Credit Management October 2018

ICO urges greater transparency
in managing personal data
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
THE Information Commissioner is
reminding organisations to be transparent
with people’s personal information, after
a survey revealed trust and confidence in
how organisations handle personal data is
still low, despite an improvement across
sectors.
The research found that one in three
people (34 percent) have trust and
confidence in companies and organisations
storing and using their personal
information. This is up from one in five
people in 2017 (21 percent).Trust and
confidence are lowest among social media
companies, with only one in seven (15
percent) people stating that they have trust
and confidence in them.
Elizabeth Denham, Information
Commissioner, says personal data has
become the currency by which society
does business: “But advances in technology
should not mean organisations racing
ahead of people’s rights. Individuals should
be the ones in control and organisations
must demonstrate their accountability to
the public.” Other statistics from the ICO
survey show a significant increase in the
proportion of respondents stating they
would get advice and/or information from
the ICO (33 percent), a 15 percent point
increase from 2016.
The ICO launched its long-term public
information campaign ‘Your Data Matters’
to coincide with the new Data Protection
Act in May 2018. This campaign and its
fingerprint characters will help increase
the public’s awareness of their rights and
also the obligations that those holding it
have. ico.org.uk
But advances in
technology should not
mean organisations
racing ahead of people’s
rights. Individuals should
be the ones in control
and organisations
must demonstrate their
accountability to the
public.
Girl Power
THE percentage of women on the boards
of FTSE100 companies was just 28 percent
last year, despite campaigns such as the
30 percent Club which lobby for greater
female representation at the top of
business. The high percentage of female
directors within the SME community,
however, reflects the surge in the number
of women starting businesses in recent
years as the ‘enterprise gap’ starts to close.
Last year, 31 percent (187,340) of directors
at UK SMEs were women.
House of ill repute
A company boss who bought a house with
money from a £175,000 tax fraud has been
jailed. Pratap Modhvadia deliberately
hid company sales and lied about his
role as director to evade paying VAT and
Corporation Tax before stashing the
proceeds in a secret bank account, a HM
Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation
revealed.
gov.uk/government/organisations/hmrevenue-customs
CICM meets new
Small Business
Minister
CHIEF Executive of CICM, Philip King, met
recently with new Small Business Minister,
Kelly Tolhurst MP (pictured) for the first time
since her appointment. “I was genuinely
impressed by her candour and enthusiasm
to work with CICM and others to drive
change in payment culture,” Philip said.
“We very much look forward to having an
ongoing dialogue in the future.”
Under the sea
BIBBY Financial Services (BFS) has provided
a £500,000 Export Finance facility to
Subsea Technologies (STL), an international
engineering business, specialising in subsea
hydraulic and mechanical connectors. The
company’s background is in the design,
construction and maintenance of subsea
drilling, well intervention and subsea well
control systems. The business recently
launched a 3D visualisation service which
allows oil and gas firms to review and
assess complex products before they are
made.
bibbyfinancialservices.com
Balloon businesses on the up and up
ALMOST three quarters of small- and mediumsized
enterprises (SMEs) in the UK are adopting
increasingly flexible business models to deal
with fluctuating customer demand.
New research from Direct Line Business
found that 74 percent of the 505 SME leaders
surveyed have set up their businesses so they
can scale up or down without affecting overall
viability. These so-called ‘balloon businesses’,
of which there are believed to be three million
in the UK, are better able to manage changing
market pressures.
These small firms change the number of
employees, with half of SMEs and a third of
micro businesses saying their staff numbers
fluctuate throughout the year, and one in
ten planning to increase their headcount in
the coming year. They are also approaching
premises and property with a more short-term
focus, taking advantage of short-term leases
and temporary or pop-up locations.
SMEs also highlighted a lack of consistent
revenue throughout the year, with significant
peaks and troughs. Many are diversifying into
new areas to manage these pressures, with one
in six planning to start offering a new product
or service within their own industry in the
coming 12 months.
“Traditionally business growth has
been viewed as a linear process, but small
companies are now incredibly agile, hiring
contractors to meet demand and taking
advantage of short-term leases to test the
landscape and expand their footprint,” says
Jazz Gakhal, Managing Director at Direct Line
for Business.
“By adopting flexible working practices, they
can quickly scale up or down their operations
without putting the company’s survival at risk.”
directlineforbusiness.co.uk
By adopting flexible
working practices,
they can quickly scale
up or down their
operations without
putting the company’s
survival at risk.
Jazz Gakhal,
Managing Director at
Direct Line for Business
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / October 2018 / PAGE 7