opportunities to ask
questions and meet like-minded credit
professionals.
Find out about new CICM qualifications and how to progress
Gain ideas about creating a growth mind-set and building team performance
Get started with the CICM Knowledge Hub and Mentor Hub
Learn about best practice blended learning for multi-site global teams
Meet the first apprentices and find out more about end-point assessment.
We expect this event to be very popular and places are
limited so to avoid disappointment, email CICM to book.
educationconference@cicm.com or call +44(0)1780 722902

Track your continuing
professional development with
CICM Knowledge Hub
FREE
CICM
MEMBER
BENEFIT
Find the CICM standards for
CPD below and how to get started.
It’s never been easier.
1. Access Knowledge Hub via the CICM website.
Simply click the ‘member login’ button on the top right of the screen to gain access:
2. Under the ‘My Learning’ drop
down menu on the top blue
bar, select ‘my CPD’:
3. Your personalised CPD
programme will be
displayed:
4. The ‘Requirements’ tab
shows a CPD programme
suggested by CICM, although
you or your organisation can
devise a bespoke one:
The ‘Activity’ tab displays all recorded
CPD for the last 12 months. Every time
you undertake an activity in Knowledge
Hub and complete the reflective feedback,
your CPD time will automatically update
here.
You can also add any CPD undertaken
outside of Knowledge Hub. Simply click
on the ‘Add new external CPD activity’
button and follow the steps.
Activities are broken down into ‘technical’, ‘personal skills’ and ‘career
development’ areas to allow you to build an appropriate range of skills.
Learning can be informal (e.g. reading a credit journal) or more formal (e.g.
completing an online training topic).
Your CPD record will be a useful tool for you and your line manager. And
remember that by achieving and submitting the required number of hours
under CICM’s own CPD programme, you will be able to gain CICM certification
for your CPD too.
Why not take a moment to check out your CPD right now?
If you would like to find out more about CICM’s CPD
programme or Knowledge Hub Contact:
T: 01780 722909 E: learningsupport@cicm.com

HR MATTERS ROUNDUP
PREGNANT WORKERS
AND REDUNDANCY
What does the law state about pregnant
workers and redundancy?
AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards
ARE pregnant workers
entitled to special treatment
when redundancy is
being considered? This
was answered in Porras
Guisado v Bankia SA and
others (Case C-103/16) by the European
Court of Justice (ECJ). It ruled that they are
not.
The Pregnant Workers Directive affords
protection against dismissal to pregnant
workers, and those on maternity leave,
during a protected period which starts at
the beginning of pregnancy and ends when
the employee returns to work. In the UK it
is generally accepted that a woman will
COULD an expectation that a disabled
person work long hours be discriminatory?
The Court of Appeal recently ruled on
this in United First Partners Research v
Carreras.
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers
have a duty to make reasonable adjustments
when a disabled employee is placed at a
substantial disadvantage compared with
a non-disabled person as a result of a
provision criterion or practice (PCP). In
discrimination cases, a PCP is construed
widely to include formal and informal
practices, policies and arrangements.
Mr Carreras was employed as an analyst
for United First Partners Research, a firm of
brokers. He typically worked from around
8am or 9am until between 9pm and 11pm.
HMRC has published clarification
regarding the commencement of tax
treatment for payments in lieu of notice
(PILON) and the tax treatment of nonstatutory
redundancy payments.
From 6 April 2018, all PILON will be
taxable as earnings, regardless of whether
there is a PILON clause within a contract
of employment or not. Previously, in the
absence of a contractual right to make a
not benefit from the statutory protection
until her employer is made aware that she
is pregnant.
The directive provides that member
states should take all necessary steps
to safeguard pregnant workers from
dismissal during the protected period. If
a pregnant worker is dismissed, it must
be in exceptional cases only and the
employer must cite the reason for the
dismissal in writing.
It is automatically unfair to dismiss
a woman or select her for redundancy
when the principal reason for doing so is
connected to her pregnancy or statutory
maternity leave. But in Porras, the court
Long working hours
In July 2012, Carreras was involved
in a bicycle accident which left him
with serious physical and emotional
injuries, including dizziness, fatigue and
headaches. He also experienced difficulty
concentrating. The tribunal subsequently
determined that this amounted to a
disability under the Equality Act 2010.
As a result of his symptoms, on his
return to work Carreras began to leave
the office between 6.30pm and 7pm each
day. After a few months, his line manager
began to request that he work later in
the evenings and when he agreed, this
became an expectation that he would
do so. Carreras subsequently objected
to working late in the evenings. His line
Upcoming changes
held that collective redundancy can
be considered an exceptional case for
dismissal.
In the UK, under regulation ten of
the Maternity and Parental Leave etc.
Regulations 1999, priority treatment
must be given to women who are at risk
of redundancy whilst on maternity leave.
Female employees on maternity leave
during a redundancy process are entitled
to be given first refusal on suitable
alternative vacancies. If the employer
does not comply, the employee will have a
claim for automatically unfair dismissal.
This is a rare example of lawful positive
discrimination.
manager in response reprimanded him in
front of his colleagues and told him that if
he didn't like it he could leave. As a result,
Carreras resigned and brought claims of
constructive unfair dismissal and failure
to make reasonable adjustments.
Carreras’ claims were unsuccessful at
first instance and this case went all the way
to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the
Employment Appeals Tribunal's decision
that an expectation on an employee to
work late did amount to a PCP.
A tribunal will now need to consider
the nature and effect of the disadvantage
suffered by Mr Carreras as a result of
the PCP and to address the question of
reasonable adjustments.
PILON, employers could pay employees
such a payment without deduction
of income tax or National Insurance
contributions.
The relevant legislation introducing
the change states that the changes have
effect for the tax year 2018-2019 where
termination also takes place in tax year
2018-19 and subsequent tax years.
HMRC has also stated that all nonstatutory
redundancy payments can
continue to be charged to tax under section
401-416 of the Income Tax (Earnings and
Pensions) Act 2003, where the first £30,000
can be paid free from deductions.
Gareth Edwards is a partner in the
employment team at Veale Wasbrough
Vizards. gedwards@vwv.co.uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 50

CAREER’S ADVICE
Making a good impression
First impressions count, especially when starting
out in a new job.
AUTHOR – Karen Young
Karen Young
WELL done – you’ve
successfully passed the
interview stages and
have secured your great
new job. Making a great
impression on your first
day is key and you’ll want to present yourself
to your new colleagues as professional,
personable and knowledgeable.
Waiting to start a new role can feel like
you’re in a bit of a limbo period. It may be
useful to use this time to reach out to your
future employer to ask what you can do to
prepare for your first day. It’s also worth
keeping in touch with your recruiter when
you are working with one so they can keep
you informed too and help with any queries
you may not want to directly ask your new
employer.
FIRST DAY SUCCESS STRATEGY
Your new employer will of course already
have an idea of what you can bring to the team
based on your performance at interview. Your
first few days should begin to confirm their
initial thoughts and can have a strong bearing
on how they perceive you.
Your new team will likely be prepared
for your arrival and do everything they
can to create a welcoming and supportive
atmosphere, but there are also things you can
do to make sure everything goes smoothly:
1. IF YOU ARE EARLY, YOU ARE ON TIME.
IF YOU ARE ON TIME, YOU ARE LATE
Ensure you plan your journey to work the
evening before and aim to arrive around half
an hour to 15 minutes early to show your
eagerness to get started. This may also make
introductions easier as you can greet new
colleagues one by one as they arrive. However,
don’t arrive too much earlier than that as it
can also throw your new manager into panic
mode if they are not quite ready themselves!
2. MAKE AN EFFORT TO REMEMBER NAMES
As you greet your new colleagues, make sure
to use their names throughout conversations
as this can help you retain the information. A
good tactic is to repeat their names when they
introduce themselves. Even though it can be
daunting to meet new faces – remember that
everyone has been in this position before.
3. GET TO KNOW YOUR NEW ROLE
Take advantage of your first day and ask as
many questions as you need to in order to gain
an efficient understanding of your new job and
organisation. The first few days are when your
managers will be most receptive to your needs
so use the opportunity to ask broad questions
such as: ‘what is the focus of the team?’; ‘what
are the business’s current objectives?’ ‘how
can my role help us progress towards them?’.
Keep questions to your manager business
related and you can then start to initiate
more informal and friendly, rapport-building
conversations with your other new colleagues.
4. LISTEN
Listen more than talk in these early stages so
that you absorb and learn more. Take notes
whenever you can as you’ll be absorbing a
great deal of new information and you don’t
want to forget anything. I always find it
encouraging when someone attempts to find
the answer from their notes before they ask
the same question a second, or even third
time as it shows a proactive nature.
5. GIVE IT A CHANCE
If you feel that you’ve made a mistake or haven’t
immediately gelled well with some colleagues,
don’t panic as it often takes time to settle into a
new organisation. Stay positive and work hard
and if you still feel uncomfortable after a few
months sit down with your manager who can
listen to any concerns and hopefully provide
some advice on how best to proceed.
Once you’ve finished your first day if you
have been working with a recruiter, make
sure to give them a call to let them know how
it went. It’s important to share any questions
with them at this stage as they are best placed
to find out information on your behalf and
can usually ask questions you may not want to
ask your new employer.
Follow the tips above to help your first
day go as smoothly as possible, but don’t put
too much pressure on yourself. Your new
employer will believe in you and will want you
to succeed, which is why they hired you, so be
confident and embrace your new challenge.
Most of all, enjoy it!
Karen Young is Director at Hays.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 51

