CM December 2020
The CICM magazine for consumer and commercial credit professionals
The CICM magazine for consumer and commercial credit professionals
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CREDIT MANAGEMENT<br />
<strong>CM</strong><br />
DECEMBER <strong>2020</strong> £12.50<br />
THE CI<strong>CM</strong> MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND<br />
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS<br />
Activist<br />
Investors<br />
Who’s really pulling<br />
the strings?<br />
The hidden risk of<br />
Personal Guarantees.<br />
Page 21<br />
Tackling a surge in<br />
vulnerable customers.<br />
Page 32
24<br />
Nodding Acquaintances<br />
Adam Bernstein<br />
DECEMBER <strong>2020</strong><br />
www.cicm.com<br />
CONTENTS<br />
32<br />
Softly Softly<br />
David Sheridan FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
21<br />
Stacking the odds<br />
Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
9 – Zoom Zoom<br />
The CEO’s Christmas message.<br />
10 – Bare Essentials<br />
Julia Ishak details the new rules<br />
protecting supplies to an insolvent<br />
customer.<br />
12 – Threatening Behaviour<br />
Activist investors, and pressure from<br />
consumer groups, constitute a serious<br />
threat.<br />
19 – A Question of Honour<br />
New proposals suggest IPs cannot be<br />
trusted.<br />
21 – Stacking the Odds<br />
Lenders are open to the risk of<br />
fraudulent use of multiple Personal<br />
Guarantees<br />
10<br />
Bare essentials<br />
Julia Ishak<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> GOVERNANCE<br />
View our digital version online at www.cicm.com. Log on to the Members’<br />
area, and click on the tab labelled ‘Credit Management magazine’<br />
Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
membership, as well as additional subscribers<br />
Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without specific permission. Opinions expressed in this magazine do<br />
not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor reserves the right to<br />
abbreviate letters if necessary. The Institute is registered as a charity. The mark ‘Credit Management’ is a registered<br />
trade mark of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.<br />
Any articles published relating to English law will differ from laws in Scotland and Wales.<br />
12<br />
Threatening Behaviour<br />
Adam Bernstein<br />
President Stephen Baister FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Chief Executive Sue Chapple FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Executive Board: Chair Debbie Nolan FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad) – Vice Chair Phil Rice FCI<strong>CM</strong> /Treasurer Glen Bullivant FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Larry Coltman FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Victoria Herd FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Advisory Council: Sarah Aldridge FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Laurie Beagle FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Glen Bullivant FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Alan Church FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)<br />
Brendan Clarkson FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Larry Coltman FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Niall Cooter FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Peter Gent FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad) / Victoria Herd FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)<br />
Philip Holbrough MCI<strong>CM</strong> / Neil Jinks FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Nick King FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Charles Mayhew FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Debbie Nolan FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)<br />
Bryony Pettifor FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)/ Allan Poole MCI<strong>CM</strong> / Alice Purdy MCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad) / Matthew Roberts MCI<strong>CM</strong> / Phil Rice FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Chris Sanders FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Stephen Thomson FCI<strong>CM</strong> / Atul Vadher FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)<br />
24 – Nodding Acquaintances<br />
Bulgaria is a country of contradictions,<br />
and when a Bulgarian nods he means<br />
no.<br />
32 – Softly Softly<br />
How will DCA’s support a surge in<br />
vulnerability?<br />
34 – Staying the Course<br />
What next for the world of<br />
enforcement?<br />
44 – Panel Bashers<br />
Are zero bad debts a mark of success or<br />
a missed opportunity?<br />
Publisher<br />
Chartered Institute of Credit Management<br />
The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham<br />
OAKHAM, LE15 8NB<br />
Telephone: 01780 722900<br />
Email: editorial@cicm.com<br />
Website: www.cicm.com<br />
<strong>CM</strong>M: www.creditmanagement.org.uk<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Deputy Editor<br />
Iona Yadallee<br />
Art Editor<br />
Andrew Morris<br />
Telephone: 01780 722910<br />
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com<br />
Editorial Team<br />
Laura Biondi, Imogen Hart, Rob Howard<br />
and Max Tyson<br />
Advertising<br />
Grace Ghattas<br />
Telephone: 020 3603 7946<br />
Email: grace@cabbell.co.uk<br />
Printers<br />
Stephens & George Print Group<br />
<strong>2020</strong> subscriptions<br />
UK: £112 per annum<br />
International: £145 per annum<br />
Single copies: £12.50<br />
ISSN 0265-2099<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 3
EDITOR’S COLUMN<br />
Stop the world,<br />
I want to get off<br />
Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Managing Editor<br />
CHRISTMAS is coming, and if<br />
we get any more lockdowns,<br />
it won’t just be the goose<br />
who’s getting fat.<br />
Sitting here at home,<br />
staring at my keyboard,<br />
distracted by the pencil prints of Lancasters<br />
and Hurricanes that adorn my study<br />
wall, I am wondering what to write. Not<br />
because there isn’t anything to say. Quite<br />
the opposite. So much has happened over<br />
the last 12 months that I simply don’t know<br />
where to begin.<br />
I could, perhaps, write about the seismic<br />
changes that have been happening in<br />
the world of debt collection, and the<br />
acknowledgment from 50 MPs and now<br />
all of the major debt advice charities of<br />
something that we’ve known all along: that<br />
many debt collection practices within the<br />
public sector and central government are<br />
shocking, and completely out of kilter with<br />
their private sector colleagues. The quicker<br />
they learn what best practice looks like, the<br />
better.<br />
I could write about BBLs and CBILs,<br />
and the stories I’m already hearing of<br />
irresponsible directors taking out loans<br />
and spending the cash on a new fast car<br />
or faster motorbike, with no intention<br />
whatsoever of ever paying those loans back.<br />
A day of reckoning is coming, and when it<br />
comes it’s going to be a train smash, if that’s<br />
not mixing my metaphors too much.<br />
I could write about the fantastic efforts<br />
of credit managers across the country,<br />
adapting quickly and (largely) without<br />
complaint to new ways of remote working,<br />
and the pressures placed upon them by<br />
their peers to keep collecting the cash. But<br />
then you know that, because you’re the<br />
guys who are doing it, so I don’t need to tell<br />
you how great you are.<br />
I could also write about the similarly<br />
commendable efforts of the CI<strong>CM</strong> HQ team<br />
in devising new and ever-more imaginative<br />
initiatives to support you, the members,<br />
with webinars and virtual training, and<br />
increasing the opportunities to share best<br />
practice through the CI<strong>CM</strong> Think Tank and<br />
the revitalised and reinvigorated Technical<br />
Committee.<br />
I might also, if I am allowed a brief<br />
moment of navel gazing, write about<br />
how we have developed your magazine,<br />
both creatively and editorially, and the<br />
many exclusives we’ve broken over the<br />
year. Indeed we’ve done so again with our<br />
story on Personal Guarantees (see page<br />
21), exposing stories often months before<br />
they finally make it into the pages of the<br />
Nationals.<br />
So as it’s Christmas, I would like a shout<br />
out to the <strong>CM</strong> team – to Iona, my erstwhile<br />
Deputy, who works diligently and earnestly<br />
to sweep up behind me – and Andrew<br />
whose brilliant designs are an inspiration,<br />
and to our fabulous team of regular<br />
contributors – David, Peter, Andrea, Adam,<br />
Rob, Jason, Gareth, Karen, Derek, Nigel,<br />
Matt and Mark, and the legend that is Les<br />
Clisby who I’ve worked with now for almost<br />
40 years. The magazine is a team effort, and<br />
Laura, Jo, Max and Imogen also play their<br />
part and whose efforts go largely unnoticed<br />
– unless something goes wrong.<br />
It’s been a year of highs and lows. And<br />
that’s an understatement. There are<br />
occasions when I’ve wanted the world to<br />
stop, so I could jump off. But I live in the<br />
hope that next year will be better, and that<br />
my idea for a regular series of write ups of<br />
RAF bases across the UK will finally get the<br />
nod from the CI<strong>CM</strong> editorial panel! Philip<br />
never allowed it; but the CI<strong>CM</strong> is under<br />
new management so you never know.<br />
Happy Christmas everyone.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 4
FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
<strong>CM</strong>NEWS<br />
A round-up of news stories from the<br />
world of consumer and commercial credit.<br />
Written by – Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
DCA highlights rising<br />
levels of collector abuse<br />
THE amount of abuse being taken<br />
by employees of debt collection<br />
agencies is on the rise and<br />
causing serious concern, Credit<br />
Management has learned.<br />
David Sheridan, Operations<br />
Director at ARC Europe, writing in this issue, says<br />
that customer facing agents are doing a great job<br />
in incredibly difficult circumstances: “We know<br />
emotions are running high particularly with the<br />
constraints and frustrations people are having to<br />
live with, but that’s no excuse for agents to be on<br />
the receiving end of sometimes shocking verbal<br />
abuse from customers,” he says.<br />
“Given that many agents are now working from<br />
home, children in the background or indeed with<br />
parents or other loved ones, this is very tough to<br />
deal with.”<br />
David believes that by caring for each other<br />
and being respectful in our interactions we will<br />
help each other get through it: “I know that our<br />
agents are really passionate about helping people<br />
and take pride in doing that,” he continues. “So to<br />
see the rising levels of verbal abuse when we are<br />
trying to help, therefore, is disappointing.”<br />
He believes part of the problem is the media<br />
perception that rising levels of debt means it’s a<br />
boom time for DCAs, a myth he is determined to<br />
dispel: “It is certainly is not boom time for DCAs.<br />
Probably the opposite; it’s a very tough trading<br />
outlook.<br />
“While we are facing tough times and many<br />
people will struggle financially in the months<br />
ahead, customers can be confident that if they<br />
are contacted by firms like ourselves, DCA’s who<br />
are members of the CSA, that they will be treated<br />
fairly and given the support they need to deal<br />
with their situation.”<br />
See article on page 32.<br />
David Sheridan FCI<strong>CM</strong>,<br />
Operations Director<br />
at ARC Europe<br />
“Given that many<br />
agents are now<br />
working from<br />
home, children in<br />
the background or<br />
indeed with parents<br />
or other loved ones,<br />
this is very tough to<br />
deal with.”<br />
CSA launches new ‘steps’ to managing debt<br />
THE Credit Services Association (CSA),<br />
the voice of the debt collection and debt<br />
purchase sector, has launched a new video<br />
to promote Five Steps that people can take<br />
if they’ve fallen into debt.<br />
Building on its previous #heretohelp<br />
campaign, the video explains the<br />
importance of engaging with those a<br />
customer owes money to and urges them<br />
to be as open and honest as they can in<br />
discussing their situation. Once a debt<br />
has been passed to a CSA member, again<br />
the message is one of communication<br />
and engagement, and the importance of<br />
not ignoring the attempts of contact. Debt<br />
collection agency staff speak to thousands<br />
of people in debt every day, and the<br />
video explains how it’s their role to find a<br />
realistic and affordable way for people to<br />
get out of debt.<br />
Voiced by Brad Burton, one of the<br />
UK’s top motivational speakers, who<br />
was himself once £25,000 in debt, the<br />
animated video is designed to give<br />
people the confidence to engage with<br />
“Debt is one of those topics<br />
that can often be ‘off limits’,<br />
and it can be hard to talk<br />
about. But we want to reassure<br />
people that debt collection<br />
agencies – our members – are<br />
there to help them along the<br />
road to becoming debt free.’’<br />
a debt collection company from the<br />
outset. It also stresses the help that<br />
these companies can provide in steering<br />
customers to further help and advice if<br />
they need it.<br />
Chris Leslie, CSA Chief Executive,<br />
says that talking more openly about<br />
money is the first step to removing<br />
the stigma of debt and dealing with<br />
it: “Debt is one of those topics that<br />
can often be ‘off limits’, and<br />
it can be hard to talk about.<br />
But we want to reassure<br />
people that debt collection agencies – our<br />
members – are there to help them along<br />
the road to becoming debt free. They have<br />
a genuine desire to help their customer,<br />
and it is their job to find an affordable<br />
and realistic way of freeing people of<br />
their debt. We also know that, according<br />
to Money and Pensions Service (MaPS),<br />
despite the COVID-19 crisis affecting our<br />
finances, nine in 10 UK adults – 47 million<br />
people – don’t find it any easier to talk<br />
about money, or don’t even discuss it at<br />
all. So we hope our new video, and all the<br />
awareness raising efforts for Talk Money<br />
Week will help to get people talking more<br />
about money and debt.”<br />
The launch of the new video<br />
coincided with Talk Money Week, an<br />
annual awareness campaign run by<br />
the Money and Pensions Service to<br />
encourage everyone to open up about<br />
their money and pensions. You can<br />
view this on the CSA website.<br />
Chris Leslie, CSA<br />
Chief Executive.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 5
NEWS ROUNDUP<br />
Experian gives credit<br />
scores a ‘boost’<br />
EXPERIAN has launched what<br />
it claims to be the UK’s first<br />
service to give consumers the<br />
ability to instantly improve<br />
their credit score, using<br />
information such as regular<br />
video and music streaming payments and<br />
council tax payments.<br />
Early analysis suggests over half of<br />
people (51 percent) using Experian Boost<br />
will receive an instant increase to their<br />
Experian Credit Score, meaning around 17<br />
million consumers are set to benefit. Among<br />
this group, more than one in 10 (12 percent)<br />
will move up an entire Experian score band.<br />
The new, free service will help people to<br />
take control of their Experian Credit Score<br />
by voluntarily adding new relevant and<br />
real-time information via Open Banking.<br />
This includes general information, such as<br />
total incomings and outgoings, as well as<br />
a range of popular, regular payments not<br />
traditionally factored into credit scores.<br />
At launch, Experian Boost will take<br />
into account regular payments regarding<br />
Council tax, savings and investments, and<br />
Digital entertainment services such as<br />
Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime. The<br />
maximum amount people can boost their<br />
score by is 66 points, and the agency says<br />
that no-one will see their Experian Credit<br />
Score go down as a result of signing up to<br />
Experian Boost.<br />
Experts at Experian say that Open<br />
Banking transactional data has never<br />
been factored into credit scores before.<br />
By including it, Experian Boost ensures<br />
that the Experian Credit Score recognises<br />
and rewards people for making regular<br />
payments to a broader range of<br />
organisations, helping credit reporting<br />
to evolve and improving lenders’ credit<br />
assessments.<br />
Clive Lawson, Managing Director for<br />
Consumer Services at Experian, says the<br />
business wants people to get credit where<br />
credit is due: “We are always pushing<br />
the boundaries of innovation for two key<br />
reasons – to give consumers more control<br />
over their financial lives, and to ensure<br />
lenders have the information they need<br />
to make informed, responsible decisions.<br />
There’s never been a more important time<br />
for people to engage with their credit scores<br />
and Experian Boost will help them to do<br />
this.”<br />
Personal finance expert from<br />
MoneyComms, Andrew Hagger, believes<br />
many customers will welcome the<br />
opportunity to boost their credit score in<br />
the current difficult financial climate: “The<br />
Experian Boost service is an excellent<br />
example of how open banking can deliver<br />
tangible rewards for consumers. The<br />
potential financial benefits of this new<br />
initiative could see some customers having<br />
access to more favourable interest rate<br />
terms and improved credit limits.”<br />
Pearson Education becomes first<br />
to achieve CI<strong>CM</strong>Q re-accreditation<br />
THE Credit Department at Pearson<br />
Education has been recognised by CI<strong>CM</strong>Q,<br />
becoming the first company to achieve<br />
re-accreditation online due to the COVID-19<br />
pandemic.<br />
Matthew Walters, Head of Credit at<br />
Pearson Education, says achieving reaccreditation<br />
shows that the company<br />
promotes best practice: “Achieving CI<strong>CM</strong>Q<br />
re-accreditation motivates staff as it has<br />
a direct impact on team improvement<br />
and also helps us map our policies and<br />
procedures against the industry standard<br />
and gives us comfort that our documents<br />
are sound.<br />
“Due to the lockdown, we had to complete<br />
the assessment fully online using hangouts<br />
and other tools, which meant the process<br />
wasn’t simple,” Matthew explains. “With our<br />
teams based across England, Ireland and<br />
India, sometimes connectivity issues meant<br />
that some of our virtual meetings didn’t<br />
go as planned. However, at the same time,<br />
using these hangouts was a great way to get<br />
everybody involved.”<br />
Matthew also highlights that gaining the<br />
re-accreditation in such an uncertain time<br />
has taught the team at Pearson Education<br />
the importance of keeping practices<br />
and procedures up to date: “Gaining reaccreditation<br />
highlights that improving<br />
our processes continually is something we<br />
consistently embrace,” he continues.<br />
“We review the credit management<br />
policies and procedures annually and due<br />
to the current situation, it was important to<br />
take the time to re-visit our roadmaps and<br />
our processes to make sure we are working<br />
as efficiently as possible in what I call ‘the<br />
new world’.<br />
Pearson Education is one of the largest<br />
educational companies in the world, with<br />
more than 36,000 employees worldwide. Its<br />
UK Credit team consists of more than 50<br />
members of staff, working across England,<br />
Ireland and India. The teams are responsible<br />
for collections of around £350 million –<br />
£400 million per year.<br />
>NEWS<br />
IN BRIEF<br />
Insurers brace for<br />
spike in claims<br />
CREDIT insurers are bracing<br />
themselves for a spike in claims<br />
once the Government’s business aid<br />
packages come to an end.<br />
The CI<strong>CM</strong> Technical Committee<br />
heard in November that whilst claims<br />
significantly increased in the first few<br />
months of the pandemic, they have<br />
since tailed off as the various forms<br />
of Government support came into<br />
effect. Indeed, one of the Committee<br />
members reported that claims are<br />
currently at their lowest point for 20<br />
years.<br />
Credit insurance is a crucial part of<br />
the British economy, providing cover<br />
for businesses whose customers<br />
are unable to pay their debts due to<br />
insolvency. Given that the UK has<br />
this year seen its worst recession<br />
on record, according to the Office for<br />
National Statistics, the Government<br />
was forced to support the credit<br />
insurance industry to prevent a<br />
repeat of 2008 when insurers were<br />
