Credit Management September 2019

CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
SEPTEMBER 2019 £12.50
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
Space to
Breathe
'New' plan to tackle
vulnerability
Sean Feast FCICM
speaks to the CEO of
Companies House
Pages 16-18
80
YEARS
Fraud: how not
to be a victim
Pages 30-31

There are easier ways to achieve
peace of mind.
Like buying credit reports
from Cedar Rose.
cedar-rose.com
+357 25 346630

SEPTEMBER 2019
www.cicm.com
26
OPINION
HEATHER GREIG-SMITH
CICM GOVERNANCE
View our digital version online at www.cicm.com. Log on to the Members’
area, and click on the tab labelled ‘Credit Management magazine’
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.
Any articles published relating to English law will differ from laws in Scotland and Wales.
6CM NEWS
FRAUD
54
OPINION
WILL NORTH
President Stephen Baister FCICM / Chief Executive Philip King FCICM CdipAF MBA
Executive Board Pete Whitmore FCICM – Chair / Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) – Vice Chair
Glen Bullivant FCICM – Treasurer / Larry Coltman FCICM, Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad), Bryony Pettifor FCICM(Grad)
Advisory Council Sarah Aldridge FCICM(Grad) / Laurie Beagle FCICM / Kim Delaney-Bowen MCICM / Glen Bullivant FCICM
Lauren Carter FCICM / Larry Coltman FCICM / Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCICM / Laural Jefferies FCICM
Diana Keeling FCICM / Martin Kirby FCICM / Christelle Madie FCICM / Julie-Anne Moody-Webster FCICM(Grad)
Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) / Ute Ogholoh MCICM / Bryony Pettifor FCICM(Grad) / Allan Poole MCICM / Phil Rice FCICM
Chris Sanders FCICM / Paul Taylor MCICM / Pete Whitmore FCICM.
CONTENTS
14 – OPINION
Andrew Wilson asks whether creating
12 new Warrant of Control Support
Centres is the right approach.
20 – TRUSTED SOURCE
How does the validity of Companies
House data affect the Credit Reference
Agencies?
22 – ZERO TO HERO
Have Company Voluntary
Arrangements made a temporary come
back on the High Street or are they here
to stay?
26 – BREATHING SPACE
Industry leaders discuss the
Government’s 60-day breathing space
for vulnerable customers.
34 – CHANNEL HOPPING
The benefits of a digital approach in the
debt collection space.
46 – COLLECTIONS CLINIC
CICM Trainer Pam Thomas gives some
tips on how best to get your customer to
commit to repayments.
54 – OPEN SEASON
How Open Banking technology could
impact businesses and consumers
alike.
Publisher
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
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Telephone: 01780 722900
Email: editorial@cicm.com
Website: www.cicm.com
CMM: www.creditmanagement.org.uk
Managing Editor
Sean Feast FCICM
Deputy Editor
Alex Simmons
Art Editor
Andrew Morris
Telephone: 01780 722910
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
Editorial Team
Imogen Hart, Rob Howard and Iona Yadallee
Advertising
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Telephone: 020 3603 7946
Email: grace@cabbell.co.uk
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ISSN 0265-2099
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 3

EDITOR’S COLUMN
The ego has landed
Sean Feast FCICM
Managing Editor
SUCCESS, someone once
famously said, has many
fathers, whereas failure is
an orphan. It is such a great
phrase and one that has
become especially apposite
in the world of credit in recent months
particularly in the areas of consumer and
commercial collections.
I was reminded of it following the
Government’s announcement of a 60-day
breathing space for those in ‘problem’
debt to help give them time to seek debt
advice and sort out their finances. It’s a
splendid plan to help the most vulnerable
in society and a crowd pleaser to show the
government does actually care after almost
ten years of austerity.
It was heralded on the Money Saving
Expert website as a ‘victory’ for its founder
who had ‘long since campaigned for the
government to introduce breathing space
for debt sufferers.’ Looking back through
the archive, I note that the founder and
chairman first started campaigning on
this front in 2016, when he teamed up with
the then Chief Executive of StepChange
to call for government action. It seems,
however, that this was a full four years
after the Credit Services Association (CSA),
the trade body representing the UK debt
collection industry, had already introduced
the provision of breathing space into its
members’ Code of Practice (see our article
page 24).
Closer to home, there was another
more outrageous claim in recent weeks
highlighted by a tweet by an executive
within the FSB after the government
announced further steps to tackle late
payment. The tweet proclaimed: ‘What
a day. A great pay off for the FSB’s tough
focus on what they told us was impossible
– solving late payments.’ Well done indeed
if the FSB has single-handedly solved late
payment, which I very much doubt that
it has. But if it is the case, then I suppose
we can ignore the work of the CICM
in devising and launching the Prompt
Payment Code, publishing its highlyacclaimed
Managing Cashflow Guides,
and 80 years of championing best-practice
credit management with government and
business (see Philip King’s piece on page
13).
My point? It is not that organisations like
Money Saving Expert and the FSB are not
essential, or don’t do vital work to support
the audiences they serve. Having worked in
the media for 35 years, I also understand
the power and importance of celebrity.
(The Bomber Command Memorial, with
which I was closely involved, would not
have achieved half the media interest if it
had not been for the involvement of Robin
Gibb.)
But success is rarely the achievement
of one man, woman or organisation. It
is more often the combination of many
parties with shared interests and goals, all
campaigning hard and striving to do their
best. So rather than pulling away from one
another, and claiming ‘victories’, it would
be much nicer – and more productive – to
see everyone working together for mutual
success.
So rather than pulling away from
one another, and claiming ‘victories’,
it would be much nicer – and more
productive – to see everyone working
together for mutual success.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 4

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CMNEWS
A round-up of news stories from the
world of consumer and commercial credit
Written by – Sean Feast FCICM and Alex Simmons
Cifas warns of growing
fraudulent behaviour
CIFAS has released a report in
conjunction with WPI Economics,
showing one in seven (14 percent)
British adults have committed
one or more types of consumer
fraud, while two in three (66 percent) know
someone who has.
The most common type of consumer
fraud committed by the British public is
‘fronting’, where a driver declares they are
the main driver to an insurance company
when they are not (six percent), closely
followed by ‘deshopping’, the deliberate
return of goods for a reason other than
specified, which one in 20 (five percent)
admit to carrying out.
Alarmingly, many Britons consider some
types of consumer fraud as reasonable, with
the highest proportion (39 percent) seeing
‘fronting’ as reasonable. However, the
consequences of committing this type of
fraud could see individuals driving without
valid insurance, and in some cases, result in
a criminal record.
Interestingly, ‘money muling’ is
considered reasonable by one in five (22
percent) Britons, the consequences of
which could result in individuals unable to
open a bank account and obtain a mortgage,
as well as a potential prison sentence.
The research revealed that younger
people were more likely to take part in
fraudulent activity, with 21 percent of
18 to 34 year-olds admitting they have
committed first-party fraud, compared to
only six percent of people aged over 65.
The report found that companies are
more likely to invest their energy into
detection and prosecution of consumer
fraud, rather than prevention. This is
despite the fact that detection can be
problematic, and prevention is generally
regarded to be more effective. The report
argues that efforts to reduce fraud would
be better directed towards awareness
campaigns focused on educating
consumers about different types of fraud
and their consequences, such as criminal
records, fines, or difficulties in obtaining
banking and credit facilities.
See our article on page 30.
cifas.org.uk
MOST small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) are afraid to take
action against a late payment, despite
unpaid invoices posing a significant
issue for their business, according to a
new white paper from the Small Business
Commissioner, Paul Uppal, and business
lender Growth Street.
Some 75 percent of SMEs would rather
not chase late payments for fear of
damaging their client relationships. A
further 76 percent said that they were
more worried that their invoices would
not be paid at all, if they took action
SMEs still fear chasing payments
against late payments.
The white paper, titled ‘Taking Notice
of UK Business’ surveyed 500 UK SME
decision makers in an effort to find out
how they feel about payment terms and
late payments. More than a third of SMEs
said that they had been subject to unfair
payment practices, while almost half (47
percent) said that they had been subject
to late or otherwise unfair payment
practices from large businesses.
Most of the businesses surveyed had
payment terms of up to 30 days, while
only 14 percent said that they had agreed
payment terms of more than 61 days with
their suppliers.
CICM Chief Executive Philip King
FCICM says the report confirms an oftcited
challenge: “Agreeing payment terms
upfront and deploying best-practice
credit management policies are still the
best way of protecting small businesses
from the challenge of late payment, but
businesses should never be afraid to
chase money that is rightfully theirs. A
customer that doesn’t pay simply isn’t a
customer they should be doing business
with.” growthstreet.co.uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 6

Open banking 'transformational'
for UK PLC
OPEN Banking could realise £18 billion
in value for British people and small
businesses over the course of a year, claims
an independent report, but only if the
industry, government and regulators act to
ensure the project realises its potential.
Put together by the Open Banking
Implementation Entity's (OBIE)
independent consumer and small business
representatives, the report argues that Open
Banking can usher in an era of more tailored
and better value financial services.
People could gain £12 billion a year
through the project, with businesses
realising a further £6 billion in value.
Overstretched people could save as much
as £287 per year, 2.5 percent of their annual
income.
Many of the most valuable Open Bankingenabled
propositions are not yet available to
consumers and there are a range of barriers
Anti-laundering
THE Insolvency Practitioners Association
(IPA), has published its first formal strategy
to deal with the requirements placed on
the IPA as a Professional Body Supervisor
(PBS) under the 2017 Money Laundering
Regulation (MLR17). The strategy builds on
policies already published by the IPA on
conflicts, complaints and whistleblowing.
The strategy also adds to the IPA’s support
of the Government’s ‘Flag-It Up’ campaign
and involves liaising with other supervisory
bodies to enhance and support adherence to
the requirements of MLR17.
insolvency-practitioners.org.uk
LEX Jones has been appointed as the
new Chief Executive of Registry Trust.
Lex becomes the fourth CEO in the
Trust’s history, following Paul Mudge who
established it, Jon Hale whose 20-year
tenure defined the company, and Nick
Rossiter who retired earlier in the year on
health grounds. Lex joined Registry Trust
from the Financial Ombudsman Service
in 2017 having taken a degree at Liverpool
and enjoyed a successful early career
Registered interest
which prevent these services coming to
market today, the report goes on to say.
The report, which has been welcomed
by the OBIE, makes recommendation to
deliver greater value for consumers, build a
trustworthy ecosystem, and stimulate the
market to action quicker. Central to all of
this is co-ordinated action by government
and regulators to create a more holistic
regulatory regime for data sharing.
Mark Chidley, independent SME
representative, says Open Banking-enabled
products can take the drudgery and
guesswork out of running a business: “It
can also help the UK’s small businesses get
better deals, make their money work harder
and access the banking products they need
more effectively. The effect on UK plc could
be transformational.”
See our Open Banking article on page 54.
openbanking.org.uk
Gold rush
SIMPLY recently provided a £323,000
funding facility to Scotgold Resources,
the gold exploration and development
company that owns the Cononish mine in
Scotland, enabling it to buy crucial plant
equipment to extract increasing amounts
of gold and extend its reach. Cononish,
based near Tyndrum in the Scottish
Highlands, is the first commercial gold
mine in Scotland. It produced gold for the
first time in August 2016 and now aims to
extract more than half a million tonnes of
ore over the next ten years.
simply.finance
in retail banking.
The Trust’s Founding Chairman Malcolm
Hurlston CBE, who will be succeeded in the
chair in September by Mick McAteer, says
the Registry Trust carries out a role of huge
importance on behalf of the government:
“Its accurate register of court judgment
information is the most important single
factor in ensuring that credit reaches the
right hands.”
registry-trust.org.uk
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
TECHNICAL MATTERS
THE CICM Technical Committee met
recently to discuss a number of issues,
including: The FCA’s final rules to
reform the overdraft market and the
consultation seeing views on the reforms;
The Justice Committee report ‘Bailiffs:
Enforcement of Debt’ and the evidence
and recommendations within it; new
requirements for authenticating online
payments as part of the second Payment
Services Directive from September 2019.
Also on the agenda was BEIS’ response to
its Creating a Responsible Payment Culture
Call for Evidence; The Companies House
Transformation Programme and proposals
as laid out in the recently published BEIS
consultation; and CICM responses to
recent consultations including Civil Rule
Procedure Committee: Enforcement of
possession orders, HMRC: Protecting your
taxes in Insolvency , Payment Systems
Operator: Confirmation of payee and HM
Treasury: Transposition of the 5th Money
Laundering Directive.
HMRC hubs
THE relocation of HM Revenue and
Customs into 13 hubs around the country
will see the department move into what
it claims are ‘some of the most digitally
advanced buildings in government’. The
move into 13 regional hubs in Belfast,
Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle
upon Tyne, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds,
Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, and two
in London, is intended to deliver savings of
£300 million by 2025.
gov.uk/government/organisations/hmrevenue-customs
Boozers bounce back
A total of 235 pubs have disappeared from
communities in Britain in the first half
of 2019, according to the latest research
by real estate data company Altus Group.
This equates to an average of 40 pubs
a month closing their doors. Alarming
though the news is, the rate at which they
are vanishing slowed down on the back
of recent government support, including
a recent freeze on alcohol duty. Pubs
have come under enormous pressure
due to rising costs, including businesses
rates which have had a devastating
effect, cheaper supermarket alcohol and
changing leisure habits, and an increase
in the minimum wage.
altusgroup.com/home-uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 7

NEWS
IN BRIEF
Fancy stat
HER Majesty the Queen has appointed
Professor Sir Ian Diamond as National
Statistician. Sir Ian succeeds John Pullinger,
who retired at the end of June. The National
Statistician is the Chief Executive of the UK
Statistics Authority, Permanent Secretary of
the Office for National Statistics and Head of
the Government Statistical Service. As Chief
Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir
Ian will be an executive member of the Board
of the UK Statistics Authority.
statisticsauthority.gov.uk
Powering up
ATRADIUS has appointed Darren Power as
Head of Commercial for the North. Darren
has more than 20 years’ experience in the
insurance industry. He moves to Atradius
from Aon Credit Solutions where he has
been branch director for Aon’s North Eastern
Branch since June 2017. Before joining Aon,
Darren worked at insurance provider Hiscox
for 13 years. atradius.co.uk
Own goal
TWO former executives at crisis-hit football
pitch operator Goals have been accused of
creating fictitious documents. Goals Soccer
Centres announced that it would delist from
the stock market while investigators carry
out their work on the company’s 2018 audit.
Shares have been suspended since March,
when BDO uncovered misdeclared tax
liabilities worth £12 million.
goalsfootball.co.uk
Redress scheme
HSBC has voluntarily agreed to extend its
redress scheme for customers who may
have lost out by paying an unreasonable debt
collection charge imposed by HFC Bank (HFC)
and John Lewis Financial Services Limited
(JLFS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
has announced. Both HFC and JLFS are now
part of HSBC UK Bank. hsbc.co.uk
New Bristol office
ANDREW Wilson & Co. has expanded its range
of enforcement services with the opening of
a new office in Bristol. Ellie Kouzaris, Property
Dispute Solicitor, leads the team and brings
her expertise and experience to the thriving
professional and commercial network in the
region.
andrewwilsonandco.com
CICM Essentials
RECENT briefings include details of the
Scotland launch, the 13th Annual European
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Financial
Crime Conference, the launch of the Credit
Pod in Manchester, and the latest UK Finance
consumer guide on Strong Authentication as
new rules come into force this month.
New study reveals
challenge of automation
DUN & Bradstreet and the
Chartered Institute of Credit
Management (CICM) have
released the findings of a
multi-national study on
how respondent finance and credit
leaders are adopting automation in their
departments and the challenges they face
in implementing automation.
The informal study found that while 87
percent of respondents believe automation
will improve their respective function’s
efficiency in the next three years, most are
not leveraging automation to their fullest
potential.
“Comprehensive and reliable data
was identified as critical to effective
automation,” says Tim Vine, European
Head of Finance Solutions for Dun and
Bradstreet. “Analytics and insight help
to realise the reduced operational cost
and increased efficiencies of increased
automation, and identify new growth
opportunities to drive improved business
performance.”
Some 83 percent of respondents are
currently using some form of automation
within their team processes and believe it
is improving their function’s efficiency by
giving employees more time for valueadded
tasks. However, the study suggests
that companies are not automating their
process to full potential, with 62 percent of
respondents automating less than a quarter
of their processes. Billing (43 percent),
credit scoring (36 percent), reporting (30
percent) and collections (30 percent) are
listed as the top processes currently being
automated in the finance function today.
Philip King FCICM, Chief Executive of
the CICM says implementing successful
automation is about employing the right
Implementing successful
automation is about employing the
right technology to complement
specific credit management
functions and skills.
IOE Chief to step down
DIRECTOR General of The Institute of
Export and International Trade, Lesley
Batchelor OBE FCICM, is set to step down
after 12 years at the helm. She will continue
in her role until 31 October and the search
will commence shortly for her successor.
During her time with the IOE&IT she
has helped placed the IOE&IT on the world
stage in terms of qualifications
and professionalism. She has
transformed the Institute to
meet the needs of the 21st
technology to complement specific credit
management functions and skills: “A
principal task of a credit manager is to avert
the risk of non-payment, and automation
can certainly assist in this task, with the
understanding that human intervention
based on experience and knowledge will
always be required within processes.”
The report’s key findings also include:
reliable data is the top success factor of
automation efforts, with over 67 percent
of respondents citing this as a top need.
Integration with other systems (58 percent)
and time (47 percent) were also listed as
top success factors. The key components
currently included in automatic workflows
are systems integration (42 percent),
scoring (36 percent) and use of a customer/
supplier master file (29 percent).
Improved speed of processes is the
top force driving the need to automate,
according to 68 percentof respondents. This
is followed by cost savings (55 percent).
The biggest barriers to automation are
integrating multiple systems/tools (32
percent) funding/budget (26 percent) and
managing disparate data (15 percent).
dnb.co.uk
century, from digitised learning for the
industry qualifications to award-winning
initiatives such as Guru.Online and
OpentoExport.
Most recently she has been instrumental
in creating the new collaboration with the
IOE&IT and HMRC and winning a contract
to help establish the new UK Online
Customs Academy.
Everyone at Credit Management
and the CICM wishes Lesley well for the
future.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 8

FCA launches consultation on
vulnerable customers
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
has launched a consultation on proposed
guidance for firms on the fair treatment of
vulnerable customers.
The guidance sets out the FCA’s view of
what the FCA Principles require of firms
to ensure that vulnerable consumers are
consistently treated fairly across financial
services sectors.
The FCA wants to see ‘doing the right
thing for vulnerable consumers’ deeply
embedded in firms’ culture. Firms will need
to think about what the guidance means
for their business and customers, and how
they are understanding and addressing the
needs of vulnerable customers.
As part of the FCA’s priority to protect
vulnerable consumers, it has been working
extensively with stakeholders on this issue.
While many firms have made significant
progress in how they treat vulnerable
consumers, the FCA believes that there
needs to be more consistency across
financial services sectors. In some cases,
firms are clearly failing to consider the
needs of vulnerable consumers, leading to
harm.
Christopher Woolard, Executive Director
of Strategy and Competition says protecting
vulnerable consumers is a key priority for
the FCA: “Where we find that firms are not
MANCHESTER
CREDIT POD
THE CICM is trialling a new concept this month
in Manchester – the Credit Pod. This free
event offers stimulating presentations from a
number of key speakers. In addition, they will
be recruiting a small management team to help
develop the pod, and help it grow.
To find out more and book your place visit
cicm.com/event/cicm-credit-pod-manchesterlaunch.
doing enough to ensure that consumers are
treated fairly, we will take action.”
Peter Wallwork, Chief Executive of
the Credit Services Association says:
“Our members and our Code of Practice
have long recognised the importance of
identifying and dealing empathetically
with customers that are vulnerable. There
are plenty of practical challenges in the
proposal and in dealing with vulnerability
generally, including tensions between
legislation. We are looking forward to
drilling down into the detail of the FCA’s
guidance with members to see where it can
help contribute to improvements.’’
The guidance will be consulted on in two
stages and the FCA is asking for comments
on this first stage of the consultation by 4
October 2019.
fca.org.uk
CSA CEO joins MALG board
PETER Wallwork, Chief Executive of the
Credit Services Association (CSA), has been
appointed to the Board of the Money Advice
Liaison Group (MALG). His appointment
was confirmed at the MALG AGM. Also
confirmed was the re-appointment of CSA
Non-Executive Board Director Yvonne
MacDermid, Chief Executive of Money
Advice Scotland.
Peter says he is proud to be joining
the Board and also paid tribute to Leigh
Berkley of Arrow Global and former Chair
of the CSA, who is stepping down from
MALG board after three years of service:
“I look forward to working closely with
my fellow Board members to continue
the organisation’s excellent work in
improving the lives of people in problem
debt. I will continue to ensure the voice of
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 9
Our members and our Code
of Practice have long
recognised the importance
of identifying and dealing
empathetically with
customers that are vulnerable.
our members and our industry is heard to
enable the best-informed decisions to be
made.”
Bob Winnington, Chief Executive of the
Money Advice Liaison Group, said: “At
MALG, we facilitate conversations and
collaboration between debt advisers and
the credit and collections sector to enable
them to improve the lives of people in debt.
It is vital that we engage with the debt
collection sector and the Credit Services
Association has been actively
involved for several years
now.”
csa-uk.com
malg.org.uk
Peter Wallwork, Chief Executive
of the Credit Services Association
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
New forum
FORUMS International has launched
a Fraud Prevention Network. The FPN
has been re-launched with Corporate
Partners Graydon UK and CIFAS and is
also supported by the CICM. Elsewhere,
CoCredo has joined Forums International
as the latest Corporate Partner. Dan
Hancocks has been a supporter of
Forums International for a number of
years and decided to join the Credit
Professional Forums (CPF) and the Senior
Management Forum (SMF). CoCredo
has also been shortlisted for an SME
National Business Award in the Business
Innovation category.
forumsinternational.co.uk
A shoe in
SHARINE Burgess, a Senior Associate
with UK law firm Shoosmiths and
a society member for 16 years, has
become president of Northamptonshire
Law Society. Sharine specialises in
representing claimants who have
suffered serious injury and illness.
She succeeds Oliver Spicer, also of
Shoosmiths – which was founded in
Northampton in 1845 – as president.
shoosmiths.co.uk
Head of Acquisitions
INVENIO Financial (Invenio) and
Phillips & Cohen Associates (PCA)
have appointed Senior Debt Purchase
Executive, Alexander Holzgreve, as Head
of Acquisitions Europe, to lead European
growth for the group. Invenio and PCA
claim to be the only dedicated buying
group for deceased accounts and offer
niche solutions to creditors. Alexander
Holzgreve has experience across multiple
countries and credit products on behalf
of major institutions such as Deutsche
Bank and more recently Aktiv Kapital
and PRA Group, where he was managing
director and led portfolio acquisitions
across Europe as member of the European
management team. inveniofinancial.com
phillips-cohen.co.uk
CICM AWARDS 2020
The CICM British Credit Awards is
launching new categories in 2020.
Launched eight years, the awards are
the flagship event that celebrates the
achievements of credit professionals and
organisations. The new categories are:
B2B Team, B2B Supplier, Consumer Team,
Innovation and Technology, Shared
Service Provider, Debt Collection Agency,
Insolvency Practitioner, Legal Provider
and Giving Back. For more details
visit cicmbritishcreditawards.com.
cicmbritishcreditawards.com