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THE RECOGNISED STANDARD IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
T: +44 (0)1780 722900 | WWW.CICM.COM

SOAPBOX CHALLENGE
THE CURATE’S EGG
The case for more national pride and
optimism in a country all-too-often prone
to self-deprecation.
AUTHOR – Glen Bullivant FCICM
I
read recently that all 750 passenger
information screens at an
international airport are in need of
replacement. They were installed in
2012, underwent a period of testing
and have remained switched on to
this day. Not that anyone has seen them, and
even if they had done, they would be none the
wiser, because they have had no passenger
information to display. The terminal building,
budgeted to cost about €2 billion should
have opened in 2011, but a few gremlins
caused a delay. I use the words ‘gremlins’
and ‘delay’ with some trepidation, because
much depends on what you consider to be
a gremlin and indeed how you accurately
define a delay. The official opening in
October 2011 was postponed because of
rather serious safety issues – the fire alarms
and the smoke suppression systems did
not work properly, automatic doors were
incorrectly fitted and it appeared that there
was a considerable amount of faulty wiring.
Oh, and the escalators did not go all the way,
as it were. Fairly big gremlins then. They are
now talking about opening in 2020, perhaps,
and costs have soared to more like €6 billion.
The passenger display screens are not really a
priority right now, I would say.
Now before we get ourselves into a mood
of doom and gloom and ‘here we go again’
regarding major infrastructure projects, I am
not talking about London Heathrow, London
Gatwick or indeed any other airport in our
green and pleasant land. The monumental
calamity is in fact Berlin Brandenburg – yes,
Berlin, which is in Germany as if you did not
know. In many ways, this fact alone makes
the whole sorry saga all that more unreal in
our eyes, because we expect better of them
and less of ourselves. If Crossrail was running
eight years late and three times over budget,
we would no doubt all be shaking our heads,
not in disbelief, more in expectation. Bad
weather causes our trains to stop and planes
to be grounded. But not Germany, surely? I
was in Kassel in Hess last October, and gales
that weekend caused every IC train to be
cancelled and a runway at Frankfurt Airport
to be closed, and the Beast from the East in
March caused as much chaos on mainland
Europe as it did here.
We are good at many things in the UK,
but top of our list of accomplishments is
the ability to talk ourselves down and look
enviously at everybody else. Low growth, poor
productivity, skill shortages, we can make the
list as long as we like. Add to that, we have
been inundated of late with the prospects
of the dire consequences of Brexit. It is not
my intention here to debate Brexit pros and
cons, nor to pass judgement on the wisdom or
otherwise of being in the EU or out of it. Far
from it – all I am trying to say is that whatever
problems we might have, others have them
as well and we forget that in truth there are
many things we are very good at, not least of
which, by the way, is the credit management
profession. I am often asked if I am a glass half
full or a glass half empty person – optimist
or pessimist, I suppose – and my response
is always the same. Half full or half empty
is immaterial because the glass is always
refillable. Anything in life is like the curate’s
egg, part good, part not so good but if we take
a positive view of our capabilities and what
we can achieve, it soon becomes clear that
we are very often much better than we think
we are. The CICMQ Accreditation focuses on
the good, leads to the elimination of the not
so good and raises the credit function to the
level it deserves.
It is not rocket science, nor is it beyond us.
Just think what our Victorian engineers and
builders achieved – they wanted to do it, and
they did it. So can we. Crossrail will happen,
more or less on time and more or less on
budget and so will countless other projects up
and down the land. Berlin Brandenburg will
open and will be a success, but the next time
someone tells you that ‘they’ can, shaking
heads in a sanguine manner, just remind
them that we can too, and we do.
Glen Bullivant FCICM has an interesting
selection of bow ties.
SOAPBOX
challenge
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 53

MEET THE PARTNERS
THEY'RE WAITING TO TALK TO YOU...
For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a
Corporate Partnership with the CICM, contact Marketing on 01780 727273.
Hays Credit Management is the award winning national specialist
division of Hays Recruitment, dedicated exclusively to the recruitment
of credit management professionals in the public and private
sectors. Whether you are looking to further your career in credit
management, strengthen your existing team, or would simply like an
overview of the market, it pays to speak to the market leaders.
www.hays.co.uk
HighRadius is the leading provider of Integrated
Receivables solutions for automating credit, collections,
cash allocation, deductions and eBilling operations.
The solutions are delivered as a software-as-a-service
(SaaS) or as SAP-certified Accelerators for SAP
Finance Receivables Management. With a track record
of reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), bad-debt
and increasing operational efficiency, HighRadius
solutions help teams achieve payback within a year.
www.highradius.com
We offer the most powerful comparable data
resource on private companies.
We capture and treat private company
information for better decision making and
increased efficiency, so we’re ideally suited to help
credit professionals.
Orbis, our global company database has
information on 250 million companies, and offers:
Standardised financials
Financial strength metrics
Extensive corporate structures
www.bvdinfo.com
Sanders Consulting is a niche consulting firm
specialising in improving Credit Management
Leadership & Performance for our clients.
We provide people and process focussed
pragmatic solutions, consultancy, strategy days and
performance improvement workshops and we
are proud to manage and develop the CICMQ
Programme and the Best Practice Network on
behalf of the CICM. For more information please
contact: enquiries @chrissandersconsulting.com.
www.chrissandersconsulting.com
Key IVR provide a suite of products to
assist companies across Europe with credit
management. The service gives the end-user
the means to make a payment when and
how they choose. Key IVR also provides a
state-of-the-art outbound platform delivering
automated messages by voice and SMS. In a
credit management environment, these services
are used to cost-effectively contact debtors and
connect them back into a contact centre or
automated payment line.
www.keyivr.co.uk
American Express is a globally recognised provider
of payment solutions to the business sector
offering flexible collection capabilities to meet
company cashflow objectives across a range of
industries. Whether you are looking to accelerate
cashflow, create a competitive advantage to drive
business or looking to support your customers
in their growth American Express can tailor a
solution to support your needs.
www.americanexpress.com
Credica are a UK based developer of specialist
Credit and Dispute Management software. We
have been successfully implementing our software
for over 15 years and have delivered significant
ROI for our diverse portfolio of customers. We
provide a highly configurable system which enables
our clients to gain complete control over their
debtors and to easily communicate disputes with
anyone in their organisation.
www.credica.co.uk
Organisations around the world rely on Company
Watch’s industry-leading financial analytics to drive
their credit risk processes. Our financial risk
modelling and ability to map medium to long-term
risk as well as short-term credit risk set us apart
from other credit reference agencies. With our
unique H-Score® predicting almost 90 percent
of corporate insolvencies in advance, it is the risk
management tool of choice, providing actionable
intelligence in an uncertain world.
www.companywatch.net
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 54