accused of abandoning customers in<br />
their hour of need.<br />
A £10bn scheme shares the risk<br />
of insolvency between trade credit<br />
insurers and the Treasury.<br />
The CI<strong>CM</strong> is seeking<br />
a new home<br />
THE CI<strong>CM</strong> has engaged the services<br />
of a commercial property agent to find<br />
it a new home, and put The Water Mill<br />
up for sale.<br />
Sue Chapple FCI<strong>CM</strong>, Chief<br />
Executive of the CI<strong>CM</strong>, says the agent<br />
has been briefed to find a modern<br />
headquarters, in much the same area,<br />
more in keeping with a professional<br />
membership body: “The Water Mill<br />
has served us well for more that two<br />
decades but as an historic building,<br />
parts of which are Listed, it has its<br />
challenges and is expensive to run.<br />
It also doesn’t allow us to shape the<br />
offices how we know we need them to<br />
be in the future.<br />
“By realising the value of the asset<br />
now we can invest in new premises<br />
with an open plan working<br />
environment designed to<br />
our own specification,<br />
that will further improve<br />
communication between the<br />
teams and support an<br />
even better service for<br />
our members.”<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 6
NEWS ROUNDUP<br />
Banks rank protecting their<br />
reputation above price<br />
AS UK banks consider<br />
the appointment of debt<br />
collectors to recover tens<br />
of billions of pounds of<br />
government-backed small<br />
business loans, and other<br />
financial institutions across Europe are<br />
faced with a similar challenge, their next<br />
move will be driven by on one overriding<br />
factor: protecting their image.<br />
A survey of 28 European banks conducted<br />
by Hoist Finance, which purchases and<br />
manages non-performing and performing<br />
loans across 11 countries in Europe, found<br />
that almost nine out of ten (86 percent)<br />
ranked ‘protecting our reputation and<br />
image’ as the single most important factor<br />
in selecting a debt collection agency to<br />
tender for their business.<br />
The reputation of the agency itself and<br />
their standing in the market was also<br />
critical (ranked important by 71 percent<br />
of respondents), far outstripping any<br />
previous costs or bids that might have<br />
been quoted for their service (18 percent).<br />
Whether there is an existing relationship<br />
between the two entities is not a key<br />
determining factor.<br />
When it came to the final decision<br />
making, protecting their reputation was<br />
still more important than price: 85 percent<br />
citing it as ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ important (the<br />
two top rankings), though the importance<br />
of price leapt to 81 percent (for the same<br />
two rankings combined). The agency’s<br />
experience was also vital (62 percent).<br />
Banks assessed a debt collection agency’s<br />
ability to protect their reputation on their<br />
approach to treating customers fairly. An<br />
amicable collection strategy – in which an<br />
agency arrives at a consensual agreement<br />
with the customer – was deemed very<br />
important by 38 percent of respondents,<br />
though perhaps surprisingly of least<br />
importance or only somewhat important by<br />
a similar percentage (42 percent).<br />
In terms of sustainability, respect for a<br />
customer’s privacy was ranked highest in<br />
priority (17 percent) followed by empathetic<br />
treatment of customers (15 percent) and<br />
having a thorough complaints handling<br />
process (15 percent).<br />
Julian Winfield, Chief Executive of Hoist<br />
Finance UK, says that to the banks, getting<br />
paid for the portfolio they are selling or<br />
putting out for collection is obviously<br />
important: “Clearly they would like to<br />
recover some of their outstanding loans,”<br />
he says, “but it’s clear also that price is far<br />
from the only consideration. Banks are<br />
worried about their image and how they will<br />
be perceived in the market by existing or<br />
potential customers.”<br />
However, Julian says it’s not just about<br />
image: “It’s also clear that they genuinely<br />
care about the treatment of their customers,<br />
even after they sell the claims to a<br />
collection agency. It is vital, therefore, that<br />
we, as an industry, continue to balance the<br />
need of an economy that relies on a creditor<br />
being repaid with the need to identify the<br />
most vulnerable in society and ensure our<br />
practices support them in resolving their<br />
financial difficulties.”<br />
Debt solutions business identifies<br />
hidden risk of PGs<br />
PERSONAL Guarantees (PGs) are being used<br />
fraudulently by small business owners to<br />
take out multiple loans without any chance<br />
of those loans ever being paid back. And<br />
it seems that Credit Reference Agencies<br />
(CRAs) who have been made aware of the<br />
practice and could solve the problem simply<br />
by creating a new PG database are so far<br />
failing to act.<br />
The news comes after a review of loans<br />
agreed by several different lenders –<br />
including Liberis and Newable Lending<br />
– which have since defaulted and are now<br />
owned by the commercial debt solutions<br />
business Azzurro Associates.<br />
Credit Management has learned that<br />
analysts within Azzurro have identified a<br />
number of occasions when the same PGs<br />
were being used to secure new loans from<br />
different lenders sometimes only days after<br />
a previous loan had defaulted and without<br />
the new lender being aware.<br />
Andrew Birkwood, Chief Executive<br />
of Azzurro Associates, has evidence of<br />
one case where the owner of a gift shop<br />
defaulted on a loan on 9 November with<br />
one lender, only to take out another loan<br />
with a different lender on 22 November<br />
using the exact same Personal Guarantee.<br />
He went bust owing more than £50,000:<br />
“Had the second lender been aware that the<br />
busines owner had been using the same PG,<br />
they would not have agreed to the loan,” he<br />
says.<br />
“The problem is that lenders would have<br />
no way of knowing, and the CRAs, who<br />
could do something about it, seem<br />
reluctant to listen.”<br />
Read the full article on page 21<br />
>NEWS<br />
IN BRIEF<br />
Welcome extension<br />
THE Money Advice Trust has<br />
welcomed the FCA’s proposal to extend<br />
the availability of payment deferrals<br />
on mortgages and on credit cards,<br />
loans and other forms of consumer<br />
credit by six months. The move was<br />
confirmed after the Government’s<br />
announcement of a second lockdown<br />
and extension to the Job Retention<br />
Scheme. The charity has called for<br />
similar action for people who are<br />
self-employed, people struggling to<br />
pay their rent and those claiming<br />
Universal Credit.<br />
Deal on a plate<br />
RSM has helped Camino, the Spanish<br />
tapas restaurant and bar group,<br />
to secure a rescue deal allowing<br />
the business to continue serving<br />
customers from its four restaurants<br />
and two bars preserving 77 jobs.<br />
Camino Trading Limited, a newly<br />
incorporated company run by cofounders<br />
Nigel Foster and Richard Bigg,<br />
has agreed to acquire the business<br />
and assets from the Administrators<br />
of Camino Leisure Holdings Limited<br />
and Camino Restaurants Limited (the<br />
group’s operating entity) following an<br />
accelerated sales process.<br />
Nothing to sniff at<br />
NEW research from StepChange Debt<br />
Charity suggest levels of household<br />
borrowing and arrears attributable to<br />
Coronavirus have soared to £10.3bn<br />
since the start of the pandemic,<br />
an increase of £4.3bn (66 percent)<br />
since May. The report, Tackling the<br />
Coronavirus Personal Debt Crisis,<br />
has found the number of people<br />
affected by COVID-19 who are in severe<br />
problem debt has risen to 1.2 million –<br />
nearly doubling since March – with a<br />
further three million at risk of it.<br />
Andrew Birkwood,<br />
Chief Executive of<br />
Azzurro Associates.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 7
NEWS ROUNDUP<br />
D&B launches new Lending<br />
Intelligence solution<br />
DUN & Bradstreet has<br />
launched a new small<br />
business lending solution<br />
for UK commercial finance<br />
providers.<br />
D&B Lending<br />
Intelligence is described as an online<br />
solution that enables lenders to make<br />
faster credit decisions for small and<br />
medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing<br />
real-time access to a wider range of data,<br />
combining new UK commercial credit<br />
data from designated leading banks with<br />
additional data and analytics from the Dun<br />
& Bradstreet Data Cloud.<br />
More than £60bn has been provided to<br />
1.4 million UK businesses via Governmentbacked<br />
loan schemes in <strong>2020</strong> and<br />
access to finance is key to securing<br />
the survival and stimulating growth<br />
for SMEs. With exponential growth in<br />
business loan applications since the first<br />
national lockdown in March <strong>2020</strong>, having<br />
immediate access to credit data online will<br />
reduce the time spent seeking referrals<br />
and further information and will help<br />
to facilitate decision-making, support<br />
risk assessment and open up lending<br />
opportunities for businesses when they<br />
need it most.<br />
Tim Vine, Head of Credit Intelligence<br />
at Dun & Bradstreet, “incomplete data<br />
slows decision-making,” he says, “and by<br />
providing data from lenders alongside<br />
additional data and analytics, our online<br />
solution is designed to enable quicker<br />
lending decisions and ultimately to<br />
support the Government’s aim to increase<br />
access to finance through the increased<br />
availability of SME lending data.”<br />
Government must address<br />
‘widespread unfairness’<br />
A new report has found ‘widespread<br />
unfairness’ in the way central and local<br />
Government collect debts including council<br />
tax, benefit and tax credit overpayments.<br />
The Money Advice Trust is calling for<br />
Government to ‘level up’ its debt collection<br />
practices to those of other sectors – or risk<br />
pushing people further into difficulty in the<br />
wake of COVID-19.<br />
The charity’s new report entitled<br />
Levelling up: The case for reforming<br />
government debt collection, has been<br />
published as the Cabinet Office considers<br />
responses to a call for evidence on<br />
improving fairness in Government debt<br />
management. The charity’s findings come<br />
at a time when more people are said to<br />
be struggling to repay public sector debts<br />
– a trend the charity says is likely to be<br />
amplified by COVID-19.<br />
The report highlights the negative impact<br />
that current Government debt collection<br />
practices are having on those struggling<br />
to repay, and particularly on people with<br />
mental health problems or other vulnerable<br />
circumstances.<br />
A national survey of debt advisers shows<br />
just nine percent think that Department for<br />
Work and Pensions identifies and supports<br />
vulnerable customers ‘well’ or ‘very well’,<br />
with just 12 percent for HMRC. These figures<br />
are in sharp contrast with the private<br />
sector, with 46 percent of advisers reporting<br />
that banks/building societies identify and<br />
support vulnerable customers ‘well’ or ‘very<br />
well’, 45 percent for energy firms and 68<br />
percent for water companies. Debt advisers<br />
also report widespread concerns over the<br />
way that Government creditors assess<br />
the affordability of repayments, leading<br />
to unaffordable payment demands – with<br />
advisers rating Government practices as<br />
worse even than payday lenders.<br />
Credit Management understands that the<br />
charity has written to Ministers to make<br />
the case for what it calls a ‘bold package of<br />
reform’ designed to level up Government<br />
debt collection practices to those seen in<br />
the private sector.<br />
The proposal includes: Backing calls<br />
for a new Government Debt Management<br />
Bill to embed the principles of fairness<br />
and affordability throughout central and<br />
local government; reforming council tax<br />
collection practices by amending outdated<br />
regulations and introducing a statutory<br />
‘pre-action protocol’ for councils to follow;<br />
and introducing independent bailiff<br />
regulation as part of a ‘reduce and reform’<br />
approach to protecting people in debt from<br />
the harm caused by bailiff action.<br />
Joanna Elson CBE, Chief Executive of<br />
the MAT, says the widespread unfairness<br />
needs to be addressed: “With more and<br />
more people struggling to repay debts owed<br />
to government even before the devastating<br />
impact of Covid-19, the Government<br />
must act swiftly to level up its<br />
collection practices to those of the<br />
private sector.”<br />
>NEWS<br />
IN BRIEF<br />
Technical Committee<br />
urges contract review<br />
THE CI<strong>CM</strong> Technical Committee is<br />
urging credit managers to review and<br />
amend current contracts to ensure<br />
those contracts remain viable as the<br />
UK prepares to leave the EU at the<br />
end of the year.<br />
On 31 January <strong>2020</strong> the UK formally<br />
ceased being a member of the EU.<br />
However, the transition period, which<br />
runs until 31 <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong>, sees<br />
Britain continue to participate in the<br />
customs union and single market.<br />
Given that commercial contracts<br />
that cross the UK-EU border, up to<br />
this point, have been written in the<br />
context of Britain’s membership<br />
to the EU, they are likely to require<br />
modification. To start, many contracts<br />
refer to the EU as a territory, with the<br />
UK included in this at the time the<br />
contract was written. For example,<br />
a reseller’s right to sell a certain<br />
product could be confined to a certain<br />
geographical area, and uncertainty<br />
may arise if this is labelled as the EU.<br />
If this is the case, re-writing the terms<br />
to specifically mention the UK should<br />
be a first step.<br />
Contract clauses such as<br />
exclusivity may also have inadvertent<br />
consequences. If an exclusive<br />
supplier was impacted by price or<br />
currency fluctuations or unable to<br />
source raw materials, a business<br />
would remain unable to source the<br />
necessary supplies elsewhere. In this<br />
sense, English law may not provide<br />
the common sense remedies that<br />
businesses will be relying on.<br />
To soften the blow and prevent<br />
black holes from appearing, EU<br />
legislation will continue to apply,<br />
through becoming English domestic<br />
law. These laws may then be<br />
rewritten, but there is no indication as<br />
to which will remain and which will<br />
go. For these reasons, if a contract<br />
is drafted on the assumption that<br />
obligations and restrictions currently<br />
imposed by EU-derived legislation<br />
will continue to be in effect in the<br />
same way for years to come, this<br />
could prove to be problematic.<br />
We urge credit<br />
managers to review<br />
and amend current<br />
contracts to ensure<br />
those contracts<br />
remain viable.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 8
FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE<br />
Zoom Zoom!<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> members should back<br />
themselves to win.<br />
Sue Chapple FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
SO much has happened this<br />
year it is almost impossible to<br />
know where to begin. When<br />
COVID-19 hit, and the first<br />
lockdown began, there was<br />
definitely a sense of ‘we’re<br />
all in this together’. Our members were<br />
quick to adapt to ‘working from home’ and<br />
embracing new processes and procedures<br />
to keep the cash flowing. Between us we<br />
all learned a new language of Microsoft<br />
Teams and Zoom, doing business ‘virtually’<br />
and interacting with our colleagues and<br />
customers via our computer screens.<br />
The team at CI<strong>CM</strong> HQ swung quickly<br />
into action with its Managing Credit in<br />
a Crisis initiative, the first in what was<br />
soon to become a series of campaigns to<br />
support our members through difficult<br />
times. We saw a great deal of positivity in<br />
those early months: the cash kept flowing;<br />
collections levels not only held their own<br />
but actually increased; and the apocalypse<br />
didn’t quite happen as predicted.<br />
Investments in new credit<br />
management platforms were accelerated<br />
and implemented in months, and the<br />
Chancellor’s financial support packages<br />
kept the wolf from the door, at least in<br />
the immediate term. We experienced<br />
CBILs and BBLs, and all learned another<br />
new word: furlough. What I think we all<br />
hoped might last a few weeks proved not<br />
to be the case as the weeks turned into<br />
months, and nerves became increasingly<br />
frayed.<br />
CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY<br />
And so here we go again. Another<br />
lockdown. Another period of worry,<br />
uncertainty and challenge. But also<br />
another opportunity for our members<br />
to demonstrate their true worth, and the<br />
essential role they play in keeping the<br />
wheels of industry turning.<br />
The messages in our latest ‘Managing the<br />
new credit future’ initiative still hold true:<br />
we must continue to adjust our collections<br />
and recovery strategies to fit the constantly<br />
changing financial environment; we must<br />
look at our forecasts and projections and<br />
ensure they remain honest and realistic;<br />
and we must continue to talk, to ensure<br />
credit teams’ actions are aligned with<br />
senior management objectives. Training<br />
also remains critical, equipping our teams<br />
with the skills they need to succeed.<br />
If there is a single message I want to<br />
communicate it is this: trust yourself. Trust<br />
your judgment in making decisions that<br />
are in the best interests of your business.<br />
Trust your training, and the skills you have<br />
acquired as credit professionals, and take<br />
the opportunity to learn more. And trust<br />
your colleagues, working with your people<br />
and senior management towards a new<br />
future.<br />
As we head into a New Year, we know<br />
that the road ahead is going to be difficult.<br />
We know that a storm is brewing. We<br />
recognise the recovery, when it comes,<br />
will be long and slow. This means we must<br />
look after each other, to share experiences,<br />
to engage with your professional body and<br />
your peers to help us through what will<br />
undoubtedly be a difficult time. We will<br />
ultimately prevail, and it will be the skills<br />
that you have, the knowledge you have<br />
acquired, and the support of the CI<strong>CM</strong>,<br />
that will get us there.<br />
I cannot say I ever envisaged that<br />
when I took over the reins as your Chief<br />
Executive from Philip King FCI<strong>CM</strong> at the<br />
start of the year that the country would<br />
now be facing its biggest challenge since<br />
the second world war. Neither, to continue<br />
the analogy, can I promise it will all be<br />
over by Christmas. But I can wish you all<br />
well and hope that over the festive season<br />
you will take some time to pause and reenergise,<br />
for there is undoubtedly more<br />
hard work ahead of us.<br />
We will ultimately prevail, and it will be<br />
the skills that you have, the knowledge<br />
you have acquired, and the support of the<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong>, that will get us there.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 9
INSOLVENCY SPECIAL<br />
BARE<br />
ESSENTIALS<br />
New rules protect supplies to an insolvent customer.<br />
AUTHOR – Julia Ishak<br />
THE new Corporate Insolvency<br />
and Governance Act <strong>2020</strong> (CIGA)<br />
presents a number of challenges.<br />
Many suppliers may now find it<br />
considerably more difficult to<br />
terminate or suspend a supply<br />
contract (and to exercise many other standard<br />
contractual rights) in the event of a customer’s<br />
insolvency. And that will be the case, even if<br />
those rights are expressly set out in the contract.<br />
The protection of supplies of goods<br />
and services introduced by CIGA applies<br />
to contracts for the supply of goods and<br />
services (including contracts entered into<br />
before CIGA) where a customer becomes<br />
subject to a relevant insolvency procedure on<br />
or after 26 June <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
PROTECTION OF SUPPLIES OF GOODS<br />
AND SERVICES<br />
Where CIGA applies and a customer becomes<br />
subject to a relevant insolvency procedure:<br />
• No termination of the contract or supply –<br />
any provision in a contract providing for the<br />
contract or supply to terminate or allowing a<br />
supplier to terminate the contract or supply,<br />