NEWS
CICM welcomes call for
evidence in late payment
Philip King FCICM
THE Chief Executive of
the Chartered Institute of
Credit Management Philip
King FCICM has welcomed
the Government’s call for
evidence in tackling late
payment but warned against actions
that may ‘throw the baby out with the
bathwater.’
He says that while the possibility of
increased powers for the Small Business
Commissioner (SBC), for example, is
logical, the suggestions of fines and
sanctions will need further consultation
and thought, especially as regards to how
any ‘punishments’ will be enforced.
“Much of what is included in the
document from the Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(BEIS) is aspirational, and while those
aspirations should be welcomed, it will be
the detail that is now important.”
Philip quotes, for example, the
proposal to encourage SMEs to better
utilise payment technology: “Few would
argue that technology has its part to play
but what technology are we talking about
and how is it to be funded? Any investment
that is made needs to be spent in the
right way and deliver the appropriate
outcomes.”
He similarly highlights the proposal to
review the role of Supply Chain Finance:
“David Cameron encouraged Supply
Chain Finance when he was in power,
but the problem is that current Payment
Practices Reporting (PPR) can potentially
penalise businesses for offering it, so this
will need further consideration. It will
need to be very clear what the benefits are
and how they can be maximised whilst
mitigating the risks.”
The call for evidence references the
Prompt Payment Code, and says the
government will consult on how the Code
could be further strengthened. It also
proposes a tougher approach to PPR: “The
CICM is already working closely with the
Small Business Commissioner and has
long advocated the concept of transferring
responsibility for the Code to the SBC in a
phased approach.
“Since our remit changed to publish
the names of those suspended from the
Code, businesses, politicians and the
media have at last been able to see how the
Code is both a carrot and a stick in driving
positive payment behaviours. If the Code
has struggled in the past, that has been
principally down to lack of funding and a
failure to understand its true purpose and
its powers.
“In terms of PPR, it is a criminal offence
for businesses not to meet their statutory
reporting obligations, so again this will
come down to enforcement. Obliging
larger firms to appoint a member of the
Board with specific responsibility for late
payment will support this and help late
payment and the treatment of suppliers to
move further up the Boardroom agenda.”
The CICM, Philip says, welcomes
the measures and proposals overall: “If
adopted in the right way they can help
drive the change in culture that has been
the objective of so much of our work in this
area for many years. We need government
to turn words into the right actions, and
we need to continue to highlight that good
credit management sits at the centre of so
much of what is required to change that
culture.”
Regulator warns of unscrupulous attack of the clones
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will
soon make it mandatory for all peer-to-peer
platforms to introduce an ‘appropriateness
test’ for new investors.
The purpose of the test will be to weed out
any unsuitable lenders, and any potential
lenders who do not fully understand the
risks associated with P2P.
According to FCA guidelines, the
appropriateness test should include a
range of questions which will assess the
investor’s understanding of the relationship
between the borrower and the platform, and
their exposure to the risks of P2P lending.
It should also confirm that there is no
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
(FSCS) protection, that returns may vary and
that P2P investments are not comparable
with a savings account.
The test should also ensure that investors
are aware of the risk that they may be
unable to exit a P2P agreement before
maturity, even where the platform operates
a secondary market.
However, while this test can be presented
in multiple choice format, the regulator has
warned that platforms must avoid a tick-box
approach. The test should be hard enough to
dissuade unsuitable investors and detailed
enough to ensure that those investors who
are deemed suitable are truly aware of the
risks involved.
Several platforms already ask new
investors to disclose their annual earnings
and net worth. The appropriateness tests
must be ready to go live by 9 December, and
some platforms are already working on the
finer details.
Meanwhile, the European Banking
Authority (EBA) has called for proposed
cross border peer-to-peer lending and
crowdfunding regulations to go further
to protect consumers. The European
Parliament is currently considering
proposals to create a single market-wide
crowdfunding licence that allows platforms
to operate across the EU under a single set
of regulations. fca.org.uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 10

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INSOLVENCY
Regulatory review
The call for evidence on insolvency practitioner
regulation.
AUTHOR – Michelle Thorp
Michelle Thorp
YOU may be aware of the
Insolvency Service’s (IS)
July publication of its call
for evidence relating to
the present insolvency
regulatory landscape and
regulation of insolvency practitioners
(IPs).
In 2015, the Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS),
of which the Insolvency Service is an
executive agency, introduced legislation
that paved the way for the consultation
in question. The legislation introduced
regulatory objectives (ROs) for the UK’s
insolvency Recognised Professional
Bodies (RPBs), plus the IS as the oversight
regulator of the RPBs. Of the four RPBs
that will be authorising IPs at the end
of 2019, one specialises in Scotland
and another in Northern Ireland (the
latter also regulates IPs in the Republic
of Ireland). The majority of IPs in the
UK are authorised by one of the two
remaining RPBs, of which the Insolvency
Practitioners Association (IPA) is one.
The IPA is the sole RPB dedicated to the
complex field of insolvency.
It is against the background of the
2015 legislation that the call for evidence
will help the government to assess how
well regulation is performing. The other
significant aspect of the call for evidence
is the government’s consideration of
whether to establish a single insolvency
regulator in the UK, which it has the power
to do by October 2022. It has been made
clear that at this stage, the government is
neutral in its approach to the matter and is
keen to hear and consider the views of all
interested parties before any progression.
The provision for the consideration of a
single regulator does not give the IS the
power to potentially become the regulator.
WAYS OF WORKING
At the IPA, we’re always open to new
ideas on strengthening regulation,
as well as sharing these ideas with
our contemporaries for the benefit of
the industry. The world around us is
constantly changing, so it’s vital that
regulation keeps pace and continues to
foster an insolvency industry that serves
stakeholders in the best possible way,
whether that’s from the point of view
of creditors, people in debt, businesses
or government. When considering the
regulatory landscape, we think it is
important to recognise the strengths of the
present framework, the result of decades
of scrutiny and development, so that they
can be maintained and built upon.
The competition that we have between
regulators ensures that fees are kept stable
and that regulation is continually under
review and strengthened where needed,
for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Additionally, the commercial funding
model with which we operate enables
solutions to be implemented quickly
as our dynamic industry changes.
Earlier this year, I wrote in Credit
Management about the IPA’s bespoke
new regulatory framework tailored to
volume providers (VPs) of Individual
Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), a
statutory insolvency procedure available
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland,
which forms the majority of personal
insolvencies. ‘Volume’ is defined as
controlling more than two percent of the
total market, which at the start of the
year was just over 5,000 cases. In reality,
some firms hold considerably more
cases. Change was required in this area
of insolvency to ensure that regulation
matched the processes employed by
these firms and that all parties involved
in the IVA were treated fairly. The new
regime is the first example of continuous
monitoring in the insolvency industry.
We were able to implement this regime
and effect change so quickly due to the
specialised knowledge available to us at
the IPA as the regulator of the majority of
the IVA market. The other RPBs also have
their specialisms, which in turn allows
for targeted, agile and efficient regulation
across the industry, helping to ensure
that insolvencies are conducted to the
high standards we set for the benefit of
creditors and other stakeholders and that,
where possible, creditors are reimbursed
as they should be.
In response to the IS’s consultation, the
IPA set up a working group comprising
members across our Secretariat, Board
and the IPA’s Standards, Ethics and
Regulatory Liaison Committee to carefully
consider all issues, formulate our position
on the matter and provide our answers to
the call for evidence. We’re also setting
up regional breakfast meetings with IPA
members so that we can understand their
views.
This is an important time for insolvency
regulation and its stakeholders. I welcome
the opportunity to review the regulatory
framework against our ROs and assist
the government on its single regulator
consideration.
The full call for evidence document can
be downloaded from gov.uk. The CICM
will be submitting a response to the call
for evidence. For more information visit:
cicm.com/current-consultation-papers
Michelle Thorp is CEO, Insolvency
Practitioners Association.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 12

OPINION
Doing the right thing
Poor payment practice is often more about process
than intent.
AUTHOR – Philip King FCICM
Philip King FCICM
INTEREST in the Prompt Payment
Code – and the issue of late payment
generally – has rocketed in recent
months. Partly this has been to do
with political meanderings, and
the need to be seen to be tough on
businesses that mistreat smaller suppliers,
but moreso since the CICM began naming
those signatories to the PPC whose payment
performance falls outside of their voluntary
commitment.
What has been particularly interesting
to me is that poor payment behaviour is not
being identified by suppliers complaining
about how they are paid, or even the
business organisations that represent
them, but rather through the Payment
Practices Performance data submitted to
the government portal by the organisations
themselves.
A great deal of my time has been spent in
recent weeks meeting with senior executives
within these organisations and others who
want to improve their performance and be
reinstated on the Code. Indeed, I have taken
part in well over one hundred such meetings
or calls in the last six months alone.
The process involves the submission
of an action plan setting out what the
organisation is doing (or intending to do)
to achieve compliance. My discussions are,
for obvious reasons, confidential, but I can
tell you that they are more often than not
positive, encouraging and, in some cases,
nothing short of inspirational.
What has been particularly interesting
to me throughout this time is that,
contrary to views often expressed in the
media and elsewhere, the majority of
these organisations genuinely want to pay
suppliers more quickly. Many recognise
the importance of their supply chain and
put significant effort into supporting it and
ensuring it is sustainable. The really smart
ones understand that the quality of their
offering can be dependent on the quality of
the supply chain and making it stronger is
in their own interests as much as in anyone
else’s.
PROCESS AND INTENT
In many cases, the reasons for not achieving
compliance are more about process than
intent, and the action plans being produced
are tackling inherent weaknesses that can
be addressed by devoting sufficient time,
energy and focus to them. If we remember
that the original intention of the Prompt
Payment Code was to encourage and
promote better payment behaviour, it is
exciting to see real tangible evidence that
businesses do take supplier relationships
seriously, and that being a signatory to the
Code is not about simply ticking a box.
The impact of late payment, of course,
goes far beyond a simple hit on cashflow. Its
longer-term effects can damage businesses,
mental health, jobs, competition, the
economy, and far more. That’s why the
CICM is so heavily involved in the debate,
why it believes it is so important, and why
it has introduced a ‘Best Payment Practice’
category for the CICM British Credit Awards
2020.
The award will recognise a business
that can demonstrate having made real
efforts to ensure its supply chain is truly
sustainable and supported, delivering real
benefits through the use of innovative and
creative ideas. Our awards event isn’t until
5 February next year so it might seem a
bit premature but there’s nothing to stop
an organisation registering their interest
already.
Contrary to views
often expressed in the
media and elsewhere,
the majority of these
organisations genuinely
want to pay suppliers
more quickly.
If you work for, or know of, an
organisation that is leading by example in
the way it manages its supply chain, please
give it a nudge. Publishing good news
stories is never going to be in the interests
of the media or lobbying organisations, yet
those positive stories can play a major part
in delivering the culture change we need,
and we should applaud and celebrate those
who do the right thing.
Philip King FCICM, Chief Executive
of the Chartered Institute of Credit
Management.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 13

HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
End of the line?
Making the move to call centre enforcement.
AUTHOR – Andrew Wilson MCICM
HM Courts & Tribunals
Service (HMCTS) will
introduce 12 new Warrant
of Control Support Centres
across England and Wales
‘to engage with debtors
early with the aim of providing support and
resolving the warrant as soon as possible,
reducing the need for a bailiff to visit the
debtor at their home address’.
The decision to open these enforcement
call centres was based on the success of two
pilots, one in the North West and the other
in the North East of England. (I am always
intrigued by the definition of success).
Once a warrant is issued it will be diverted
for ‘approximately 12 days’ to a support centre
for staff to attempt to engage with the debtor.
Only if this is unsuccessful will the warrant
be sent out to the County Court Bailiff in the
usual way.
NEW APPROACH
To be positive about this initiative, use of
enforcement against goods in this day and
age is inappropriate and disproportionate in
dealing with small debts. Generally, these
debtors no longer have goods available which
would justify the cost of removal and sale.
The main asset of a household tends to be a
car, which may well be held on finance or not
worth removal; so the sensible approach with
increasingly indebted households, is to set up
a reasonable instalment arrangement so that
the judgment debt can be added to the other
instalments being juggled at the end of each
month. This means the creditor will have to
wait a little, but they should get interest if the
debt is paid in full.
What about business debt, I hear you cry?!
And the fact that today’s creditor can easily
turn into tomorrow’s debtor, if he is not paid?
To be more realistic (I hesitate to say
cynical) HMCTS had to do something about
Lord Briggs’ uncontested conclusion that
County Court Bailiff Departments were failing
to provide an adequate service. HMCTS does
not allow bonuses based on successful
collection of judgment debt for existing and
newly recruited bailiffs, which is a standard
method of incentive and reward in the wider
bailiff world. If County Court Bailiffs are only
collecting the easy money judgments, they
might as well be collected in a call centre.
CALL CENTRES
Haven’t credit control departments already
tried to collect over the telephone? The days
of simply sending outstanding debts off to the
lawyers have long gone. It is far too expensive
and only the hard cases will go legal where
there is a realistic chance of recovery,
otherwise they will be written off.
I do not, of course, believe that County
Court Bailiffs should be trying to enforce
bulk money judgments, but I would say that,
wouldn’t I?
Increasingly, those agencies that
traditionally used the County Court, such as
housing associations and utilities companies,
are transferring to the High Court. We are
dealing with consumer debtors in our dayto-day
work, as well as our original core
of business debt. We are very capable of
dealing with the vulnerable in a sensitive
way. Vulnerability is not a ‘get out of jail
free’ card, it simply means that more time
and consideration is needed to engage
with the vulnerable debtor to resolve the
indebtedness. All of our staff are trained in
dealing with sensitive situations.
But the HCEO call centres are also staying
in touch with the enforcement agents in
the field, providing information while at a
debtor’s premises, receiving payments and
arranging for removal contractors to attend.
Can anyone provide me with a case when a
County Court Bailiff arranged for removal
and sale of goods in recent years?
OTHER OPTIONS?
Instead of spending money on call centres,
why doesn’t HMCTS allow its customers
to decide how they want to enforce their
CCJs, by removing the artificial restrictions
between County Court and High Court
enforcement of CCJs. County Court Bailiffs
need to concentrate on enforcing orders
of possession of private houses within a
reasonable time.
All it needs is an amendment to the High
Court and County Court Jurisdiction Order
1991. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and
HMCTS have already been supplied with the
rationale and the detailed drafting required
to make the change.
As we wait for the Government response
for the call for ewvidence following the 2014
reforms on taking control of goods, allowing
court users (the funders of Civil Justice in
England and Wales) to choose, should be a
clear option.
Andrew Wilson MCICM is Chairman
of the High Court Enforcement Officers
Association (HCEOA).
To be positive about
this initiative, use
of enforcement
against goods in
this day and age is
inappropriate and
disproportionate in
dealing with small
debts.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 14

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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 15

INTERVIEW
MADE IN
ESSEX
Sean Feast speaks to Louise Smyth
of Companies House about Classical
Civilisation, the Civil Service, and the
musical tastes of Andy Kershaw.
LOUISE Smyth is a woman in a
hurry. At least that’s how her
colleagues see her. On her desk
is a buzzer. She presses it, and
her recorded voice utters ‘more
pace’. “Apparently it’s something
I say quite a lot,” she laughs. “Whatever we
are doing or planning, I always want us to be
working faster.”
Such a desire could be mistaken for
impatience, but it would be wide of the mark.
Neither has Louise always appeared to be in so
much of a hurry. The daughter of a policeman,
Louise was born in Ilford and educated at
Loughton High School (“My mum wouldn’t
let me go to the Comp,” she jokes). She was
in no rush to start a career, and received little
or nothing by way of careers’ advice beyond
that suggested to all the girls – to become an
Environmental Health Officer.
“I was rubbish at science but pretty good
at Latin,” she explains, “and so I decided to
study Classical Civilisation at University. It
was a combination of Latin and Ancient Greek
language with an element of history, literature
and social studies. I saw one of my university
reports recently, and it said that my Latin was
‘the rustiest Latin they had ever come across’!”
SISTERS OF MERCY
Louise thoroughly enjoyed her time at
the University of Leeds, and among her
contemporaries was the DJ Andy Kershaw. “He
was in charge of events and so we got to see
some amazing bands like The Stranglers and
Sisters of Mercy. You always knew he would
make it big because the events were all billed
as ‘Andy Kershaw presents…’.”
On graduating with a BA Hons, Louise still
had no clear direction of the career path she
wanted to follow, and her CV is an interesting
assortment of organisations and roles that
don’t completely tell the whole story. While
on the face of it, most of her working life has
been spent in the civil service, usually with a
bias towards HR and people management, she
has also worked in Retail (including spells with
Debenhams and M&S) and as a trainee manager
at McDonalds.
“I rather fell into the civil service but have
always been proud to be a civil servant because
its values of integrity and impartiality are
values that I identify with myself, as well as fair
and open competition.
“When I first started, we didn’t even have a
computer. If you wanted a letter to be sent you
had to take a draft, with the correct slip, to the
typing pool, and had to be extra nice to those
in charge or else you could go to the bottom of
the pile.
“In those days it was all about grades and
hierarchies. You had to call everybody Mr
this or Mrs that, and they all had big offices,
with the size of the office (and the number of
windows that it had) based on how senior you
were. Today we are now almost entirely open
plan, and I pride myself on being approachable.
I want people to be able to come up to me and
have a chat.”
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Engaging with employees, she says, can lead to
real business improvements. She has a mantra
to be adaptable, bold and curious: “It is the
people on the ground who really know what
changes need to be made that can make a real
difference, and the skill is in giving these people
a voice. That’s why we’ve recently created an
‘ideas hub’, and one idea alone from one of our
team has saved the organisation £650,000.”
Louise spent the bulk of her civil service
career at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO),
including a stint as Director of Corporate
Services which included delivering a new
website which is still rated as being one of the
top ten government websites. She increased her
responsibilities as Director of Business Support
and subsequently Director of IT, leading
a transformation project to deliver a new
organisation and ways of working. She became
Acting Chief Operating Officer of the IPO in
June 2014 and COO the following year, leading
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 16

I rather fell into the
civil service but have
always been proud
to be a civil servant
because its values
of integrity and
impartiality are
values that I identify
with myself, as well
as fair and open
competition.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 17 continues on page 18 >