Proud supporters
of CICMQ
With over 90 years’ experience, we have an
in-depth understanding of the importance of
maintaining customer relationships whilst efficiently
and effectively collecting monies owed, we deliver
when it comes to collecting outstanding debts.
Our Client focus is reflected in the customer
relationships. Structuring our service to meet your
specific needs, providing a collection strategy that
echoes your business character, trading patterns
and budget.
www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/
Graydon UK provides its clients with Credit
Risk Management and Intelligence information
on over 100 million entities across more than
190 countries. It provides economic, financial and
commercial insights that help its customers
make better decisions. Graydon is owned by
Atradius, a leading European credit insurance
organisation. It offers its seamless service
through a worldwide network of offices and
partners.
www.graydon.co.uk
Rimilia provides award winning Cash Application
& Cash Allocation software products that deliver
industry leading tangible benefits like no other.
Having products that really do what they say
is paramount – add to that a responsive and
friendly team that are focused on new and
ongoing benefit realisation and you have the
foundations for successful long term business
relationships.
www.rimilia.com
Safe’s Credit Control module manages the entire
credit lifecycle, from credit checking through to
cash collection and beyond, providing detailed
analysis of performance. Safe’s single, intuitive and
easy-to-use application seamlessly brings together
the necessary data and tools you require to
achieve your objective of creating a profit centre
culture within your credit control function.
www.safe-financials.co.uk
Dun & Bradstreet grows the most valuable
relationships in business. Whether your customer
portfolio spans a city, a country or the globe, Dun
& Bradstreet delivers the data, analytics and insight
to grow your most profitable relationships and
obtain a global, unified view of your customer
relationships across credit and collections.
www.dnb.co.uk
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps
businesses pay and get paid. Businesses and banks
rely on Bottomline for domestic and international
payments, effective cash management tools,
automated workflows for payment processing
and bill review and state of the art fraud
detection, behavioural analytics and regulatory
compliance. Every day, we help our customers by
making complex business payments simple, secure
and seamless.
www.bottomline.com/uk
Data Interconnect provides integrated e-billing
and collection solutions via its document delivery
web portal, WebSend. By providing improved
Customer Experience and Customer Satisfaction,
with enhanced levels of communication between
both parties, we can substantially speed up your
collection processes.
www.datainterconnect.com
DWF is one of the UK’s largest legal businesses
with an award-winning reputation for client service
excellence and effective operational management.
Named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s
most innovative law firms and independently
ranked first of all top 20 law firms for quality of
legal advice and joint first of all national law firms
for service delivery and responsiveness.
www.dwf.law/recover
Tinubu Square is a trusted source of trade
credit intelligence for credit insurers and for
corporate customers. The company’s B2B
Credit Risk Intelligence solutions include the
Tinubu Risk Management Center, a cloud-based
SaaS platform; the Tinubu Credit Intelligence
service and the Tinubu Risk Analyst advisory
service. Over 250 companies rely on Tinubu
Square to protect their greatest assets: customer
receivables.
www.tinubu.com
Moore Stephens is a top ten accounting and
advisory network. Our national creditor services
team has expert insights in debt recovery. This,
combined with unparalleled industry and sector
knowledge, enables our team to assist creditors in
recovering outstanding debts.
www.moorestephens.co.uk
The Recognised Standard
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 55

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Full list of events can be found on our website: www.cicm.com/events
CICM
EVENTS
7 June
CICM West Midlands Branch
BIRMINGHAM
Annual BBQ
Contact : email westmidlandsbranch@cicm.
com or Kim Delaney-Bowen on T: +44 (0)7581
160 521.
VENUE : The Studio, 7 Cannon Street,
Birmingham, B2 5EP
7 June
CICM West of Scotland and East Scotland
Branches
GLASGOW
Gin Tasting
Contact: Jean Jack: 07985031425 / 0345 213 5325
VENUE: The Good Spirits Company, 23 Bath
Street, Glasgow, G2 1HW
8 June
Branch
LONDON
Fellows' Lunch
Contact: To book, email fellowslunch@cicm.
com
VENUE: House of Commons, Houses of
Parliament, Westminster, London, SW1A 0A
11 June
CICM Northern Ireland Branch
IRELAND
Improve Your Skills In Credit Control (4 CPD )
Contact: Email northernirelandbranch@cicm.
com to secure your place.
VENUE : Ulster American Folk Park, 2 Mellon
Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT78 5QU
13 June
CICM North East Branch
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Process Automation in Credit
Contact : E: northeastbranch@cicm.com
VENUE : The Corner, Dance City, Temple Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4BR
21 June
CICM Southern Branches
WOKING
Inaugural Credit Day (6 CPD hours)
Contact : To reserve your place, please email
thamesvalleybranch@cicm.com
VENUE : HG Wells Conference & Events Centre
Church Street East, Woking, GU21 6HJ
26 June
CICM Education Conference 2018
BIRMINGHAM
Cultivating an agile Credit and Collections
team
Contact : Becki Sharpe: events@cicm.com
VENUE : Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
75 Harborne Road, Birmingham, B15 3DH
30 June
CICM Sheffield Branch
WHERE
History Tour of Kelham Island, Start: 12 noon
Finish: about 15:00
Contact : sheffieldanddistrictbranch@cicm.com
VENUE : Shalesmoor Tram Stop, Hillsborough
route (2 stops past University), Sheffield, S3 8UL
TRAINING
DAYS
14 June
INVOICING AND RECEIPTING
VENUE : London
12 July
INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY
VENUE : London
OTHER EVENTS
5 June
Forums International –
STRATFORD UPON AVON
Senior Management Credit Forum (SMF)
Contact : For more information email
smf@forumsinternational.co.uk
VENUE : Stratford Manor, Stratford Upon Avon
5 June
ICTF Webinar
ONLINE
How to Measure, Improve and Optimize Credit
Department Performance
Contact : Email: info@ictfworld.org
6 June
Experian Credit Forum
LONDON
BPF Polymers & Comp
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
6 June
Experian Credit Forum
STRATFORD UPON AVON
Senior Management Forum (SMF)
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Stratford Manor, Stratford Upon Avon
8 June
Experian Credit Forum
LONDON
BPF Polymers & Comp.
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Cardinal Place, Experian London
8 June
Experian Credit Forum
LONDON
Recruitment (APSCo)
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Cardinal Place, Experian London
12 June
Forums International
STRATFORD UPON AVON
Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Credit Forum
(PMF)
Contact : For more information email
pmf@forumsinternational.co.uk
VENUE : Stratford Manor, Stratford Upon Avon
13 June
Experian Credit Forum
STRATFORD UPON AVON
Pharmaceuticals Forum
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Stratford Manor, Stratford Upon Avon
14/15 June
Forums International
PORTUGAL
International Telecoms Risk Forum (ITRF)
Contact : For more information email:
itrf@forumsinternational.co.uk
VENUE : Tivoli, Lisbon, Portugal
14 June
Experian Credit Forum
DUBLIN
FMCG & Oil/Fuelcard Ireland
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Experian Dublin,
14 June
ICTF Webinar:
ONLINE
Credit Insurance: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Contact : Email: info@ictfworld.org
15 June
Experian Credit Forum
DUBLIN
FMCG Ireland
Contact : Please contact Brent.cumming@
experian.com on 07885 675 092 if you would like
further details.
VENUE : Newenham House, Northern Cross,
Malahide Road, Dublin 17, Ireland
26 June
CTF Webinar:
ONLINE
IBest Practices in Business to Business Debt
Collections
Contact : Email: info@ictfworld.org
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 56