because its customer becomes subject to a<br />
relevant insolvency procedure, will cease to<br />
have effect. A supplier would not therefore be<br />
able to rely on any such automatic termination<br />
or contractual right to terminate.<br />
• No taking place or doing of any other<br />
thing – any provision in a contract providing<br />
for any other thing to take place or allowing<br />
a supplier to do any other thing, because<br />
its customer becomes subject to a relevant<br />
insolvency procedure, will also cease to<br />
have effect. Examples may include changing<br />
payment terms, credit periods or payment<br />
tariffs, exercising retention of title or variation<br />
rights, increasing prices or requiring additional<br />
payments.<br />
• No termination for prior events during a<br />
relevant insolvency procedure – a supplier<br />
cannot exercise any contractual right to<br />
terminate the contract or supply because of<br />
a prior event, if that right arose but was not<br />
exercised before its customer became subject<br />
to a relevant insolvency procedure. The<br />
contractual right is suspended for the period<br />
of the relevant insolvency. A supplier would be<br />
able to rely on any available right to terminate<br />
before a relevant insolvency procedure<br />
begins, including for example where any steps<br />
Consider what<br />
rights may be<br />
available if a<br />
customer is<br />
in financial<br />
hardship and<br />
consider whether<br />
it might be<br />
appropriate,<br />
if possible, to<br />
renegotiate<br />
or not renew<br />
existing<br />
contracts.<br />
are taken in the lead up to such insolvency.<br />
However a supplier would not be able to rely<br />
on a contractual right to terminate for a prior<br />
event once a relevant insolvency procedure<br />
begins.<br />
• No condition requiring outstanding<br />
charges to be paid – a supplier cannot make<br />
it a condition (or do anything which has the<br />
effect of making it a condition) of any supply of<br />
goods and services after its customer becomes<br />
subject to a relevant insolvency procedure that<br />
any outstanding charges in respect of a supply<br />
made to its customer before that time are paid.<br />
A supplier may therefore be obliged to continue<br />
to supply its insolvent customer even when it is<br />
owed substantial sums by that customer.<br />
CONTRACTS FOR THE SUPPLY OF GOODS<br />
AND SERVICES<br />
CIGA is likely to apply to most contracts for the<br />
supply of goods and services although there are<br />
limited exclusions for example for:<br />
• Essential supplies – broadly defined as gas,<br />
electricity, water, communications services,<br />
and goods and services for the purpose of<br />
enabling or facilitating anything to be done<br />
by electronic means (computer hardware<br />
and software, information, advice, technical<br />
assistance, data storage and processing, website<br />
hosting). Essential supplies may be governed<br />
by a separate (more limited) regime. However<br />
where this separate regime does not apply,<br />
CIGA may still apply to essential supplies.<br />
• Persons involved in financial services –<br />
where a customer or supplier is an insurer,<br />
bank, electronic money institution, investment<br />
bank, investment firm, payment institution,<br />
operator of payment systems, infrastructure<br />
provider, recognised investment exchange or<br />
securitisation company.<br />
• Contracts involving financial services – such<br />
as financial contracts, securities financing<br />
transactions, derivatives, spot contracts, capital<br />
market investments, contracts forming part of a<br />
public-private partnership.<br />
• Specified legislation – for example for<br />
financial markets and aircraft equipment.<br />
• Certain small suppliers – this temporary<br />
exception has been extended to 30 March 2021.<br />
Whilst this remains unclear and will be a<br />
question of fact and circumstances in each<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 10
INSOLVENCY SPECIAL<br />
AUTHOR – Julia Ishak<br />
case, CIGA may also apply to agreements that are not<br />
usually regarded as ‘contracts for the supply of goods<br />
and services’. This may for example cover equipment<br />
hire, franchise, agency, distribution, software and<br />
intellectual property licences. Similarly, whilst licences,<br />
property leases and agreements for the sale of land or<br />
property may not be contracts for the supply of goods<br />
and services, they may contain an element of supply of<br />
goods and services and that element may be caught by<br />
CIGA.<br />
RELEVANT INSOLVENCY PROCEDURES<br />
Relevant insolvency procedures cover a wide range<br />
of insolvency proceedings including administration,<br />
liquidation, the appointment of a new administrative<br />
receiver or provisional liquidator, a voluntary<br />
arrangement, a Part A1 moratorium and a court order<br />
for a meeting of creditors or members under a Part 26A<br />
restructuring plan.<br />
So much for the technical aspects of the new Act, what<br />
practical steps should suppliers now be taking? Suppliers<br />
should now update standard contracts and templates.<br />
There are many ways a supplier may be able to protect<br />
themselves in their contracts and help to mitigate the<br />
impact of CIGA. They should also consider this when<br />
negotiating new supply contracts (especially where<br />
based on a customer’s contract).<br />
They should review existing supply contracts,<br />
prioritising those contracts of greatest value, importance<br />
or risk. Consider what rights may be available if a<br />
customer is in financial hardship and consider whether<br />
it might be appropriate, if possible, to renegotiate or not<br />
renew existing contracts.<br />
Suppliers should similarly consider legal advice before<br />
exercising any rights where a customer becomes subject<br />
to a relevant insolvency procedure as many standard<br />
clauses may now cease to have effect and if a supplier<br />
relies on such a clause it may be in breach of contract<br />
and liable (for example, for wrongful termination or<br />
damages).<br />
Other steps they should take include: reviewing<br />
approaches to managing contracts and mitigating<br />
insolvency risk, considering whether enhanced contract<br />
management might be more appropriate; reviewing<br />
insurance cover and credit insurance; and reviewing<br />
debt collection procedures and considering whether<br />
these need to be enhanced.<br />
They might also consider whether more due diligence<br />
is necessary on customers before a supply contract is<br />
entered into and, for larger contracts, throughout the<br />
lifetime of the contract, and consider parent company<br />
guarantees and performance bonds. Training for contract<br />
managers so they know what they should and should not<br />
do if a customer is in financial hardship might also be<br />
considered.<br />
This article is only a brief overview and, as with<br />
all legislation, there are exceptions and additional<br />
considerations that may also be relevant.<br />
There are many ways a supplier<br />
may be able to protect themselves<br />
in their contracts and help to<br />
mitigate the impact of CIGA. They<br />
should also consider this when<br />
negotiating new supply contracts<br />
(especially where based on a<br />
customer’s contract).<br />
Julia Ishak is Legal Director at Shoosmiths, and has been<br />
a guest speaker at recent meetings of the CI<strong>CM</strong> Technical<br />
Committee.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 11
OPINION<br />
THREATENING<br />
BEHAVIOUR<br />
Activist investors can do real harm<br />
where management is weak.<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
MICHAEL Douglas in Wall<br />
Street and Leonardo<br />
DiCaprio in the Wolf of Wall<br />
Street both put on record,<br />
albeit on celluloid, the point<br />
that there’s no sentiment in<br />
business – that it’s invariably all about power<br />
and money.<br />
It’s clear that individual investors carry<br />
little power. But it’s just as apparent that larger<br />
investors have greater firepower and when they<br />
decide on a course of action, they have a real<br />
prospect of effecting change.<br />
DEFINING THE POSITION<br />
Lumped together as ‘activist investors’ this form<br />
of crusading covers a range of activities by one<br />
or a number of a publicly traded corporation’s<br />
shareholders that, according to 2015 paper<br />
published by Harvard Law School Forum on<br />
Corporate Governance ‘are intended to result<br />
in some change in the corporation.’ The paper<br />
carries on, noting that there’s a spectrum of<br />
goals that depend on the change desired and<br />
how assertive the investors are.<br />
Jason Caulfield, a partner in the Financial<br />
Advisory department of Deloitte LLP, is more<br />
blunt in his assessment. He says that: “an activist<br />
investor…refers to anyone that buys a stake<br />
in a company before engaging management<br />
on specific topics.” He adds that the term<br />
is often used for a grouping of hedge funds<br />
whose activist investor goals revolve around<br />
delivering a step-change in financial returns for<br />
shareholders – themselves included.<br />
By definition, the strategies and tactics they<br />
use to achieve these goals and the ways in which<br />
they engage with management vary widely. The<br />
more aggressive will seek a significant change<br />
to the company’s strategy, financial structure,<br />
management, or board. But at the other end<br />
of the spectrum is the investor that is only<br />
interested in a single engagement based on a<br />
defined issue.<br />
Hedge fund activist investors can trace their<br />
roots to the US corporate raiders of old, but as<br />
Caulfield notes: “with the inflow of funds and<br />
the publicity of some of their successes, they’ve<br />
shown a real interest in globalising. Europe and<br />
other developed markets where shareholder<br />
rights are well represented are fast catching up<br />
with the US.”<br />
And with greater liquidity, size is no longer<br />
a prohibiting factor. In fact, Caulfield is seeing<br />
larger global companies over-represented as<br />
targets: “They are not afraid of any sector,” he<br />
says. “Some are more attractive than others<br />
due to the ability to trigger M&A or be able to<br />
effect relatively short-term change in direction<br />
and the market’s perception and value of the<br />
business.”<br />
GROWING PROBLEM<br />
Either way, the problem is significant for firms.<br />
Another paper on Harvard’s website, this time<br />
published in August <strong>2020</strong>, reported a sharp<br />
uptick in activity. In 2017 there were 484 activist<br />
investor campaigns of which 20 percent were<br />
successful. In 2018, that number rose to 655<br />
campaigns of which 30 percent were successful<br />
or settled. By 2019 that number rose again to<br />
893 campaigns with a 17 percent success or<br />
settle rate. And by the start of August <strong>2020</strong> there<br />
had been 797 campaigns that had seen a nine<br />
percent success or settle rate. Extrapolate the<br />
number and there’s the prospect of some 1366<br />
campaigns for the full year.<br />
But there’s one example that stands out for<br />
the world of credit – Australian debt recovery<br />
specialist Collection House. The company has<br />
been beset by troubles since its CEO suddenly<br />
resigned in November 2019. Its shares were<br />
suspended in February <strong>2020</strong> following concerns<br />
raised by auditors KPMG over its ability to carry<br />
on as a going concern. Then came talks with<br />
other parties over recapitalisation and when its<br />
accounts were finally released in June a $8.5m<br />
profit tumbled to a $47.3m loss.<br />
At issue, to put the matter into context here,<br />
was that a review into the value of the company’s<br />
ledgers led to a write down of $89.8m. But this<br />
review came at a time when consumer groups<br />
had found that the company was a far bigger<br />
user of bankruptcy actions than other debt<br />
collectors. The company has since lifted the<br />
threshold for initiating bankruptcy action to<br />
$20,000.<br />
For Caulfield, the appearance of an activist<br />
investor can be a very real headache for a<br />
business. “Whilst it is arguable that their goal – a<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 12
OPINION<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
step-change in financial returns – is something<br />
management should be doing, the way they go<br />
about it can be very disruptive, stressful, and<br />
not aligned to longer term investors’ interests,”<br />
he says.<br />
He’s bothered that they can trigger or prevent<br />
an executive’s strategy – for example, demanding<br />
asset sales or mergers, or pressure management<br />
into a new direction and agitate for change at<br />
the top if they don’t get their way. “For some,”<br />
he adds, “the phrase ‘any means necessary’ can<br />
spring to mind.”<br />
As to the types of businesses they target, this<br />
varies, but it’s entirely logical that, typically,<br />
they tend to be considered under-valued<br />
and for Caulfield, often this is due to their<br />
perception that value is down to the quality<br />
of management of the business. He says that<br />
activist investors usually like a business that has<br />
good fundamentals but has lost its way; they<br />
like firms where there may already be a degree<br />
of unhappiness amongst existing shareholders.<br />
GLOBAL TRENDS<br />
New trends are emerging. It’s certainly the case<br />
that activism is becoming more global in nature.<br />
What is thought of as starting in the US (and<br />
which had risen to the fore with the likes of Carl<br />
Icahn and T Boone Pickens) has moved around<br />
the world.<br />
The Financial Times, for example, reported<br />
in February of this year that the Tokyo Dome<br />
– ‘a centrepiece of the Japanese capital…with<br />
revenues that have been tepid and its share<br />
price flat for six years’ – was under siege<br />
from Oasis Management, it’s second largest<br />
shareholder, which had almost doubled its stake<br />
to 9.6 percent. Oasis has previously taken on<br />
Nintendo, Panasonic and Toshiba and with the<br />
dome, issued an 85-page document citing faults<br />
and the changes required to ‘unlock vast profit<br />
potential.’<br />
With the inflow of funds and<br />
the publicity of some of their<br />
successes, they’ve shown a real<br />
interest in globalising. Europe<br />
and other developed markets<br />
where shareholder rights<br />
are well represented are fast<br />
catching up with the US.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 13<br />
continues on page 14 >
OPINION<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
For Caulfield, aside from the increasingly<br />
global nature and appearance of local activists<br />
outside the US, there is a divergence of<br />
methods used by the more hard-nosed ‘pure’<br />
activist investors “…who will rapidly escalate<br />
disputes and take disagreements into the<br />
public domain, versus the ‘constructionists’<br />
who take a (slightly) more medium term view<br />
and look to work with management more<br />
collaboratively, at least for a period of time.”<br />
COVID-19 has dented global economies and<br />
livelihoods. But it has also altered the activist<br />
investor landscape too. Caulfield says: “It has<br />
put a massive shock through the markets and<br />
created a level of volatility in the fundamentals<br />
as well as companies’ share prices. This,<br />
combined with activist investors trying to<br />
gauge the impact on existing investments,<br />
capped the levels of activity.”<br />
Activism is not going away<br />
any time soon. Whether it’s an<br />
attack from an activist investor,<br />
or pressure from the media or a<br />
consumer group, firms need to<br />
comprehend the concept that<br />
they aren’t in ivory towers living<br />
in splendid isolation.<br />
But he warns that the outlook is stabilising:<br />
“We are seeing companies beginning to<br />
emerge, and indeed, the performance of<br />
management during and after the pandemic<br />
will provide rich hunting grounds for activist<br />
investors seeking to put them on the spot.”<br />
Investors, no matter their size or level of<br />
professionalism, by definition seek the best<br />
possible return. And activist investors are no<br />
different. Caulfield has seen their war-chests<br />
grow as underlying investors seek alternative<br />
asset classes such as these. He says that “…<br />
they are needing to find new targets. They’re<br />
also utilising a wider range of techniques,<br />
and indeed are showing signs of overlapping<br />
with another kind of activist investor – private<br />
equity.”<br />
But just as global events and the markets<br />
can impact activist investor activity, so too<br />
can Government policy. Put simply, Caulfield<br />
knows that Governments can legislate to bias<br />
shareholder influence to push longer-term<br />
objectives at the expense of new shareowners,<br />
can widen definitions of ‘strategic’ sectors and<br />
can limit the ability for M&A in those sectors.<br />
Governments can have a very real impact on<br />
activist investors.<br />
So, with the scene set, how can a firm<br />
prepare itself for the onslaught of activist<br />
investor?<br />
Caulfield is of the view that companies can<br />
fight back. But depending on whether they<br />
are merely apprehensive or are actually in the<br />
throes of a campaign will influence what they<br />
can and should be doing and the timescales<br />
for action.<br />
FIXING THE ROOF<br />
First off, he says that businesses that have<br />
time to ‘fix the roof’ should be challenging<br />
the business to ensure it has the right value<br />
creation plan, assets and balance sheet. He<br />
says that this may just provide confidence –<br />
that can be fed to markets – that the business is<br />
on the right track. However, this activity might<br />
also provide the trigger for a change without<br />
the disruption of an activist investor. “But,” he<br />
warns, “be aware of your risks – the features of<br />
your company, its performance, management<br />
and board that may attract them.” He believes<br />
that this can also help to ensure that action<br />
is taken to plug the holes while fundamental<br />
improvements can take place.<br />
But if an investor’s campaign is imminent<br />
or underway, then Caulfield advises targets<br />
to focus on tactics. There is unfortunately no<br />
‘one-size fits-all’ approach and so the defence<br />
will depend on the strength of the executive<br />
and the company’s performance on their watch<br />
and the nature of the activist. That said, he<br />
does suggest engaging with activist investors<br />
as some have genuine ideas worth consider<br />
while others will be a drag on management<br />
time, focus and resources.<br />
Caulfield concludes: “Ensuring that the<br />
strategy, communication and preparedness<br />
amongst the executive and board are clear,<br />
as well as having insight into the particular<br />
activist, are some of the basic things to<br />
prepare.”<br />
Activism is not going away any time soon.<br />
Whether it’s an attack from an activist investor,<br />
or pressure from the media or a consumer<br />
group, firms need to comprehend the concept<br />
that they aren’t in ivory towers living in<br />
splendid isolation. A mixed metaphor but the<br />
point is made.<br />
Adam Bernstein is a freelance business writer.<br />
We are seeing companies<br />
beginning to emerge, and<br />
indeed, the performance of<br />
management during and after<br />
the pandemic will provide<br />
rich hunting grounds for<br />
activist investors seeking to<br />
put them on the spot.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 14
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INSOLVENCY SPECIAL<br />
Easing the Burden<br />
Changes are being enacted to<br />
regulatory processes.<br />
AUTHOR – Michelle Thorp<br />
CORPORATE insolvency is in the<br />
spotlight more than ever at the<br />
moment. This is mainly, but not<br />
solely, linked to the pandemic,<br />
with the latest statistics from the<br />
Insolvency Service on company<br />
insolvencies showing that these increased 19<br />
percent in September this year, compared to the<br />
previous month.<br />
Prior to the Government’s announcement of<br />
the furlough scheme’s extension, the Office for<br />
National Statistics (ONS) reported that 64 percent<br />
of businesses in the UK were at risk of insolvency.<br />
It is logical to think that the furlough extension will<br />
mitigate this risk to an extent, but it is still a clear<br />
warning of the risks businesses currently face,<br />
and, sadly, we do expect company insolvencies to<br />
rise significantly.<br />
SWEEPING LEGISLATION<br />
This year, we have seen the Corporate Insolvency<br />
and Governance Act, sweeping new legislation<br />
that brought in several changes to the insolvency<br />
framework to give companies breathing space<br />
to pursue a rescue plan. The Act’s key measures<br />