INTERVIEW
AUTHOR – Sean Feast
a cultural change programme that led to a
significant increase in the empowerment
and engagement of its people.
She remembers one incident that still
makes her smile: “One of the perks at the
IPO when you reached a particular Grade
was that you had your own parking space,
but on the day I was promoted they did
away with it!”
COMPANIES HOUSE
When the opportunity came to join
Companies House as the Chief Executive
and Registrar of Companies for England
and Wales, Louise jumped at the chance:
“I have always taken on jobs because they
interested me and never because of the
money or grade. I had never considered
myself particularly ambitious, but this was
a job I specifically wanted before I got it. It
was a goal. It was all about transformation,
an area that really excited me.
“Companies House is a fantastic place
to work,” she continues. “There is a
tremendous sense of community. There is
also a tremendous sense of pride.”
Companies House now celebrates
success, whether through its internal
awards or via external recognition. It has
worked hard in areas such as Mental Health,
raising awareness among employees for
their own mental wellbeing, as well as how
they interact with their customers and the
wider public. Enabling employees to speak
more openly about their problems has led
to a tangible reduction in time off sick
which last year fell by an average of two
days per person: “Having conversations
keeps people in work,” Louise explains.
“Whereas before they may have been
suffering and made an excuse, today they
are more willing to talk about it and even
blog about it on the intranet so that others
can share experiences.”
VALUED ENVIRONMENT
Building on her love of people issues,
Louise continues to build an environment
where people feel valued; in the recent civil
service people survey, some 92 percent of
employees took part – an extraordinary
level of engagement by any measure. More
flexible working patterns have helped
to break down barriers and ultimately
improve productivity. Teams end up
managing themselves.
That’s not to say that Companies House
does not have its challenges. There is a
particular challenge around the issue of
trust, not of the organisation itself, or its
people, but rather the integrity and veracity
of some of the information it stores. After
approaches and consultation with Philip
King FCICM of the CICM, Companies
House agreed to publish a reminder on
its website that it does not independently
Having conversations
keeps people in
work, whereas before
they may have been
suffering and made
an excuse, today
they are more willing
to talk about it and
even blog about it on
the intranet so that
others can share
experiences.
verify the information it holds. It also
created a dedicated email through which
businesses can raise concerns over
potentially bogus accounts.
Part of the problem, Louise believes, is
a disconnect within the media and some
parts of business as regards her powers:
currently Companies House has limited
powers and no remit to investigate or
verify the information presented. That
may change in the future – and indeed
is part of a current consultation – but it
will require a significant investment in
Established 1844
Head Office
Other locations
Employees
Number of companies on the
register
Average age of a company
resource and skills.
It will especially require the design and
implementation of a new digital offering,
including a new risk engine to identify
suspicious activities.
“The restrictions and limitations of our
current powers are certainly frustrating,”
Louise explains. “Take, for example, our
powers regarding the suppression of
information. This could only be done in
very narrow circumstances. The world
is changing. Transparency and ease of
doing business are important, but so too
is understanding the new risks we face,
especially when it comes to our own
personal data.”
ESSENTIAL RESOURCE
There are 4.2 million companies on the
register whose data was accessed over
6.8 billion times this year. According to
BIPA, the Business Information Providers
Association, approximately £1.7 trillion of
decisions are based on Companies House
data, and there are more than five billion
searches of the Companies House Register
in any 12-month period.
Satisfaction levels remain high – at more
than 80 percent – but even here, Louise
admits, there are challenges: “If you are
on the receiving end of a late filing penalty
you are hardly ever likely to be happy!”
Louise recognises that they do
occasionally get things wrong: “This is why
customer satisfaction is a priority and we
keep monitoring and improving,” she adds.
So has Louise given her own children
any advice in terms of future careers? “I
wouldn’t dare,” she laughs. “In my day
there was an agreed path. I loved my time
at University and did not leave with any
substantial debt, but today there are many
different routes into a career, including
Apprenticeships that offer a number of
exciting opportunities. Try different things
and don’t be afraid to fail. And be yourself;
we all bring something different to the
party.”
Cardiff
London, Edinburgh and Belfast
1,000 (approx)
4.2 million
8.5 years
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 18

THE RECOGNISED
STANDARD
Wednesday 5th February 2020,
The Royal Lancaster, London
We are thrilled to announce that the 2020 CICM British Credit Awards are back!
This year we have new categories and are excited to
recognise and applaud the success of you and your teams.
The British Credit Awards recognise the standout
achievements of the most deserving individuals,
teams and organisations in the international
credit industry.
The British Credit Awards were launched 8 years
ago as a platform to celebrate the achievements
of credit professional and organisations. It is now
the flagship event in the credit industry and receiving
an award at the glittering event ceremony is
recognised as the highest accolade you can receive
in your profession.
New Categories
B2B Team, B2B Supplier, Legal Provider, Giving Back,
Best Payment Practice
Entry Guidance
Register early to ensure you receive updates and the
latest news, along with entry guidance and top tips!
Finalist Logo
If your entry is short-listed, you will be provided with
a free logo to use demonstrating your achievement in
being shortlisted
Entries open on Monday 2nd September 2019
www.cicmbritishcreditawards.com
Sponsor:
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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 19

OPINION
TRUSTED
SOURCE
To make an informed decision, you
need to understand the source of the
information being used.
AUTHOR – Jo Kettner
I
read James Campbell’s article in Credit
Management May 2019 with interest.
He highlights a small, but for those
affected, very significant problem.
Philip King FCICM and James are to
be congratulated for their efforts in
encouraging Companies House to display a more
prominent warning acknowledging their role
as filing cabinet and not a verifier of company
information.
Companies House appears to be engaging
with this important topic. Its current remit
does not allow it to verify information that is
filed at the register in any meaningful way:
this means that mistakes – either innocent or
deliberate – will appear on the public register
alongside accurate information, with no means
of distinguishing one from another. This was
highlighted by the case of company formation
agent Kevin Brewer, to my knowledge the only
person to have been prosecuted under Section
1112 of the 2006 Companies Act which made it
a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly
deliver information to Companies House that is
misleading, false or deceptive.
In 2013, frustrated at the lack of response
to his many letters to Companies House and
government Ministers on the subject, Mr Brewer
incorporated a company John Vincent Cable
Services, with the then Business Secretary Vince
Cable MP listed as director and shareholder,
without the MP’s knowledge or consent. In
2016, Brewer incorporated Cleverly Cloggs
appointing Baroness Neville-Rolfe (the Minister
with responsibility for Companies House) as
well as the MP James Cleverly as directors and
shareholders without their knowledge.
Mr Brewer had committed an offence, but
the decision to prosecute seems unduly heavyhanded
and a missed opportunity to grasp the
nettle on this problem. Since the prosecution in
2018 the mood seems to have changed. As part of
the Business Information Providers Association
(BIPA), I’ve had the pleasure to visit Companies
House in Cardiff in the last year, and have seen
for myself a group of people who are really keen
to engage with the users of the information of
which they are custodians.
ID CHECKS
In May 2019, Companies House issued a wideranging
public consultation which, among other
things, seeks to address the issue of identity
verification, indirectly acknowledging the issue
highlighted by Mr Brewer. I’d encourage you to
have a look at the consultation – on gov.uk –
although at 80 pages long it isn’t light holiday
reading. The deadline to submit responses
passed in August – but it has been indicated
that there may be another chance to engage in
the Autumn once the initial views have been
gathered and analysed.
Back to the world of the Credit Reference
Agencies (CRAs) – as you might expect, I take a
slightly different view from Mr Campbell, but
I’m pleased to engage with him on this topic
and thank him for raising awareness of it. At
Company Watch, we have always taken the view
that the quality of our models can only ever be
as good as the quality of the input – anything
that seeks to improve the quality of source data
is to be welcomed. That’s also why we encourage
our users to interact with the data we provide –
we very much see this as a starting point, a tool
which, used by skilled professionals, enhances
the quality of the work they do.
Working in the world of big data, applying
cutting-edge machine learning techniques to the
various data sources we collect can give insight
and locate companies in a wider context that
isn’t possible when considering information on
a single company in isolation. Much of what we
do is about spotting patterns, flagging anomalies
and giving our users the ammunition to ask more
probing questions. In hindsight we can all see
that Patisserie Valerie was showing financials
that were significantly above benchmark for the
casual dining sector; we take those learnings
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 20

OPINION
AUTHOR – Jo Kettner
on board and are actively developing new
tools that can highlight more effectively the
questions that our users may want to ask of the
businesses they are about to engage with.
SHARING IS CARING
One part of the current Companies House
consultation looks at the benefits of
sharing information between government
departments. A pilot project between
Companies House and HMRC has been
so successful in highlighting anomalies
between accounts information filed for
Corporation Tax purposes and those filed for
the public register that it has been extended.
There are many other data sets which, if used
in conjunction with each other as triangulation
points could go a long way to bringing to light
potentially fraudulent behaviour.
The focus of the Companies House
consultation seems to be on law enforcement
and using these data sets within government,
but I would argue that there should be
some means of sharing at least part of this
information with trusted third parties that
adhere to minimum standards of security and
disclosure requirements, in much the same
way as VAT Registration data is currently shared
under the Small Business, Enterprise and
Employment Act 2015. Linkages can be made
using official, but non-public datasets, to help
all those users of Companies House data have
more confidence that multiple official sources
are being used to create a fuller picture of what
is going on behind the scenes.
Credit management is an art, not a science:
each business has a different appetite for
risk versus reward and there are all kinds of
tools out there to provide different things
on the spectrum from data, to information,
intelligence and insight: it is the credit
manager’s job to bring all this together, to
make a business decision based on evidence,
experience, risk appetite and instinct.
But Mr Campbell is right: in order to make
an informed decision, you must understand
the source of the information being used and
why our algorithms are producing the results
that they are. That is why we put a huge amount
of time into making our scores transparent
and providing explanations. Machine learning
does not always make this easy, but we are
committed to providing our users with some
level of explanation and drill-down so that
they understand the basis on which they are
making their decisions.
See our interview with Louise Smyth, Chief
Executive at Companies House on page 16.
The focus of the Companies House
consultation seems to be on law
enforcement and using these data sets
within government, but I would argue that
there should be some means of sharing at
least part of this information with trusted
third parties that adhere to minimum
standards of security and disclosure
requirements
Jo Kettner is
CEO of Company Watch.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 21

OPINION
Zero to Hero
With more distressed retailers making use of CVAs,
is history in danger of repeating itself?
AUTHOR – Duncan Grubb
GIVEN the number of high
profile retail Company
Voluntary Agreements
(CVAs) that happened
over the last three years
(including New Look and
more recently Arcadia) it’s quite difficult
to remember that there was a time when
it looked as though the CVA had run its
course as a recovery tool. The use of CVAs
by multi occupancy retailers who had got
themselves into difficulties, but whose
investors still considered the underlying
businesses to be sound, was one of the big
insolvency stories of the credit crunch.
However, once the commercial
landlord community realised that the CVA
was being used as a simple mechanism
for exiting underperforming leases while
virtually all other classes of creditor were
being left unscathed, it was only a matter
of time before prejudicial CVA proposals
were either voted down by the creditors
(Stylo) or successfully challenged and
overturned in the Courts (Powerhouse).
This resulted in increased collaboration
between the insolvency and landlord
communities (via the British Property
Federation), and where CVAs were still
the preferred recovery option there was
considerable effort made on both sides
to arrive at proposals that genuinely
attempted to rescue the struggling
retailer. This meant not trimming rents
to ridiculously low levels with an eye on
increased profits for the ‘rescued’ retailer
further down the road, thereby gaining an
advantage over the competition.
These events all seem like ancient
history now, and it appears that the
combination of a few benign years in the
early teens, and a shift of focus to the
potential misuse of connected party Pre-
Packs, have caused the lessons of the past
to be all but forgotten.
RESCUE REMEDY
So once again the CVA is the ‘go-to’ remedy
for retailers that need a way out of business
decisions which were negotiated in good
faith, by professional people with their eyes
wide open; and which resulted in legally
binding contracts. Only now, it appears
that the willingness of the landlords to
engage with the insolvency community
in the past has been misinterpreted in
the present by some insolvency firms
as a green light to drive through even
Engagement between
the two parties
therefore needs to be
re-energised with full
CVA proposals being
put on the table at
an early stage in the
process
more prejudicial CVA models.
One only has to look at the recent highprofile
situation where initially there was
insufficient support from the landlords for
the CVA to be approved. In an unusual turn
of events, the CVA meeting was adjourned
and the vote delayed, with an improved
offer then being put to the creditors and
subsequently voted through. Regardless
of the good intentions on both sides and
the need to resolve a difficult situation
quickly, these events clearly demonstrate
that there was more money available to
the landlords, but it was only offered
when it looked like the proposal would
be voted down. It does, therefore, look
like we are back to square one with some
distressed retailers using a CVA to try to go
from zero to hero via their landlords’ bank
accounts – notwithstanding the insolvency
practitioners’ obligation to achieve the
best result for the companies’ creditors.
It must of course be remembered that
with all insolvencies there is a certain
amount of pain to be shared, and most
creditors accept this, however there is once
again a justifiable feeling among landlords
that this pain could, and should, be shared
more equally among all creditor groups.
I also feel that much of the negativity
surrounding the recent crop of retail
CVAs could have been avoided if the good
relationship built up during the crunch
years between the insolvency firms and the
landlord community had been maintained
at its previous level, preventing either side
from becoming complacent. Engagement
between the two parties therefore needs
to be re-energised with full CVA proposals
being put on the table at an early stage
in the process for both scrutiny and
modification, rather than just as a box
ticking exercise very late in the day, which
is where we seem to be at the moment.
The insolvency firms will, of course,
say that landlords can always vote down
a CVA if they don’t like it, and this is true.
However not all landlords are equal;
some having more units than others and
in better locations. The more desirable
units will often be left virtually untouched
in exchange for that landlord’s support
for the CVA, while less desirable (read
less profitable) units will be severely
compromised. Given that they are all
individual businesses struggling to
compete in the marketplace it’s a big
ask for landlord companies to forego an
individual advantage for the greater good;
however I still believe that by working
together to sensibly challenge prejudicial
CVA proposals, the landlord community
can regain the influence and rights of
objection which seem to have drifted away.
I therefore urge all landlords unhappy
with a CVA proposal to work together with
a unified voice and hold out for better
deals where achievable and appropriate –
it worked before so there’s no reason why
history shouldn’t repeat itself again.
Duncan Grubb is Director of Duncan
Grubb Consultants and author of ‘Credit
Management for Property Professionals –
The Fine Art of Not Losing Money’.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 22

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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 23

OPINION
BREATHE
EASY?
How does the government intend to
manage and enforce its latest hobby
horse?
AUTHOR – Peter Wallwork MCICM
THE announcement over the
summer of a response to the Call
for Evidence by Her Majesty’s
Treasury (HMT) into its plans to
enforce a mandated ‘breathing
space’ for those with problem
debt caused the predictable excitement in the
mainstream media. For the better-informed
journalists, and certainly for those working
in the credit industry, it aroused rather more
excitement of a different kind.
The excitement is not so much about the
need to give vulnerable customers a reprieve,
which every right-thinking person would think
is reasonable, or even that some debts might
be written off altogether, but rather the detail
around how the Government intends to manage
and enforce its latest hobby horse and who,
ultimately, will foot the bill.
A WORTHY CONCEPT
We can all agree that the concept of breathing
space is a good one. It is an idea that unites
both those in the collections industry, and those
charities and organisations who deliver debt
advice. We can also agree that it is good to see
that central and local government debt will be
included in the round.
But let us be clear: before certain groups and
individuals claim this as a tremendous ‘victory’
for the consumer, the idea is nothing new. It has
been best-practice, and enshrined in the CSA
Code of Practice, since 2012, so any thoughts that
our industry and our members will somehow be
dragged kicking and screaming to adopt such a
policy can be quickly corrected. The industry is
already well ahead of the curve.
The real issue is that while the detail of the
proposals is currently (and typically) lacking,
it appears that it is potentially a fundamental
shift in creditors’ rights. It isn’t ‘protection’ per
se, but rather debt relief; the most vulnerable
customers will be let off interest and charges
that are legitimately owed.
Now you could argue that this would probably
happen anyway in the consumer credit space,
but usually it would be a unilateral concession
on the part of the creditor. But according to
the consultation, the interest and charges that
would be waived are not just those that relate
to the account being in default, but also the
interest and charges that relate to the actual
contract itself. And that presents a minefield of
future challenges.
IDENTIFYING THE VULNERABLE
At a practical level, who determines who is
vulnerable and who isn’t? At what stage does a
debt become a problem debt, and then becomes
a heavy burden requiring additional breathing
space? Who makes that decision? How do
we ensure consistency? How can it/will it be
measured?
And what about the proposed ‘Register’.
While there are valid concerns within the
advice community that giving too much access
to the register may lead to data being used
inappropriately, failing to give the right people
(including collection agencies) access to the
register will also create more problems than
it solves. Information will change on a daily
basis, but since notification has to be sent to the
original creditor, and then the creditor informs
the collections agency, there is no possible way
that this could be achieved in such a timely
manner that problems will not occur. Customers
could still be contacted several days after they
had been giving breathing space, simply because
that information has not yet been received by the
agency.
Continuing with the practical, ‘operational’
themes, how does it impact the annual statements
that are sent out? And arrears? Agencies and debt
purchasers know that if their documentation is
wrong, and they are not compliant, then they
may be liable to claims for compensation. So
how it that going to work? All of this will also
take a significant investment in new processes
and systems that will have to be built a huge cost
to the industry.
ADDITIONAL COSTS
Now, of course, there will be those who do
not, especially, have any sympathy with the
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 24

OPINION
AUTHOR – Peter Wallwork MCICM
credit industry and the additional costs they may
be saddled with as a result. Perhaps they should
consider that even with our rudimentary analysis of
the proposals, creditors could lose something in the
region of 30 percent or more of a debt that’s owed.
And someone down the line has to pay for that loss.
Indeed, what about the macro effects of such
a proposal? What will it do to the markets? If even
smaller quantities of debt are recovered (we believe
the estimate of 90 percent is mathematically
unattainable on the facts), and interest and charges
are waived, then how will that impact future
lending, and future charges? Lending is likely to
become even more constrained, and credit that is
available will come at a higher cost to the consumer.
The few who are vulnerable will have a potentially
disproportionate effect on the many who are not,
and who will end up covering the cost.
There will be an impact too on the debt
purchasing sector who typically acquire ‘crystallised’
debt – i.e debt that includes all contractual interest
and charges but has gone into default. Although the
purchaser may have the original creditor’s rights
in terms of applying additional default interest
and charges and recovering the reasonable costs
of collecting or enforcing the debt, these don’t get
exercised. As such, the direct cost implications
of the proposal fall in a different way to those of
lenders.
Purchasers will, however, face increased costs
(or losses) from less obvious sources in addition to
potential changes in the market. Due diligence costs
on acquisition of loans will increase as a result of
the added complexity around payment histories.
And, as stated previously, inaccurate records from
vendors or consumers can affect the accuracy of
statements and notices, which in turn can affect
enforceability and potentially lead to loss of all
interest and charges.
And what about the commercial credit sector?
The proposals span both consumer and commercial
credit, but how is a sole trader, for example,
expected to cope in having to give breathing space
to a debtor? Most likely they will have to raise their
prices to mitigate the risk, but in doing so may
become less competitive and fall into financial
difficulties themselves!
The proposals should not, by any means, be
dismissed as folly. They should be welcomed as a
good start. Giving vulnerable people protection
from enforcement action from creditors is a good
thing, but identifying those vulnerable people is
not easy, and requires the collections industry and
the debt advice sector to work even more closely
together. Let us see how the story unfolds as more
detail is made available to us to discuss. And let us
not hope that the unintended consequences of such
action, is less available credit at higher cost, that
ultimately moves more people into poverty.
Peter Wallwork is CEO of the Credit Services
Association and a member of the Board of the
Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG).
It has been best-practice, and enshrined
in the CSA Code of Practice, since 2012, so
any thoughts that our industry and our
members will somehow be dragged kicking
and screaming to adopt such a policy can
be quickly corrected.
The proposals should
not, by any means, be
dismissed as folly. They
should be welcomed as a
good start.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 25

BREATH OF
FRESH AIR?
Government plans to introduce a 60-day breathing space
for people in debt have been welcomed – especially since
public sector debts will be included – but the practical
details have yet to be fully established.
AUTHOR – Heather Greig-Smith
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 26

OPINION
AUTHOR – Heather Greig-Smith
Peter Wallwork
Phil McGilvray
John Glen
Phil Andrew
Joanna Elson
FROM 2021, people with problem
debts will be protected from
enforcement action and will
have their interest frozen for
60 days as long as they engage
with professional debt advisers
to find a long-term solution and get back on
track with payments.
For the private sector debt collection
industry, the change is unlikely to be seismic.
The Credit Services Association (CSA) Code
of Practice has included the provision of
breathing space since 2012. What is different
is the inclusion of public sector debts in the
plans, a decision that should go some way to
tackling the gap between public and private
sector collection practices.
Peter Wallwork, CSA Chief Executive, says:
“It will address the potential disconnect
between the treatment received by a customer
owing debt to a bank or credit card company,
for example, and those owing debt to public
sector organisations including HMRC.”
“Allowing Breathing Space has long been
a part of our approach with customers
experiencing problem debt,” confirms Sean
Gallacher – Interim Head of Operations at
Hoist Finance UK.
“The proposed legislation formalises a
process across both other public and private
sector areas where customers may not be
currently offered this level of support. It will
mean that someone experiencing problem
debt will no longer have to rely on goodwill.”
Phil McGilvray, Chief Operations Officer, UK
Debt Purchase, for Cabot Credit Management,
says in fact the scheme should make things
easier for creditors as well as consumers.
“The difference to current practices should
be seen as a positive, in that the customer is
required to actually seek debt advice and be
assessed as needing the breathing space and
that creditors will be formally notified of
entry into and exit from the scheme,” he says.
NEW PROPOSALS
Under the proposals, individuals receiving
NHS treatment for mental health crisis will
not need to seek debt advice during the 60-day
period. They will continue to receive the same
breathing space protections for the whole of
their treatment.
John Glen, City Minister says the scheme
will give people access to the advice, time
and support they need to get their finances
under control. “Problem debt can have a
devastating impact on people’s lives, putting a
huge burden on individuals which can lead to
family breakdown, stress and mental health
issues. No one should be stuck in an endless
cycle of debt and facing the ever-looming
threat of invasive debt collectors.”
As well as breathing space and the
support for those in mental health crisis,
government announced plans for a Statutory
Debt Repayment Plan. It will offer similar
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 27
protection to the breathing space scheme,
helping individuals to repay their debts over
a manageable timeframe.
Phil Andrew, CEO of StepChange Debt
Charity, says the changes will level the playing
field. “People looking for a sustainable way
to repay their debts have traditionally had
little protection, leaving them vulnerable
to inconsistent approaches by different
creditors.”
Likewise, Joanna Elson OBE, Chief
Executive of the Money Advice Trust, believes
the decision to include public sector creditors
is “a game-changer in our efforts to tackle
problem debt as a society”.
However, the complexities of Universal
Credit mean it will be phased into the scheme
rather than included from the beginning.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens
Advice, says government figures show 57
percent of people who claim Universal Credit
experience deductions, with £1 in every £10
awarded being deducted to repay debts and
costs.
“We’re concerned thousands of people with
debts and deductions under Universal Credit
are going to miss out on this support initially.”
PROBLEM DEBT
The proposals will be put to Parliament later
this year for implementation in early 2021.
The schemes are to be administered largely
by debt advice agencies – who will assess
whether an individual is in ‘problem debt’,
check against a private register whether
they have used breathing space in the past
12 months, and add them to an Insolvency
Service portal.
The debt advice agency will supply
originating creditor details to the Insolvency
Service portal and they will then be notified
that the individual is protected from action and
all interest and charges must be suspended.
The originating creditor will be responsible
for notifying third-party collection agencies.
The government response makes no mention
of debt purchasers and their rights as owners
of debts under this system.
It will be down to creditors to notify debt
advice agencies if customers are failing to
meet ongoing liabilities, with government
keen to ensure debt advice bodies have
discretion about whether or not to remove an
individual from breathing space protection.
Hoist Finance’s Sean Gallacher says the
industry will rely on proper IT systems
integration to identify those to whom
protection applies. “Failure to do so
could result in delays in application and
administrative burden for all parties.
“Further, it is important that the notification
contains sufficient details (including the
debtor’s personal details, known creditors,
and, if possible, account information)
without this we may not be able to identify
the individual, leading to further delays.”
continues on page 28 >