View our digital version online at www.cicm.com
Log on to the Members’ area, and click on the tab labelled
‘Credit Management magazine’
Just another great reason to be a member
Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international
CICM membership, as well as additional subscribers
The Recognised Standard
www.cicm.com The | Recognised +44 (0)1780 Standard / www.cicm.com 722901 / June 2018 | / editorial@cicm.com
PAGE 57

CALENDAR
The rise and rise of
Peer-to-Peer alternative
finance. Page 13
The story behind the
collapse of Toys R Us.
Page 36
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
CM December 2017.indd 1 21/11/2017 13:41
Sean Feast speaks to Lesley
Batchelor OBE, Director
General of the Institute of
Export Page 14
Are commercial collectors
disadvantaged through the
lack of a single regulator?
Page 42
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
MANAGERS'
INDEX
2011-2016
CM Jan/Feb 2018.indd 1 22/01/2018 12:03
MARCH 2018 £12.00
People Power
How self-serve is
supporting customer
engagement. Page 14
Taken On Trust
Sean Feast speaks to
Joanna Elson of the Money
Advice Trust. Page 22
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
Winners of the
CICM British
Credit Awards
2018
CM March 2018.indd 1 21/02/2018 13:56
How AI is challenging
our ethical code.
Page 17
The state of the credit
management nation.
Page 34
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
CM April 2018.indd 1 21/03/2018 11:10
The role of the new
Data Protection Bill.
Page 13
Why is Supply Chain
Finance so popular?
Page 14
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
CM May 2018.indd 1 24/04/2018 11:21
New CICM members
The Institute welcomes new members who have recently joined
MEMBER
ASSOCIATE
Miguel De Torres Escudero
Matthew Hirst
Bernard Kennedy
Kieron Mcgrath
John Mckenna
Paul Rowland
Richard Banister
Sharon Craven
Jason Edens
Aisling Millar
Kenny Sampson-Hendy
AFFILIATE
Gary Auckland
David Barker
Karen Begley
Fay Bowie
Amy Carlton
Vimal Chauhan
Colin Churchward
Hollie Davies
Bonnie Fowler
Jill Galbraith
Matthew Goddard
Zelda Hargreaves
Jill King
Nicola Mathew
Nicola Mitchell
Lesley Richardson
Neil Woollacott
STUDYING MEMBERS
Sameera Akthar
Joshua Albright
Samuel Austin
Oliver Baddeley
Adam Bebbington
Sondeep Bedi
Gregory Boynton
Lee Burn
Stuart Butcher
Holly Chugg Jones
Claudia Clements
Laurie Cooper
Katherine Cornell
David Dearden
Joseph Dennis
Carole Derbyshire
Shirley Exton
Annunziata Flaminio
Joe Fowler
John Gill
Amanda Glover
Kayleigh Gray
Samuel Griffin
Amanda Habberfield
Mark Holland
Emma Hughes
Liam Jarrett
Bethany Jennings
Jake Jeremy
Rebecca Jones
Sarah Kane
Gayatri Kanwal
William Knights
Kwasi Koram
Kim Lasbury
Steve Lawton
David Lemon
Zahid Malik
Samantha Mander
Jacqueline Maya
Nick Michael
Henna Naushahi
Magda Nwamuo
Ben O'Donnell
Ayoola Odume
David Owen
Kiah Phillips
Alison Ramsey
Annika Rittershaus
Nan Roberts
Sanjeev Saini
Josephine Sambula
Gary Sanderson
Anup Sangha
Kate Scott
Jagjit Sidhu
Patrick Stanley
Olaf Suden
Marina Sulik
Natalie Suter
Paul Tompkins
Ana Vieira De Sousa Martins
April Watson
Donna Williams
Catherine Wood
Azhar Zaman
CM
The magazine for
consumer and
commercial credit
professionals
CM
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
DECEMBER 2017 £12.00
INSIDE
2018 DESKTOP
Face to Face
Sean Feast speaks
to Business Minister
Margot James
CM
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 £12.00
Tough Call
A day in the life of
a debt collector
INSIDE
CREDIT
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
Chain Reaction
The cost of being in
– and out – of debt
THE CICM'S HIGHLY ACCLAIMED MAGAZINE
INSIDE
CM
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
APRIL 2018 £12.00
Barrel Role
How the UK wine industry
is finding cash to grow
CM
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
MAY 2018 £12.00
Best Foot Forward
The importance of
volunteering and CSR
SPECIAL
FEATURES
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEWS
ASK THE
EXPERTS
GLOBAL
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
CURRENCY
EXCHANGE
HR
MATTERS
MOBILE DIGITAL
EDITION
THE LEADING JOURNAL FOR CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
TO SUBSCRIBE CONTACT: T: 01780 722903 E: ANGELA.COOPER@CICM.COM
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 58

BRANCH NEWS
GDPR Readiness
CICM Sheffield Branch
THERE was a full house of
members and guests at
the Sheffield branch event
‘GDPR Are You Ready?’
held at the Mercure Hotel
Sheffield Parkway.
After networking and refreshments,
Vice Chair, Simon Johnson welcomed Kate
Robbins, Solicitor with the Data Protection,
Political and Regulatory Affairs team at
EON Energy Solutions, who took us through
an essential awareness update on the new
Regulation which although made in 2016
came into force on 25 May.
After a brief understanding of the
background to the new regulation and a
New Word/Old World comparison of key
changes, it was time to look at some of
the existing ‘Old World’ reported cases to
illustrate how breaches had been dealt
with under the current legislation, and
what this could mean under the ‘New’. The
audience were soon in separate teams for
an interactive round of ‘Match the Crime
with the Fine!’
Kate next addressed how the new
Regulation would impact the role of the
credit manager and that it wasn’t just
about strict reporting of loss and theft of
data, but also unauthorised access and the
availability of data you keep.
The meeting was closed by Kate
explaining how large businesses such as
EON had prepared for the changes as well
as pointing members and guests to some
useful resources beyond the ICO website,
such as the European Union Agency
for Network and Information Security
(ENISA). After a short question and answer
session there was a quick overview of the
forthcoming branch meetings, before
the meeting was closed with a show of
appreciation for our guest presenter, Kate
Robbins.
WE WANT
YOUR NEWS!
Get in touch with Andrew Morris by emailing
andrew.morris@cicm.com with your branch
news and event reports. Please only send up
to 400 words and any images need to be high
resolution to be printable, so 1MB plus.
60SECONDS
WITH
Full name: Sean Kelly.
Current job title: DX Group, Credit Manager.
Current company name: DX Network Services Ltd.
Number of years in credit management: 20.
Number of years in current role: Seven.
How did you get into credit management?
I was given an opportunity by Howden Joinery
to be a credit controller and it was the best
decision I ever made.
What is the best thing about where you work?
The services we offer to customers. We offer
products and services that actually make
our customers’ lives easier. We’ve had clients
who have struggled to find a logistics partner
that can meet their, often complex, needs. For
example, if a business needs to deliver private
and confidential documents such as contracts,
the normal mail services aren’t suitable and can
put the client at risk. However, our DX Secure
service is the perfect answer. Documents reach
their destination on time and with our extra
security layers to avert unnecessary risks.
When you are genuinely able to work alongside
a partner or client and give them a service
they’re really in need of, the sense of fulfilment
is huge.
What motivates you?
My team. I love having the opportunity to help
individuals grow within the credit management
environment and to build a successful team at
DX.
What skill do you think has helped you most in
your credit career so far?
Having the ability to listen and understand
what a customer really needs is essential.
Name three people you would invite to a dinner
party and why?
1. My wife as she is very supportive
2. Richard Branson as I have a whole load of
questions I would love to ask him
3. Mark Cavendish as he’s a real character and
I’m a huge cycling fan.
What is your favourite pastime/relaxation
activity?
Whilst it isn’t exactly relaxing, I love running
and cycling. I’ve done 13 marathons and an
Ironman – with more on the horizon.
What is the best/worst quality in a leader?
The best quality in a leader is one that can keep
a team focused on the objective.
Who is your business or personal hero?
Richard Branson.
What can't you live without?
My wife and my daughter…and ketchup.
What’s been your most rewarding moment in
your credit career?
I recently won an internal DX award for best
contribution to cash performance. My team did
a fantastic job in reducing our cash collection
time from 40 days to 23 days – an amazing
achievement.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 59