are the moratorium (preventing legal action from<br />
being taken against a company while it seeks a<br />
rescue deal); a new ‘Arrangement’ restructuring<br />
plan, sanctioned by the courts; and restrictions<br />
on termination clauses, statutory demands and<br />
winding up petitions. The Act’s suspension of<br />
wrongful trading rules has now expired.<br />
These new regulations will go some way in<br />
helping to secure the future of businesses, though<br />
with that said, we are mindful of the forbearance<br />
required from creditors, not just in relation to<br />
these new regulations but in general this year<br />
too. Similarly, these new measures have required<br />
Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) to get to grips with<br />
new ways of working, as well as prepare for the<br />
expected rise in insolvencies. With upholding<br />
the interests of creditors a key concern, this year<br />
we have launched various online workshops and<br />
webinars to help our members understand the<br />
new measures and apply them practically to their<br />
work. At one of our upcoming events, we will<br />
be joined by Chris Leslie, the CEO of the Credit<br />
Services Association, to hear the creditor view on<br />
the state of personal insolvency in particular, but<br />
no doubt he will cover the entire landscape.<br />
We have also enacted changes to our regulatory<br />
processes as far as practicable, to ease the burden<br />
on IPs and ensure that insolvency processes<br />
continue to treat all parties fairly.<br />
Our work this year in response to the pandemic<br />
has been designed to help our regulated<br />
A Question of Honour<br />
Are proposals for a new ‘independent evaluator’<br />
really saying IPs cannot be trusted?<br />
AUTHOR – Simon Plant<br />
THE announcement by<br />
the Insolvency Service<br />
(IS) of a new regime in<br />
relation to Pre-Packs,<br />
and the appointment of<br />
independent evaluators<br />
(see Credit Management November<br />
issue, news pages 6-7), raises a number<br />
of serious concerns that should have the<br />
alarm bells ringing loudly within the<br />
ranks of the Insolvency Profession. For<br />
what it is really saying, is that IPs cannot<br />
be trusted.<br />
Now before there are cries from the<br />
gallery that such a view is extreme, let’s<br />
look at the evidence. The way that Pre-<br />
Packs are being discussed currently is<br />
in a manner that suggests that all Pre-<br />
Packs involve sales to connected parties<br />
– when they do not – and that somehow<br />
any sale to a connected party involves an<br />
element of skulduggery, which it doesn’t.<br />
No-one in the industry especially<br />
sees Pre-Packs or sales to a connected<br />
party as an issue, which suggests<br />
that the Government is pandering<br />
to a minority opinion which in<br />
turn is likely to result in a poorlyconceived<br />
proposal. Like this one.<br />
FLAWED THINKING<br />
There are so many flaws in the proposals<br />
it is difficult to know where to begin.<br />
Let’s start with the appointment of an<br />
‘independent evaluator’ to review sales<br />
to connected parties. Who are these<br />
evaluators? How are they themselves<br />
‘evaluated’ for their technical<br />
competence and experience? The<br />
Insolvency Service states only that they<br />
have to ‘self-declare’ their expertise,<br />
which if it wasn’t more dangerous<br />
would be laughable. So let’s think this<br />
through: a qualified surveyor and<br />
member of the Royal Institution of<br />
Chartered Surveyors (RICS) values<br />
an asset in an insolvency process.<br />
An Insolvency Practitioner, similarly<br />
executes their own duties as a member of<br />
the Insolvency Practitioners Association<br />
(IPA).<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 18
INSOLVENCY SPECIAL<br />
This year, we have seen the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act,<br />
sweeping new legislation that brought in several changes to the insolvency<br />
framework to give companies breathing space to pursue a rescue plan.<br />
Michelle Thorp<br />
community understand the changes<br />
that have happened, as well as prepare<br />
for those yet to take place – and, as ever,<br />
with upholding creditor interests a key<br />
concern.<br />
IN THE SPOTLIGHT<br />
As well as the Act this year, other<br />
insolvency processes have been in the<br />
spotlight. With insolvencies set to rise,<br />
these changes are all the more important<br />
for all stakeholders to understand.<br />
Pre-pack administrations can<br />
sometimes be the best insolvency<br />
option for all parties involved, but<br />
there is concern among creditors<br />
and others of unscrupulous company<br />
owners buying their company back<br />
via a pre-pack deal to continue trading<br />
while dumping the company’s debts.<br />
Under the existing rules, a pre-pack<br />
sale should only be entered if it is in<br />
the best interest of creditors, and,<br />
amongst other requirements, proof of<br />
the decision-making process should be<br />
available. These requirements are part<br />
of a set of wider measures brought in<br />
by Statement of Insolvency Practice<br />
(SIP) 16 in 2009. The Pre-Pack Pool<br />
(PPP) was set up in 2015, supported by<br />
the IPA and others, to provide means<br />
for an independent opinion to be given<br />
on any connected party pre-pack sale.<br />
However, it was felt by the IPA that<br />
further action was needed to provide<br />
greater security and reassurance to<br />
stakeholders. On 8 October <strong>2020</strong>, the<br />
Government announced, following a<br />
review in which the IPA participated,<br />
that pre-pack sales to connected parties<br />
were to face mandatory independent<br />
scrutiny.<br />
In brief summary, connected party<br />
sales will need to have an independent<br />
opinion provided by an ‘evaluator’.<br />
The new measures are due to be laid<br />
before Parliament and may be subject<br />
to change. The IPA will be providing our<br />
recommendations to the Government as<br />
part of the process, and I look forward<br />
to participation in the progression of<br />
the proposals as they take shape.<br />
Michelle Thorp is CEO, Insolvency<br />
Practitioners Association.<br />
The Insolvency Service is saying that<br />
the decisions made by two professionals<br />
in two highly regulated industries that<br />
are following best-practice from two<br />
highly-respected professional bodies<br />
have to have those decisions reviewed by<br />
another person whose own qualifications<br />
for doing so cannot be determined. Worse<br />
than that: what you are in effect saying is<br />
that IPs cannot be trusted.<br />
Now what if we were to get over the<br />
slur on our profession and for a moment<br />
go along with the idea that a third-party<br />
overview is both needed and preferred.<br />
If an independent person or body has<br />
to review sales to every connected party<br />
on each Administration, it could actually<br />
end up wrecking the process. Given<br />
the volume of insolvencies expected in<br />
2021, how will a new independent body<br />
cope, given that a significant proportion<br />
of Administrations result in a sale to<br />
connected parties? Also, what if the body<br />
delays or keeps seeking information<br />
when an immediate decision has to be<br />
made by the Administrator?<br />
The cost of reporting and providing<br />
the necessary information to the new<br />
body is likely to be prohibitive, and if<br />
the independent evaluator does not fully<br />
understand the process or the detail, they<br />
could deny a Pre-Pack for all the wrong<br />
reasons.<br />
And let’s look at another issue. The<br />
unforeseen result of this proposal could<br />
actually be to force a number of potential<br />
Administrations – where a business and<br />
jobs could be saved – into a liquidation<br />
(CVL) where maybe it can’t.<br />
Imagine: a business in administration<br />
may have tangible assets, say, of £70,000<br />
and intangibles (e.g ‘good will’) of a further<br />
£30,000. A sale – whether to a connected<br />
party or otherwise – will therefore realise<br />
a potential value of £100,000 for creditors.<br />
A CVL could, however, have a detrimental<br />
impact on any perceived good will and<br />
also may leave tangible assets as only<br />
having auction values, which means<br />
the same business in a liquidation will<br />
realise far less money for the creditor.<br />
As from the start of 2021, HMRC is being<br />
given preferential creditor status. The<br />
huge irony of this proposal, and the<br />
likelihood of more CVLs in preference<br />
to Administrations, is that they will<br />
actually generate far less money for the<br />
Government rather than more.<br />
Somewhere down the line, the full<br />
implications of these proposals have not<br />
been properly thought through, though<br />
there is a chance they never even get<br />
debated and therefore actually never<br />
come to pass. For creditors’ sake, let us<br />
hope that they don’t.<br />
Simon Plant is Chief Executive of the<br />
SFP Group which provides business<br />
turnaround and restructuring services.<br />
SFPGroup.com<br />
Simon Plant<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 19
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 20
EXCLUSIVE REPORT<br />
STACKING<br />
THE ODDS<br />
Lenders are open to the risk of<br />
fraudulent use of multiple Personal<br />
Guarantees.<br />
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
PERSONAL Guarantees (PGs)<br />
are being used fraudulently by<br />
small business owners to take<br />
out multiple loans without any<br />
chance of those loans ever being<br />
paid back.<br />
And Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) who<br />
have been made aware of the practice and<br />
could solve the problem simply by creating a<br />
new PG database are so far failing to act.<br />
The news follows a review of loans agreed<br />
by several different lenders which have<br />
since defaulted and are now owned by the<br />
commercial debt solutions business, Azzurro<br />
Associates.<br />
Analysts within Azzurro quickly identified<br />
that the same PGs were being used to secure<br />
new loans from different lenders sometimes<br />
only days after a previous loan had defaulted<br />
and without the new lender being aware.<br />
Andrew Birkwood, Chief Executive of<br />
Azzurro Associates, has evidence of one case<br />
where the owner of a gift shop defaulted on a<br />
loan on 9 November with one lender, only to<br />
take out another loan with a different lender<br />
on 22 November using the exact same Personal<br />
Guarantee. He went bust owing more than<br />
£50,000: “Had the second lender been aware<br />
that the busines owner had been using the<br />
same PG, they would not have agreed to the<br />
loan,” he says.<br />
“The problem is that lenders would have no<br />
way of knowing, and the CRAs, who could do<br />
something about it, seem reluctant to listen.”<br />
THE CREDIT ECOSYSTEM<br />
CRAs are fundamental to the credit ecosystem.<br />
Their databases (CAIS – Experian, SHARE<br />
– TransUnion, Insight – Equifax), and the<br />
framework around accessing and submitting<br />
data to them, enable a fair lending construct<br />
allowing lenders to confidently offer financial<br />
products, and borrowers to safely secure credit.<br />
Previously, CRAs held consumer databases<br />
that included commercial transactions for sole<br />
traders, SMEs and small partnerships. In 1999,<br />
the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)<br />
instructed the CRAs to separate the ‘personal’<br />
and ‘business’ data for consumers which has<br />
since led to the maintenance of two discrete<br />
databases: Consumer and Commercial.<br />
In the instance of PG-backed lending for<br />
commercial loans, there is no CRA database for<br />
reporting the commitment by the individual<br />
PG, or the post-default liability. The credit<br />
contract is a commercial agreement, and thus<br />
it cannot be held within the Consumer CRA<br />
database. And currently, no personal data may<br />
be held within the Commercial CRA database.<br />
“This leads to several negative consequences<br />
for both the lender and the wider credit<br />
market, which are a material risk to sustainable<br />
commercial lending,” Andrew adds.<br />
For SMEs, particularly recently incorporated<br />
companies, finance is not always easily<br />
available with sole liability on the company.<br />
Commercial lenders commonly require a PG –<br />
usually a company director – to offer increased<br />
security against the repayment of the loan. The<br />
PG will undergo a credit score assessment, as<br />
part of the underwriting of the loan.<br />
“With no Personal Guarantor bureau, the<br />
facility for lenders to report the position of<br />
personal guarantees does not exist,” Andrew<br />
continues.<br />
“With PGs, the guarantee is not called upon<br />
by the creditor until the company defaults on<br />
payment. So there isn’t a default as such by the<br />
PG. The company defaults, and at that point the<br />
creditor can call on the PG for payment when<br />
the company has failed to pay. In this case<br />
liability for the debt shifts to the PG.”<br />
In the current hiatus created by the ICO there<br />
is no record of an individual guaranteeing a<br />
company debt; there is no record of whether that<br />
individual is currently liable for the guaranteed<br />
debt due to a default by the borrowing entity;<br />
and there is no record of a PGs payment<br />
behaviour in relation to a defaulted debt.<br />
PG ‘STACKING’<br />
This absence of data presents a challenge to<br />
commercial lenders looking to offer credit<br />
backed by a PG. A lender will underwrite the<br />
loan based on factors including the completion<br />
of an application form and a credit check<br />
on any guarantor(s). The lender at this point<br />
is only privy to the personal credit file of the<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 21<br />
continues on page 22 >
EXCLUSIVE REPORT<br />
Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
“If such data were available,<br />
the credit decision may end up<br />
being very different, we have<br />
seen multiple instances of<br />
individuals with clean credit<br />
files guaranteeing multiple<br />
commercial credit lines – a<br />
practice known as ‘Stacking’.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 22
EXCLUSIVE REPORT<br />
Sean Feast FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
PG, which could be extremely strong. The<br />
lender has no visibility of any commercial<br />
credit guarantees that have been made, and<br />
whether the PG has repaid any defaulted<br />
lines.<br />
“If such data were available, the credit<br />
decision may end up being very different,”<br />
Andrew adds. “We have seen multiple<br />
instances of individuals with clean credit<br />
files guaranteeing multiple commercial<br />
credit lines – a practice known as ‘Stacking’.<br />
“In such instances, PGs can guarantee<br />
many lines of credit with multiple credit<br />
providers, with each lender oblivious to<br />
the underlying credit risk. In the event of<br />
default, the PG will see no detriment to their<br />
personal credit file, unless the lender obtains<br />
a Judgment against the individual. In this<br />
latter case, if another lender is chasing a PG<br />
for a guaranteed debt, there is almost no way<br />
a new lender would know this – unless the<br />
defaulted debt lender has secured a county<br />
court judgement against the PG.<br />
“In the event a PG guarantees multiple<br />
credit lines, the risk that the PG will remain<br />
solvent if some of the debts guaranteed fall<br />
into default, is less than certain. Creditors<br />
should be furnished with such information<br />
at the underwriting stage of a new loan.”<br />
ESTABLISHED LENDERS<br />
Andrew says that many established<br />
commercial lenders including Liberis and<br />
Newable Business Loans acknowledge the<br />
problem of PG stacking and the hidden<br />
credit risk that is created.<br />
Varun Goel, Director at Liberis, says the<br />
problem could be easily be resolved if the<br />
CRAs are willing: “Even with all of the due<br />
diligence and risk analysis we do before<br />
agreeing to the provision of finance, we<br />
cannot currently see if a Personal Guarantee<br />
has been used on multiple loan applications,<br />
as we only have visibility of the personal<br />
and commercial credit files. As such, PG<br />
‘Stacking’ remains a risk that is completely<br />
hidden from view.”<br />
Phil Reynolds, Managing Director of<br />
Newable Lending, says PG ‘Stacking’ is<br />
certainly an issue and cites other challenges:<br />
“At the origination stage, it is difficult<br />
to get visibility of a borrower’s full PG<br />
obligations, due both to multiple companyloan<br />
combinations and outstanding balances<br />
versus the total guaranteed (i.e default fees,<br />
early settlement etc).<br />
“Although we do a considerable amount of<br />
director matching at Companies House, this<br />
still relies on the director’s Companies House<br />
profile being correct and often it is not. We<br />
have seen numerous occasions where the<br />
same individual is a director of multiple<br />
companies, but their director profile is<br />
not linked, usually because of something<br />
as simple as a discrepancy in their date of<br />
birth.”<br />
HARD OF HEARING<br />
Andrew is frustrated that approaches to<br />
CRAs have so far produced no substantive<br />
response: “A possible solution is to create<br />
a third CRA database, solely dedicated to<br />
personal guarantees. This database can be<br />
governed by the same ruleset within the<br />
Principles of Reciprocity, only allowing the<br />
reporting of PGs (both live and defaulted),<br />
with access only permitted to those who<br />
contribute to the database. This provides<br />
transparency, fairness and consistency to<br />
commercial lending, whilst minimising the<br />
potential credit risk currently at play.”<br />
“With PGs, the guarantee is<br />
not called upon by the creditor<br />
until the company defaults on<br />
payment. So there isn’t a default<br />
as such by the PG. The company<br />
defaults, and at that point the<br />
creditor can call on the PG for<br />
payment when the company has<br />
failed to pay. In this case liability<br />
for the debt shifts to the PG.”<br />
– Andrew Birkwood, Azzurro Associates.<br />
“Many Banks and Alternative Finance<br />
Providers routinely request PGs,” Andrew<br />
explains. “The call for a bureau to maintain a<br />
PG register would give the lenders access to<br />
the PGs true financial position at the point<br />
of advance, currently signing a PG doesn’t<br />
automatically impact personal credit but it<br />
is a hidden risk to lenders. The awareness<br />
of this hidden risk shouldn’t only become<br />
apparent when a debt defaults and the PG is<br />
called upon to make payments or is sued in<br />
the County Courts.”<br />
Andrew is calling on the CRAs to take<br />
decisive action: “We believe, and are<br />
supported by many lenders in this view,<br />
that new commercial lending depends on<br />
understanding the full credit risk picture.<br />
“By enabling the reporting of PGs, CRAs<br />
will stimulate commercial lending at a<br />
time critical to the health and resurgence<br />
of the UK economy. With Government led<br />
COVID-19 funding sources soon to expire,<br />
now is the time to resolve this issue to allow<br />
the lending community to proactively lend<br />
to businesses with clarity and confidence in<br />
their lending decisions.”<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 23
COUNTRY FOCUS<br />
Language and<br />
cultural skills are key<br />
to doing business in<br />
Bulgaria.<br />
Nodding acquaintances<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
THRACIANS, Persians, Celts<br />
and Romans – Bulgaria’s<br />
seen them all. Located in<br />
the southeast of Europe,<br />
adjacent to Greece,<br />
Romania, North Macedonia,<br />
Serbia and Turkey and on the Black Sea,<br />
Bulgaria has been subject to numerous<br />
battles and wars.<br />
It was the Romans who brought stability<br />
in AD45 but the Bulgars invaded in the<br />
7th century. They were followed by the<br />
Byzantines in the 11th century, a second<br />
Bulgarian empire in 1185, the Ottomans<br />
from 1396 and the current Bulgarian<br />
state after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-<br />
78. Post-World War II Bulgaria fell under<br />
Soviet influence and only became a<br />
democracy in 1991.<br />
THE STATE AND ITS PEOPLE<br />
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic with<br />
a 240-member national assembly, council<br />
of ministers and a government led by<br />
a prime minister. It’s not the largest of<br />
countries at 110,994 sq km, but it’s larger<br />
than Iceland (102,775 sq km) and Ireland<br />
(70,273 sq km). That said, it’s smaller than<br />
Romania (238,397 sq km) and the UK<br />
(242,495 sq km).<br />
It is now a considered member of<br />
the European Union, NATO, the UN, the<br />