OPINION
AUTHOR – Heather Greig-Smith
Gillian Guy
Sean Gallacher
David Sheridan
Caroline Sumner
Phil McGilvray agrees this is an area that
needs careful attention. “This system will
need to be accessible for all creditors to
ensure smooth operation, this will link to the
original creditor so there could be delays in
notification to the ultimate debt purchaser.
We will also need to ensure that we are able
to quickly identify notifications for onward
submission to our DCA population,” he says,
adding: “Communication from the debt
management companies will be critical.”
DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES
Phil says customers will also have different
experiences depending on the debt type.
“The obvious example of this will be where
an account is still ‘live’ (prior to default).
Breathing space on an account of this type
would currently have consequences for
the customer in terms of arrears accruing,
degrading credit status and ultimately formal
default of the account.”
David Sheridan, ARC Europe Operations
Director, believes that the extended breathing
space for those suffering a mental health
crisis is important. “The customer needs to
focus on their recovery,” he says. “We just
need to understand the details of legislation
so that we can ensure our approach reflects
the requirements and assess the practicalities
of supporting it. What if some customers
want to sort their debts out during treatment,
will this be possible?”
Caroline Sumner, Technical and Education
Director at insolvency and restructuring trade
body R3, also welcomes the Government’s
plans and says R3 is hopeful Government is
listening to the practical concerns raised by
stakeholders.
“Not all of the creditors who will be caught
up by breathing space’s restrictions will be
large or sophisticated financial institutions,
and their rights need to be taken into
consideration, too,” she says.
“For example: How will a debtor’s creditors
be notified of the breathing space? How
quickly can this be done in practice? How
will the administrators of the breathing
space ensure they are communicating with
the current owners of a debt, if it has been
sold on? How should pre-existing debts
There is certainly
a lot to be ironed
out, either through
regulations or through
guidance, and engaging
with the Government is
critical.
which were not identified at the start of
the breathing space, but which are brought
to light once the 60 days are underway,
be handled? What sanctions are there for
creditors who accidentally or deliberately
breach the restrictions around contacting
someone in debt during their breathing
space? There is certainly a lot to be ironed
out, either through regulations or through
guidance, and engaging with the Government
is critical.”
Caroline adds that, while the breathing
space scheme fills a much-needed gap, there
are potential issues around sole trader debts
that will add complexity and could restrict
access to help.
This system will need
to be accessible for all
creditors to ensure smooth
operation, this will link
to the original creditor so
there could be delays in
notification to the ultimate
debt purchaser.
NEED FOR CLARITY
In addition, issues such as creditor-petitioned
bankruptcies and breathing space have not
yet been dealt with, and R3 is concerned that
some terminology used – such as ‘problem
debt’ – needs clearer definition.
Questions remain also about how a
statutory debt repayment plan will work
alongside existing insolvency solutions such
as IVAs and debt relief orders.
Ultimately, the attempt to tackle the
inconsistencies around the treatment
of public and private sector debts is
much needed and should go a long way
to transforming the experience of those
struggling with their finances. The past
decade has seen considerable change in the
private sector and now it’s time to apply these
standards across the board.
David Sheridan says the change for those
with rent, council tax and other government
debt will be significant. “These categories of
debt are priority bills so customers facing
such arrears will be more likely to require
the benefits of breathing space to find a longterm
solution to their debt problems.”
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 28

The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 29

OPINION
FATAL
ATTRACTION
The best way of tackling fraud is to go on the attack.
FRAUD is a growing business.
Globally, it grew over 20
percent in the past year¹.
Various credible authorities
believe that effective antifraud
measures can slash
this figure by an astonishing 64 to 80
percent. Just like businesses, fraudsters
keep up with the latest tools and
techniques and incorporate them into
their attack mechanisms.
Businesses will vary in the amount
of fraud they experience according to
their attractiveness to fraudsters, which
is determined by the money that can be
made out of them and the weakness of
their defences. Broadly-speaking, fraud
can be internal or external.
In this article, I’d like to focus on the
external fraudster – someone who is
beyond the perimeter of your business
– who is seeking to establish a new
commercial relationship with your
company. It might be an existing customer
who wants to take fraudulent advantage of
an expanded credit line or a new customer
who wants to fool you into accepting their
‘business’.
The main result of letting a fraudster
past your defences is direct financial loss
or, in extreme cases, business failure.
But other serious consequences will
flow from the fraud becoming public;
a loss of confidence among customers,
lenders and investors being the most
obvious. However, bearing in mind that
fraudsters have to launder the proceeds in
order to legitimise them, you face a huge
distraction and cost of an investigation
if you’re suspected of facilitating a major
fraud. Whether it’s money laundering,
fraud, bribery or corruption, all these
financial crimes can lead to heavy fines
for those found guilty of involvement,
and huge reputational damage. Don’t be a
victim. Go on the attack!
PREVENTION BEATS CURE
The best time to defeat fraud is before it
happens. It means having fraud and credit
policies that work hand in glove with each
other and in harmony with your wider
cybersecurity measures. Fraud has such
a potentially huge impact on a company
that the strategy has to be driven from the
AUTHOR – Simon Blackwell
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 30

OPINION
AUTHOR – Simon Blackwell
graydon.co.uk/downloads/
report-external-business-fraud-uk
board and communicated with all involved
through both education – for those who aren’t
directly in the firing line but who need to be
on the lookout for anomalies – and training
for the front-line staff, such as those involved
in credit control and customer onboarding.
MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC
The size and nature of your business will
determine whether you deploy your antifraud
measures manually, wholly
automatically or somewhere in between.
Companies that rely on fast credit and
onboarding decisions to beat their
competitors to new business will almost
certainly welcome a high degree of
automation. Others, in specialised, noncompetitive,
businesses might be able to
take a more relaxed manual approach. The
question to ask is, ‘how much automation do
I need?’
Decision-making systems are quite
common for mapping out various repetitive
customer journeys as a series of connected
decisions. Information supplied by human
operators or credit reference agencies
and other databases is used to generate
recommendations. The user can easily
check the decision logic and confirm it or
challenge it.
A bit more automation can allow the
system to make all but the more questionable
decisions which will still be referred to a
human. Advanced analytics systems can
sift through masses of data – customer data
and third-party databases – in a way that is
understandable to a human but that is also
beyond a human’s, or a team’s, capacity
to process in the time available to make a
decision. The output from this would be
fresh insights or strong recommendations
that a human is unlikely ever to have
discovered. The final say ought to remain
with the human decision-maker.
At some point, you might find yourself
tempted by machine learning and deep
learning in which the software systems
teach themselves based on their ongoing
discoveries. This is a step to take carefully
and to base on much parallel testing and
comparison of machine versus human
decision outcomes. In fact, none of the
automated systems mentioned should be
trusted until they’ve earnt that trust.
Decision-making as a service, for want of
a better term, opens up new opportunities.
many companies run siloed operations,
perhaps due to geography or departmental
specialisations. A single service, perhaps
using different local databases, can
harmonise the processes and much, if not
all, of the data served to all users regardless
of where they are. Another advantage could
be that data from different companies,
in the same industry perhaps, can
be anonymised and brought into the
decision-making without breaching any
regulatory compliance codes.
SHARING INFORMATION
Many companies are uneasy about sharing
information regarding successful frauds.
They fear shaking the confidence of
investors, for example. But not to share is a
fraud against those same investors. However,
sharing information about detected frauds
and fraudsters is a completely different
matter.
Unlike admitting a breach, there’s no
embarrassment or shame in sharing details
of successful avoidance of fraud. Your
peers would welcome warnings of who’s out
there and the methods they’re using, just as
you would welcome the same information
from them. Vertical industries benefit
from forums and online or physical gettogethers
where they can share information
of common interest, not just about fraud.
And, indeed, general forums exist where
fraud is the primary topic of conversation
and experts in the subject share their own
insights and experiences. You can be sure
that the fraudsters are adept at sharing
information with each other, to help keep
them ahead of the game. It only makes sense
for you to do this as well. After a successful
fraud, various bodies need to be notified, but
this is beyond this article’s scope.
GOOD STRATEGY
By keeping out the fraudsters, you are
improving the bottom line, increasing
effectiveness and customer service, and
ensuring your compliance with regulations.
You can make improved onboarding and
credit decisions with a minimum delay,
potentially improving your competitiveness
and revenue generation. You might even find
that you are introducing consistency and
harmonisation between far (and not so far)
flung parts of your business operations.
GUIDANCE
Graydon’s report goes through the issues
and stages described above in more detail.
It also provides you with material relating to
criminal and civil law and provides links to
sources of useful advice. And its checklists
will help you regardless of whether you’re
sticking to a manual approach or adopting
some degree of automation.
It’s a new world out there and the
fraudsters are in the thick of it. They will
be using advanced analytics and machine
learning to choose their targets and refine
their attacks. And they’ll be sharing their
intelligence. So, as we said at the beginning,
‘Don’t be a victim. Go on the attack!’ And
make sure you share too.
Simon Blackwell, Managing Director
of Graydon UK
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 31

OPINION
CHANNEL HOPPING
What are the advantages and risks of adopting a
digital approach to consumer communications?
AUTHOR – David Sheridan FCICM
IN the past decade we have seen
a significant shift in consumer
behaviour when it comes to
engaging with organisations. This
has been underpinned by the
companies’ need to increase the
level of convenience to help consumers
interact with them and in particular around
the consumer’s ability to do everything
via their smartphone. There was some
very interesting data on consumer trends
within the annual OFCOM communication
report (September 2018) reinforcing the
increasing reliance on smartphones and
being digitally connected;
• 78 percent of consumers now have a
smartphone
• Nine in ten people in the UK have access
to the web at home
• 2018 saw a seven percent decline over
2017 in call volumes per person but in
the same period a massive 40 percent
increase in data usage per person
How consumers behave and interact with
organisations is just as important to a
debt collection agency (DCA) as any other
consumer-orientated service business.
Most service businesses have a huge
amount of social media and digital focus
and are busily embracing the rising trend
of the digitally connected consumer – they
know if they don’t, they will become less
efficient and potentially lose market share.
This same risk is inherent to DCA’s. DCA’s
cannot afford not to have a digital strategy
for consumer engagement.
IN THE POST
Returning to the OFCOM report for 2018,
it analysed how consumers reacted to
address mail from organisations classifying
bills and statements as one cohort within
the data analysed. The OFCOM analysis
showed that in response to this type of
mail, customer reacted as follows;
• 35 percent of consumers immediately
went online
• 34 percent call someone
Consumer behaviour towards DCA’s is
changing and will continue to change in
line with convenient interaction methods
that are increasingly being used by
consumers. Some DCA’s are leading the
way in embracing digital communication
channels with their customers and are
reaping huge benefits from doing so.
Within our own business, we have
witnessed a significant shift in consumer
behaviour in how consumers are engaging
with us as result of our focused efforts to
develop our digital channels. At the heart
of our strategy is our website – it’s the ‘goto’
point for our customers. As the above
OFCOM mailing analysis shows, customers
mostly respond to arrears mailing by
visiting your website. Therefore, having
a website that is informative, intuitive
to navigate and provides full account
management capabilities has been a large
investment for our business.
As a result of this investment, we have
seen, and continue to see, a huge uptake in
consumer engagement across all aspects of
our website and this has been supported by
our focus on developing web ‘pull’ strategies
to encourage customers to interact with us
this way.
These digital interaction strategies
encouraging customers to visit our
website/ interact with us, has meant a
deeper focus on our part on email contact
strategies, as well as investing in Rich Text
Solutions that enable us to deliver verified
communications such as letters, payment
reminders and forgot to pay links to
customer on their mobile device. We have
also enabled webchat and that platform is
already generating close to ten percent of
the telephony contact levels.
As a result of the success of these contact
strategies outbound dialling and physical
letters are becoming the secondary ‘if no
response to digital’ option for customer
engagement. Our digital strategies provide
very detailed insight to how our customers
respond and interact with us – we get
no such data through these secondary
methods.
DIGITAL BENEFITS
So based on our own experience, how
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 34

OPINION
AUTHOR – David Sheridan FCICM
does having a digital engagement strategy
benefit you and your customers?
• More customers are engaging with us
– we have seen an overall increase in
excess of 20 percent engagement across
our regular client allocation levels from
our customers as a result of our digital
strategies being enabled
• Increasing levels of inbound calls –
interestingly, inbound call levels are
increasing, initially assessment shows
that our website/webchat is providing
customers confidence in speaking with
us
• Our outbound dialling effectiveness is
decreasing – we have seen a ten percent
decline in the last six months alone.
(Does this mimic the general view of
PPI Fatigue – not answering unknown
numbers?)
• Our webchat volumes are constantly
growing – they now represent close to
ten percent of all RPC’s
• Our collection results are improving
– the digital contact strategies are
instant over letters four-to five-days
before its received – with digital it can
be a matter of minutes before the first
communication is issued to customers
• Our customer satisfaction scores are
increasing.
As a result of this, we are speaking to more
customers and sending less physical mail,
and by blending the digital handling with
our existing customer services agents who
answer the phones, we are optimising
their efficiency for the business. These
are strong commercial benefits for any
business but the customer experience has
also improved.
The speed to answer and resolve queries
is immediate, we are offering customers
preferences in how they communicate with
us. The fact is many people would rather not
speak to a physical agent; debt remains a
sensitive subject and our customer surveys
show that customers appreciate the ability
to deal with their account without speaking
to an agent.
There will of course be times where
we have to speak to customers, when we
identify vulnerability for instance, but that
also means we are sharpening the focus of
our agents in terms of what they are now
dealing with and developing agent training
to accommodate these changes in customer
service needs.
CHALLENGES FACED
Creating a digital service strategy that
mimics a non-digital strategy is a tough
challenge for firms to achieve in order
to meet parity in service requirements
(web should mimic telephony experience)
that some clients may expect. If the
digital experience does not mimic the
phone experience concerns exist around
identifying and handling vulnerable
customers. The problem with this approach
is that it creates a complex objective in that
your website and all other digital tools have
to accommodate every customer scenario
that you could face, notwithstanding the
issues that phone outcomes don’t always
guarantee good account handling.
I disagree with this approach; we
should be designing digital strategies to
help customers achieve core outcomes in
a clear and easy to navigate process. The
customer’s journeys would include raise
a dispute or complaint, set up a payment
plan, make a payment, information about
our business and access to impartial advice
links.
I do agree that there should be touch
points along these journeys to help those
with more specific needs get access to more
tailored support, but that shouldn’t come at
the cost of firms having to cater for every
eventuality before going live with digital
offerings. One of the strengths of smaller
DCA’s is their agility to get things moving
quickly and the fact is technology is rapidly
improving so speed to market with digital
engagement tools and strategies is a key
advantage.
FUTURE TRENDS
So what might we expect to see in the
future?
• Online customer engagement
(email, webchat, self-serve account
management) is going to overtake phone
as the main contact point for consumers
within three years within the collections
space – and the overall engagement
levels with consumers in debt is going to
increase as a result
• Technology is going to underpin this
growth – both the increasing confidence
from consumers in interacting with
firms and the firm’s ability to service
their needs digitally will match what
they can do telephonically
• Firms that invest and establish
digital as a key component of their
communications platform will benefit
the most. Getting new channels live can
be much easier than you think – as an
example we were live with our web chat
channel within a week of sourcing the
right vendor. The key message here is
not to overcomplicate the introduction of
new channels and not every new channel
comes with an exorbitant price tag
• Firms need to be assess the impact
of technology and be ready to adapt
as a result of these changes – for
instances what does the future skillset
of customer facing agents today look
like in five years’ time if we have fewer
phone conversations with customers?
By blending digital handling with your
customer facing agents today you can
create a flexibility that can only help
your business reap the benefits from the
rise in digital contact strategies and in
turn your resources more efficient
• Be alert to general consumer and
technology advances and preferences;
disruptor type technology can offer clues
to future opportunities for firms.
Adapted from a presentation given by
David at a recent CICM Think Tank. David
Sheridan is Operations Director at ARC
Europe.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 35

PAYMENT TRENDS
Small Step Forward
The latest monthly business-to-business
payment performance statistics.
AUTHOR – Jason Braidwood FCICM(Grad)
LAST month’s payment performance
statistics continued the recent
downward trajectory and do not
make for pleasant reading, with
all regions and the vast majority
of sectors further increasing their
payment terms. Although there has not been
a dramatic shift, particularly at a regional
level, there are a number of sectors that have
improved their performance and are moving
in the right direction. The average Days Beyond
Terms (DBT) figures across sectors reduced by
0.6 days, while regions increased by 0.2 days.
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT
Overall, it’s been a better month for the majority
of sectors, with all but eight of the 22 sectors
reducing their payment terms, albeit some only
very slightly. Financial and Insurance made the
biggest improvement, reducing its DBT by 4.3
days, closely followed by International Bodies
(-4.0 days) taking their overall DBT to 6.8 days.
Improvements made by Education (-2.7
days) and Entertainment (-2.0 days) mean their
overall DBT is also in the single figures. Public
Administration is the best performing sector
with an overall DBT of 5.3 days.
Although eight sectors have seen increases to
payment terms, it is perhaps encouraging that
none of these have been drastic as seen in the
last few months. However, a further increase
of 1.5 days for Mining and Quarrying taking its
overall DBT to 18.4 days means they are loitering
at the wrong end of the table and in need of
improvement.
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The regional standings can almost be split down
the middle, with six of the 11 sectors increasing
and the other five reducing their DBT.
Moving in the right direction, the best
performing region is Wales after reducing its DBT
by 0.9 days, taking its overall DBT to 11.7 days.
It is closely followed by East Anglia, which also
reduced its payment terms by 0.9 days, now with
an overall DBT of 12 days. Scotland (-0.6 days),
London (-0.3 days) and East Midlands (-0.1 days)
also moved in the right direction.
The biggest increases came from the North
West and Yorkshire and Humberside, with DBT
rising by 1.8 and 1.7 days respectively. A further
increase of 0.2 days means that Northern Ireland’s
overall DBT now stands at 17.8 days, meaning it
remains adrift as the worst performing region.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 36

PAYMENT TRENDS
Top Five Prompter Payers
Sector July 19 Change from June 19 18
Public Administration 5.3 -0.2
International Bodies 6.8 -4.0
Education 8.4 -2.7
Entertainment 9.2 -2.0
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 9.6 0.2
Getting Better
Financial and Insurance -4.3
International Bodies -4.0
Education -2.7
Other Service -2.2
IT and Comms -2.1
Top Five Prompter Payers
Region July 19 Change from June 19
South West 11.6 0.3
Wales 11.7 -0.7
East Anglia 12.0 -0.9
Scotland 12.3 -0.6
South East 12.4 0.2
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
Sector July 19 Change from June 19
Dormant 22.1 5.1
Mining and Quarrying 18.4 1.5
Business from Home 17.7 -0.3
Wholesale and retail trade 15.8 -0.3
Business Admin & Support 14.8 0.2
Getting Worse
Construction 0.8
Transportation and Storage 1.3
Mining and Quarrying 1.5
Hospitality 2.1
Dormant 5.1
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
Region July 19 Change from June 19
Northern Ireland 17.8 0.2
London 15.1 -0.3
West Midlands 13.7 1.3
East Midlands 13.5 -0.1
Yorkshire and Humberside 13.2 1.7
Although there has not been a dramatic
shift, particularly at a regional level,
there are a number of sectors that have
improved their performance and are
moving in the right direction.
SCOTLAND
-0.6 DBT
NORTHERN
IRELAND
0.2 DBT
Region
Getting Better – Getting Worse
-0.9 Wales
-0.9 East Anglia
-0.6 Scotland
-0.3 London
-0.1 East Midlands
0.2 Northern Ireland
0.3 South West
1.3 West Midlands
1.7 Yorkshire & Humberside
1.8 North West
WALES
-0.9 DBT
SOUTH
WEST
0.3 DBT
NORTH
WEST
1.8 DBT
WEST
MIDLANDS
1.3 DBT
YORKSHIRE &
HUMBERSIDE
1.7 DBT
EAST
MIDLANDS
-0.1 DBT EAST
ANGLIA
-0.9 DBT
LONDON
-0.3 DBT
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 37

INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
Monthly round-up of the latest stories
in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.
A SINGLE CURRENCY ISN’T
THE PRESERVE OF EUROPE
ACCORDING to a report from
the BBC, 15 West African
countries are to adopt their
own single currency in
2020. And just like the euro, it has
an equally dull name – the eco, no
doubt a function of the project being
the brainchild of the Economic
Community of West African States
(Ecowas), the region's political and
economic union.
Presently, the region uses a
combination of the CFA franc (used
by eight of the countries in the bloc)
which is backed by France, and
seven individual currencies. Those
advocating the eco believe that it’ll
help trade, lower transaction costs
and help cross-border payments
within Ecowas. Detractors are worried
that Nigeria will dominate monetary
policy.
Not every country will qualify
for the eco – only those that have
a budget deficit or less than three
percent , annual inflation rate of
less than ten percent, a central bank
financing of budget deficits of no
more than ten percent of the previous
year’s tax revenue, and gross external
reserves of at least three months’
worth of imports.
It should be pointed out that while
the eco is slated for introduction in
2020, it was meant to be brought in
earlier – in 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2014.
So, just as firms need to prepare for
a potential Brexit, so they ought to
prepare for the potential introduction
of a new currency in West Africa.
OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES
A regional world trade summit organised
by the Institute of Export and run by PwC
in Bristol at the start of July, focused on
opportunities and challenges in markets
beyond the EU. Views offered by the panel
noted that selecting a market to export to
is all well and good, but businesses still
need to know what it takes to be successful
there and one area where UK business are
falling short is cultural awareness; that firms
really need to take a lead in managing their
currency needs; and that having a plan is key
to success.
All pretty obvious stuff but it’s surprising
how many firms make the same mistakes.
GETTING CHILLY
IN ICELAND
ICELAND survived the last financial crisis
which saw its main three privately owned
banks default. The country recovered and
by mid-2012 some considered the Icelandic
recovery to be one of the best in Europe as
its economy had grown, unemployment
had fallen, and property prices had
risen. However, headwinds are currently
pummelling the island nation and the central
bank cut interest rates in June by 0.25
percent to 3.75 percent, a move which follows
a 0.5 percent cut in May. Iceland’s interest
rates are now at an eight-year low. The cuts
follow the collapse of Wow Air which has
hit tourism, a key revenue earner. But by
lowering interest rates the central bank has
weakened the Icelandic Krona and raised the
prospect of higher inflation. Pricing is going
to be an issue for those trading with Iceland.
THE subject of Brexit is never far from the
top of the news, and comment from Deloitte
suggests that Brexit is the top concern for
CFOs, with geopolitical worries and trade
fears in second and third position on the
worry list.
Ian Stewart, Chief Economist at Deloitte
says “CFOs are now more pessimistic about
the long-term impact of Brexit than at any
time in the last three years, with a record
83 percent believing that it will lead to a
deterioration in the economic environment
in the long-term. Events in the last three
BREXIT FEARS MOUNT
years have clearly added to, rather than
reduced, worries about the impact of
Brexit’’.
It's noteworthy that despite the serious
economic harm to Irish business that would
crush exporters after a no-deal Brexit, a
Bloomberg report commented that business
leaders are still prepared to follow the Irish
Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, down that
path if necessary. What can be done to help?
Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing
is certain, don’t rely entirely on Ireland for
export business.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 38

Cooling off down under
AUSTRALIA has a slowing economy which
is suffering from the halo-effect of the
Sino-US trade war. With the lowest interest
rates in the country’s history – now at one
percent, down from 1.25 percent – some are
very worried about the medium-term future
of the economy. What makes the cut more
concerning is that it’s the second (down
from 1.50 percent to 1.25 percent in June) in
as many months.
And what should be worrying exporters
to Australia is that domestic demand is,
according to the governor of the Reserve
Bank of Australia, ‘weighed down by a
protracted period of low-income growth
and declining housing prices’. Further,
consumer debt burden is one of the highest
in the world.
Zimbabwe facing more turmoil
ROBERT MUGABE may have left
the political stage but his years of
mismanagement of the economy are still
creating mayhem. The problem is that the
Zimbabwean dollar holds so little value
– a one hundred trillion-dollar bill was in
circulation following the 2009
bout of hyperinflation – that many
have been using foreign currencies to
trade. However, at the end of June the
No-one likes inflation, but a certain
level is necessary for a healthy economy;
deflation is something to be avoided at all
costs. Rates have been cut to boost inflation
to between two percent and three percent.
Even so, with more interest rate movements
on the horizon, exporters should make
plans to diversify if at all possible.
Government decreed that the only legal
tender was the Zimbabwean dollar, a
product of a new electronic currency (the
RTGS dollar) and bond notes that were
designed to replace the US dollar which
are now too scarce to rely on. It follows that
it’s now much harder for local importers to
pay for their orders, and firms need to be
aware of this when selling to Zimbabwean
organisations.
Deteriorating Asian payment trends
COFACE has just published its ‘2019
Asia Corporate Payment Survey’ which
covered over 3,000 companies located in
nine economies (Australia, China, Hong
Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand and Taiwan). The report found
that 63 percent of companies surveyed
stated that they experienced payment
delays in 2018. The length of payment
delays increased to 88 days on average
in 2018, compared to 84 days in 2017. The
delays were highest in China, Malaysia
and Singapore; as well as the energy,
construction and ICT sectors.
The survey found that economic
expectations deteriorated quite
significantly in a number of cases last
year. Over 50 percent of companies in
Now at one percent,
down from 1.25
percent – some are
very worried about the
medium-term future
of the economy.
Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore
and Taiwan stated that they do not
expect growth to improve in 2019. These
economies are directly and indirectly
impacted by the trade war between the
US and China. Despite this, 53 percent
of companies stated that they do not
use credit management tools to mitigate
risks. What was remarkable was that
markets with a majority of risk managers
who predict the economy will not
improve also feature a large percentage of
companies that admitted using no credit
management tools.
The bottom line? Watch your debtors
and manage terms with great care
because a number of firms in the region
are being a little lax.
Turning Japanese
ACCORDING to the Ifo Institute for Economic
Research’s ‘Business Climate Index’, Europe’s
economy could become like that of Japan
where low growth, low inflation and low
interest rates are the (new) norm. The
comment follows an end to nine years of
growth in Germany, a lull in optimism, and
a general fall in orders – partly as a result
of the US-Sino trade war, and also because
new emissions standards are stalling vehicle
orders. What is also worrying the Ifo Institute
is that a falling European unemployment
rate could be about to rise. The next step is
monetary stimulus which will do nothing for
those with savings, but it will help keep the
cost of borrowing low.
Turkey voting for
Christmas
TURKEY’S President Erdogan has sacked
the head of the country’s central bank –
Murat Cetinkaya, one year short of his term
of office. No reason was given for the move
apart from party members being told that he
‘didn’t do what was needed’. This has been
taken to mean he’s not lowered interest rates
which stand at an eye watering 24 percent,
up from 17.5 percent last September.
Exporters should expect more trouble
with Turkey. As Paul McNamara of asset
manager GAM said, the sacking was
‘incredibly stupid’ as the central bank has
effectively been undermined.
EXCHANGE RATES VISIT
CURRENCYUK.CO.UK OR
CALL 020 7738 0777
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by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
HIGH LOW TREND
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GBP/USD 1.24989 1.20276 down
GBP/CHF 1.23588 1.16888 down
GBP/AUD 1.81618 1.75768 up
GBP/CAD 1.64321 1.58937 down
GBP/JPY
CURRENCY UK
135.51936 126.71204 down
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 39

TRADE TALK
Understanding
Incoterms
UK Exporters need to understand changes in
Incoterms ® 2020 or risk disruption.
AUTHOR – Lesley Batchelor OBE FCICM
Lesley Batchelor
THE UK’s exporters will have
a lot to learn over the next
few months! Not only will
businesses need to stay
abreast of the potential
impacts of Brexit, but they
will also need to get to grips with the
International Chamber of Commerce’s
(ICC) new set of international commercial
terms – widely known by the trademark of
‘Incoterms®’.
Incoterms® comprise some of the most
widely used, but most misunderstood
aspects within international trade; they
can impact on a number of areas of a
company’s operations, including sales,
accounts, shipping, operations, compliance
and customer service. According to the
ICC website, these terms form the world’s
‘essential terms of trade for the sale of goods’
and are used in everything from the initial
quote to the purchase orders, packaging
and labelling, certificates of origins and
to ‘define the risk and responsibility of a
shipment between the buyer and seller’.
They are a ‘global harmonized shipping
system’ and are therefore used for the
trading of goods all over the world. If
used correctly, they enable businesses to
avoid uncertainty, minimise delay and
facilitate smooth operations, transport and
payment. If you agree to use a term without
understanding the full implications for
your business, this can result in unexpected
costs, obligations and delays.
THE SAME PAGE
Incoterms® ultimately help everyone
involved in international trade to stay
on the same page when it comes to their
risks and responsibilities concerning the
movement of goods over borders.
Jeff Lewis, an export adviser and
trainer for the Institute of Export &
International Trade (IOE&IT), suggests
that using Incoterms® helps to simplify
processes around moving goods overseas
for both exporters and importers.
“Using Incoterms® helps all parties to
understand their risk and responsibility
for a shipment; and it helps them to
comply with the obligations outlined
within the terms to ensure economical
and efficient movement of goods.
Used correctly
Incoterms ® provide
assurance for all parties
to understand their
obligations and avoid
disputes, delays and
unexpected costs.
“They eliminate inconsistencies in
communication by giving all parties
the same definition of specific terms,
so they both clearly understand their
responsibilities under any given contract.
This results in ongoing positive and
profitable business relationships.”
John Lucy, Manager for International
Transport & Trade Procedures at the
Freight Transport Association (FTA), also
suggests that understanding how to use
Incoterms® correctly is essential for any
exporter looking to work with a freight
forwarder when moving goods overseas.
He explains: “Our forwarding members
tell me that they constantly experience
difficulty with their customers’ use
of the correct Incoterm®, especially in
regard to who is responsible for clearance
costs, additional documentation costs,
and duties or taxes. Used correctly
Incoterms® provide assurance for all
parties to understand their obligations
and avoid disputes, delays and
unexpected costs.”
CHANGES AHEAD
The ICC has been writing the Incoterms®
rules since 1936 and it has been updating
them roughly every ten years, with the last
update coming in 2010. The ICC recently
announced that the next ring of changes
for the rules will indeed be published in
2020. The updates will enable the rules to
reflect the advances and requirements of
global trade today, particularly in respect
to security and ecommerce.
Exporters, importers, freight
forwarders, trade financers and many
more people involved in international
trade will need to update their knowledge
and understanding of these new rules in
order to remain on the same page as each
other when using them. An incorrect
or out-of-date use of them could lead to
uncertainty and delays relating to the
financing, shipment and payment of
exports.
SUPPORT IS ON HAND
Businesses need to learn about the
changes that are coming with ICC
Incoterms® 2020, and they should be
looking at taking training to ensure they
are using them effectively and clearly in
the years to come.
The Institute of Export & International
Trade is delighted to be an ICC licenced
training partner, authorised to provide
training on ICC Incoterms® 2020. We will
be providing a one-day course giving
a comprehensive overview of the new
2020 version of the rules, outlining the
differences from the 2010 version. The
course will also enable UK businesses
to be much more cost and risk aware
when negotiating new business deals,
whatever the future international trade
environment holds for the UK after Brexit.
So please do look at the site to find
more information about our courses,
which are taking place across the country.
For more information, visit: export.org.
uk/page/Incoterms2020.
Lesley Batchelor OBE FCICM is Director
General of The Institute of Export and
International Trade.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 40

The Future of Credit Management
10 September, 08:30 to 13:30, including refreshments and lunch
at Shoosmiths, Edinburgh.
What is it?
FREE
SEMINAR
BOOK
NOW
Seminar with speakers, debate, activities and time for reflection on the future of credit management in Scotland. CICM, the largest
recognised professional body in the world for credit professionals, is excited to be launching CICM Scotland: A network of members,
professionals and businesses supporting credit professionals across Scotland. CICM broad knowledge, influence and support, with a
Scottish focus: the best of both worlds!
What to expect
A chance to talk, debate, learn, reflect, exchange
ideas, network, challenge, make connections.
Who is it for?
Anyone working in or providing services to
credit in Scotland.
This event is FREE, but we have limited spaces.
Book now to be part of this exciting launch.
Venue
Shoosmiths
Saltire Court, 20 Castle Terrace,
Edinburgh, EH1 2EN.
Book Now
Book online www.cicm.com/branches/
or email branches@cicm.com for more
information call 01780 722900
CICM WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH
Legal Update
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
09:00 – 14:00
Refreshments served
BACK by popular demand is our best
attended branch event of the year:
the Annual Legal Update. Hosted
and sponsored by Legal 500 top tier
firm Coltman Warner Cranston LLP.
Darren Davoile, Stuart Cranston
and Larry Coltman will present on a
variety of topics and the interaction
with CICM members produces lively
and interesting debate about the
best tactics and experiences to use
in chasing debts.
Topics to be covered include the
pros and cons of arbitration v
litigation, mediation and when to
use it, summary judgment, trial
and the cost consequences of
litigation. Winding up proceedings
are increasingly being used to
successfully collect undisputed
debts. Arbitration clauses can often
frustrate debt collection tactics, so
arbitration will be considered as a
dispute resolution procedure and
the costs involved.
There will be plenty of time for
questions and discussion at this
useful training event. Refreshments
and lunch will be provided leaving
you time to get back to the office
and review those difficult debts that
need chasing.
Sponsored and hosted by:
CPD
5
Venue
Stonebridge Golf Club (near to M42/A45
junction and Birmingham International)
Somers Road, Meriden CV7 7PL
Book Now
Book online www.cicm.com/branches/
or email branches@cicm.com for more
information call 01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 41

INTRODUCING OUR
CORPORATE PARTNERS
For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a
Corporate Partnership with the CICM, please contact corporatepartners@cicm.com
Hays Credit Management is a national specialist
division dedicated exclusively to the recruitment of
credit management and receivables professionals,
at all levels, in the public and private sectors. As
the CICM’s only Premium Corporate Partner, we
are best placed to help all clients’ and candidates’
recruitment needs as well providing guidance on
CV writing, career advice, salary bench-marking,
marketing of vacancies, advertising and campaign
led recruitment, competency-based interviewing,
career and recruitment trends.
T: 07834 260029
E: karen.young@hays.com
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
The Company Watch platform provides risk analysis
and data modelling tools to organisations around
the world that rely on our ability to accurately predict
their exposure to financial risk. Our H-Score®
predicted 92 percent of quoted company insolvencies
and our TextScore® accuracy rate was 93
percent. Our scores are trusted by credit professionals
within banks, corporates, investment houses
and public sector bodies because, unlike other credit
reference agencies, we are transparent and flexible
in our approach.
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300
E: info@companywatch.net
W: www.companywatch.net
HighRadius is a Fintech enterprise Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS) company. Its Integrated Receivables platform
reduces cycle times in the Order to Cash process through
automation of receivables and payments across credit,
e-invoicing and payment processing, cash allocation,
dispute resolution and collections. Powered by the RivanaTM
Artificial Intelligence Engine and Freeda Digital
Assistant for Order to Cash teams, HighRadius enables
more than 450 organisations to leverage machine
learning to predict future outcomes and automate routine
labour intensive tasks.
T: +44 7399 406889
E: gwyn.roberts@highradius.com
W: www.highradius.com
Forums International has been running Credit and
Industry Forums since 1991 covering a range of
industry sectors and international trading. Attendance
is for credit professionals of all levels. Our forums
are not just meetings but communities which
aim to prepare our members for the challenges
ahead. Attending for the first time is free for you to
gauge the benefits and meet the members and we
only have pre-approved Partners, so you will never
intentionally be sold to.
Chris Sanders Consulting (Sanders Consulting
Associates) has three areas of activity providing
credit management leadership and performance
improvement, international working capital
improvement consulting assignments and
managing the CICMQ Best Practice Accreditation
programme on behalf of the CICM. Plans for
2019 include international client assignments in
India, China, USA, Middle East and the ongoing
development of the CICMQ Programme.
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.
T: +44 (0)1246 555055
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk
T: +44(0)7747 761641
E: chris@chrissandersconsulting.com
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000
E: sales@keyivr
W: www.keyivr.co.uk
American Express® is a globally recognised provider
of business payment solutions, providing flexible
capabilities to help companies drive growth. These
solutions support buyers and suppliers across the
supply chain with working capital and cashflow.
By creating an additional lever to help support
supplier/client relationships American Express is
proud to be an innovator in the business payments
space.
T: +44 (0)1273 696933
W: www.americanexpress.com
Building on our mature and hugely successful
product and world class support service, we are
re-imagining our risk awareness module in 2019 to
allow for hugely flexible automated worklists and
advanced visibility of areas of risk. Alongside full
integration with all credit scoring agencies (e.g.
Creditsafe), this makes Credica a single port-of-call
for analysis and automation. Impressive results
and ROI are inevitable for our customers that also
have an active input into our product development
and evolution.
T: 01235 856400
E: info@credica.co.uk
W: www.credica.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.
T: 0870 081 8250
E: emea-info@bottomline.com
W: www.bottomline.com/uk
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 42

Each of our Corporate Partners is carefully selected for
their commitment to the profession and best practice in the
Credit Industry and the quality of services they provide.
We are delighted to showcase them here.
THEY'RE WAITING TO TALK TO YOU...
Onguard is a specialist in credit management
software and a market leader in innovative solutions
for Order to Cash. Our integrated platform ensures
an optimal connection of all processes in the Order
to Cash chain and allows sharing of critical data. Our
intelligent tools can seamlessly interconnect and
offer overview and control of the payment process,
as well as contribute to a sustainable customer relationship.
The Onguard platform is successfully used
for successful credit management in more than 50
countries.
T: +31 (0)88 256 66 66
E: ruurd.bakker@onguard.com
W: www.onguard.com
The Atradius Collections business model is to support
businesses and their recoveries. We are seeing a
deterioration and increase in unpaid invoices placing
pressures on cashflow for those businesses. Brexit
is causing uncertainty and we are seeing a significant
impact on the UK economy with an increase in
insolvencies, now also impacting the continent and
spreading. Our geographical presence is expanding
and with a single IT platform across the globe we can
provide greater efficiencies and effectiveness to our
clients to recover their unpaid invoices.
T: +44 (0)2920 824700
W: www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/
With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading
provider of business information, analytics, insights
and solutions. Graydon helps its customers to make
fast, accurate decisions, enabling them to minimise
risk and identify fraud as well as optimise opportunities
with their commercial relationships. Graydon
uses 130+ international databases and the information
of 90+ million companies. Graydon has offices in
London, Cardiff, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Since 2016,
Graydon has been part of Atradius, one of the world’s
largest credit insurance companies.
T: +44 (0)208 515 1400
E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk
W: www.graydon.co.uk
Rimilia provides intelligent, finance automation
solutions that enable customers to get paid on time
and control their cashflow and cash collection in
real time. Rimilia’s software solutions use sophisticated
analytics and artificial intelligence to predict
customer payment behaviour and easily match and
reconcile payments, removing the uncertainty of
cash collection. Rimilia’s software automates the
complete accounts receivable process improving
cash allocation, bank reconciliation and credit management
operations.
T: +44 (0)1527 872123
E: enquiries@rimilia.com
W: www.rimilia.com
Improve cash flow, cash collection and prevent late
payment with Corrivo from Data Interconnect.
Corrivo, intelligent invoice to cash automation
highlights where accounts receivable teams should
focus their effort for best results. Easy-to-learn,
Invoicing, Collection and Dispute modules get collection
teams up and running fast. Minimal IT input required.
Real-time dashboards, reporting and self-service
customer portals, improve customer communication
and satisfaction scores. Cost-effective, flexible Corrivo,
super-charges your cash collection effort.
T: +44 (0)1367 245777
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
Dun & Bradstreet Finance Solutions enable modern
finance leaders and credit professionals to improve
business performance through more effective risk
management, identification of growth opportunities,
and better integration of data and insights
across the business. Powered by our Data Cloud,
our solutions provide access to the world’s most
comprehensive commercial data and insights
supplying a continually updated view of business
relationships that help finance and credit teams
stay ahead of market shifts and customer changes.
T: (0800) 001-234
W: www.dnb.co.uk
Shared Services Forum UK Limited
Shared Services Forum UK is a not-for-profit
membership organisation. with one vision, to form
the largest community of people from the business
world and facilitate a platform for them to work
together to mutual benefits.
Benefits include; networking with like-minded
professionals in Shared Services. The criteria is a
willingness to engage in our lively community and
help shape our growth and development.
T: 07864 652518
E: forum.manager@sharedservicesforumuk.com
W: www.sharedservicesforumuk.com
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables
into income, uniquely connecting buyers and
suppliers to allow discounts in exchange for
early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers
access additional liquidity sources by accelerating
payments from buyers when required in just two
clicks, at a rate that works for them. Buyers, often
corporates with global supply chains, benefit from
the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while
strengthening the financial health of supply chains
through ethical business practices.
T: 07799 692193
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com
W: www.c2fo.com
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.
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /
E: uksales@tinubu.com
W: www.tinubu.com.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 43

INTRODUCING OUR
CORPORATE
PARTNERS
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work
closely with credit teams to recover commercial
debts as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt
recovery, including:
• Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and
keep costs down • Litigation service • Insolvency
• Post-litigation services including enforcement
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to
relate to your goals, and adept at advising you on the
most effective way of achieving them.
T: 03700 86 3000
E: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk
W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk
2019 CICM
EVENTS NOT
TO BE MISSED
Workshops
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for
organisations seeking efficient cash visibility
and secure financial processes. As an SAP
Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies
worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience
and thousands of successful customer projects,
including solutions for the entire order-to-cash
process, Serrala provides credit managers and
receivables professionals with the solutions they
need to successfully protect their business against
credit risk exposure and bad debt loss.
T: +44 118 207 0450
E: contact@serrala.com
W: www.serrala.com
Round
Table Events
Webinars
CICM Best
Practice Events
Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes
the all-too-common obstacles preventing today’s
businesses from collecting receivables in a timely
manner. From invoice delivery to cash application,
Esker automates each step. Esker's automated AR
system powered by TermSync helps companies
modernise without replacing their core billing and
collections processes. By simply automating what
should be automated, customers get the post-sale
experience they deserve and your team gets the
tools they need.
T: +44 (0)1332 548176
E: sam.townsend@esker.co.uk
W: www.esker.co.uk
Just another great
reason to be a member
See full programme at
www.cicm.com/events
www.cicm.com | +44 (0)1780 722902
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 44