TAKE CONTROL
OF YOUR CREDIT
CAREER
HEAD OF COLLECTIONS
LEAD, TRANSITION AND DELIVER
Belfast, up to £65,000
A head of collections is required to lead a team of
experienced credit professionals within a global law firm
and be tasked with delivering a high quality collections
service to local office CFOs. You will work closely with
senior management to scope and transition further
collections work to the Belfast centre and work with
global partners and clients on a regular basis. As a
manager, you will provide clear and engaging strategies
to your team to ensure delivery of collections targets and
KPIs on an ongoing basis.
Ref: 3310714
Contact Nicola McCallum on 028 9044 6911
or email nicola.mccallum@hays.com
STAND ALONE CREDIT CONTROLLER
LEAD THE CREDIT FUNCTION
Birmingham, £25,000-£30,000 + 10% bonus
A marketing and media company based in Birmingham
city centre requires a stand alone credit controller to
join its team. Reporting directly into the Group Financial
Director, you will be fully responsible for the Credit
function and sales ledger. This is a fantastic organisation
that truly believe in a work hard play hard mentality and
is a great opportunity for an aspiring credit professional.
In return, you will work in a trendy office that includes a
pool table and fully stocked bar.
Ref: 3311685
Contact Peter Kidd on 0121 212 3301
or email peter.kidd@hays.com
DEBT RECOVERY OFFICER
IMPROVE DELIVERY AND PROCESSES
London, up to £36,000
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a debt recovery
officer to recover client contributions due towards the
cost of adult social care, provided by the council at home
and in a residential setting. You will assist the Income
Collection Manager in increasing collection of arrears and
current charges, improving collection rate and providing
administrative and practical support in the debt recovery
process. Good knowledge of income collection and debt
recovery within local authorities are essential. Experience
in the use of debt recovery systems and previous use of
document management system are highly desirable.
Ref: 3300992
Contact Soulyn Marouf on 020 7259 8744
or email soulyn.marouf@hays.com
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE CLERK
TAKE CONTROL OF PROCESSES
London, up to £28,000
Servicing customers all over the world and a stable
company domestically, a rare opportunity has arisen
at a leading retailer for a highly motivated individual.
With a strong emphasis on the entire accounts receivable
function, you will look after concession-store based
collection. This role focuses on maximising the profitability
of collections and minimising exposure to risk. Introducing
new processes and procedures, you will encompass
debt collection, query management, invoicing and other
duties in relation to accounts receivable. This is a fantastic
opportunity where you can achieve results and be
rewarded accordingly. Ref: 3296758
Contact Akshay Caussy on 020 3465 0020
or email akshay.caussy@hays.com
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 60

CREDIT CONTROLLER
MANAGE YOUR OWN LEDGER
High Wycombe, £23,000-£25,000
A globally renowned retailer is looking for a highly driven
credit controller to join its expanding team. Reporting
into the Credit Manager, you will play a key part in the
efficient running of the Credit Control function. You will
be responsible for your own ledger, from assessing new
applications, to chasing payments and processing through
to final demand letters and legal action. You will be target
motivated, eager to learn and have experience within
credit control.
Ref: 3297962
Contact Emma Ruttle on 01494 419740
or email emma.ruttle@hays.com
SENIOR CREDIT CONTROLLER
JOIN A GLOBAL FIRM
Sheffield, £23,000 + benefits
A great opportunity has arisen for a senior credit
controller to join a well-established, market-leading
company. Your responsibilities will include ensuring
cash collection is achieved and payments obtained
by agreed terms through the maintenance and control
of the sales ledger across the entire EMEA region.
This is an integral role within the team which will have
a detailed development plan in place. Previous credit
control experience and the ability to work towards and
achieve goals are essential. Ideally, you will have linguistic
capability and be a French or Italian speaker with good
self-motivational, organisation and Excel skills.
Ref: 3178916
Contact Daniel Cherry on 0114 273 8775
or email daniel.cherry@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROLLER
SUCCESS THROUGH EXPERTISE
Huntingdon, up to £24,000
This global organisation has experience developing
leading health and fitness professionals with a ledger
of roughly £6 million. This role is vital to the business
and you will look after around 7,000 live accounts. You
will have extensive credit control experience, excellent
attention to detail as well as be a team player looking to
work in a fast-paced, pressured environment. Business to
consumer experience is essential. Excellent opportunities
to develop your skills and progress your career are on
offer at this global organisation. Ref: 3278849
Contact Zara Newman on 01223 361507
or email zara.newman@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROLLER
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
London, £30,000 equivalent
Serving and delivering the finest foods to London’s top
tier restaurants and hotels, a rare temporary opportunity
has become available to join a fast-paced credit team
at year end. With a strong emphasis on aged debt
reduction, this role focuses on maximising returns and
profitability of collections within a short, temporary
contract. With the opportunity for extension, the role
requires an analytical mind preferably within an FMCG
environment. This is a fantastic role to get your teeth
stuck into and make a difference.
Ref: 3273795
Contact Kabir Gulabkhan on 020 3465 0020
or email kabir.gulabkhan@hays.com
This is just a small selection of the many
opportunities we have available for credit
professionals. To find out more email
hayscicm@hays.com or visit us online.
hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 61

ENFORCEMENT AGENTS
TIME TO PROVE YOUR CONTINUOUS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Taking Control of Goods CPD package is the cost-effective way to remind yourself
of enforcement law and best practice regardless of how you initially qualified.
Access the definitive TCG Guidance, fully updated and
endorsed by CICM, HCEOA, LACEF and CEAA to ensure you
cover all important areas. Test yourself anytime, anywhere
and produce a CPD Certificate to prove to a judge that you
have kept up to date when you renew your certificate to
act as an enforcement agent. £53 + VAT. The 60 multiple
choice questions are also perfect if you are preparing for
the TCG qualification required for your first certificate.
CICM runs a one-hour monthly online exam for the Level
2 Award in Taking Control of Goods in many towns and
cities throughout the UK to reduce work downtime. Find a
convenient time before or after work. Results on the day.
Visit www.qualifications.cicm.com to find out more and book.
This is the definitive guide for CPD and to
passing the exam.
Barrie Minney. Chair, Local Authority Civil Enforcement
Forum. Senior Enforcement Agent, Brighton and Hove
City Council
HCEOA are proud to have developed this Best Practice
Guidance for the industry and robust qualifying exam which
can be easily accessed near home or work.
Andrew Wilson. Chair, High Court Enforcement Officer Association & Solicitor
With HCEOA, CEAA and LACEF input, this CPD package provides perfectly balanced guidance and the CICM
Award will be seen as the qualification to study for if you want to become an Enforcement Agent.
James Bond. General Secretary, Civil Enforcement Agents Association
High Court Enforcement
Officers Association
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 62
LACEF
The Local Authority
Civil Enforcement Forum