Council of Europe and the Organisation<br />
for Security and Co-operation in Europe.<br />
Statistics for Bulgaria appear very<br />
hit and miss to the point that even state<br />
agencies quote data from as far back as<br />
2012 and 2014. Even so, demographically<br />
speaking, Bulgaria is one of a handful of<br />
countries that are witnessing a population<br />
decline – Syria is in first place with an<br />
average annual decline of 3.43 percent,<br />
Andorra is second at negative 1.59<br />
percent, and Bulgaria is seventh with a fall<br />
of 0.62 percent. In numbers, according<br />
to InvestBulgaria, a state body for inward<br />
investment, Bulgaria had a population of<br />
7.28m in 2012, but the estimate for 2019 is<br />
closer to 6.94m.<br />
Good language skills are key to doing<br />
business and figures from InvestBulgaria<br />
suggest that 85 percent of the population<br />
speaks Bulgarian, nine percent Turkish<br />
with English, French, German, Spanish<br />
and Russian making up the balance. Two<br />
thirds of students learn English or German<br />
as a second language.<br />
As an aside, it’s worth noting that the<br />
Cyrillic script, used by some 250m people<br />
– half of which are in Russia – hails from<br />
Bulgaria; and since 2007 and Bulgaria’s<br />
joining the EU, it’s been the third official<br />
script after Latin and Greek.<br />
Mining operation Bulgaria<br />
Data from the Bulgarian National<br />
Statistical Institute, and quoted by EY<br />
in its guide, Doing Business in Bulgaria,<br />
suggests that of the population, 1.06m are<br />
under working age, 4.3m at working age<br />
and 1.73m are beyond the working age.<br />
Further, 65 percent live in urban areas.<br />
Around 6.8 percent are in agriculture,<br />
26.6 percent in manufacturing and 66.6<br />
percent are in services.<br />
The population is well educated with<br />
some 71 percent going on to higher<br />
education according to World Bank data<br />
as quoted by The Times Higher Education<br />
World University Rankings. The Borgen<br />
Project believes that adult literacy exceeds<br />
98 percent and the education system has<br />
moved on markedly from the communist<br />
era where propaganda and communist<br />
ideals were central to teaching; now the<br />
focus at 51 higher education institutions is<br />
on science and culture.<br />
As for cities and towns, the 2011 census<br />
found that Sofia was the largest with 1.2m<br />
people, Ploviv had 338,153, Varna was<br />
third with 334,870 while in 10th place was<br />
Shumen with just 80,855 people. It’s quite<br />
interesting that Wikipedia (taken with a<br />
pinch of salt) has drilled down to Melnik,<br />
a town that sits in 257th place, that has a<br />
population of just 347.<br />
The official currency of the country<br />
is the Bulgarian Lev. It’s seen as a stable<br />
currency due to a currency board<br />
arrangement introduced in 1997 where it<br />
was pegged to the euro at a rate of BGN<br />
1.95583 to €1.<br />
KEY INDUSTRIES<br />
Bulgaria, most certainly since accession<br />
to the EU, has been performing well<br />
industrially in terms of market share and<br />
GDP. It has a number of key sectors: energy,<br />
mining, metallurgy, machine, agriculture<br />
and tourism, as well as IT and ICT,<br />
telecommunications, pharmaceuticals<br />
and textiles.<br />
Of these, mining is one of the most<br />
important. Data from 2015 shows<br />
that it employed 24,000 while those<br />
in mining related activities in general<br />
numbered 120,000 in total. The US Energy<br />
Information Administration reckoned that<br />
in 2018 Bulgaria was Europe’s fifth largest<br />
coal producer. This number may well be<br />
revised as the world moves away from<br />
fossil fuels.<br />
Back in 2016 the Financial Times noted<br />
that Bulgaria had a vibrant IT sector with<br />
some 40-51,000 software engineers – in<br />
Soviet times it was apparently known as<br />
the Communist Silicon Valley because<br />
of its role in computing technology<br />
production. However, data from Oxford<br />
Economics – quoted by EY – suggests that<br />
the number employed is nearer 30,000.<br />
Nevertheless, the sector is significant and<br />
represents three percent of Bulgarian GDP.<br />
On science and technology, spending in<br />
Bulgaria is relatively low at just 0.78 percent<br />
of GDP, according to 2018 data from the<br />
National Statistical Institute. However, the<br />
country is active in research in chemistry,<br />
materials science and physics. Allied to<br />
this is Bulgarian participation in space-<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 24
COUNTRY FOCUS<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
Pirin National Park, originally<br />
named Vihren National Park,<br />
encompasses the larger part of the<br />
Pirin Mountains in southwestern<br />
Bulgaria, spanning an area of<br />
403.56 km². It is one of the three<br />
national parks in the country, the<br />
others being Rila National Park<br />
and Central Balkan National Park.<br />
related programmes that have seen two satellites and<br />
more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments lifted into<br />
Earth orbit.<br />
Automotive is a sector that should appeal to investors.<br />
Data from Colliers International and Automobile Cluster<br />
Bulgaria found that the appeal is due to low labour<br />
cost, EU membership, and proximity to producers and<br />
customers. Great Wall Motors has a facility in Bahovitsa<br />
with capacity for 50,000 vehicles a year with plans to<br />
increase this to 70,000.<br />
As previously noted, the economy is performing (or at<br />
least was until Coronavirus). Data from Haver Analytics<br />
and Dun & Bradstreet indicates that GDP growth, since<br />
2015, has been consistently in the range of 3 – 3.9 percent.<br />
The forecast, pre-COVID, was set at 2.8 percent for <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
2.9 percent for 2021 and 2.6 percent for 2022. It’s unlikely<br />
that those forecasts will now be met. In monetary terms,<br />
those percentages translate to a GDP per capita (in US$)<br />
to 7,841 in 2014, 9,613 in 2019 and a forecast (pre-COVID)<br />
of 11,092 in 2022.<br />
The same data source shows that not only is Bulgaria<br />
– along with Slovakia and Hungary – likely to be the<br />
most stable of economies in Central and Eastern Europe<br />
in 2019, but that it had the second lowest government<br />
debt to GDP in 2018 – just 22 percent. Again, expect that<br />
number to rise.<br />
Bulgaria has benefitted from EU membership and<br />
funding. Some €9bn between 2007 and 2013, reckons<br />
a 2015 UK government document, made its way to the<br />
country and a similar amount should be invested by<br />
the end of <strong>2020</strong> with an emphasis on infrastructure,<br />
science, education, innovation and development of<br />
the knowledge economy. Foreign direct investment,<br />
according to EY, stood at $1.68bn in 2018 mainly coming<br />
from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Bulgaria<br />
ranks 23rd in Europe in terms of attracted FDI projects in<br />
2018, according to EY’s European Attractiveness Survey;<br />
there were 43 projects in 2018 compared to 33 in 2017.<br />
TAX MATTERS<br />
Tax rates in Bulgaria appear quite benign with<br />
employment and directors’ fees income being taxed at a<br />
flat 10 percent, capital gains at 10 percent too and just five<br />
percent on dividends. There are various rates from four<br />
to 7.5 percent on self-employment and business income.<br />
On top of that are social security contributions that vary<br />
according to factors such as age, activity, and retirement<br />
status.<br />
As for corporate taxation, it’s set at 10 percent (the<br />
second lowest in the EU – first place goes to Hungary and<br />
Montenegro at nine percent). Other associated taxes such<br />
as dividends, interest, royalties, fees for services, rent<br />
and payments from leases vary from 0 to 10 percent. If<br />
the company is based in Bulgaria, it will pay tax on all<br />
its profits from Bulgaria and abroad. If, on the other<br />
hand, it’s not based in Bulgaria but has an office or<br />
branch there, it will only pay tax on its profits from its<br />
activities in Bulgaria. In terms of VAT, the standard rate<br />
is 20 percent which is reduced to nine percent for hotel<br />
accommodation and a zero rate that’s applied to intracommunity<br />
and transport. VAT registration is mandatory<br />
above a rolling BGN 50,000, BGN 70,000 for distance<br />
selling businesses and BGN 20,000 for intra-community<br />
acquisitions.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 25<br />
continues on page 26 >
COUNTRY FOCUS<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
BUSINESS TYPE<br />
As with other countries around the world,<br />
Bulgaria offers a number of business entities<br />
from which to conduct business. These include<br />
the standard sole tradership (ET) and a general<br />
or limited partnership. However, the most<br />
commonly used format is the limited liability<br />
company (OOD) or the joint-stock company<br />
(AD). It’s also possible to open a branch or<br />
representative office, the latter established not<br />
to sell but instead, to carry marketing or other<br />
ancillary business functions.<br />
Back to the OOD and AD. These entities<br />
require at least one shareholder with no<br />
maximum number and liability is limited –<br />
apart from, say, fraud and tax evasion – to the<br />
shares subscribed. An AD<br />
differs from an OOD in<br />
that it may be comprised<br />
of individuals and also<br />
legal entities (including<br />
those of any nationality,<br />
place of incorporation or<br />
management). Further,<br />
an OOD must have at least<br />
two BGN in share capital<br />
but for an AD, that figure<br />
is BGN 50,000. But there<br />
is another difference –<br />
management. An OOD<br />
tends to have one or a<br />
number of directors while<br />
Sofia, Bulgaria<br />
an AD can have various<br />
levels of management.<br />
Business registration<br />
requires a name, defined activity, an address<br />
in Bulgaria and initial share capital deposited<br />
in a local bank in an escrow account. This is<br />
then followed by registration on the publicly<br />
available official Commercial Register and the<br />
acquisition of an official stamp that is used to<br />
endorse any formal activities. Annual reports<br />
must be submitted to the register and there<br />
is a requirement for annual inventory counts.<br />
Firms should be prepared to store records for<br />
some time; EY highlights that payroll data<br />
needs to be kept for 50 years, accounting<br />
records and financial statements for 10 years,<br />
tax and social security records and everything<br />
else for five years.<br />
According to foreigner.bg, there are no<br />
restrictions on overseas involvement in a<br />
Bulgarian business; in other words, a Bulgarian<br />
business can be 100 percent foreign owned.<br />
However, registration isn’t fast and can take<br />
up to two weeks; the assistance of a Bulgarian<br />
speaker is essential since the register is not<br />
available in English. Lastly, Bulgaria offers<br />
intellectual property protection since it is a<br />
signatory to various conventions and treaties<br />
on the subject. However, as EY notes, licensing,<br />
patents, copyright and trademarks are not<br />
overly regulated or constrained; trade in this<br />
area is expanding and so EY’s¬ advice is to draw<br />
up agreements that observe the legal minimum<br />
so as to maintain flexibility.<br />
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS<br />
Businesses need staff and<br />
detail from the Leinonen<br />
Group, an international<br />
payroll firm, explains a<br />
number of key points.<br />
First, employment<br />
contracts must be<br />
registered at the National<br />
Revenue Agency and while<br />
they can be written in<br />
any language, a Bulgarian<br />
copy is recommended.<br />
Minimum wage legislation<br />
exists and as of July <strong>2020</strong> is<br />
€311.90 per month.<br />
According to the<br />
Bulgarian Labour Code,<br />
employers can use probationary periods, but<br />
they may last six months at most. Other than<br />
the probationary period, termination of a<br />
contract requires at least one month’s notice.<br />
Annual paid leave is a minimum of 20 days<br />
plus public holidays and when illness or injury<br />
occurs, the employer will cover 70 percent of<br />
the employee’s wages for the first three days<br />
with the balance paid by the National Social<br />
Security Institute. For an employee to acquire<br />
the right to sick pay they must work a minimum<br />
six months and social security payments must<br />
be completed.<br />
Foreign nationals may work in Bulgaria only<br />
if they reside legally in Bulgaria; this is certified<br />
by way of a relevant residence permit issued by<br />
the Ministry of the Interior and/or a relevant<br />
permit has been granted by the executive<br />
director of the Employment Agency.<br />
ONE FINAL POINT<br />
Visitors to Bulgaria should be aware of one<br />
key nicety of life there. The internationally<br />
accepted gestures signifying ‘yes’ (nodding<br />
up and down) and ‘no’ (side to side) are done<br />
in reverse, so when Bulgarians nod their heads<br />
this mean ‘no’, and when they shake their heads<br />
it means ‘yes’, a fact that may be confusing.<br />
Adam Bernstein is a freelance business writer.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 26
COUNTRY FOCUS<br />
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein<br />
The Dormition of the Mother of<br />
God Cathedral is the largest church<br />
building in Varna and the third<br />
largest cathedral in Bulgaria (after<br />
St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral<br />
in Sofia and St. Dimitar Cathedral<br />
in Vidin). Officially opened on 30<br />
August 1886. It is the residence of<br />
the bishopric of Varna and Preslav<br />
and one of the symbols of Varna.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 27
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Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 28
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Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 29
INTERNATIONAL<br />
TRADE<br />
Monthly round-up of the latest stories<br />
in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.<br />
Vietnam’s economic<br />
recovery accelerates<br />
MONEYWEEK is keen on Vietnam. It’s<br />
recently reported that the country’s GDP<br />
growth quickened in the third quarter of<br />
<strong>2020</strong> as exports and manufacturing began<br />
to recover from the pandemic-induced<br />
slump of the first half of <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
It quotes Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen on<br />
Bloomberg, noting that ‘GDP rose by<br />
2.62 percent from a year earlier, up from<br />
around 0.4 percent in the second quarter.<br />
Improving industrial production, notably<br />
a sharp increase in manufacturing output,<br />
was one key reason’. Overall exports<br />
climbed by 11 percent, fuelled mainly by<br />
demand for PCs as office workers and<br />
students shifted to online working; that<br />
helped offset a decline in demand for<br />
mobile phones and clothes as well as a<br />
slump in tourism.<br />
Not to be left in the wings, the<br />
Vietnamese Government is creating jobs<br />
with cash to improve roads, railways<br />
and other forms of infrastructure. Public<br />
investment since January has been at a<br />
five-year high. Aggressive fiscal spending<br />
is also buoying growth and consumption is<br />
expected to roar back.<br />
All of this means that the Asian<br />
Development Bank is forecasting economic<br />
growth of 1.8 percent for <strong>2020</strong> with the<br />
potential for exceeding two percent if<br />
nothing knocks the rebound off course.<br />
UK exporters should go and make hay<br />
while the Vietnamese sun shines.<br />
TWO KEY NEW TRADE DEALS<br />
A post on conservativehome.com, an<br />
independent blog for Conservative Party<br />
thinking, reckons that the recently concluded<br />
UK-Japan trade deal has set the tone for other<br />
post-Brexit agreements.<br />
The author, Stephen Booth, thinks that not<br />
only does the deal build on the existing EU-<br />
Japan trade framework but it goes further<br />
in areas such as digital services. It is also a<br />
step towards joining the Comprehensive and<br />
Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).<br />
Trade deals with Australia and New Zealand are<br />
the next step. Some 60 percent of UK exports to<br />
Australia comprise services, so Britain is keen to<br />
secure a high-quality deal on services, data and<br />
investment. Trade deals with Australia and New<br />
Zealand could mean liberalised visa regimes and<br />
more open procurement markets. In return, the<br />
UK may have to open its agricultural market.<br />
It’s notable that Japan heavily protected its<br />
agricultural sector, but it has been compelled to<br />
slowly reduce tariffs over 20 years as part of its<br />
CPTPP deal. Booth reckons that that could serve<br />
as a model for any UK-Australia deal. Either way,<br />
trade deals with the other side of the planet will<br />
be good for UK exporters.<br />
HAVE DOG WILL SPEND<br />
IT’S well known that people love their pets, never<br />
more so during Coronavirus lockdown. But a story<br />
in the Daily Telegraph suggests that our canine<br />
friends are being elevated to almost regal status<br />
and are being pampered like never before. And<br />
to prove the point, look at the Beverly Hills Hotel<br />
which now has a canine connoisseur programme<br />
that offers the ‘ultimate in pampering’.<br />
After a request from a guest, it held a wedding<br />
for two collies. Meanwhile, the paper has<br />
reported that in London, Blakes Hotel has a pet<br />
concierge service for £329 per night, ‘with<br />
dog beds, dog walking maps, vet services and a list<br />
of dog-friendly shops and restaurants’. Dukes Hotel<br />
has picnic hampers for humans and now dogs for<br />
£15 per dog, where they can picnic in one of the<br />
Royal Parks nearby. The package includes ‘a wicker<br />
basket with a plush picnic rug, gourmet dog food,<br />
dog bone chew, a selection of toys and a small ball<br />
launcher’.<br />
The upshot? If you’re into dog-based goods and<br />
services, look around the world to upper tier hotels<br />
(whether now or post-Coronavirus) to see if your<br />
products will export.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 30
It’s not all Greek to me<br />
ATRADIUS has recently published an<br />
updated country report on Greece. Noting<br />
the political tensions with Turkey over<br />
maritime borders that pose a threat<br />
to regional stability all in the name of<br />
hydrocarbon exploration, the report tells<br />
that the Greek economy has been hit hard,<br />
especially in tourism.<br />
The country faces an economic<br />
contraction of more than seven percent<br />
in <strong>2020</strong>, due to comprehensive lockdown<br />
measures domestically and abroad, as well<br />
as due to the global recession. Exports are<br />
forecast to shrink 9.5 percent this year.<br />
Tourism (accounting for almost 27 percent<br />
of GDP) decreased 99 percent year-onyear<br />
in April and May, and there was<br />
no real rebound in the summer holiday<br />
season. Unemployment has substantially<br />
increased over the past couple of months,<br />
peaking at 18.3 percent in July <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
On the bright side though, the report is<br />
of the view that if the pandemic comes<br />
to a gradual end, a robust recovery of<br />
investments, private consumption and<br />
exports output should lead to an economic<br />
rebound of almost 7.5 percent in 2021.<br />
Of course, the Turkish question could<br />
interrupt this rebound.<br />
But there is business still to be<br />
done there. To grease the wheels, the<br />
Government has announced financial and<br />
fiscal measures amounting to about 14<br />
percent of GDP, including loan guarantees,<br />
additional expenditures on health, cash<br />
transfers to households, various forms<br />
of support to companies and VAT rate<br />
reductions. Banks have allowed deferrals<br />
of principal payments on existing loans<br />
for hard-hit individuals until the end of<br />
September, and for businesses until the<br />
end of <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong>.t<br />
INDIAN PROPERTY<br />
OWNERS TO BORROW MORE<br />
ACCORDING to a report on Reuters,<br />
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi<br />
has launched a property card scheme to<br />
provide clarity of property rights in villages<br />
and enable farmers to use their property<br />
as collateral for loans from financial<br />
institutions.<br />
Two-thirds of India’s population live in<br />
rural areas where few possess proper land<br />
records and property disputes are common.<br />
The Government plans to use drone<br />
technology to map land parcels in rural<br />
areas and cover some 620,000 villages<br />