NEW AND UPGRADED MEMBERS
Do you know someone who would benefit from CICM membership? Or have
you considered applying to upgrade your membership? See our website
www.cicm.com/membership-types for more detail, or call us on 01780 722903
Studying Members
NEW MEMBERS
Pierluigi Alifuoco
Daniel Best
Ivana Bouchereau
Jannette Christianssen
Hayley Crawford
Simon Dodd
Millicent Edwards
Karen Gray
Mark Grieves
Caroline Griffiths
Vicky Hammond
Benjamin Hardinge
Stacey-Louise Hicks
Elizabeth Howe
Andrew Jones
Michael King
Samantha Manington
James McKenzie
Michael Morgan
Paulina Niedbala
Michelle Palmer
Gemma Pawson
Elzbieta Radzik
Sarah Scott
Terri Smyth
Novelette Spencer
Perri Stanley
David Tomlinson
James Tregellis
Carl Wakefield
Kayleigh Webster
Michael Williams
Darren Williamson
Monika Wojda
Nigel Womersley
Georgina Wood
Member by exam
Amanda Phelan MCICM(Grad)
Claire Sheehan MCICM(Grad)
Affiliate
Lisa Baker-Reynolds
Timothy Blundy
Ben Brightwell
Jason Byrne
Oskar Chomnicki
Charlotte Clarke
Cristina Diplas
Anna Donadelli
Andrew Foyle
Yulia Kamenetskaya
Tybel Mulando
Habi Olaleye
Stephen Stockley
Paula Swain
Tomasz Then
Alicja Trojanek
Samantha Wells
Associate
Linda Anderton ACICM
Dave Staniforth ACICM
Matthew Washington ACICM
Susan Wheeler ACICM
Manuela Bowyer ACICM
Sandra Darius ACICM
Rowena Gillon ACICM
John Mastel ACICM
Arslan Raja ACICM
Suzanne Ahmadian
David Allen
Thomas Boswell
Nidhi Dhanola
Richard Dunn
Christine Hannah
Laura Henderson
Richard House
Bryan Hurrell
Alistair Mackay
Tanya Nagpal
Kevin O'Neill
Coral Osborne
Victoria Pearson
Jennie Phillips
Raihanna Qureshi
James Richards
Abigail Richardson
Andrew Rose
Reeva Roy
Tim Rushton
Amir Shaikh
Dianne Smith
Marta Valls
Vasudha Vasdev
Jacqueline White
Stephan White
Tassos Yiacouplis
Member
Sheila Chadha MCICM
Joseph Fitzgibbon MCICM
Mark Hodgson MCICM
Charlotte Kendall-Jones MCICM
Samantha Roberts MCICM
Lesley Hope MCICM
Vince Butler MCICM
David Clarkson MCICM
Karen Hopkins MCICM
Abul Kasham MCICM
Katarzyna Kotlarz MCICM
Jennifer Lovell MCICM
Janine MacSporran MCICM
Michal McBride MCICM
Anamaria Nistor MCICM
Manju Sehdev MCICM
Fellow
Gillian Dee FCICM
Duncan Trubody FCICM
Elzbieta Wozniak FCICM
Estera Gliwska FCICM
Peter Hartley FCICM
Congratulations to our current members who have upgraded their membership
Upgraded members
Simon Marshall FCICM
Julie Tait FCICM
Gary Steadman FCICM
Louise Morris FCICM
Adam Wonnacott FCICM
Sami Salmela MCICM
Managing Director, VTK Investigations
Vince Butler MCICM
“Being involved with CICM will enhance my business and make connections
with many other like-minded credit professionals. I was recently asked
to give a talk on process serving, investigations and tracing at one of the
CICM branches in the North, as one of the Fellows said our knowledge and
experience The would Recognised Standard be of / www.cicm.com great interest / September to 2019 all / PAGE our 45 membership.’’

ASK THE EXPERTS
Collections Clinics
In this new series of ‘Ask the Experts’, we focus on
collections, and in particular the issue of customer
commitment.
AUTHOR – Pam Thomas FCICM
Pam Thomas
contacted the customer
and they tell me they’re going
to pay, but how can I trust
them when they’ve broken
promises before?’ Does this
‘I’VE
sound familiar?
I think every collector, no matter how
long they’ve been doing the job will
experience frustration at some time
because a customer hasn’t kept to their
word. Sometimes, this can simply be due to
unclear communication (yours or theirs),
the relationship or the customer’s financial
situation. But, could you do anything
differently to avoid disappointment?
Credit controllers from a range of
companies were keen to share their
knowledge when I asked the question:
Q. What tips do you have to persuade a
customer to stick to a commitment to pay?
Tip 1. Make it easy for them – offer to do
something to help the customer e.g. diarise
the date they said payment would be made
and offer a follow up phone call or email.
Tip 2. Don’t be vague – never ask the
customer ‘when’ payment will be made as
it allows them to choose their time frame.
They’ll choose the lengthiest time and
make it harder for you to negotiate.
Tip 3. Be specific – tell the customer the
day, date, method of payment you want.
You can negotiate from this point.
Tip 4. Give them options – simple things
such as saying ‘if you make the payment
today then your account won’t go on stop’.
Tip 5. Save them time – ‘I can take a card
payment over the phone from you now’ or
suggest direct debit set up in the future to
smooth the process (yours and theirs).
Tip 6. Get them to tell you – summarise
the call but ask the customer to confirm
the date, amount and method of payment.
You stand more of a chance of receiving the
money if they say it.
Tip 7. What worked – keep a note of your
success with different customers. Rinse
and repeat.
All of the above are suggestions but it
is important to work within your company
guidelines and take into consideration the
relationship with the customer.
If you have any tips you would like to
share or would like to pose a collections
question to fellow credit professionals,
write to: editorial@cicm.com.
Pam is a trainer for CICM and runs various
levels of credit and collection courses in the
UK and internationally.
Best Practice Customer Communications
MICHELLE Dunn, Learning, Knowledge
and Change Readiness Manager at Lowell,
and I were delighted to attend a regional
CICM event to talk to members around the
work we are doing at Lowell on customer
communications.
The Yorkshire-based event provided
an ideal opportunity to meet other
professionals from across the industry
and hear about the great work being done
in areas such as analytics, debtor ledger
management, and enforcement.
The nature of our business provides an
interesting set of customer communication
challenges. We acquire debt that the
originating creditor has not been able to
recover and then work with the people
owing the debt to improve their financial
wellbeing.
Interestingly, the people concerned
haven’t chosen to be our customers. More
than that, for organisations who use debt
sale as a final option in the recovery
process Lowell could represent a sixth
generation contact point for that customer.
This creates a potentially more complex
customer journey.
Through the great work Michelle’s
Learning and Development Team are
doing to coach effective conversation
and identifying customer circumstances,
we have equipped our staff to handle
conversations effectively. However, to
achieve outstanding customer experience
we also need to appreciate the journey
the customer has taken so far and use this
insight to optimise interactions.
Within the Utility Sector, which is where
I focus, knowing which energy provider
supplied the stated property and for which
period, allows our advisors to open up the
very basic conversation with a customer.
However, then being able to access
information such as the number of meter
readings submitted, the meter type, how
readings were obtained, the customer’s
tariff and unit usage and their history of
complaints makes the interaction so much
richer and delivers better outcomes.
Achieving best customer outcomes
combines effective conversation handling
technique, using an appropriate tone of
voice, as well as a deep appreciation of
the customer’s current circumstances and
insight regarding the customer’s historic
journey.
Delivering great customer experience is
critical to achieving the best outcomes for
the customer and helping them along the
road to financial rehabilitation. Ensuring
the three elements outlined above work
together effectively is an important success
factor.
Mark Platts is Utilities Account Director at
Lowell Group.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 46

Would you like to be CICM qualified?
Plan now to start studying in September
Now is the time to think about starting your studies in September and speaking to your
employer. Our education advisers can give advice on how to get started and the options
available. Partly qualified? Find out which units you could complete to gain a CICM
qualification. You could replace an exam with an assignment for example, telephone
collections. Study options are explained below.
EVENING CLASSES
CICM Teaching Centres offer classroom-based learning in
Credit Management (Trade, Export and Consumer), Accounting
Principles, Business Law and Business Environment towards
the CICM Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections and some offer
study towards the CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit Collections
Management.
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
The CICM Credit Academy offers the opportunity to study in a
virtual classroom through the web for the Level 3 Diploma in
Credit Management examined units Credit Management (Trade,
Export and Consumer), Accounting Principles, Business Law and
Business Environment and Level 5 Diploma subjects. Classes are
led by an experienced tutor, are interactive and you have plenty
of opportunity to ask questions and test your knowledge.
IN-COMPANY CLASSES
Some Teaching Centres and the CICM Credit Academy offer
in-company classes for CICM qualifications. Contact CICM
Learning and Development for further details. Fees depend on
location, length of course and are generally cost effective for
groups of ten learners or more.
SUPPORTED HOME STUDY
Supported home study suits those who wish to receive
tutorial support, but would like some flexibility. A practical
option if you are unable to attend college on a regular basis
for the Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management examined
units or CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit Management
Supported home study providers:
‣ CICM Learning Support Service
‣ OLC (Europe)
‣ Haddoum Training, Milton Keynes (including three Saturday classes)
INDEPENDENT HOME STUDY
This provides the cheapest and most flexible option to study for
Level 3 Diploma examined units and Level 5 Diploma units. As
a minimum requirement, you would need to purchase relevant
study texts and guides prepared by the CICM for these units and
specialist text books. This is not a correspondence course and in
using this method you work alone.
CICM TRAINING
CICM offers open and in-company training days linked to CICM
assignments (see CICM website for details). Works well for all
CICM qualifications (Credit Management, Debt Collections and
Money and Debt Advice). In some cases, the Institute can link
organisations own training to CICM awards and CICM would be
pleased to advise on this.
CONTACT DETAILS FOR
EVENING AND VIRTUAL CLASSES
Basingstoke
brenda.linger@btconnect.com
Avnet, Bracknell
Brenda.linger@btconnect.com
Leeds City College
Karen.odgers@leedscitycollege.ac.uk
Scorpion, Wolverhampton
scorpionpjc@gmail.com
London Metropolitan University
professionalcourses@londonmet.ac.uk
Haddoum Training, Milton Keynes
Haddoum.training@yahoo.co.uk
Malta Association of Credit Management
info@macm.org.uk
Portsmouth
brenda.linger@btconnect.com
Southampton
brenda.linger@btconnect.com
Stoke-on-Trent College
mdodd1sc@stokecoll.ac.uk
CICM Virtual Class
creditacademy@cicm.com
The Organisational Learning Centre, (OLC Europe)
CICM Credit Academy, Manchester
gpaton@olceurope.com
Irish Credit Management Training
declan@icmt.ie
South Africa (South African training provider,
CSM debt services PTY Ltd t/a Credit Skills )
haronmcmanus@creditskills.co.za
Contact: professionalqualifications@cicm.com
or telephone: 01780 722909

EDUCATION AND MEMBERSHIP
As a Board Director are you
sufficiently financially savvy?
CICM Trainer, Jean Pousson, poses that question to
directors and gives some pointers for them to consider.
RECENT accounting
scandals in the UK (Tesco,
Carillion, Conviviality, and
more recently Patisserie
Valerie) have put the
roles of external auditors,
regulators, banks and naturally Boards
into the spotlight again. While there are
numerous ongoing enquiries, it is still
timely for directors to ask themselves if
they are personally comfortable with their
financial capabilities, or do they rely on the
finance director or CFO with blind faith?
External auditors can provide false
comfort. It is not their remit to spot fraud
and very few frauds are uncovered by
external auditors. Of course, there have
been cases where the external auditors
have been proven to be negligent, but they
cannot be blamed for everything as it is
logistically and commercially impossible
for them to inspect every transaction within
a business. This was reinforced in April
2018 by Michelle Hinchcliffe, KPMG Head
of Audit, who said: ‘saying that the audit is
a true and fair account is not the same as
giving a clean bill of health’.
However, should you feel uneasy about
any matter you should ask the auditors
to dig deep into that particular area of
concern.
The relationship between the auditors
and your FD/CFO also merits some
attention. Watch out for snippets like ‘we
need to manage the auditors’ or ‘we need to
be careful and not disclose too much’. This
suggests that the finance function is trying
to hide something. Ask yourself why?
Conversely, a relationship that is too
friendly may suggest that the auditors place
too much trust in the FD/CFO. Keep an eye
on the tenure of the relationship to ensure
that trust has not morphed into comfort
resulting in a weaker audit.
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Do you fully understand the accounting
policies that you have chosen and approved?
Could you explain them to a junior member
of staff?
There have been instances (Tesco,
Carillion) where the accounting policies
were described as ‘aggressive’, (chosen
to improved profits). Be mindful of what
I call ‘loophole talk’, this is where the
conversation focuses on accepting obscure
definitions and sections of accounting
standards to justify a decision.
I accept that business is complex and
sometimes these conversations need to take
place. I also accept that sometimes auditors
may not agree with management. This is
quite legitimate, but when it seems that
loopholes are sought to improve financial
performance, be wary.
A powering share price or a very high
valuation (or even a very good offer to buy
the business) does not necessarily mean
that the business is in great financial shape.
History teaches us that many acquisitions
can often be overpriced and carried out for
the wrong reason. This should not distract
the Board, and directors should not see
this as recompense for their financial
stewardship.
Professionals, like private equity
investors, banks, rating agencies, do not
always get it right. Recently, a banking
client of mine took a decision to increase
its lending exposure to an existing client,
and a key factor in that call was that
Private Equity investors, who had a good
reputation with an extensive due diligence
process, had just invested. The whole thing
went wrong resulting not only in a loss
but also in many lost hours to manage the
distressed situation.
BOARD DASHBOARD
Do you fully understand all the items on
the dashboard? Are the KPIs aligned to
the strategic Key Success Factors? Does it
appear busy or unnecessarily complicated?
Is the finance division unable to present
figures in real time, or very quickly? If not,
why not?
Are there non-financial metrics as well?
Do you track new customers? A business
that is unable to attract new customers
worries me and it should worry you too.
CONNECTIONS IN FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
This is the subject of another article
altogether, but it’s the ability to establish
connections between items in the major
financial statements and sometimes reality.
Here are some to watch out for:
● Increase in Debtors/Trade Receivables
not in line with increase in sales.
● Presence of large accrued income under
current assets, i.e. work done but not yet
invoiced
● Intangibles make up a disproportionate
percentage of total assets and are not being
amortised properly.
● Little or no investment in tangible
assets. Every business needs to invest
non-discretionary capital expenditure (i.e.
when things need to be replaced).
● Exceptional items in the Profit and Loss/
Income Statement that keep re-appearing
each year.
● Profit margins in excess of typical
businesses of that type.
● Increases in borrowings that cannot be
explained properly, or that are attributed
to cashflow problems.
● And when all else fails, refer to the cash
analysis and position from the banking
records. That doesn’t lie. Cash is a reality
check.
Jean Pousson is a CICM Trainer and
Director and founding shareholder
of Board Evaluation, a specialised
consultancy practice that provides board
evaluation, strategic health checks and
various training and consultancy services.
CICM FINANCIAL
TRAINING INCLUDES:
• Financial Analysis
• Advanced Financial Analysis
• Understanding Business Strategy and Risk
• Introduction to Company Accounts
• Working with Company Accounts
• Invoicing and Receipting
Programmes can be tailored or bespoke to
ensure they are relevant to current needs
and support business objectives.
Expert trainers share their knowledge and
experiences to help improve effectiveness
of the team. Training is designed to be a
cost effective way to upskill, motivate and
develop knowledge, skills and performance
for a maximum of 15 delegates per day.
CPD hours are attributed to all training
programmes
Contact Julie Dalton, In-company Training
Adviser, to discuss your requirements.
E: training@cicm.com
T: +44 (0)1780 722907
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 48

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HR MATTERS ROUNDUP
Girl Power
Gender Pay is very much in the public eye. What steps
should employers take to address any disparity in
female representation within their workforce?
AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards
UNDER the Gender Pay Gap
Reporting Regulations, all
public, private and charity
sector organisations
employing 250 or more
employees are required
to report annually on the average pay gap
between their male and female employees.
The average is calculated and reported: as
a median, being the middle point between
the top and bottom range of pay; and as
a mean, being the total amount paid to
male and female employees, divided by the
number of people in each group.
This is an annual obligation, with a
reporting deadline of 30 March each year
for public sector employers and 4 April each
year for private companies and charities.
There is an option to provide a written
narrative alongside the published gender
pay gap figures. This provides a valuable
opportunity to put figures in context.
Whether gender pay reporting
encourages action within organisations to
address a gender pay gap will only be seen
over a period of time. There is a risk that
the reporting obligation is seen simply as
another annual compliance issue.
For the 2018/2019 reporting year, 10,406
organisations should have published their
reports but around 417 didn’t meet their
date. The figures reveal that over 86 percent
of those organisations pay men more on
average than they pay women across their
organisation.
The reported gender pay data is not
necessarily an indicator of pay inequality
between men and women doing the same
or a similar role within an organisation,
but it could be an indicator of a wider issue
of fewer women being employed in the
highest paid positions compared with men.
So aside from addressing pay disparity,
what other proactive steps can an employer
take to encourage women into roles within
a business where they are currently a
minority?
POSITIVE ACTION V POSITIVE
DISCRIMINATION
The term ‘positive discrimination’ can be
used in reference to treating one group
of people more favourably, on the basis
that they have a protected characteristic,
compared to another group who do
not have that characteristic. Under
the Equality Act 2010, there are nine
protected characteristics, these being age,
sex, disability, pregnancy and maternity,
gender reassignment, marriage and civil
partnership, race, religion and sexual
orientation.
While the phrase is commonly used,
positive discrimination on the grounds
of a protected characteristic is unlawful
(except in certain very limited situations).
Positive action on the other hand, is
lawful under the Equality Act 2010. This
is the process of taking certain steps
to assist groups who share a protected
characteristic who are under-represented
or disadvantaged in employment. There
are two avenues of positive action –
general positive action and positive action
in recruitment and promotion.
Positive action in recruitment and
promotion enables an employer to
lawfully give preferential treatment to one
candidate with a protected characteristic
over another who does not have that
characteristic, where the two candidates
are equally qualified.
Such positive action will only be lawful
where an employer reasonably thinks that
women suffer a disadvantage connected
to being female, or are disproportionality
underrepresented in the workforce, and
where the action taken is a proportionate
means of enabling or encouraging women
to overcome or minimise the disadvantage
or to participate in the workforce. If the
male candidate is more qualified for
the position, this would be unlawful
discrimination.
It is important to note that a blanket
policy of treating people with a shared
protected characteristic more favourably
than those who do not is not permitted.
UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
Another issue that can lead to a lack
of representation of women or other
minorities in senior positions frequently
given to men is the issue of unconscious
bias. In terms of recruitment, there is
often a danger that an interviewer is
unconsciously drawn to a candidate who
shares characteristics with themselves.
To help to combat this, employers
should consider conducting recruitment
processes with a panel of at least two
people, ideally including people with
different characteristics, backgrounds, or
experiences to help to eliminate bias.
Consideration should also be given to
a business’ ‘family friendly’ policies that
make it easier for women to join or re-join
the workforce or progress within their
careers.
Other policies and practices to
consider reviewing include homeworking,
maternity, paternity and shared parental
leave policies, programmes supporting
women returning to work after a career
break and training or initiatives such as
targeted networking opportunities and
mentoring opportunities to help women
progress into senior roles.
Gareth Edwards is a partner in the
employment team at VWV. gedwards@
vwv.co.uk.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 50

CICM MEMBER
EXCLUSIVE
Your CICM lapel badge
demonstrates your commitment to
professionalism and best practice
TAKE PRIDE IN
WEARING YOUR BADGE
If you haven’t received your badge
contact: cicmmembership@cicm.com
CICM SHEFFIELD AND DISTRICT BRANCH
Inside the world
of Insolvency
Thursday, 5 September 2019
18:00-20:00
JOIN us for a unique insight into
the world of insolvency as Auker
Rhodes Business Advisors will be
sharing with us their many years
of experience within the industry
and will guide us through just what
we can do as a creditor when a
customer’s business has failed.
This will include candid views of
current legislation, what is working
and what isn’t, along with the
criteria with which the Insolvency
Service assess Directors’ conduct
and why we don’t see as many
disqualifications as we would
expect.
The evening will conclude with
some case studies covering
instances where assets had been
put beyond the reach of creditors
(or so they thought!) and some of
the more unbelievable stories of
Directors’ actions.
In addition to networking, a Q&A
session will give members and nonmembers
the opportunity to seek
assistance on any topical issues
and your committee look forward to
seeing you there.
CPD
2
Venue
Mercure Sheffield Park Hotel,
S60 5BD
Book Now
Book online www.cicm.com/branches/
or email branches@cicm.com for more
information call 01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 51