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING
COLLECTIONS LEGAL
CONSULTANCY
THE ONLY AML RESOURCE YOU NEED
SmartSearch
Harman House, Station Road,
Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 8BX
T: 01132387660
F: 0113 238 7669
E: info@smartsearchuk.com
W: www.smartsearchuk.com
KYC, AML and CDD all rely on a combination of deep data with
broad coverage, highly automated flexible technology with an
innovative and intuitive customer interface. Key features include
automatic Worldwide Sanction & PEP checking, Daily Monitoring,
Automated Enhanced Due Diligence and pro-active customer
management. Choose SmartSearch as your benchmark.
COLLECTIONS
Controlaccount PLC
Compass House, Waterside
Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove
B60 4FD
T: 01527 549522 (Sales dept)
E: sales@controlaccount.com
W:www.controlaccount.com
Controlaccount has over 30 years of Credit Management and
Debt Recovery experience, helping National and International
SMEs and blue chip organisations, across a wide range of sectors.
We provide a fast, proactive collection service on a no-collection,
no-fee basis, and for some clients a zero cost option,
utilising the late payment act to fund collection procedures. Our
trained collectors take into account your need to recover debts,
whilst maintaining your reputation and preserving customer relationships.
If we can’t recover your outstanding debts through our
collection process, then our service won’t cost you a penny; and
with our additional in-house legal & Trace service as well as our
credit reporting and corporate monitoring services we are ready
to help you every step of the way.
Atradius Collections Ltd
3 Harbour Drive,
Capital Waterside,
Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, CF10 4WZ
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)2920 824700
W: www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/
Atradius Collections Ltd is an established specialist in business
to business collections. As the collections division of the Atradius
Crédito y Caución, we have a strong position sharing history,
knowledge and reputation.
Annually handling more than 110,000 cases and recovering
over a billion EUROs in collections at any one time, we deliver
when it comes to collecting outstanding debts. With over 90
years’ experience, we have an in-depth understanding of
the importance of maintaining customer relationships whilst
efficiently and effectively collecting monies owed.
The individual nature of our clients’ customer relationships is
reflected in the customer focus we provide, structuring our
service to meet your specific needs. We work closely with clients
to provide them with a collection strategy that echoes their
business character, trading patterns and budget.
For further information contact: Hans Meijer, UK and Ireland
Country Director (hans.meijer@atradius.com).
Blaser Mills LLP
Rapid House
40 Oxford Road, High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire. HP11 2EE
T: 01494 478660/478661
E: Jackie Ray jar@blasermills.co.uk or Gary Braathen
gpb@blasermills.co.uk
W: www.blasermills.co.uk
Established in 1888, leading multi-disciplinary law firm Blaser
Mills specialises in services for businesses and individuals.
The Firm has particular expertise in Dispute Resolution and
Debt Recovery working with experienced credit managers and
finance directors providing solutions to both contested and
uncontested claims.
Blaser Mills provides an experienced team including CICM
qualified legal representatives and the Firm is cited in the
Legal 500 law directory based on quality of work and strong
client feedback.
Offices in Aylesbury, London (Central), London (Harrow), Old
Amersham, Rickmansworth, Staines-on-Thames.
Lovetts Solicitors
Lovetts, Bramley House, The Guildway, Old Portsmouth
Road, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1LR
T: +44(0)1483 457500 E: info@lovetts.co.uk
W: www.lovetts.co.uk
Lovetts has been recovering debts for 30 years! When you
want the right expertise to recover overdue debts why not use a
specialist? Lovetts’ only line of business is the recovery of
business debts and any resulting commercial litigation.
We provide:
• Letters Before Action, prompting positive outcomes in more than
80 percent of cases • Overseas Pre-litigation collections with
multi-lingual capabilities • 24/7 access to our online debt
management system ‘CaseManager’
Don’t just take our word for it, here’s recent customer feedback:
“...All our service expectations have been exceeded...”
“...The online system is particularly useful and is extremely easy
to use... “...Lovetts has a recognisable brand that generates
successful results...”
STRIPES SOLICITORS LIMITED
St George’s House, 56 Peter Street, Manchester, M2 3NQ
W: www.stripes-solicitors.co.uk
T: 0161 832 5000
95percent success rate in disputed
litigation cases over several decades
Stripes technical excellence, tenacity and commercial insight has
led to this 95 percent success rate over several decades. We have
been particularly recommended as a leading law firm by the Legal
500 in the litigious field for representing clients with significant and
complex issues.
Our specialist commercial debt recovery and insolvency team work
with businesses ranging from SMEs to larger PLCs recovering
business debts on a no cost or fixed fee basis and often
recovering debts within days. We aim to understand your business
and tailor our services to suit your requirements. Our online service
provides you with 24/7 access to manage your account, to upload
new debtor cases and to generate new legal instructions.
Sanders Consulting Associates Ltd
T: +44(0)1525 720226
E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com
Sanders Consulting is an independent niche consulting firm
specialising in leadership and performance improvement in all
aspects of the order to cash process. Chris Sanders FCICM, the
principal, is well known in the industry with a wealth of experience
in operational credit management, billing, change and business
process improvement. A sought after speaker with cross industry
international experience in the business-to-business and businessto-consumer
markets, his innovative and enthusiastic approach
delivers pragmatic people and process lead solutions and significant
working capital improvements to clients. Sanders Consulting are
proud to manage CICMQ on behalf of and under the supervision
of the CICM.
COURT ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
Court Enforcement Services
Wayne Whitford – Director
M: +44 (0)7834 748 183
T : +44 (0)1992 663 399
E : wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk
W: www.courtenforcementservices.co.uk
High Court Enforcement that will Empower You!
We help law firms and in-house debt recovery and legal teams to
enforce CCJs by transferring them up to the High Court. Setting us
apart in the industry, our unique and Award Winning Field Agent
App helps to provide information in real time and transparency,
empowering our clients when they work with us.
• Free Transfer up process of CCJ’s to High Court
• Exceptional Recovery Rates
• Individual Client Attention and Tailored Solutions
• Real Time Client Access to Cases
CREDIT INFORMATION
Creditsafe Business Solutions
Bryn House, Caerphilly Business Park, Van Rd,
Caerphilly, CF83 3GG
T: 0292 088 6500.
E: ukinfo@creditsafeuk.com
W: www.creditsafeuk.com
Creditsafe is Europe’s most used supplier of credit & business
intelligence. Creditsafe have helped over 60,000 customers
across Europe and the USA with a range of products which
includes our UK, European and International Company Credit
Reports, which reach over 129 countries and 90m companies;
customer and supplier Risk Tracker and our 3D Ledger product
which has captured over 35 million Trade Payment Data
Experiences since its launch in 2012. All of which will help
companies manage their exposure to risk, make informed
decisions in relation to credit limits whilst looking at how you
can identify gaps within your sales ledger to prioritise collections
and leverage sales.
continues on page 64 >
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 63