over the next four years. Despite owning<br />
houses, people were facing multiple<br />
problems while borrowing from banks.<br />
They should be able to borrow very easily<br />
from banks after showing property cards<br />
issued under ownership scheme. Each card<br />
will have a unique identity number similar<br />
to the Aadhaar card – the world’s biggest<br />
biometric identity project, covering more<br />
than a billion people in India.<br />
What does this mean for exporters? It<br />
means potentially millions more people<br />
with the financial wherewithal to buy more<br />
than before the scheme was put in place.<br />
Germany insolvency law reform<br />
GERMANY has set out proposals to relax<br />
insolvency rules, the goal being to help<br />
avert a wave of bankruptcies in what is<br />
Europe’s largest economy. There is a catch<br />
though - companies hit by the Coronavirus<br />
crisis must have a robust business model<br />
to qualify.<br />
The Government said: ‘Companies that<br />
can show creditors a realistic prospect of<br />
restructuring should be able to implement<br />
their concept outside insolvency<br />
proceedings’.<br />
At the heart of the problem is<br />
Germany’s biggest slump since World War<br />
Two as the economy shrank by 9.7 percent<br />
in the second quarter.<br />
The proposal is at present, just that, a<br />
proposal. However, if put in place it would<br />
take effect at the start of 2021 and would<br />
Coronavirus – a catalyst for political risks<br />
CREDIT insurer Coface has just published<br />
its Q3 Political Risk Index Barometer and<br />
it’s seeing both a decrease in the risk of<br />
conflict at a global level and an increase in<br />
the risk of political and social fragility. The<br />
latter is exacerbated in the countries most<br />
exposed to the Coronavirus pandemic.<br />
There are numerous uncertainties<br />
surrounding the forecasts presented in the<br />
barometer and it’s entirely clear that while<br />
waiting for a vaccine and/or treatment,<br />
businesses and households have postponed<br />
spending and investment projects.<br />
Coface is anticipating a global growth<br />
rate of negative 4.8 percent in <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
followed by a 4.4 percent rebound in 2021.<br />
GDP in the eurozone and in the United<br />
States would remain 3.5 points and two<br />
points below the 2019 levels, respectively.<br />
extend the deadline for firms to file for<br />
insolvency to six weeks from the current<br />
three and authorities would apply more<br />
relaxed benchmarks when examining<br />
over-indebtedness.<br />
The Government has already taken<br />
steps such as allowing firms in financial<br />
trouble due to the pandemic to delay filing<br />
for bankruptcy until the end of the year<br />
after extending an original deadline of the<br />
end of September. This helped the number<br />
of firms declaring insolvency in Germany<br />
to fall 6.2 percent to 9,006 in the first half<br />
of this year from the same period last year.<br />
The worry is that suspending<br />
insolvencies delays, but does not prevent,<br />
the collapse of zombie companies<br />
artificially kept afloat. In other words,<br />
watch your days outstanding carefully.<br />
It thinks that at least three years would<br />
be required to return to pre-crisis levels of<br />
production. This persistently lower level of<br />
economic activity compared to pre-crisis<br />
levels is expected to encourage an increase<br />
in poverty, income inequality and thus<br />
social discontent.<br />
Among mature economies, the degree of<br />
dissatisfaction of public opinion with the<br />
management of the health crisis is highest<br />
in Spain, the United States, the United<br />
Kingdom and France.<br />
And in the emerging world, Iran and<br />
Turkey are among the countries with the<br />
highest level of social risk. Several Latin<br />
American countries (Brazil, Mexico, Peru,<br />
Colombia), as well as South Africa, also<br />
present both a high political and social risk<br />
and high exposure to the Coronavirus crisis.<br />
UK EXPORT FINANCE<br />
INCREASES TRADE SUPPORT<br />
UK Export Finance (UKEF) is now<br />
providing increased financial support to<br />
UK exporters seeking to sell to over 100<br />
countries worldwide.<br />
The programme now includes countries<br />
such as Egypt, Paraguay, Serbia, Uganda<br />
and Vietnam. On top of this is support for<br />
more renewable projects overseas through<br />
the allocation of £2bn of direct lending to<br />
finance green projects in the latest budget.<br />
UKEF provides support to UK exports<br />
through guarantees, loans and insurance<br />
and is strategically positioned to provide<br />
competitive financing to overseas<br />
companies looking to do business with the<br />
UK. In 2019 to <strong>2020</strong>, UKEF provided £4.4bn<br />
of support for UK exports, which included<br />
over £300m in financing for wind farms in<br />
Taiwan, £110m for a new maternity hospital<br />
in Ghana and £40m to repair 83 kilometres<br />
of road in Gabon.<br />
CURRENCY UK<br />
EXCHANGE RATES VISIT CURRENCYUK.CO.UK<br />
OR CALL 020 7738 0777<br />
Currency UK is authorised and regulated<br />
by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).<br />
High Low Trend<br />
GBP/EUR 1.12786 1.09370 Up<br />
GBP/USD 1.32814 1.28592 Up<br />
GBP/CHF 1.21865 1.17325 Up<br />
GBP/AUD 1.85159 1.79434 Down<br />
GBP/CAD 1.73794 1.69726 Up<br />
GBP/JPY 140.13577 134.51040 Up<br />
This data was taken on 18th November and refers to the<br />
month previous to/leading up to 17th November <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 31
CONSUMER COLLECTIONS<br />
SOFTLY<br />
SOFTLY<br />
How will DCAs tackle the expected<br />
surge in vulnerable customers?<br />
AUTHOR – David Sheridan FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
IT has been a challenging year for<br />
the whole country and as we head<br />
into winter, the reality is that it’s<br />
going to get tougher before it gets<br />
better. All of us are now coping<br />
with increased restrictions on our<br />
movements and our ability to work and live<br />
our lives as normal. The consequences and<br />
impact of these restrictions is becoming<br />
more concerning by the day, fuelled by the<br />
various negative economic predictions being<br />
forecasted as a result.<br />
From a debt perspective, I think it is fair to<br />
say that with the Government intervention<br />
and FCA instructions issued to creditors<br />
back in March, debt levels have so far been<br />
supressed. The latest FCA research on the<br />
impact of COVID shows that nearly 12 million<br />
people have low financial resilience, of which<br />
two million have become so since February as<br />
a result of the pandemic.<br />
Low financial resilience is one of four key<br />
drivers of vulnerability as the FCA highlighted<br />
in its consultation paper – GC19/3 on guidance<br />
to firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable<br />
customers. The drivers depicted in this paper<br />
include health matters, life events, capability<br />
and financial resilience (i.e. ability to cope<br />
with setbacks).<br />
Given the current situation, many people<br />
are dealing with vulnerability, and with<br />
growing concerns over the economy and<br />
increasing unemployment levels, and<br />
forecasts predicting it will double within the<br />
next six months, the number of people who<br />
will fall into financial vulnerability is clearly<br />
going to increase. So what does this mean for<br />
the Debt Collection sector, the businesses<br />
tasked with helping creditors deal with rising<br />
levels of delinquencies? Is this a fantastic<br />
opportunity for firms to swell their coffers<br />
(so to speak) whilst many businesses and<br />
customers are facing financial ruin?<br />
STRUCTURE AND GUIDANCE<br />
Looking back to March and the initial<br />
approach to the pandemic, the Government,<br />
regulators and creditors came together and<br />
provided structure and guidance and support<br />
to help those customers and businesses<br />
impacted by COVID. Many people, particularly<br />
in customer facing sectors that were forced to<br />
close, were furloughed. Large numbers took<br />
advantage of payment deferrals – or holidays –<br />
across their mortgages, loans and credit cards<br />
to help deal with reduced income during the<br />
initial lockdown period. These measures were<br />
introduced to help people cushion the blow<br />
they were likely to face as a result of economic<br />
privations imposed to fight the pandemic.<br />
Our business, like many other agencies, took<br />
note of these enhanced forbearance tools and<br />
approaches and adapted our communications<br />
to ensure customers struggling to pay their<br />
bills, let alone make any payments towards<br />
their debts, were given support and guidance<br />
for their situation.<br />
The solutions offered vary according to a<br />
customer’s individual circumstances. In some<br />
cases, customers just needed to reduce their<br />
monthly payments, some needed a payment<br />
break and some customers were directed<br />
immediately through an online partnership<br />
that we have, with free to access debt advice<br />
services. These organisations specialise in<br />
helping customers review their overall income<br />
and outgoings and restructure these to help<br />
them meet essential expenditure needs given<br />
their revised circumstances. It is also fair to<br />
say that some customers actually benefitted<br />
from the debt referral options given by all<br />
creditors and used the unexpected income to<br />
pay down debts.<br />
The point that is important to stress here<br />
is that the interest of the agency when<br />
speaking with customers is not a single focus<br />
on resolving the debt that has been assigned<br />
to them but taking the time to understand<br />
and assess the customer’s situation before<br />
agreeing a debt repayment route. By all means,<br />
if customers are in a position to repay the debt<br />
in question, we should and do encourage<br />
them to do that, but only after assessing their<br />
circumstances and undertaking a general<br />
wellbeing check. This is the appropriate thing<br />
to do given the customer’s circumstances.<br />
Given the current situation there will be an<br />
increase in customers who are struggling<br />
with their mental health and our agents are<br />
trained to delicately explore this through<br />
industry recognised standards such as the<br />
Texas Framework and general sensitive case<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 32
CONSUMER COLLECTIONS<br />
AUTHOR – David Sheridan FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
handling protocols. So it is important for DCAs to be<br />
aware of this and provide sufficient support to the<br />
customer in these circumstances, which can include<br />
referral to recognised support organisations and<br />
extended breathing space to support that.<br />
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE<br />
I believe that the UK Debt Collection sector has<br />
transformed itself in the past decade, driven heavily<br />
by regulatory intervention and guided by the Credit<br />
Services Association (CSA), but it has embraced<br />
and pivoted on good customer experience as being<br />
central to achieving great results. This is very much<br />
at odds with the common misconception that we<br />
are an industry that thrives on more people being in<br />
debt. This is simply not the case.<br />
The fact is we don’t, and our clients care about how<br />
we deal with customers and ensure we achieve a fair<br />
outcome based on their customers’ circumstances.<br />
Now, more than ever, clients are monitoring firm’s<br />
engagement with customers. Firms themselves<br />
are also measuring their own interactions with<br />
customers and many have dedicated resources<br />
focused on analysing and improving the customer<br />
experience.<br />
Customer feedback is vital to assessing the quality<br />
of the service we provide. Commercial outcomes are,<br />
of course, important, but no more important than<br />
conduct outcomes. To that point, the commercial<br />
impact of more customers in debt struggling to pay<br />
their bills means, quite simply, that many will be<br />
paying less over a much longer period of time. As<br />
a result, firms will see their servicing costs increase<br />
and revenue levels reduce.<br />
AGENT ABUSE<br />
So no, it certainly is not boom time for DCAs.<br />
Probably the opposite; it’s a very tough trading<br />
outlook. It is also worth highlighting the great job<br />
that customer facing agents are doing across the<br />
country with many experiencing rising levels of<br />
abuse from customers. We know emotions are<br />
running high, particularly with the constraints and<br />
frustrations people are having to live with, but that’s<br />
no excuse for agents to be on the receiving end of<br />
sometimes shocking verbal abuse from customers.<br />
Given that many agents are now working from<br />
home, children in the background or indeed with<br />
parents or other loved ones, this is very tough to deal<br />
with. We are all impacted by this pandemic and by<br />
caring for each other and being respectful in our<br />
interactions we will help each other get through it.<br />
I know that our agents are really passionate about<br />
helping people and take pride in doing that. To see<br />
the rising levels of verbal abuse when we are trying<br />
to help, therefore, is disappointing.<br />
While we are facing tough times and many people<br />
will struggle financially in the months ahead,<br />
customers can be confident that if they are contacted<br />
by firms like ourselves, DCAs who are members of<br />
the CSA, they will be treated fairly and given the<br />
support they need to deal with their situation.<br />
David Sheridan FCI<strong>CM</strong> is Operations Director of<br />
ARC Europe, and a member of the CI<strong>CM</strong> Technical<br />
Committee.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 33
HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION<br />
STAYING THE COURSE<br />
Vaccines, enforcement and ‘another new normal’<br />
– what will 2021 have in store for enforcement?<br />
AUTHOR – Andrew Wilson FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
WHAT’S in store for<br />
us all in 2021? I<br />
am certainly not<br />
getting a crystal<br />
ball out after the<br />
events of <strong>2020</strong>. It<br />
would be a foolish person that would<br />
predict what the world has in store for<br />
us, and I’m certainly not going to try.<br />
What I can do is set out what the High<br />
Court Enforcement Officers Association<br />
is going to focus on.<br />
And although almost everything has<br />
changed in <strong>2020</strong>, in some ways, many<br />
things have stayed the same.<br />
We will continue to represent and<br />
support our members and be the voice<br />
for our profession. But what does that<br />
mean in 2021?<br />
We have three main priorities moving<br />
forward:<br />
1. Making sure High Court enforcement<br />
is undertaken safely and responsibly.<br />
2. Improving clarity and transparency<br />
across High Court enforcement.<br />
3. Modernising the High Court<br />
enforcement system across England<br />
and Wales.<br />
This isn’t something our members can<br />
do on their own, but they’re absolutely<br />
ready and willing to play their part.<br />
Safety and responsibility have been<br />
the key watchwords for enforcement this<br />
year and, even with an effective vaccine<br />
on the horizon, that will continue into<br />
2021 and beyond. Putting safety and<br />
responsibility first has been critical<br />
for the health of debtors, agents and<br />
our collective reputation. It’s been the<br />
right thing to do and we’ve actually<br />
had improved engagement with many<br />
thousands of debtors as a result.<br />
It’s interesting that the changes<br />
affecting High Court enforcement have<br />
come from Government in a mix of<br />
guidance and statutory instruments.<br />
Whether that is the ‘Christmas break’<br />
from evictions, clarity over exemptions<br />
on possessions, or guidance on how<br />
the Tier system applies to enforcement<br />
across England, it hasn’t made any<br />
difference to how our members have<br />
responded.<br />
The High Court Enforcement Officers<br />
Association has been able to respond<br />
quickly and confirm that our members<br />
support and will follow the letter and<br />
the spirit of what Government is asking<br />
– whether that is guidance or legislation.<br />
We’re all grown-ups and this is a grownup<br />
and sensible way to operate right<br />
now.<br />
Clarity and transparency will be<br />
important in 2021 as well, and we know<br />
we can do better here.<br />
VAT on High Court enforcement fees<br />
is a good example. It’s a complex area,<br />
and we’ve made our case to Government<br />
for a zero VAT rating – it’s the fairest<br />
and clearest approach for creditors<br />
and debtors – and we’ll continue to<br />
liaise with the Ministry of Justice to get<br />
an outcome to this. Clarity is hugely<br />
important for everyone involved and the<br />
current position needs to move forward.<br />
As for modernisation, things have<br />
moved on in leaps and bounds in <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
but there is much more that can be done.<br />
We’re supportive of the Government’s<br />
moves to modernise the court system<br />
and we want to open up more freedom<br />
for creditors to choose between High<br />
Court writs and County Court warrants<br />
when it comes to collecting unpaid<br />
debts.<br />
The £600 figure – the current minimum<br />
debt for which High Court writs can be<br />
used – is arbitrary. It is causing delays<br />
and frustrations for creditors who would<br />
like to work with our members to collect<br />
money that is owed to them. We’d like to<br />
see that changed to increase options for<br />
creditors and give UK plc more choice<br />
in how it collects unpaid debts – which<br />
will be critical for keeping the economy<br />
moving in 2021.<br />
Since entering the latest phase of<br />
national restrictions across England in<br />
early November it seems that the big<br />
picture has jumped forward with news<br />
of a successful vaccine developments, so<br />
suddenly 2021 is starting to look a little<br />
different. Here’s hoping.<br />
Andrew Wilson FCI<strong>CM</strong> is Chairman of<br />
the High Court Enforcement Officers<br />
Association (HCEOA).<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 34
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C R E D I T M A N A G E M E N T<br />
Collaborative<br />
Corporate credit teams<br />
are redefining themselves<br />
as champions of customer<br />
satisfaction and service.<br />
The emergence of straight-through eInvoicing and<br />
collections software has allowed credit managers<br />
to shrug off the stern, confrontational image for<br />
one centred around insight and understanding.<br />
Today, credit managers can work with suppliers<br />
more collaboratively and provide valuable<br />
management information to their executive<br />
teams.<br />
We live in the so-called Information Age and data is<br />
the new oil. Credit managers with access to a rich<br />
pipeline of data can apply their minds to analysis and<br />
critical thinking, developing nuanced and dynamic<br />
approaches to credit risk. Those, however, with a<br />
paucity of data will have little choice than to adhere<br />
rigidly to policies and fill their days with a treadmill of<br />
operational tasks. Their roles are limited to that of an<br />
enforcer, rather than one of a problem-solver.<br />
Yet it is only possible when the credit manager<br />
is empowered with information – a detailed<br />
audit trail of when and how the customer has<br />
responded to invoices and letters they have<br />
been sent.<br />
Collaborative Working<br />
Most businesses uses some form of<br />
collaborative working tool, from the simplest<br />
instant messaging tools such as Slack and<br />
Yammer to Teams, Sharepoint and Miro. These<br />
tools encourage frequent, succinct exchanges<br />
that are informal and spontaneous.<br />
If you find yourself in the latter group, there is one<br />
simple thing you can do to turn things around:<br />
digitise. Put your AR and collections operations into<br />
the cloud and the upshot will be a plentiful supply of<br />
information and data that can be sliced, modelled and<br />
analysed to deliver meaningful insights. And those<br />
insights form the basis for the collaborative conversations<br />
both within the business and with customers,<br />
allowing credit managers to put forward tailor-made<br />
credit solutions involving invoice finance, early payment<br />
discounts, seasonally varied credit limits and<br />
other such mechanisms.<br />
High value work that drives strategic outcomes is<br />
rewarding both in terms of job satisfaction company<br />
profitability. It can unlock working capital and cement<br />
loyalty from buyers.<br />
Business tools that encourage frequent,<br />