CAREERS ADVICE
Keeping fraud in focus
Ensuring teams that tackle fraud have the right
skills is crucial.
AUTHOR – Karen Young
Karen Young
FRAUD is more prevalent
in business and in credit
management now than it
has ever been before and
the increasing complexity
of fraudulent activity means
that it can be disguised in many different
forms. Most commonly the amount of
sensitive data that credit functions hold
can leave them vulnerable to data breaches.
To mitigate this, organisations need to
invest in cybersecurity resources and raise
awareness of fraud risks among their staff,
setting out effective procedures to ensure
these situations don’t escalate.
The transformation that data has had
on the working world can readily be seen
across industries, and undeniably the rise
of ‘big data’ is positively enabling companies
to be more insightful and innovative. This is
certainly the case at Hays, where we can use
data to better match candidates to jobs and
help them reach their career goals.
Although holding information about
clients’ credit activity has always been
central to credit roles, with greater abilities
to collect and store information, credit
professionals are leaning much more
heavily on data than they have in the past.
Of course, this improves the service you
can provide to your clients – but it also
makes your organisation more appealing to
hackers.
CYBERSECURITY DEMAND
It is therefore vital that credit functions
protect their data by having cybersecurity
resources at the ready. We have seen
an increased demand for cybersecurity
skills across the globe which has caused a
shortage of candidates with skills in this
area. Employers looking for these skills in
tech hubs across the UK such as London,
Birmingham, Edinburgh and Leeds will
have the best access to talent.
UPSKILLING AND AWARENESS
In light of the high demand for cybersecurity
skills, credit employers might want to
consider upskilling their current staff to
make sure they have the necessary talent
to mitigate potential fraud. Upskilling in
this area is complex, as the skills required
to handle a data breach are obviously
incredibly niche. Instead, employers should
think about upskilling in the way of raising
awareness of cybercrime in credit. Train
your workforce to recognise the signs of a
potential data breach before it escalates,
and to handle sensitive data in a way which
will minimise any risk of fraud. Interactive
training methods such as workshops are
best to raise awareness and equip your
staff with the skills they need. Due to the
evolving complexity and sophistication
of data hacks, keep your staff’s skills upto-date
with refresher training as your
organisation’s resources allow.
VIGILANCE WITH PROCEDURES
To go hand in hand with upskilling
and raising awareness, employers are
encouraged to be vigilant with procedures
when faced with potential fraud. Developing
simple, effective procedures detailing
what to do when the security of your data
is compromised might be the difference
between a hack which damages your
organisation’s reputation and your clients’,
or one which is blocked at its inception by
your employees.
A credit manager would usually be
the appropriate person to establish the
procedure, and it’s crucial that their
reports know who to escalate an issue to.
Additionally, staff will also need to know
the type of issue which needs to be taken
to litigation. As with implementing any
new policy or procedure, the importance of
communication is not to be underestimated
– roles at all levels, from credit controllers up
to senior directors, need to know the steps
to take in order to help your organisation
mitigate fraud. Lean into communications
or training resources within or even
externally to your organisation to make sure
the procedure is successfully implemented.
While all businesses feel the pressure to
climb up the data ladder to keep up with
the landscape, it is crucial that the risk of
fraud is not overlooked. With the amount
of sensitive data credit functions hold,
developing cybersecurity resources by
raising awareness amongst employees and
creating effective procedures is the best way
for credit employers to mitigate any threats
to this data and have the peace of mind that
their employees are doing their part.
Karen Young is Director at Hays
Credit Management.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 52

www.cicm.com
‘‘
CICM offered the
prospect of qualifications,
but as soon as I became
a member, loads of other
opportunities came to
light that I hadn’t initially
realised were available.
Molly Kane
ACICM
The value
of CICM
membership
Molly Kane ACICM
Senior Credit Controller Executive
Oxford University
Read more about her story and join your
credit community by visiting:
www.cicm.com/value-of-cicm-membership/
info@cicm.com
www.cicm.com
01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 53

OPINION
OPEN SEASON
Almost half of all financial services firms have
already adopted Open Banking but to what end?
AUTHOR – Will North
IN the 18 months since it was
introduced in the UK, Open
Banking has been a quietly
disruptive force. Whilst it has
flown somewhat under the radar
in the consumer world, it is in
fact, already transforming consumers’
lives, by putting the consumer firmly in
charge of their own data.
In financial services, the new technology
has enabled firms to harness the full power
of the data available to obtain a more
detailed understanding of their customers,
spanning income verification, risk and
affordability, and customer management.
As a result, lenders are able to make a
more informed assessment and ensure
responsible lending, while also delivering
an improved customer experience.
THE FOUNDATIONS
The UK’s Open Banking initiative was
created with the twin desires to give
consumers more control of their data, and
encourage competition and innovation
in finance, following a 2016 ruling from
the Competition and Markets Authority
that the UK’s nine dominant banks had to
share their customers’ data with accredited
organisations. The new initiative sat
alongside the introduction of the Europeanwide
Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2),
a set of rules and directions passed by the
EU in 2015 which went live on the same day
as Open Banking.
The premise of both of these is to enable
consumers to give their banks and financial
service providers permission to share their
financial data with other accredited third
parties. The rules mean that this data,
once consent is given, can be accessed
via Application Programming Interface
(API), a standard access method across
all parties to aid flow of data and ease of
use. Key security standards will come into
force for the system on 14 September. This
date is going to be a challenge for some
organisations to meet, but is essential to
protect consumers uniformly.
IS IT SUCCEEDING?
The Evolution of Open Banking , a white
paper from TransUnion, based on research
conducted by Forrester Consulting, found
the adoption of Open Banking practices and
processes is widespread within banks and
financial institutions. Headline numbers
from the research reveal that at the end
of 2018, 46 percent of financial firms
were already adopting Open Banking or
expanding on their adoption. A further
36 percent noted they were planning to
adopt it within 2019.
Recent statistics would attest that
this is coming to fruition, with the Open
Banking Implementation Entity noting
at the end of April 2019 that the Open
Banking ecosystem already had 118
regulated organisations involved with
a further 200 companies on the waiting
list; with new use cases enabled and clear
benefits being delivered to consumers.
In a poll conducted by TransUnion
to evaluate consumers’ understanding
of Open Banking, we found limited
awareness, however, with one in four
saying they hadn’t heard of it, whilst
seven out of 10 said they wouldn’t want to
give credit providers access to their bank
account information because of concerns
over security.
So, while it’s clear that financial
organisations recognise the value of
Open Banking, there needs to be greater
consumer awareness to enable this new
technology to reach its full potential.
Banks and finance providers need to
address the concerns of consumers
around security and help them to
understand the value exchange that Open
Banking offers.
IN PRACTICE
The research found that initial projects
were primarily used for income
verification, credit risk assessment and
data insight i.e. functional tasks that help
lenders to vet and verify the consumers
they’re dealing with. As with any new
technology, this functional start is par
for the course, but as time and capability
in this area progress, we expect to see
genuine disruption occurring – seeing
these functional tasks give way to more
technical or complex matters such as
bespoke products, customer segmentation
and insurance applications.
The credit management industry has
a great deal to gain from the adoption of
Open Banking capabilities, and we can
illustrate this below with what we know of
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 54

The UK’s Open
Banking initiative
was created with
the twin desires
to give consumers
more control of their
data, and encourage
competition
and innovation in
finance
adoption trends so far, and future plans.
First, however, it’s important to set out
the expectations, on both the business
and consumer side, to show where wider
benefits and indeed challenges may lie
but also illuminate where the industry
can play a part.
THE BENEFITS
According to our research, a nearunanimous
99 percent of financial
services organisations polled expect
Open Banking to benefit their business.
The main benefits expected were faster
application or onboarding processes
(52 percent) and improved customer
experience (46 percent). In today’s
competitive landscape, it’s unsurprising
that customer experience is recognised as
a top priority, and Open Banking is a key
platform for delivering a smoother and
faster customer journey.
Over half of the financial firms
surveyed said they struggle in processing
consumer applications. Key pain points
include the costs and time associated with
manual processing of data (56 percent)
and customers taking too long to gather
relevant documents (50 percent) – both of
which Open Banking can address.
In fact, customer experience is cited
as the key reason for financial firms
to implement Open Banking, with 56
percent stating their organisations need
to improve customer experience during
applications. This is closely followed by
both product innovation and keeping
up with the competitive landscape (53
percent).
So businesses are promising
consumers a better application experience
and customer journey, but what about the
consumers themselves? Our study found
that the top consumer expectations, if they
consent to give access to their financial
data, are for faster application approval
times, an easier application process for
financial products and quicker ways to
provide proof to back up an application.
Each of these three elements should
ring bells in the credit management world
as key areas of focus. With clear, consentdriven
data available, credit decisionmaking
within a smooth and customerfriendly
application process could be
revolutionised. In fact, 56 percent of
consumers say that when it comes to
financial products, they would prefer a
completely online journey with an instant
decision.
Another key desire from consumers
is for access to products tailored to their
circumstance and better support if they
had limited credit history when applying
for loans or credit. Another opportunity
for credit professionals to advise clients at
an individual, data-driven level.
BARRIERS TO ADOPTION
The challenge comes in the divergence of
what it will take to deliver these benefits.
The research shows that consumers
recognise the value their information has
but concerns about security hold them
back. The research showed the biggest
barriers to consumers sharing their bank
statements with financial services firms
through Open Banking are the fear of data
being shared or sold to other companies
(86 percent) and fear of data breaches (82
percent).
While the businesses surveyed also
recognised this; with around two-thirds
believing that fear of data breaches
(68 percent), and the potential for data
being sold (59 percent) by organisations
is holding consumers back, they clearly
underestimate the extent of the consumer
concern.
The lesson is clear – investment
is needed in creating and delivering
the correct policies, procedures and
positioning to help build consumer
trust in the new system. And this is why
September heralds an important date, as
that crucial security element comes into
force.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
Prediction is difficult when we consider
a world of unprecedented technological
shift, but with Open Banking we can
see the early shoots of progress in new
services. There is a real need for credit
managers to get involved, but the big
opportunities are yet to be tapped.
For instance, many in the property
sector intend to utilise Open Banking.
We have been involved in early projects
in this industry to use Open Banking
processes for tenant vetting – looking at
income and expenditure data, employer
information and rent recognition. These
pieces of information can be invisible to
traditional methods of credit assessment,
and their availability can potentially
revolutionise the rental sector for both
landlord and tenant, as well as opening
the door for more first-time buyers to get
on the property ladder.
We’ve recently seen one of these
projects come to fruition in the case
of tenant referencing, through our
partnership with Let Alliance, which
has developed a process that allows
consumers to give Let Alliance, when
acting for processional letting agents
and their potential landlords, access to
their full credit file. Our Open Banking
technology which is built into this process
provides a detailed understanding of
the potential tenant’s financial status –
spanning income verification, risk and
affordability – helping letting agents to
make an informed assessment while
also delivering an improved customer
experience and, most importantly,
helping consumers to secure the rental
property they want through a quick and
easy process.
With consumers and financial
institutions crying out for swift, smooth
and secure customer journeys and
application decisions, Open Banking
represents a massive opportunity across
a host of different business sectors,
helping to ensure choice and protection
for consumers whilst putting the power of
the data firmly in their hands.
Will North is Core Credit Director
at TransUnion.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 55

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being, and our passion for expertise in the credit and collections profession is second to none.
info@cicm.com
www.cicm.com
01780 722900

BRANCH NEWS
Credit Circuit Training
Sheffield and District Branch
SHEFFIELD and District Branch
and the Yorkshire Ridings
Branch joined forces to
challenge members and guests
to take part in Credit Circuit
Training on a rather wet
Tuesday evening at the Yorkshire Sculpture
Park. Luckily, the event was held indoors
in the first-floor restaurant with stunning
views over the park and thankfully no lycra
was required.
After signing in and collecting a group
number, everyone had the opportunity
to network over a lovely hot supper and
refreshments and to coo over our youngest
ever future member – an exceptionally
well-behaved young man at just 12 weeks
old.
Phil Holbrough MCICM, Chair of
Yorkshire Ridings Branch, welcomed
everyone and laid down the challenge to
take up the first circuit station. We spent
15 minutes at each station before Laurie
Beagle rang his gong signalling the time to
move on.
Jeff Gledhill of DWF Solicitors covered
some aspects of debt recovery and
enforcement, Darren Myers of PwC helped
us with financial analysis by taking us
through the last accounts of a company
which subsequently failed. Michelle
Dunn and Mark Platts of Lowell talked
about effective communications and Phil
Holbrough of credit risk solutions made us
think about protecting the debtor ledger.
Each circuit station was very interactive
and a great opportunity for everyone, both
new and old to the profession, to share
experiences.
Before the evening drew to a close,
Laurie Beagle FCICM of Forums
International talked about the CICM and
the many benefits of membership. The
Grim Credit History tour
Sheffield and District Branch
KELHAM Island was the destination for a ‘Grim Credit History
Tour’ with the Sheffield and District branch of the CICM on 6 July.
The area of Kelham Island in Sheffield is one of the more
attractive cultural destinations in the city today, with numerous
bars and eateries in old industrial buildings. But the area had a
bad reputation for poor living and working conditions in the 19th
Century and it was the site of the town’s debtors’ prison and trade
union agitation. A group of hardy CICM folk attended, visiting
the old industrial buildings and being provided with a running
commentary by local historian Brian Holmshaw of Sheaf Valley
Heritage.
We saw the crucible stacks of the Titanic Works and the huge
cementation furnace at Daniel Doncaster’s work. It was hard
to believe the size of the enormous six storey doss house at
Shalesmoor that housed the poor of the area, some of them using
the ‘penny line’ – where a night was spent leaning on a rope strung
across the room for the sum of one penny.
It was not all misery on the day. We also visited the newlyopened
and refurbished Crow Inn on Scotland Street – site of a
Victorian murder – as well as the ever-popular Shakespeare and
the Bar Stewards bar on Shalesmoor. The afternoon continued with
ghost stories in the Ship Inn and finished with food and drink in
another recently opened venue – the Cutlery Works at Neepsend.
Author: Carl Goodman MCICM
evening promoted some lively debate and
was an excellent opportunity for new credit
professionals to draw on the knowledge of
not only our speakers but also our more
seasoned members.
Many thanks to all speakers and to all
attending members and guests for making
the evening a great success, with a special
mention to the student members attending
in the middle of exam season – that is true
commitment.
Author: Paula Uttley MCICM(Grad)
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 57

BRANCH NEWS
Listen and Learn
North East Branch
WE were delighted to welcome Vince Butler MCICM
of VTK Investigations as our guest speaker at this
breakfast event generously hosted by sponsors
Sintons Law Firm (the office’s sunny view of St James
Park stadium against a cloudless blue sky didn’t go
unnoticed).
Fuelled by a delicious breakfast buffet we enjoyed hearing Vince's
informative and entertaining outline of the practical issues arising from
Process Serving – including filing court papers, serving legal documents
and document retrieval. It was good to learn more about a difficult but very
necessary part of debt recovery that perhaps not many of us know a great
deal about.
A choice selection of anecdotes from the twice-awarded ABI Investigator
of the Year with 20 years’ experience was great value to remind us that
collecting the debt is all about people at the end of the day!
The North East Branch also held its AGM over the summer. The meeting
was preceded by our guest speaker Adrian Storrie MCICM, CICM member,
Chartered Accountant and former IP, and Principal of adelearning,
presenting on ‘The Art of Listening’. We might all think we're good listeners
but with the use of some eye-opening anecdotes and clever interactive
examples, Adrian certainly made us think twice.
We learned a great deal about what it takes to be a good listener (an
essential skill for the business professional) and were thoroughly entertained
in the process. Adrian has presented for us before and always has great
knack for hitting the nail on the head in an informal but highly professional
style. Thoroughly recommended! Author: Angie Deverick MCICM
Above:
Vince Butler of
VTK Investigations.
Right:
Adrian Storrie.
WESSEX BRANCH
An evening at the
Spinnaker Tower
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
19:30 – 23:00
FREE OF
CHARGE
FOR CICM
MEMBERS
IT’S that time of year where we
would like to invite you to our
Premier event of the year. Following
on from the success of our event
at the Mary Rose, we would like to
invite you to our Spinnaker event
to be held on 11 September 2019.
With its impressive architecture
and unique waterfront location,
Spinnaker Tower is a truly
impressive venue.
The drinks and canapes reception
will be followed by presentations
from Chartered Institute of Credit
Management Chief Executive Philip
King FCICM, who will be presenting
on Better Payment Practice. Apart
from leading the CICM and sitting
on a number on industry and
government regulated boards Philip
is a passionate credit expert and
engaging speaker and this promises
to be another occasion you dare not
miss.
Alongside Philip, Nigel Linger,
Chairman of the Portsmouth Royal
Dockyard Historical Trust will be
giving a fascinating presentation on
the history and picturesque views of
the stunning Spinnaker Tower.
Did you know, the first recorded
dry dock in the world was built in
Portsmouth by Henry VII in 1495?
Join us on 11 September to find out
more.
CPD
2
Venue
Emirates Spinnaker Tower,
Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, PO1 3TZ
Book Now
Book online www.cicm.com/branches/
or email branches@cicm.com for more
information call 01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 58

BRANCH NEWS
High tech tour
Thames Valley Branch
PUBLISHING group Hachette’s
new state-of-the-art distribution
centre in Didcot was the
venue for the latest Thames
Valley branch event.
The evening event started
with some networking over food and drinks
followed by Jon Swan, Head of Credit Services,
giving us an overview of Hachette and his
credit team.
Jon quizzed us on being able to recognise
some of the authors they publish. While we
did not recognise all the faces, we definitely
recognised all of the names including JK
Rowling, John Grisham and Stephen King. He
explained Hachette’s position in the market
place (second largest book publisher globally)
and touched on the regions they operate
in explaining that they export to over 120
countries and their customers range from huge
global shopping firms, education authorities,
independent publishers and football clubs.
Jon also gave an overview of how his team is
structured to handle the vast differences in
segments of customer and regions they work
in and the challenges they face day-to-day.
THE CICM (West Midlands) Awards
and BBQ night took place at The Studio
Birmingham on the evening of 6 June. With
the sun shining, the roof top garden and the
delicious BBQ food were a hit.
Kim Delaney-Bowen, Chairperson,
opened proceedings with a warm welcome
address and Education Officer, Pete
Cartwright, expressed the committee’s
pride in celebrating students’ achievements
for the last 20 years.
The evening was sponsored by Hays
who also sponsored the Accounting prize.
Peter Kidd, Vice Chair, said a few words
After the presentation, attendees broke
into two groups of 20 to be shown around the
facility that will be 24/7, 364 days a year when
fully operational. The floor space of their
distribution centre measures 240,000 square
feet. The tour showed us how the books would
be robotically picked and transported in totes
via a vast array of conveyor belts around the
facility to be sense-checked by people at the
end of the line to ensure the books are ending
up in the correct parcels, for the correct
customers. It was fascinating to see a fully
automated wrapping robot in operation and to
learn about the specially made forklift trucks
that were in operation – these trucks were able
to lift containers three storeys high making
them among the largest in world!
Feedback from the evening, including
opinions from one attendee’s two young
daughters he brought along (both avid
bookworms) was extremely positive. Thank
you to Jon and the Hachette Group who kindly
hosted the event and allowed us to tour their
impressive facility.
Author: Gary Baker FCICM(Grad)
Brummy Barbecue
West Midlands Branch
about the current employment scene
before presenting the prize to Elisabeth
Dopplehofer who achieved 83 percent.
Coltman Warner Cranston sponsored the
Legal Proceedings prize and Larry Coltman
spoke briefly before presenting the prize to
Nicola Jones who had the only Level 5 pass
within the Branch.
Kim presented all the other prizes:
Danielle Cotton – 95 percent in Credit
Management; Emma Tudor-Pratley – 97
percent in Business Environment; Shabana
Hussein – 85 percent in Credit Management
and 88 percent in Business Environment;
Cardiff
city tour
South Wales Branch
MEMBERS of the South Wales
branch took to the high seas for
a deployment of several hours to
terrorise pirates.
Captain Diana led the motley crew
out as far as the eye could see – well
it was a bit misty in the beautiful
Cardiff Bay!
This was our second deployment
and although a different ship it was
as enjoyable as the first last year,
and I for one hope it becomes as
traditional as our annual bowling
event. It was a perfect way to
unwind after a working week gently
meandering around Cardiff Bay
and taking in sites like the castle
and the Millennium Stadium, with
a running commentary on the
places of interest.
It was quite surprising how
quickly our time went, but that’s
what happens when you are among
good company.
Author: Steve White MCICM
and Laurentiu Bogdan Paxaman – 87
percent in Credit Management and 72
percent in Business Law.
Selecting the overall winner and West
Midlands Student of the Year for 2018 was
difficult. But with the best aggregate marks
in more than one subject, the Shield and a
personal trophy was presented to Shabana
Hussein.
Shabana expressed ‘how studying with
CICM has boosted her confidence and her
understanding of the meaning of credit to
the business’. She has also found herself a
new job. Author: Peter Cartwright FCICM FFA
On the 6 September, we are opening our doors to a new concept, and we
would love to see you there. This free event offers stimulating presentations
from a number of key speakers. Join us for discussion, debate, challenge
and sharing with your fellow credit professionals.
Credit Pod Manchester
Venue
Shoosmiths. The XYZ Building, 2 Hardman
Boulevard, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3AZ
Book Now - Credit Pod Manchester
www.cicm.com/event/cicm-credit-pod-manchester-launch/
for more information contact 01780 722900
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 59