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
CREDIT INFORMATION
CoCredo Limited
Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD
T: 01494 790 600
E: customerservice@cocredo.com
W: www.cocredo.co.uk
Celebrating 15 years in business, CoCredo’s award winning credit
reporting and monitoring systems have helped to protect and secure
over £27 billion of turnover on behalf of our customers. Our company
data is updated 500,000 per day and ensures customers have the
most current information in the market place. Access to the online
portal is available 365 days a year 24/7 from anywhere in the world.
At CoCredo we aggregate data from a range of leading providers
across the globe so that our customers can view the best available
data in one easy to use report. We also offer customers XML
Integration and D.N.A. Portfolio Management.
From simply looking at a prospect through to acquisition, to
monitoring, we pride ourselves on helping our customers every step of
the way. CICM members receive their first five credit reports for free.
Graydon UK
66 College Road, 2nd Floor,
Hygeia Building, Harrow,
Middlesex, HA1 1BE
T: +44 (0)208 515 1400
E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk
W: www.graydon.co.uk
Graydon UK is a specialist in Credit Risk Management and Intelligence,
providing access to business information on over 100 million entities
across more than 190 countries. Its mission is to convert vast amounts
of data from diverse data sources into invaluable information. Based
on this, it generates economic, financial and commercial insights that
help its customers make better business decisions and ultimately
gain competitive advantage. Graydon is owned by Atradius, a leading
European credit insurance organisation. It offers a comprehensive
network of offices and partners worldwide to ensure a seamless
service.
Credica Ltd
Building 168, Maxwell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT
T: +44(0)1235 856400
E: info@credica.co.uk
W: www.credica.co.uk
Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections and
Query Management System has been designed with three goals in
mind:
• To improve your cashflow
• To reduce your cost to collect
• To provide meaningful analysis of your business
Evolving over 15 years and driven by the input of 1000s of Credit
Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is successfully
providing significant and measurable benefits for our diverse portfolio
of clients. We would love to hear from you if you feel you would benefit
from our ‘no nonsense’ and human approach to computer software.
Company Watch
Centurion House, 37 Jewry Street,
LONDON. EC3N 2ER
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300
E: info@companywatch.net
W: www.companywatch.net
Organisations around the world rely on Company Watch’s
industry-leading financial analytics to drive their credit risk
processes. Our financial risk modelling and ability to map medium
to long-term risk as well as short-term credit risk set us apart
from other credit reference agencies.
Quality and rigour run through everything we do, from our unique
method of assessing corporate financial health via our H-Score®,
to developing analytics on our customers’ in-house data.
With the H-Score® predicting almost 90 percent of corporate
insolvencies in advance, it is the risk management tool of choice,
providing actionable intelligence in an uncertain world.
BUREAU VAN DIJK
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London, EC1V 0PP
T: +44 (0)20 7549 5000E: bvd@bvdinfo.com
W: www.bvdinfo.com
We offer the most powerful comparable data resource on private
companies. We capture and treat private company information for
better decision making and increased efficiency, so we’re ideally suited
to help credit professionals. Orbis, our global company database has
information on 250 million companies, and offers:
• Standardised financials so you can assess companies globally
• Financial strength metrics using a range of models and including a
qualitative score for when detailed financials aren’t available
• Projected financials
• Extensive corporate structures so you can assess the complete group
– or take the financial stability of the parent into account
Credit Catalyst is a platform where you can combine information from
Orbis with you own knowledge of your customers and get dashboard
views of your portfolio.
Register for your free trial at bvdinfo.com.
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Prof. Schumann GmbH
innovative information systems
Weender Landstr. 23, 37130 Göttingen, Germany
T: +49 551 38315 0 F: +49 551 38315 20
E: info@prof-schumann.de W: www.prof-schumann.de
Our Credit Application Manager (CAM) is a leading credit risk
management solution for major corporations, as well as insurance,
factoring and leasing companies. In their daily work, CAM allows
credit and sales managers to call up all the available information
about a customer or risk in a few seconds for decision support: realtime
data from wherever they are. CAM keeps an eye on customers
whose payment behaviour stands out or who have overdue invoices!
CAM provides an up-to-date forecast of customers’ payments.
Additionally, CAM has automated interfaces for connecting to
leading suppliers of company credit data, payment record pools and
commercial credit insurers. The system is characterised by its great
flexibility. We have years of experience in consulting and software
support for accounts receivable management.
Top Service Ltd
2&3 Regents Court, Farmoor Lane, Redditch,
Worcestershire, B98 0SD
T: 0152 750 3990.
E: enquiries@top-service.co.uk
W: www.top-service.co.uk
Top Service is the only credit reference and debt recovery
agency to specialise in the UK construction sector. Top Service
customers benefit from sector specific information, detailed
payment history intelligence and realtime trade references in
addition to standard credit information. There are currently
3,000 construction sector companies subscribing to the service,
ranging from multi-national organisations to small family firms.
The company prides itself on high levels of customer service
and does not tie its customers into restrictive contracts. Top
Service offers a 25 percent discount to all CICM Members as
well as four free credit checks of your choice.
Innovation Software
Innovation Software, Innovation House,
New Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1BG.
T: +44 (0)1634 812300
E: jay.inamdar@innovationsoftware.uk.com
W: www.creditforceglobal.com
Innovation Software are the authors of CreditForce, the leading
Collections and Working Capital Management Systems. Our solutions are
used in over 26 countries and by over 20 percent of the Top 100 Global
Law Firms.
Our solutions have optimised Accounts Receivables processes for over
20 years and power Business Intelligence, with functionality to:
• improve cash flow • reduce DSO • control risk
• automate cash allocation • speed up query resolution
• improve customer relationship management
• automatically generate intelligent workflows and tasks
• manage the entire end-to-end collections cycle.
Fully integrated with over 40 leading ERP and Accounting systems,
including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and product partners with
Thomson Reuters Elite we can deliver on either your own computing
infrastructure or through Microsoft Azure’s award winning and secure
cloud service.CreditForce remains the choice solution for world class
businesses.
Book a demonstration by calling T: +44 (0)1634 812 300 or visit
www.creditforceglobal.com for more information.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 64

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
FINANCIAL PR
Safe Computing Limited
20, Freeschool Lane, Leicester, LE1 4FY
T: 0844 583 2134
E: info@safecomputing.co.uk
W: www.safe-financials.co.uk
Designed to manage your customer credit accounts effectively,
Safe Credit Control enables your credit management team to:
• Improve cash flow
• Reduce debtor days
• Increase customer service
• Cut the cost of cash collection
• Eliminate manual processes
• Speed up the query resolution process
Safe’s unique approach is centred on changing the perception
of the credit control function from a series of reactive processes
to proactive ones. Credit controllers are traditionally regarded
as an essential element in business to chase late payments
and respond to customer queries. Safe Credit Control has taken
the concepts of customer relationship management (CRM) and
applied it to the credit control function, providing a softer,
service orientated team of customer service representatives.
STA International
3rd Floor, Colman House, King Street Maidstone , ME14 1DN
T: +44(0)844 324 0660.
E: enquiries@staonline.com
W: www.stainternational.com
GETTING BUSINESS PAID
STA is an award winning B2B and B2C debt collection, confidential
credit control and tracing supplier. ISO9001 quality accredited, and
with the CSAs Collector Accreditation Initiative, duty-of-care is as
important to us as it is to you. Specialising in international debt, in the
past 12 months we’ve collected from 146 countries worldwide. “Your
Debts Online” gives you transparent access to our collection success
and detailed management information, keeping you in control of your
account. We look forward to getting your business paid.
Tinubu Square UK
Holland House,
4 Bury Street, London . EC3A 5AW
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /
E: uksales@tinubu.com W: www.tinubu.com
Tinubu Square offers companies across the world the appropriate
SaaS platform solutions and services to significantly reduce their
exposure to risk, and their financial, operational and technical
costs. Easy to implement, our solutions provide an accurate
picture of a customers’ financial health through the entire
order-to-cash cycle, improve cash flow, and facilitate control
of risk across the organization whether group-wide or locally.
Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is an award winning expert in
the trade credit insurance industry, with offices in Paris, London,
New York, Montreal and Singapore. Some of the largest
multinational corporations, credit insurers and receivables
financing organizations depend on Tinubu to provide them with the
means to drive greater trade credit risk efficiency.
Data Interconnect Ltd
Unit 7, Radcot Estate, 7 Park Rd, Faringdon,
Oxfordshire. SN7 7BP
T: +44 (0) 1367 245777 F: +44 (0) 1367 240011
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
Data Interconnect provides integrated e-billing and collection
solutions via its document delivery web portal, WebSend. By
providing improved Customer Experience and Customer Satisfaction,
with enhanced levels of communication between both parties, we
can substantially speed up your collection processes.
Proud supporters
of CICMQ
Rimilia
Corbett House, Westonhall Road, Bromsgrove, B60 4AL
T: +44 (0)1527 872123 E: enquiries@rimilia.com
W: www.rimilia.com
Rimilia excels in the design, development and implementation of
Intelligent Finance Solutions that drive value from existing manually
intensive finance processes associated with accounts receivable,
cash allocation, credit management, bank reconciliation and cash
forecasting. Based in the heart of the UK, our operations extend to
Europe, USA and Asia. Experienced in the field of technology and
accounting, our approach to business revolves around integrity
and enabling organisations to unlock their full potential though
innovation. Rimilia is proud to be a leading innovative supplier of
finance solutions that make a positive change to the blue chip clients
it supplies.
HighRadius
T: +44 7399 406889
E: gwyn.roberts@highradius.com
W: www.highradius.com
HighRadius is the leading provider of Integrated Receivables
solutions for automating receivables and payment functions such
as credit, collections, cash allocation, deductions and eBilling.
The Integrated Receivables suite is delivered as a software-as-aservice
(SaaS). HighRadius also offers SAP-certified Accelerators
for SAP S/4HANA Finance Receivables Management, enabling
large enterprises to maximize the value of their SAP investments.
HighRadius Integrated Receivables solutions have a proven track
record of reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), bad-debt and
increasing operation efficiency, enabling companies to achieve an
ROI in less than a year.
DATA AND ANALYTICS
Dun & Bradstreet
Marlow International, Parkway Marlow
Buckinghamshire SL7 1AJ
Telephone: (0800) 001-234 Website: www.dnb.co.uk
Dun & Bradstreet grows the most valuable relationships in business.
By uncovering truth and meaning from data, we connect our
customers with the prospects, suppliers, clients and partners that
matter most, and have since 1841. Whether your customer portfolio
spans a city, a country or the globe, Dun & Bradstreet delivers the
data, analytics and insight to grow your most profitable relationships
and navigate credit risk. By combining your insights with our own,
Dun & Bradstreet facilitates a global, unified view of your customer
relationships across credit and collections.
Gravity London
Floor 6/7, Gravity London, 69 Wilson St, London, EC21 2BB
T: +44(0)207 330 8888. E: sfeast@gravitylondon.com
W: www.gravitylondon.com
Gravity is an award winning full service PR and advertising
business that is regularly benchmarked as being one of the best
in its field. It has a particular expertise in the credit sector, building
long-term relationships with some of the industry’s best-known
brands working on often challenging briefs. As the partner agency
for the Credit Services Association (CSA) for the past 13 years,
and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management since 2006, it
understands the key issues affecting the credit industry and what
works and what doesn’t in supporting its clients in the media and
beyond.
INSOLVENCY
Moore Stephens
Moore Stephens LLP,
150 Aldersgate Street,
London EC1A 4AB
T: +44 (0) 20 7334 9191
E: Brendan.clarkson@moorestephens.com
W: www.moorestephens.co.uk
Moore Stephens is a top ten accounting and advisory network, with
offices throughout the UK.
Our clients range from individuals and entrepreneurs, through
to large organisations and complex international businesses. We
partner with them, supporting their aspirations and helping them
to thrive in a challenging world.
Our national creditor services team has expert insights in debt
recovery which, combined with their unparalleled industry and
sector knowledge, enables them to assist creditors in recovering
outstanding debts.
LEGAL MATTERS
DWF LLP
David Scottow Senior Director
D +44 113 261 6169 M +44 7833 092628
E: David.Scottow@dwf.law W: www.dwf.law/recover
Described by market commentators as “blazing a trail”, DWF is one
of the UK’s largest legal businesses with an award-winning reputation
for client service excellence and effective operational management.
Named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s most innovative
law firms and independently ranked first of all top 20 law firms for
quality of legal advice and joint first of all national law firms for service
delivery and responsiveness. DWF offers a full range of cost effective
debt recovery solutions including pre-legal collections, debt litigation,
enforcement, insolvency proceedings and ancillary services including
tracing, process serving, debtor profiling and consultancy.
continues on page 66 >
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 65