succinct exchanges that are informal and<br />
spontaneous enable quick resolution. Which<br />
is also how your interactions with buyers<br />
should be.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 36 34
40<br />
30<br />
20<br />
10<br />
0<br />
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4<br />
by Holly Scott-Donaldson<br />
Head of Sales and Marketing at Data Interconnect<br />
hollysd@datainterconnect.co.uk<br />
They are browser-based and frictionless, which<br />
is how your interactions with buyers could be.<br />
How? By using an eInvoicing software platform<br />
that has a self-service portal at its core.<br />
Machine readable invoice formats accelerate<br />
the interaction between supplier Accounts<br />
Receivable and buyer Accounts Payable. They<br />
allow the essential data to be absorbed more<br />
easily into buyer AP systems for Purchase Order<br />
matching, approval and subsequent settlement.<br />
In the best-case scenario, EDI exchanges using<br />
formats such as PEPPOL allow for a zero-touch<br />
order-to-cash process, but when exceptions,<br />
issues or disputes arise, interaction still needs<br />
to be digital, which is where<br />
the self-service portal<br />
becomes invaluable.<br />
Invoicing portals provide the browser-based<br />
interface through which buyers can raise<br />
issues, append documents such as PODs and<br />
commence the process of collaboration<br />
towards resolution. Open cases can be quickly<br />
assigned to a colleague to ensure continuous<br />
coverage during absences. Everything needed<br />
to answer questions or resolve issues is easily<br />
accessible , including a time-stamped audit trail<br />
of all interactions. Colleagues can pick up a case<br />
efficiently and work on it without a handover.<br />
In fact, cases can be moved to different team<br />
members at different stages of the process,<br />
with collections experts focused on reducing<br />
aged debt and AR specialists tasked with<br />
handling invoice queries. Portals provide a<br />
window on real-time and historical activity and<br />
make it possible for teamworking focused on<br />
improving key metrics instead of simply<br />
managing a workload.<br />
During periods of lockdown digital interaction<br />
was all many businesses had. For some, this<br />
caused a vital information gap, while for those<br />
fortunate enough to be using software like<br />
Corrivo, pure digital interaction continued to<br />
serve up valuable insights that could be used to<br />
develop agile and responsive strategies for<br />
challenging times. With further lockdowns<br />
seemingly inevitable, the case for investment in<br />
AR is hastened. Even during the worst of times,<br />
credit teams can be equipped to do their jobs<br />
efficiently and effectively, bringing in the vital<br />
funds their own companies need to weather<br />
the economic storm. With the right tools, credit<br />
managers can become the economic heroes<br />
saving livelihoods, rather than lives.<br />
Advancing the credit profession // www.cicm.com // Novemberw <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> // PAGE 37 35
PAYMENT TRENDS<br />
Time to Buckle up?<br />
The ups and downs of payment performance sees<br />
some businesses doing better than others.<br />
AUTHOR – Iona Yadallee<br />
THE latest busines-to-business payment performance<br />
figures show that businesses have been waiting a little<br />
longer for invoices to be paid in October. There have<br />
been slight increases to Days Beyond Term (DBT) across<br />
UK business sectors and UK regions – the average DBT<br />
for sectors and regions increased by 0.7 days and 0.1<br />
days respectively.<br />
These marginal increases, however, may detract from what<br />
businesses in some sectors or regions are experiencing; some might<br />
feel like they are starting to edge up to the main descent on their roller<br />
coaster ride, while others may be enjoying a more gentle run with the<br />
brake half applied. Either way, we don’t know what is around the next<br />
bend and it doesn’t look like the full impact of the ongoing pandemic<br />
has shown itself yet within the payment performance figures.<br />
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT<br />
The Water & Waste, Mining & Quarrying and Business from Home<br />
sectors continue to vie for the unwanted position of highest DBT figure<br />
in October. Water & Waste’s DBT continues to rise by 2.4 days (this<br />
follows a rise of 13.8 days in September) which put it in the top spot<br />
with an overall DBT of 24.4, followed by the Mining & Quarrying sector<br />
– 22.7 days overall.<br />
Not too far behind is the Business from Home sector, with an overall<br />
DBT of 21.4 days, but hopefully the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit will<br />
have been given a lift over the past few months as this figure climbs<br />
down from the 32.2 days it experienced in August. While the Business<br />
from Home sector is still the third worst hit sector, and sits head and<br />
shoulders above the sector average of 15.9 DBT, it is encouraging to see<br />
it falling for a second month – this time by 7.8 days for October.<br />
Other significant reductions in DBT come from the Education sector<br />
(-6.8 days) and Health & Social (-5.5 days). Education is another sector<br />
heading in the right direction – with another drop of 6.8 days down to<br />
13.6 DBT. More marginal reductions can also been seen across many<br />
other sectors but DBT figures haven’t made it below 10 DBT just yet.<br />
The highest increase in days is found in Other Services (which<br />
includes everything from dry cleaners, hairdressers and businesses<br />
offering beauty services through to computer and furniture repair<br />
services and membership organisations, with a big jump of 7.1 days.<br />
Public Administration also struggled, with an increase of 5.9 days to<br />
its payment terms.<br />
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT<br />
The regional standings continue to highlight the struggles of<br />
Northern Ireland, which remains the worst performing region<br />
with an overall DBT of 23 days following a further increase<br />
of 3.2 days. The East Midlands has also struggled with late<br />
payments, a sharp increase of 4.2 days means its overall DBT is<br />
now standing at 20.1 days. However, it is worth noting that the<br />
third worst performing region is the North West with 15.6 DBT,<br />
which sits much closer to the regional average of 14.6.<br />
On a more positive note, a number of regions have made<br />
steady improvements to payment terms. The DBT figure for<br />
East Anglia has fallen to 12.9 (-3.7), and so too has the South East<br />
which now stands at 13.1 (-1.6) and Yorkshire & Humberside<br />
at 14.2 DBT (-1.3). The best performing regions continue to be<br />
the South West, despite a small increase (+0.4 days), with an<br />
overall DBT of 11.1 days, and Scotland with 11.0 DBT (-0.6).<br />
Written by Iona Yadallee, Deputy Editor.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 38
PAYMENT TRENDS<br />
Data supplied by the Creditsafe Group<br />
Top Five Prompter Payers<br />
Region Oct 20 Change from Sept 20<br />
Scotland 11 -0.6<br />
South West 11.1 0.4<br />
East Anglia 12.9 -3.7<br />
Wales 12.9 -0.2<br />
West Midlands 13 -0.1<br />
Bottom Five Poorest Payers<br />
Region Oct 20 Change from Sept 20<br />
Northern Ireland 23 3.2<br />
East Midlands 20.1 4.2<br />
North West 15.6 0.1<br />
Yorkshire and Humberside 14.2 -1.3<br />
London 14 0.6<br />
Getting Better<br />
Business from Home -7.8<br />
Education -6.8<br />
Health & Social -5.5<br />
Professional and Scientific -3<br />
Wholesale and retail trade -2.8<br />
Energy Supply -1<br />
Business Admin & Support -0.9<br />
Dormant -0.8<br />
Entertainment -0.5<br />
IT and Comms -0.5<br />
Transportation and Storage -0.3<br />
SCOTLAND<br />
-0.6 DBT<br />
Getting Worse<br />
NORTHERN<br />
IRELAND<br />
3.2 DBT<br />
NORTH<br />
WEST<br />
0.1 DBT<br />
YORKSHIRE &<br />
HUMBERSIDE<br />
-1.3 DBT<br />
Other Service 7.4<br />
International Bodies 7.1<br />
Public Administration 5.9<br />
Financial and Insurance 5.4<br />
WALES<br />
-0.2 DBT<br />
WEST<br />
MIDLANDS<br />
-0.1 DBT<br />
EAST<br />
MIDLANDS<br />
4.2 DBT<br />
LONDON<br />
0.6 DBT<br />
EAST<br />
ANGLIA<br />
-3.7 DBT<br />
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 4.7<br />
Hospitality 3.7<br />
Manufacturing 2.8<br />
Water & Waste 2.4<br />
SOUTH<br />
WEST<br />
0.4 DBT<br />
SOUTH<br />
EAST<br />
-1.6 DBT<br />
Real Estate 2<br />
Construction 1.8<br />
Mining and Quarrying 1.6<br />
Region<br />
Getting Better – Getting Worse<br />
-3.7<br />
-1.6<br />
-1.3<br />
-0.6<br />
-0.2<br />
-0.1<br />
4.2<br />
3.2<br />
0.6<br />
0.4<br />
0.1<br />
East Anglia<br />
South East<br />
Yorkshire and Humberside<br />
Scotland<br />
Wales<br />
West Midlands<br />
East Midlands<br />
Northern Ireland<br />
London<br />
South West<br />
North West<br />
Top Five Prompter Payers<br />
Sector Oct 20 Change from Sept 20<br />
Wholesale and retail trade 10 -2.8<br />
Health & Social 10.3 -5.5<br />
Entertainment 11.7 -0.5<br />
Energy Supply 12.5 -1<br />
Hospitality 12.7 3.7<br />
Bottom Five Poorest Payers<br />
Sector Oct 20 Change from Sept 20<br />
Water & Waste 24.4 2.4<br />
Mining and Quarrying 22.7 1.6<br />
Business from Home 21.4 -7.8<br />
Other Service 21.4 7.4<br />
International Bodies 18.2 7.1<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 39
INTRODUCING OUR<br />
CORPORATE PARTNERS<br />
For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a<br />
Corporate Partnership with the CI<strong>CM</strong>, please contact corporatepartners@cicm.com<br />
Onguard is a specialist in credit management<br />
software and a market leader in innovative solutions<br />
for Order to Cash. Our integrated platform ensures<br />
an optimal connection of all processes in the Order<br />
to Cash chain and allows sharing of critical data. Our<br />
intelligent tools can seamlessly interconnect and<br />
offer overview and control of the payment process,<br />
as well as contribute to a sustainable customer relationship.<br />
The Onguard platform is successfully used<br />
for successful credit management in more than 50<br />
countries.<br />
T: 020 3868 0947<br />
E: lisa.bruno@onguard.com<br />
W: www.onguard.com<br />
Satago helps business owners and their<br />
accountants avoid credit risks, manage debtors<br />
and access finance when they need it – all in<br />
one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud<br />
accounting apps with just a few clicks, helping<br />
businesses:<br />
Understand their customers - with RISK INSIGHTS<br />
Get paid on time - with automated CREDIT CONTROL<br />
Access funding - with flexible SINGLE INVOICE FINANCE<br />
Visit satago.com and start your free trial today.<br />
T: 020 8050 3015<br />
E: hello@satago.com<br />
W: www.satago.com<br />
The Company Watch platform provides risk analysis<br />
and data modelling tools to organisations around<br />
the world that rely on our ability to accurately predict<br />
their exposure to financial risk. Our H-Score®<br />
predicted 92 percent of quoted company insolvencies<br />
and our TextScore® accuracy rate was 93<br />
percent. Our scores are trusted by credit professionals<br />
within banks, corporates, investment houses<br />
and public sector bodies because, unlike other credit<br />
reference agencies, we are transparent and flexible<br />
in our approach.<br />
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300<br />
E: info@companywatch.net<br />
W: www.companywatch.net<br />
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps<br />
businesses pay and get paid. Businesses and banks<br />
rely on Bottomline for domestic and international<br />
payments, effective cash management tools, automated<br />
workflows for payment processing and bill review<br />
and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural<br />
analytics and regulatory compliance. Every day, we<br />
help our customers by making complex business<br />
payments simple, secure and seamless.<br />
T: 0870 081 8250<br />
E: emea-info@bottomline.com<br />
W: www.bottomline.com/uk<br />
Dun & Bradstreet Finance Solutions enable modern<br />
finance leaders and credit professionals to improve<br />
business performance through more effective risk<br />
management, identification of growth opportunities,<br />
and better integration of data and insights<br />
across the business. Powered by our Data Cloud,<br />
our solutions provide access to the world’s most<br />
comprehensive commercial data and insights<br />
supplying a continually updated view of business<br />
relationships that help finance and credit teams<br />
stay ahead of market shifts and customer changes.<br />
T: (0800) 001-234<br />
W: www.dnb.co.uk<br />
Chris Sanders Consulting (Sanders Consulting<br />
Associates) has three areas of activity providing<br />
credit management leadership and performance<br />
improvement, international working capital<br />
improvement consulting assignments and<br />
managing the CI<strong>CM</strong>Q Best Practice Accreditation<br />
programme on behalf of the CI<strong>CM</strong>. Plans for<br />
2019 include international client assignments in<br />
India, China, USA, Middle East and the ongoing<br />
development of the CI<strong>CM</strong>Q Programme.<br />
T: +44(0)7747 761641<br />
E: chris@chrissandersconsulting.com<br />
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com<br />
With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading<br />
provider of business information, analytics, insights<br />
and solutions. Graydon helps its customers to make<br />
fast, accurate decisions, enabling them to minimise<br />
risk and identify fraud as well as optimise opportunities<br />
with their commercial relationships. Graydon<br />
uses 130+ international databases and the information<br />
of 90+ million companies. Graydon has offices in<br />
London, Cardiff, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Since 2016,<br />
Graydon has been part of Atradius, one of the world’s<br />
largest credit insurance companies.<br />
T: +44 (0)208 515 1400<br />
E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk<br />
W: www.graydon.co.uk<br />
Tinubu Square is a trusted source of trade credit<br />
intelligence for credit insurers and for corporate<br />
customers. The company’s B2B Credit Risk<br />
Intelligence solutions include the Tinubu Risk<br />
Management Center, a cloud-based SaaS platform;<br />
the Tinubu Credit Intelligence service and the<br />
Tinubu Risk Analyst advisory service. Over 250<br />
companies rely on Tinubu Square to protect their<br />
greatest assets: customer receivables.<br />
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /<br />
E: uksales@tinubu.com<br />
W: www.tinubu.com.<br />
Operating across seven UK offices, Menzies LLP is<br />
an accountancy firm delivering traditional services<br />
combined with strategic commercial thinking. Our<br />
services include: advisory, audit, corporate and<br />
personal tax, corporate finance, forensic accounting,<br />
outsourcing, wealth management and business<br />
recovery – the latter of which includes our specialist<br />
offering developed specifically for creditors. For<br />
more information on this, or to see how the Menzies<br />
Creditor Services team can assist you, please<br />
visit: www.menzies.co.uk/creditor-services.<br />
T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London<br />
T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff<br />
W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 40
Each of our Corporate Partners is carefully selected for<br />
their commitment to the profession, best practice in the<br />
Credit Industry and the quality of services they provide.<br />
We are delighted to showcase them here.<br />
THEY'RE WAITING TO TALK TO YOU...<br />
Hays Credit Management is a national specialist<br />
division dedicated exclusively to the recruitment of<br />
credit management and receivables professionals,<br />
at all levels, in the public and private sectors. As<br />
the CI<strong>CM</strong>’s only Premium Corporate Partner, we<br />
are best placed to help all clients’ and candidates’<br />
recruitment needs as well providing guidance on<br />
CV writing, career advice, salary bench-marking,<br />
marketing of vacancies, advertising and campaign<br />
led recruitment, competency-based interviewing,<br />
career and recruitment trends.<br />
T: 07834 260029<br />
E: karen.young@hays.com<br />
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol<br />
The Atradius Collections business model is to support<br />
businesses and their recoveries. We are seeing a<br />
deterioration and increase in unpaid invoices placing<br />
pressures on cashflow for those businesses. Brexit is<br />
causing uncertainty and we are seeing a significant<br />
impact on the UK economy with an increase in<br />
insolvencies, now also impacting the continent and<br />
spreading. Our geographical presence is expanding<br />
and with a single IT platform across the globe we can<br />
provide greater efficiencies and effectiveness to our<br />
clients to recover their unpaid invoices.<br />
T: +44 (0)2920 824700<br />
W: www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/<br />
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work<br />
closely with credit teams to recover commercial<br />
debts as quickly and cost effectively as possible.<br />
We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt<br />
recovery, including:<br />
• Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and<br />
keep costs down • Litigation service • Insolvency<br />
• Post-litigation services including enforcement<br />
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to<br />
relate to your goals, and adept at advising you on the<br />
most effective way of achieving them.<br />
T: 03700 86 3000<br />
E: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk<br />
W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk<br />
Forums International has been running Credit and<br />
Industry Forums since 1991 covering a range of<br />
industry sectors and international trading. Attendance<br />
is for credit professionals of all levels. Our forums<br />
are not just meetings but communities which<br />
aim to prepare our members for the challenges<br />
ahead. Attending for the first time is free for you to<br />
gauge the benefits and meet the members and we<br />
only have pre-approved Partners, so you will never<br />
intentionally be sold to.<br />
T: +44 (0)1246 555055<br />
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk<br />
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk<br />
Data Interconnect provides ERP-agnostic AR<br />
software. The Corrivo platform transmits invoices<br />
in multiple formats using tax compliant templates<br />
custom-designed for your business. Corrivo expedites<br />
collections, reconciliation and dispute processes with<br />
flexible workflow tools for creating and assigning tasks,<br />
limits, chase paths or stops and a self-service portal<br />
where customers can query, comment, dispute or pay.<br />
Corrivo manages data securely and efficiently so that<br />
you can manage your customers and cashflow better.<br />
T: +44 (0)1367 245777<br />
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk<br />
W: www.datainterconnect.com<br />
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for<br />
organisations seeking efficient cash visibility<br />
and secure financial processes. As an SAP<br />
Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies<br />
worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience<br />
and thousands of successful customer projects,<br />
including solutions for the entire order-to-cash<br />
process, Serrala provides credit managers and<br />
receivables professionals with the solutions they<br />
need to successfully protect their business against<br />
credit risk exposure and bad debt loss.<br />
T: +44 118 207 0450<br />
E: contact@serrala.com<br />
W: www.serrala.com<br />
American Express® is a globally recognised<br />
provider of business payment solutions, providing<br />
flexible capabilities to help companies drive<br />
growth. These solutions support buyers and<br />
suppliers across the supply chain with working<br />
capital and cashflow.<br />
By creating an additional lever to help support<br />
supplier/client relationships American Express is<br />
proud to be an innovator in the business payments<br />
space.<br />
T: +44 (0)1273 696933<br />
W: www.americanexpress.com<br />
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables<br />
into income, uniquely connecting buyers and<br />
suppliers to allow discounts in exchange for<br />
early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers<br />
access additional liquidity sources by accelerating<br />
payments from buyers when required in just two<br />
clicks, at a rate that works for them. Buyers, often<br />
corporates with global supply chains, benefit from<br />
the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while<br />
strengthening the financial health of supply chains<br />
through ethical business practices.<br />
T: 07799 692193<br />
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com<br />