WHAT'S ON
A full list of events can be found on our website
We are inviting all members to bring a colleague to a CICM membership event,
free of charge. Book online on our website www.cicm.com/cicm-events
CICM EVENT
3 September
CICM Kent Branch
Faversham
Wine and Wisdom
It’s that time of year again when we would like to
invite you to our ‘Wine & Wisdom’ Branch Event
to be held on 3 September 2019. This will be held
at the same venue.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: The Assembly Rooms, 66 Preston Street,
Faversham, ME13 8PG
CICM EVENT
CICM EVENT
CICM EVENT
5 September
CPD
2
CICM Sheffield & District Branch
Sheffield
Inside the World of Insolvency
Join us for a unique insight into the world of
insolvency as Auker Rhodes Business Advisors,
will be sharing with us their many years of
experience within the industry and will guide us
through just what we can do as a creditor.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Mercure Sheffield Parkway Hotel
Britannia Way, Catcliffe, Sheffield, S60 5BD
5 September
2
CICM London Branch
London
Students’ Evening
CICM London branch would like to invite you to
our annual Students’ Evening, open to students
and members alike to share experiences upon
their career in credit management.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Hays 107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN
United Kingdom
CPD
10 September
CICM Scotland Launch
Edinburgh
Seminar with speakers, debate, activities and
time for reflection on the future of credit
management in Scotland.
CICM, the largest recognised professional body in
the world for credit professionals, is excited to be
launching CICM Scotland.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Shoosmiths The XYZ Building, 2 Hardman
Boulevard, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3AZ
CICM EVENT
CICM EVENTS
6 September
CICM Credit Pod Manchester Launch
Manchester
Do you work in credit and are you interested in
meeting other credit professionals? Would you
like to be part of a brand new community? If
so, this event is for you, whether you are a CICM
member or not! (Lunch included).
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Shoosmiths The XYZ Building, 2 Hardman
Boulevard, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3AZ
11 September
CICM North East Branch
Wynyard
Paul Card Recruitment will be hosting the
Autumn 2019 North East Credit Managers’ Forum
at their offices at Wynyard Business Park in
Teesside and have invited CICM members to
join them.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events
or email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Paul Card Recruitment, Wynyard Park
House, Wynyard Avenue, Wynyard Business Park,
Wynyard , TS22 5TB
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 60

More reasons to be a member
Make connections and keep up-to-date
with our exclusive events.
CICM EVENT
OTHER INDUSTRY EVENTS
18 September
CPD
6
CICM Ireland Branch
Dublin
Artificial Intelligence In Credit and Finance
Management.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events
or email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin 4
10 September
Credit Risk Forums
DERBY
Engineering
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events
or email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Nottingham
24 September
Forums International
London
International Credit Forum
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Email cpf@forumsinternational.co.uk
Venue: BDO LLP, London
12-13 September
Forums International
Lisbon
International Telecoms Risk Forum
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Email cpf@forumsinternational.co.uk
Venue: Lisbon
12 September
Credit Risk Forums
Dublin
FMCG (Food, drink & tobacco) and Oil and
Fuelcard Ireland
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events
or email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: Dublin
24 September
Forums International
London
Information, Communication
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Email cpf@forumsinternational.co.uk
Venue: BDO LLP, London
12 September
Key IVR Webinar
ONLINE
Key IVR give insight on how to reclaim business
revenue by improving the security of your
payment systems and maintaining a smooth
customer journey.
18 September
Onguard
Onguard Insurers Lunch Club (Free event)
Cashflow and customer relationships.
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events
or email events@cicm.com for more information.
Venue: London Bridge Runway East, 20 St Thomas
St, London, SE1 9RS
25 September
Forums International
Bracknell
The Fraud Prevention Network
Book online at www.cicm.com/cicm-events or
email events@cicm.com for more information.
Email cpf@forumsinternational.co.uk
Venue: Coppid Beech Hotel, Bracknell, RG12 8TF
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 61

TAKE CONTROL OF
YOUR CREDIT CAREER
COMMERCIAL CREDIT RISK MANAGER
SUCCESS THROUGH EXPERTISE
London, up to £65,000
Servicing over 5 million customers, a rare opportunity
has arisen at a Fortune 100 business to lead its credit risk
function. You will need extensive experience in dealing
with credit risk analysis specifically with aviation clients.
With a strong emphasis on risk management strategies
and associated control structures, your responsibilities
include maximising the profitability of collections,
minimising exposure to risk and developing all systems.
This is a fantastic opportunity where you can take the
role in the direction you desire, achieve results and be
rewarded accordingly. Ref: 3594208
Contact Akshay Caussy on 020 3465 0020
or email akshay.caussy@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROLLER
NEW OPPORTUNITY
London, up to £32,000
A rare opportunity has arisen in a major worldwide
business within its Nordics team to join as a credit
controller. With a strong emphasis on dealing with
Scandinavian clients you will have experience in speaking
either Swedish or Finnish. You will develop your client base
by building long lasting relationships and also be a point of
contact for all queries. This is a fantastic opportunity where
you can achieve results and be rewarded accordingly.
Ref: 3643944
Contact Akshay Caussy on 020 3465 0020
or email akshay.caussy@hays.com
E-COMMERCE CREDIT MANAGER
MAKE THIS JOB YOUR OWN
Harlow, £35,000-£38,000
This established growing company handles one million
orders per year and is looking for a credit manager to
take ownership of the credit function with a key focus
on accounts receivable challenges such as chargebacks,
credit card fraud and Amazon. This is a hands-on role
which includes managing one member of staff and credit
chasing from key B2B clients and process improvements.
To be successful, you will have credit management
experience from an e-commerce business and hold
the CICM qualification.
Ref: 3633691
Contact Andrew Martin on 01279 755 344
or email andrew.martin@hays.com
SOLE CHARGE CREDIT CONTROLLER
MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTION,
ECOMMERCE
Bishop’s Stortford, £26,000-30,000
This SME business manufactures, distributes and retails
its own products and has a turnover of circa £15 million.
You will report directly to the Finance Director and your
key focus will be collections from business clients as
well as managing chargebacks, credit card fraud, eBay
and Amazon. You will have experience working within
a SME business within an industry such as e-commerce,
manufacturing, distribution or online retail. Ref: 3652179
Contact Andrew Martin on 01279 755 344
or email andrew.martin@hays.com
hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 62

SENIOR CREDIT CONTROLLER
PROGRESS YOUR CAREER
Solihull, £25,000-£30,000 + study support CICM
A UK market leader in the hospitality and beverage sector
is looking for an experienced credit professional to join its
team in a newly created role. As senior credit controller, you
will support the Credit Management Team with escalations
and reports for key clients and develop and train new
staff members. This is a fantastic opportunity where you
can progress your career, with potential of becoming
a credit manager.
Ref: 3643951
Contact Peter Kidd on 0121 212 1814
or email peter.kidd@hays.com
CREDIT SUPERVISOR
MANAGE A TEAM
Witney, up to £28,000 + bonus
A long-standing company within the retail industry is
looking for a credit controller to join its office. Working
for a company that has over 4,000 retail locations, you
will work alongside the finance team supporting all day
to day credit control duties and manage a team of six
credit controllers. You will have responsibility for thirteen
European ledgers as well as chasing debt via email and
telephone, cash allocation, monitoring and controlling
aged debts, dealing with queries in a professional
manner, raising credit notes and dealing with the month
end close. To be successful, you will be able to speak
Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish or German and have
previous credit control experience. Ref: 3644734
Contact Benjamin Timmins on 01865 727071
or email benjamin.timmins@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROL TEAM LEADER
TAKE OWNERSHIP
Nottinghamshire, up to £29,000
A global, established manufacturing company is looking for
a credit control team leader to join its growing business. You
will be responsible for overseeing a team of five, setting up
new accounts, ensuring the team hit set KPIs and conducting
one-to-one’s and reviews. You will also need to be adept at
handling complex accounts and bringing them to resolution.
This is a great opportunity if you have experience managing
a team of credit controllers and are an expert at coaching
and motivating to hit targets. Ref: 3615161
Contact Alice Martin on 0115 947 7500
or email alice.martin@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROL
MAKE AN IMPACT
Milton Keynes, up to £25,000 + 10% bonus
An exclusive client within the energy sector is looking for
an ambitious credit controller. You will be responsible for
chasing and collecting payments, credit checking new
and current customers and resolving customer enquiries.
This role will be working closely with the Credit Manager
with the idea of making this role a deputy manager in the
next few years. To be successful, you will be experienced
with high call volumes and complicate query resolution. In
return, you will receive 25 days holiday and a competitive
salary and bonus.
Ref: 3640574
Contact Emma Ruttle on 01908 870254
or email emma.ruttle@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.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 63

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
COLLECTIONS
INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS
COLLECTIONS LEGAL
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).
Baker Ing International Limited
Office 7, 35-37 Ludgate Hill, London. EC4M 7JN
Contact: Lisa Baker-Reynolds
Email: lisa@bakering.global
Website: https://www.bakering.global/contact/
Tel: 07717 020659
Baker Ing International is a dedicated team of Credit industry
experience that, combined, covers time served in most industries.
The team is wholly comprised of working Credit Manager’s across
the Globe with a minimum threshold of ten years working experience
within Credit Management. The team offers a comprehensive
service to clients - International Debt Recovery, Credit Control, Legal
Services & more
Our mission is to help companies improve the cost and efficiency
of their Credit Management processes in order to limit the risks
associated with extending credit and trading around the globe.
How can we help you - call Lisa Baker Reynolds on
+44(0)7717 020659 or email lisa@bakering.global
COLLECTIONS LEGAL
Yuill + Kyle
Capella, 60 York Street, Glasgow, G2 8JX, Scotland, UK
T: 0141 572 4251
E: scowan@yuill-kyle.co.uk
W: www.debtscotland.com
Do You Have Trouble Collecting Debts in
Scotland? We Don’t
Yuill + Kyle is one of Scotland’s leading debt recovery and credit
control law firms. With over 100 years of experience, we are
specialists in resolving disputed and undisputed debts. Our track
record for successful recoveries means you have just moved one step
closer to getting your money back.
How we can help you:
• Specialist advice for all of your legal matters
• A responsive and straightforward approach
• Providing you with solutions-driven advice
• Delivering cost certainty and value for money
Our services
• Pre-sue • Fast track collections • Judgement enforcement
• Insolvency • Bankruptcy • Liquidation
CONSULTANCY
Controlaccount Plc
Address: Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road,
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4FD
T: 01527 549 522
E: sales@controlaccount.com
W: www.controlaccount.com
Controlaccount Plc provides an efficient, effective and ethical
commercial debt recovery service focused on improving business
cash flow whilst preserving customer relationships and established
reputations. Working with leading brand names in the UK and
internationally, we deliver a bespoke service to our clients. We offer
a no collect, no fee service without any contractual ties in. Where
applicable, we can utilise the Late Payment of Commercial Debts
Act (2013) to help you redress the cost of collection. Our clients
also benefit from our in-house international trace and legal counsel
departments and have complete transparency and up to the minute
information on any accounts placed with us for recovery through our
online debt management system, ClientWeb.
INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS
Premium Collections Limited
3 Caidan House, Canal Road
Timperley, Cheshire. WA14 1TD
T: +44 (0)161 962 4695
E: paul.daine@premiumcollections.co.uk
W: www.premiumcollections.co.uk
For all your credit management requirements Premium Collections
has the solution to suit you. Operating on a national and international
basis we can tailor a package of products and services to meet your
requirements.
Services include B2B collections, B2C collections, international
collections, absconder tracing, asset repossessions, status reporting
and litigation support.
Managed from our offices in Manchester, Harrogate and Dublin our
network of 55 partners cover the World.
Contact Paul Daine FCICM on +44 (0)161 962 4695 or
paul.daine@premiumcollections.co.uk
www.premiumcollections.co.uk
Blaser Mills Law
40 Oxford Road,
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire. HP11 2EE
T: 01494 478660
E: Jackie Ray jar@blasermills.co.uk
W: www.blasermills.co.uk
A full-service firm, Blaser Mills Law’s experienced Commercial
Recoveries team offer pre-legal collections, debt recovery,
litigation, dispute resolution and insolvency. The team includes
CICM qualified staff, recommended in both Legal 500 and
Chambers & Partners legal directories.
Offices in High Wycombe, Amersham, Rickmansworth, London
and Silverstone
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...”
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 business-to-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
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 64

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT
russell@cabbells.uk 0203 603 7937
CREDIT INFORMATION
CREDIT INFORMATION
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
CoCredo
Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD
T: 01494 790600
E: customerservice@cocredo.com
W: www.cocredo.co.uk
CoCredo’s award winning credit reporting and monitoring systems have
helped to protect over £27 billion of turnover on behalf of our customers.
Our company data is updated continually throughout the day and access
to the online portal is available 365 days a year 24/7.
At CoCredo we aggregate data from a range of leading providers in
the UK and across the globe so that our customers can view the best
available data in an easy to read report. We offer customers XML
Integration and D.N.A Portfolio Management as well as an industry-first
Dual Report, comparing two leading providers opinions in one report.
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 industryleading
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.
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
With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading provider of
business information, analytics, insights and solutions. Graydon
helps its customers to make fast, accurate decisions, enabling them
to minimise risk and identify fraud as well as optimise opportunities
with their commercial relationships. Graydon uses 130+ international
databases and the information of 90+ million companies. Graydon
has offices in London, Cardiff, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Since 2016,
Graydon has been part of Atradius, one of the world’s largest credit
insurance companies.
THE ONLY AML RESOURCE YOU NEED
SmartSearch
SmartSearch, Harman House,
Station Road,Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 8BX
T: +44 (0)113 238 7660
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.
CEDAR
ROSE
R
Cedar Rose
3, Georgiou Katsonotou Street,3036, Limassol, Cyprus
E: info@cedar-rose.com T: +357 25346630
W: www.cedar-rose.com
Cedar Rose has been globally recognised as the expert for
credit reports, due diligence and data for the Middle East
and North African countries since 1997. We now cover over
170 countries with the same high quality, expert analysis
and attention to detail we are well-known and trusted for.
Making best use of artificial intelligence and technology, Cedar
Rose has won several awards including Credit Excellence
& European Business Awards. Our website is a one-stopshop
for your business intelligence solutions. We are the
ultimate source; with competitive prices and friendly customer
service - whether you need one or one thousand reports.
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
ONGUARD
T: +31 (0)88 256 66 66
E: ruurd.bakker@onguard.com
W: www.onguard.com
Onguard is specialist in credit management software and market
leader in innovative solutions for order to cash. Our integrated
platform ensures an optimal connection of all processes in the order
to cash chain and allows sharing of critical data.
Intelligent tools that can seamlessly be interconnected and offer
overview and control of the payment process, as well as contribute to
a sustainable customer relationship.
In more than 50 countries the Onguard platform is successfully used
for successful credit management.
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
Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor, enabler of the
Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital transformation.
Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to significantly
reduce their exposure to risk and their financial, operational and technical
costs with best-in-class technology solutions and services. Tinubu
Square provides SaaS solutions and services to different businesses
including credit insurers, receivables financing organizations and
multinational corporations.
Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20 countries
worldwide and has a global presence with offices in Paris, London, New
York, Montreal and Singapore.
Credica Ltd
Building 168, Maxell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT
T: 01235 856400E: 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 3 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.
Data Interconnect Ltd
Units 45-50
Shrivenham Hundred Business Park
Majors Road, Watchfield
Swindon, SN6 8TZ
T: +44 (0)1367 245777
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
Data Interconnect provides Intelligent Invoice to Cash Automation.
Corrivo Billing, Collection and Dispute modules seamlessly integrate
for a rich, end-to-end A/R user experience. Branded customer
portals, real-time dashboards, advanced reporting, available in 15
languages as standard; are some of the reason why global brands
choose Data Interconnect.
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
Operating globally across any sector, Rimilia provides intelligent,
finance automation solutions that enable customers to get paid on time
and control their cashflow and cash collection in real time. Rimilia’s
software solutions use sophisticated analytics and artificial intelligence
(AI) to predict customer payment behaviour and easily match and
reconcile payments, removing the uncertainty of cash collection. The
Rimilia software automates the complete accounts receivable process
and eliminates unallocated cash, reducing manual activity by an
average 70% and achieving best in class matching rates recognised
by industry specialists such as The Hackett Group.
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.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 65 continues on page 66 >

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION
OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT
russell@cabbells.uk 0203 603 7937
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
DATA AND ANALYTICS
LEGAL
SERRALA
Serrala UK Ltd, 125 Wharfdale Road
Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham
Berkshire RG41 5RB
E: r.hammons@serrala.com W: www.serrala.com
T +44 118 207 0450 M +44 7788 564722
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for organisations seeking
efficient cash visibility and secure financial processes. As an SAP
Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies worldwide. With
more than 30 years of experience and thousands of successful
customer projects, including solutions for the entire order-tocash
process, Serrala provides credit managers and receivables
professionals with the solutions they need to successfully protect
their business against credit risk exposure and bad debt loss.
identeco – Business Support Toolkit
Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove,
Worcestershire B60 4FD
Telephone: 01527 549 531 Email: info@identeco.co.uk
Web: www.identeco.co.uk
identeco’s Business Support Toolkit is an online portal connecting
its subscribers to a range of business services that help them to
engage with new prospects, understand their customers and
mitigate risk. Annual subscription is £79.95 per year for unlimited
access. Providing company information and financial reports,
director and shareholder structures as well as a unique financial
health rating, balance sheets, ratio analysis, and any detrimental
data that might be associated with a company. Other services also
included in the subscription include a business names database,
acquisition targets, a data audit service as well as unlimited,
bespoke marketing and telesales listings for any sector.
Shoosmiths
Email: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk
Tel: 03700 86 3000 W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work closely with credit
teams to recover commercial debts as quickly and cost effectively as
possible. We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt recovery,
including:
• Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and keep costs down
• Litigation service
• Post-litigation services including enforcement
• Insolvency
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to relate to your goals,
and adept at advising you on the most effective way of achieving them.
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
Redwood Collections Ltd
0208 288 3555
enquiry@redwoodcollections.com
Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, CR0 0XZ
“Redwood Collections offers a complete portfolio of debt collection
services ranging from sensitive client-debtor mediation through to
legal and insolvency action.
Incorporated in 2009, we are pleased to represent in excess of
11,000 clients. Whatever your debt collection needs, we have the
expertise and resources to deliver a fast, efficient and cost-effective
solution.”
DATA AND ANALYTICS
Dun & Bradstreet
Marlow International, Parkway Marlow
Buckinghamshire SL7 1AJ
Telephone: (0800) 001-234 Website: www.dnb.co.uk
Dun & Bradstreet Finance Solutions enable modern finance
leaders and credit professionals to improve business performance
through more effective risk management, identification of growth
opportunities, and better integration of data and insights across the
business. Powered by our Data Cloud, our solutions provide access
to the world’s most comprehensive commercial data and insights
- supplying a continually updated view of business relationships
that helps finance and credit teams stay ahead of market shifts and
customer changes. Learn more here:
www.dnb.co.uk/modernfinance
C2FO
C2FO Ltd
105 Victoria Steet
SW1E 6QT
T: 07799 692193
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com
W: www.c2fo.com
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables into income,
uniquely connecting buyers and suppliers to allow discounts in
exchange for early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers access
additional liquidity sources by accelerating payments from buyers
when required in just two clicks, at a rate that works for them.
Buyers, often corporates with global supply chains, benefit from the
C2FO solution by improving gross margin while strengthening the
financial health of supply chains through ethical business practices.
ESKER
Sam Townsend Head of Marketing
Northern Europe Esker Ltd.
T: +44 (0)1332 548176 M: +44 (0)791 2772 302
W: www.esker.co.uk LinkedIn: Esker – Northern Europe
Twitter: @EskerNEurope Esker.blog
Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes the all-toocommon
obstacles preventing today’s businesses from collecting
receivables in a timely manner. From invoice delivery to cash
application, Esker automates each step. Esker's automated AR
system powered by TermSync helps companies modernise without
replacing their core billing and collections processes. By simply
automating what should be automated, customers get the post-sale
experience they deserve and your team gets the tools they need.
FINANCIAL PR
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.
FORUMS
FORUMS INTERNATIONAL
T: +44 (0)1246 555055
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk
Forums International Ltd have been running Credit and Industry
Forums since 1991. We cover a range of industry sectors and
International trading, attendance is for Credit Professionals of all
levels. Our forums are not just meetings but communities which
aim to prepare our members for the challenges ahead. Attending
for the first time is free for you to gauge the benefits and meet the
members and we only have pre-approved Partners, so you will never
intentionally be sold to.
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.
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 •Reduce risk
•Offer extended terms to customers
•Provide an additional line of bank independent credit to drive
growth •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.
Key IVR
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000
E: sales@keyivr.com
W: www.keyivr.com
Key IVR are proud to have joined the Chartered Institute of Credit
Management’s Corporate partnership scheme. The CICM is a
recognised and trusted professional entity within credit management
and a perfect partner for Key IVR. We are delighted to be providing
our services to the CICM to assist with their membership collection
activities. Key IVR provides a suite of products to assist companies
across the globe with credit management. Our service is based
around giving the end-user the means to make a payment when and
how they choose. Using automated collection methods, such as a
secure telephone payment line (IVR), web and SMS allows companies
to free up valuable staff time away from typical debt collection.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 66

Testimonial
We have been regular advertisers
in Credit Management (CM)
magazine for more than ten
years and have found it to be an
excellent medium for raising our
brand awareness and securing
major contracts.
By way of example, one of the
largest logistics firms in the world
approached us for our services
having seen our profile in CM.
This led to a very successful
relationship and gained us
significant credibility.
We would recommend advertising
in CM magazine to other
businesses.
RECRUITMENT
PORTFOLIO
CREDIT CONTROL
Portfolio Credit Control
1 Finsbury Square, London. EC2A 1AE
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.
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.
ARE YOU A 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 / September 2019 / PAGE 67

We provide companies around the
globe with faster cash allocation,
clearer information, and better
control over cash flow using AI
Intelligent Cash Allocation & Credit Management Software
We’re the only truly
Global Solution
We work with any currency, any
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countries worldwide rely
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Built by Finance
Professionals
Built by finance professionals,
for finance professionals. We
know what matters to you, so
we can enable instant ROI
and success.
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We’re on the cutting-edge of
finance AI development,
allowing faster, better
decision making.
Get in touch…
01527 872 123
info@rimilia.com • www.rimilia.com