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR INFORMATION,
OPTIONS AND PRICING
PLEASE EMAIL:
anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
American Express
76 Buckingham Palace Road,
London
SW1W 9TQ
T: +44 (0)1273 696933
W: www.americanexpress.com
American Express is working in partnership with the CICM and is
a globally recognised provider of payment solutions to businesses.
Specialising in providing flexible collection capabilities to drive a
number of company objectives including:
•Accelerate cashflow
•Improved DSO
•Offer extended terms to customers
•Provide an additional line of bank independent credit to drive
growth
•Reduce risk
•Create competitive advantage with your customers
As experts in the field of payments and with a global reach,
American Express is working with credit managers to drive growth
within businesses of all sectors. By creating an additional lever
to help support supplier/client relationships American Express is
proud to be an innovator in the business payments space.
Bottomline Technologies
115 Chatham Street
Reading
Berks RG1 7JX | UK
T: 0870 081 8250
E: emea-info@bottomline.com
W: www.bottomline.com/uk
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps businesses pay
and get paid. Businesses and banks rely on Bottomline for domestic
and international payments, effective cash management tools,
automated workflows for payment processing and bill review and
state of the art fraud detection, behavioural analytics and regulatory
compliance. Businesses around the world depend on Bottomline
solutions to help them pay and get paid, including some
of the world’s largest systemic banks, private and publicly traded
companies and Insurers. Every day, we help our customers by
making complex business payments simple, secure and seamless.
PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Chartered Institute of
Credit Management (CICM)
The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham,
OAKHAM, LE15 8NB
T: 01780 722910 E: info@cicm.com
W: www.cicm.com
The Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) is Europe’s
largest credit management organisation. The trusted leader
in expertise for all credit matters, it represents the profession
across trade, consumer, and export credit, and all credit-related
services. Formed over 70 years ago, it is the only such organisation
accredited by Ofqual and it offers a comprehensive
range of services and bespoke solutions for the credit professional
(www.cicm.com) as well as services and advice for the
wider business community (www.creditmanagement.org.uk).
CICMos (CICM Online Services) WWW.CICM.COM
T: 01780 722 907. E: training@cicm.com
W: www.cicmos.com
CICMOS has been designed to help busy credit managers by
providing them with a suite of online tools to support and
quickly develop their teams. The virtual learning centre is an
open platform system, accessed via the website, which is
easy to use, modular and each module is completely optional,
which means the system can be tailored to suit specific
requirements and time constraints. This wide ranging system
is more than just a training tool it is easy to set up and use
and can be accessed securely via the CICMOS website for a
low annual subscription.
RECRUITMENT
PORTFOLIO
CREDIT CONTROL
Hays Credit Management
107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN
T: 07834 260029
E: karen.young@hays.com
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CICM
and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and
credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this
challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within
it. Whatever your needs, we have temporary, permanent and
contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate
registration process is unrivalled, including face-to-face screening
interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively
for Hays by the CICM. We offer CICM members a priority service
and can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and
recruitment issues.
ATTENTION
PRODUCT
& SERVICE
PROVIDERS
You can connect with them
all now by having a listing in
CreditWho.
FOR JUST
£1,247 + VAT per annum:
- your business will be listed in
Credit Management magazine,
which goes out to all our
members and subscribers and
has an estimated readership of
over 25,000.
TO BOOK YOUR
LISTING IN CREDITWHO CONTACT:
ANTHONY CAVE ON: 020 3603 7934
Portfolio Credit Control
Portfolio Credit Control, New Liverpool House,
15 Eldon Street, London, EC2M 7LD
T: 0207 650 3199
E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com
W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com
Portfolio Credit Control, solely specialises in the recruitment of
permanent, temporary and contract Credit Control, Accounts
Receivable and Collections staff. Part of an award winning
recruiter we speak to and meet credit controllers all day everyday
understanding their skills and backgrounds to provide you with tried
and tested credit control professionals. We have achieved enormous
growth because we offer a uniquely specialist approach to our
clients, with a commitment to service delivery that exceeds your
expectations every single time.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / June 2018 / PAGE 66

FROM THE
ARCHIVE
Credit Management
magazine from exactly
30 years ago.
88
19
In March of 1988 the SDP and the Liberals combined to form
the Liberal Democrats. Margaret Thatcher became the longest
serving Prime Minister of the century, and Rowan Atkinson
launched the Comic Relief charity appeal. Some 80,000 people
attended a concert at Wembley Stadium in honour of Nelson
Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid campaigner who
turned 70 that day and had been imprisoned since 1964.
THE ETHICS OF MODERN DEBT
Tactics deployed by debt collectors have
often been challenged – and continue today
under the watchful eye of the Financial
Conduct Authority.
HALTING THE TIDE
Even 30 years ago the work of credit
reference agencies was being hampered
by legislation, and this is still true now
including restrictions on access to the
Electoral Register.
THE ROLE OF THE MONOPOLIES
AND MERGERS COMMISSION
Monopolies and mergers are a major
ethical consideration in the business world,
especially now with the likes of Asda and
Sainsbury’s and Kraft and Cadbury.

Our mission - Your trust
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UKSales@Hoistfinance.com
Hoistfinance.com
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for matters governed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (amended 2006).