W: www.c2fo.com<br />
Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes<br />
the all-too-common obstacles preventing today’s<br />
businesses from collecting receivables in a<br />
timely manner. From credit management to cash<br />
allocation, Esker automates each step of the orderto-cash<br />
cycle. Esker’s automated AR system helps<br />
companies modernise without replacing their<br />
core billing and collections processes. By simply<br />
automating what should be automated, customers<br />
get the post-sale experience they deserve and your<br />
team gets the tools they need.<br />
T: +44 (0)1332 548176<br />
E: sam.townsend@esker.co.uk<br />
W: www.esker.co.uk<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 41
INTRODUCING OUR<br />
CORPORATE<br />
PARTNERS<br />
For further information and to discuss the<br />
opportunities of entering into a Corporate<br />
Partnership with the CI<strong>CM</strong>, please contact<br />
corporatepartners@cicm.com<br />
HighRadius is a Fintech enterprise Software-as-a-Service<br />
(SaaS) company. Its Integrated Receivables platform<br />
reduces cycle times in the Order to Cash process through<br />
automation of receivables and payments across credit,<br />
e-invoicing and payment processing, cash allocation,<br />
dispute resolution and collections. Powered by the RivanaTM<br />
Artificial Intelligence Engine and Freeda Digital<br />
Assistant for Order to Cash teams, HighRadius enables<br />
more than 450 organisations to leverage machine<br />
learning to predict future outcomes and automate routine<br />
labour intensive tasks.<br />
T: +44 7399 406889<br />
E: gwyn.roberts@highradius.com<br />
W: www.highradius.com<br />
‘‘<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> offered the<br />
prospect of qualifications,<br />
but as soon as I became<br />
a member, loads of other<br />
opportunities came to<br />
light that I hadn’t initially<br />
realised were available.<br />
Molly Kane<br />
ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Key IVR provide a suite of products to assist companies<br />
across Europe with credit management. The<br />
service gives the end-user the means to make a<br />
payment when and how they choose. Key IVR also<br />
provides a state-of-the-art outbound platform<br />
delivering automated messages by voice and SMS.<br />
In a credit management environment, these services<br />
are used to cost-effectively contact debtors and<br />
connect them back into a contact centre or<br />
automated payment line.<br />
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000<br />
E: sales@keyivr.com<br />
W: www.keyivr.com<br />
Building on our mature and hugely successful<br />
product and world class support service, we are<br />
re-imagining our risk awareness module in 2019 to<br />
allow for hugely flexible automated worklists and<br />
advanced visibility of areas of risk. Alongside full<br />
integration with all credit scoring agencies (e.g.<br />
Creditsafe), this makes Credica a single port-of-call<br />
for analysis and automation. Impressive results<br />
and ROI are inevitable for our customers that also<br />
have an active input into our product development<br />
and evolution.<br />
The value<br />
of CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
membership<br />
Molly Kane ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Senior Credit Controller Executive<br />
Stuart Delivery Ltd<br />
Read more about her story and join your<br />
credit community by visiting:<br />
www.cicm.com/value-of-cicm-membership/<br />
T: 01235 856400<br />
E: info@credica.co.uk<br />
W: www.credica.co.uk<br />
info@cicm.com<br />
www.cicm.com<br />
01780 722900<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 42
PANEL BASHERS<br />
BAD LOGIC<br />
We ask a panel of credit management experts to<br />
answer some of our reader’s biggest questions.<br />
Someone told<br />
me recently that<br />
achieving zero<br />
bad debts was not<br />
necessarily a good<br />
thing? Why would<br />
this be the case?<br />
Panellist<br />
Mark Greatorex<br />
MCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad)<br />
MARK GREATOREX<br />
Mark Greatorex a graduate member of the CI<strong>CM</strong> and has<br />
worked in B2B credit environments for over 20 years.<br />
Approximately 12 of those years were in management roles<br />
for L’Oréal, Lafarge (Later becoming Tarmac) and ATS<br />
Euromaster (Part of the Michelin group). His experience<br />
includes all aspects of the order to cash process and also<br />
expanded into accounts payable when he took responsibility<br />
for the function as part of a wider transactional finance<br />
role. Since 2019 he has been running his own consultancy<br />
concentrating on process and performance improvement<br />
within order to cash and procure to pay.<br />
WHEN working in credit it can be easy to fall<br />
into the trap of targeting zero bad debts. I’ve<br />
seen many credit managers take one look at<br />
the credit report of a potential customer and<br />
refuse to give them credit terms because<br />
they appear a little too risky.<br />
Make no mistake, as a credit manager you are not there to<br />
gamble with your company’s finances, but you should be taking<br />
calculated risks that align with the company’s strategic goals.<br />
A credit manager’s role is not to simply ensure that every invoice<br />
is paid in full and on time or that only the most credit worthy<br />
customers are accepted. Your purpose is to align yourself with the<br />
strategic direction of your company and react accordingly.<br />
I previously worked with a company who had a strong position<br />
in the market, providing something unique which could not be<br />
purchased elsewhere. They knew their market dominance and<br />
therefore were averse to taking any credit risk. They only wanted to<br />
offer short terms, were quick to have directors’ guarantees signed<br />
and would stop supplies as soon as an invoice became overdue.<br />
Whilst the company didn’t achieve zero bad debts, they certainly<br />
came close. The offset was that they undoubtedly missed out on<br />
sales with potential customers who didn’t meet the strict policy<br />
for granting credit. They understood and accepted this trade off.<br />
Let me contrast this with a very different approach. I met with<br />
the Managing Director of a company which was one of the biggest<br />
in its market. However, by his own admission he had no way to<br />
differentiate his physical product from any of his competitors.<br />
Instead he relied on the overall service offer around the product<br />
to help them stand out and win business. Despite their size in the<br />
market, he had clear and aggressive growth plans. He had a good<br />
understanding of credit risk, was prepared to push boundaries<br />
and was able to have sensible balanced discussions about the<br />
level of risk that was appropriate.<br />
This is where credit managers can come into their own. It’s easy<br />
to say ‘No’ but if you are at odds with business goals then life will<br />
become a battle and the credit department will quickly live up to<br />
the ill-informed stereotype of sales prevention. Modern thinking<br />
credit managers have moved on. They align closely with the<br />
sales and commercial teams and offer solutions to help achieve<br />
business objectives by providing input into a balanced risk and<br />
reward analysis.<br />
The nature of taking this calculated risk is that sometimes it will<br />
go wrong, and the business will incur a bad debt. Communicating<br />
effectively during the decision-making process and throughout<br />
the lifecycle of a customer allows everyone to understand and<br />
make decisions on this level of risk sooner rather than later.<br />
In summary, I’ll leave you with these questions: Are you fully<br />
aware of your company’s objectives? More importantly, are you<br />
adapting your credit decisions and communication to meet these?<br />
In short, are you prepared to make and stand by the decisions<br />
which might just give your company an opportunity to grow?<br />
If you’d like to join our panel of experts, or<br />
if you have a question to ask, contact the<br />
editor at sfeast@gravityglobal.com<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 44
PANEL BASHERS<br />
Panellist Nigel Fields<br />
FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
NIGEL FIELDS<br />
A career in credit management spanning more than 30 years, Nigel is now<br />
a senior consultant with a new start-up company, TheBossCat.com, which<br />
provides knowledge, skills and various services to a wide range of businesses.<br />
Nigel spent 20 years working for Twentieth Century Fox International<br />
Film Corp. starting out in its UK business as Credit Manager and rising to<br />
Executive Director for Credit, responsible for Order to Cash (O2C) across<br />
Fox’s entire international business portfolio. Prior to Fox, he worked as the<br />
Credit Manager at Hornby Hobbies and a Credit Controller for GEC. Nigel<br />
says: “I attribute much of my career success to the CI<strong>CM</strong> community where I<br />
am always able to draw upon knowledge and skills from the extensive array<br />
of members and partners.”<br />
LET me provide a true example<br />
of when a business happily<br />
wrote off £200,000 of ‘Bad<br />
Debt’ and by doing so, made a<br />
profit exceeding £1m.<br />
The objective of most<br />
businesses is generally to sell products or<br />
services for a profit. A professional credit<br />
manager, therefore, needs to understand<br />
the company’s profitability from sales<br />
compared to credit risks. This goes beyond<br />
general customer risk profiling (although<br />
still incredibly important). It makes the<br />
credit manager a good commercial business<br />
partner who helps make profitable sales<br />
even when customers might be considered<br />
‘high risk’ or not creditworthy. The<br />
important thing is to understand the risk<br />
versus reward and find ways to mitigate<br />
against true risk exposure.<br />
Assessing credit risk requires us to model<br />
the probability of a customer defaulting in<br />
full, or in part, on their obligation. This<br />
involves a decision either (A) to extend<br />
credit, which provides a reward but entails<br />
a risk, or (B) to refuse credit. It should also<br />
consider when a default is likely.<br />
So, what am I saying here? This is a true<br />
example where a customer’s credit grade<br />
became ‘high risk’ and potential insolvency.<br />
Many of their suppliers decided to stop<br />
trading with them and so provided an<br />
opportunity to sell more products knowing<br />
the risks. Continuing supply also assisted<br />
the customer to continue trading and<br />
giving them the opportunity to try and turn<br />
their business around. A big driver here<br />
is to understand the profitability of what<br />
was being sold to allow yourself to build<br />
a framework and visualise the ‘true’ value<br />
at risk against the potential reward. Being<br />
a supplier that supports their customers in<br />
a difficult situation allows for more open<br />
communication to gain better insights into<br />
their operations. It also helps to get a better<br />
view about when any insolvency might<br />
happen in order to better manage the risk.<br />
This customer agreed to some shorter<br />
payment terms (that were strictly managed).<br />
My business agreed to a maximum level of<br />
credit exposure and then reserved for it. In<br />
the example below, this customer traded<br />
for a further 18 months, thus continuing to<br />
pay staff and their suppliers.<br />
The customer purchased approx.<br />
£200,000 of products every month and our<br />
profit from this was about £80,000 every<br />
month. Our biggest risk was in Month 1 for<br />
our £120,000 COS. You can see that over the<br />
18 months we traded, our cumulative profit<br />
was £1.24m against the ongoing monthly<br />
stake of £120,000.<br />
We actually recovered additional<br />
sums using our retention of title<br />
clause following the eventual<br />
customer insolvency. I can say that<br />
we were incredibly happy to write<br />
off this large bad debt. Some credit<br />
managers may still consider this<br />
as poor credit management, but I<br />
completely disagree.<br />
Month Invoice Value Paid Invoices Cost of Goods Profit Cum Proft<br />
1 £200,000 -£200,000 -£120,000 £80,000 £80,000<br />
1 £200,000 -£200,000 -£120,000 £80,000 £160,000<br />
1 £200,000 -£200,000 -£120,000 £80,000 £240,000<br />
<br />
..........and continuing weekly<br />
16 £200,000 -£200,000 -£120,000 £80,000 £1,280,000<br />
17 £200,000 -£200,000 -£120,000 £80,000 £1,360,000<br />
18 £200,000 £0 -£120,000 -£120,000 £1,240,000<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 45
presents<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
www.ddisoftware.co.uk<br />
sales@ddisoftware.co.uk
EDUCATION & MARKETING<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> Virtual Training is an ‘access anywhere’ range of interactive, online training<br />
courses, designed to give you the skills and tools you need to thrive in your credit<br />
work. Each training course offers high quality approaches to credit-related topics, and<br />
practical skills that can be used in your workplace. A highly qualified trainer, with an<br />
array of credit management experience, will guide you through the subject to give you<br />
practical skills, improved results and greater confidence.<br />
These are pre-recorded training<br />
sessions that you can access<br />
anywhere and at anytime. Short,<br />
sharp and to the point – these suit<br />
you if you are short on time, or need<br />
a quick introduction or update on a<br />
subject.<br />
These are live, interactive sessions,<br />
delivered virtually by a qualified trainer,<br />
experienced in the subject. Through<br />
a series of tasks and discussions, you<br />
will access a hands-on training session<br />
that offers the best practice approach to<br />
essential credit and debt skills.<br />
MEET YOUR TRAINER: Jules Eames FCI<strong>CM</strong>(Grad); PGCE, is a qualified teacher,<br />
trainer and credit manager with experience in credit and debt specialisms across the<br />
O2C spectrum and ancillary businesses, in consumer, B2B and export markets.<br />
INTRODUCTORY PRICE £90.00+VAT per person. For group training, please contact info@cicm.com<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 47
MARKETING & EDUCATION<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> Redundancy<br />
help and advice<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> is here to help anyone at risk<br />
of redundancy or looking for work.<br />
We have all the guides and advice<br />
you need to help you back on your feet.<br />
HELP AND<br />
ADVICE<br />
TOOLS TO HELP<br />
YOU BACK TO WORK<br />
For further details contact: 01780 722900 | www.cicm.com | info@cicm.com<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 48
BRANCH NEWS<br />
Standing out from the Crowd<br />
East of England Branch<br />
IN the latest CI<strong>CM</strong> East of<br />
England Branch webinar,<br />
‘Standing Out from the Crowd –<br />
How to Ace an interview – Key<br />
Business Questions and How<br />
to Answer Them,’ two expert<br />
recruitment specialists and Branch<br />
members – William Plom of Hays and<br />
Chris Parker of Goodman Masson – gave<br />
plenty of ideas, advice, tips and food for<br />
thought for those about to undertake an<br />
interview.<br />
The webinar, which was held on 28<br />
October, reminded attendees of the<br />
importance of really knowing your CV<br />
and its contents, including being able<br />
to discuss and explain any metrics<br />
and targets quoted. Will and Chris<br />
also emphasised the importance of<br />
preparation and key information that you<br />
should endeavour to find out about the<br />
company in advance of an interview.<br />
They talked through the STAR<br />
interview technique approach (Situation<br />
Task Action and Result), suggesting<br />
writing down three or four work<br />
experience questions and considering<br />
how you would tailor your answers to any<br />
questions.<br />
Many examples of typical interview<br />
questions were given, such as describing<br />
your strengths and weaknesses, your<br />
career goals, where you see yourself in<br />
five years time etc; tips and suggestions<br />
on the best ways to answer such<br />
questions were talked through, and it was<br />
recommended that you should come up<br />
with three good reasons why a company<br />
should hire you.<br />
We hope that our Branch members,<br />
members of other Branches, and those<br />
interested in joining CI<strong>CM</strong>, found our<br />
latest webinar helpful and informative.<br />
The Branch Committee would like<br />
to thank CI<strong>CM</strong> HQ and both of our<br />
speakers.<br />
You can watch a recording of this<br />
latest webinar on the East of England<br />
Branch page via the CI<strong>CM</strong> website. Also<br />
on the Branch page of the CI<strong>CM</strong> website<br />
is the previous ‘Standing out from the<br />
Crowd – Employment Tips for Students<br />
through to Credit Professionals in a<br />
Difficult Climate’ webinar, which was<br />
held in August.<br />
Author: Richard Brown, CI<strong>CM</strong> East of<br />
England Branch Vice Chairman.<br />
MANAGING THE NEW<br />
CREDIT FUTURE<br />
Prepare and act now, for the<br />
Credit world of tomorrow.<br />
As the world continues to react to constant change, our<br />
credit profession needs to prepare for the new credit future.<br />
Debt management<br />
• Adjust collections and recovery strategies to fit the changing financial environment<br />
• Use KYC ‘know your customer’ to understand the customers in true financial difficulty<br />
• Focus skilled staff on long term management of aging debt with a propensity for resolution<br />
• Remove ‘uneconomical to collect’ debt from ledger via third party action, sale or write off<br />
Employees<br />
• Upskill staff for a new credit future through training and qualification programmes<br />
• Review and bolster support mechanisms that cater for the wellbeing of employees<br />
• Consult and trial agile working arrangements with touch points to check feasibility<br />
Cash resilience<br />
• Firm up honest and realistic cash forecasting projections and review them frequently<br />
• Tighten processes for quick & efficient cash collection, allocation and recovery referral<br />
• Calculate provision for bad and doubtful debt & review validity and value of securities<br />
• Agree new risk assessment protocols for ledger-wide vetting of new and existing customers<br />
• Review and strengthen supply chain, renegotiating contract terms in the new climate.<br />
Future proof strategies<br />
• Fine-tune the exit strategy, showing a roadmap of short, mid and long-term objectives<br />
• Align Credit Policy, processes, KPIs and contingencies to the organisation’s new risk strategy<br />
• Check processes are in place to allow for new and future flexible ways of operating<br />
• Secure debt and ledger management software to automate manual tasks<br />
Communication<br />
• Maintain Senior Management visibility with short, frequent reports linked to overall objectives<br />
• Reaffirm supply chain relationships with bespoke contact that builds plans for future trading<br />
• Hold staff e-meetings briefly and often to focus WFH and office-based staff in a common goal<br />
• Create cross functional work plans with re-emerging departments, to leverage help<br />
01780 722900 | info@cicm.com<br />
Access help from CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Follow the CI<strong>CM</strong> Managing the New Credit<br />
Future Forum on LinkedIn.<br />
Access our Member Advice Service<br />
for support, answers and advice.<br />
Visit our Managing the New Credit Future<br />
webpage for more resources<br />
We continue to develop resources, advice and tools to help you prepare for<br />
tomorrow’s Credit, today. Stay in touch with us and be part of our community.<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> is your professional body: use it. We are stronger in numbers.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 49
HR MATTERS<br />
FLUID THINKING<br />
WhatsApp, criminal disclosures, and gender fluidity.<br />
ARE social media messages<br />
always private? Not<br />
according to BC and<br />
others v Chief Constable<br />
Police Service of Scotland<br />
(PSS) and others. Here the<br />
Court of Session considered the inclusion<br />
of personal WhatsApp messages in an<br />
investigation into alleged breaches of<br />
professional standards.<br />
During an investigation into sexual<br />
offences at PSS, offensive group chat<br />
WhatsApp messages were discovered<br />
on an officer's smartphone. They were<br />
passed to the Professional Standards<br />
Department within the PSS, and the<br />
officers party to the group chat were<br />
accused of misconduct.<br />
The officers argued that using personal<br />
WhatsApp messages to bring misconduct<br />
proceedings against them was a breach<br />
of their human rights, in particular their<br />
right to privacy. Under Article 8 of the<br />
European Convention on Human Rights,<br />
everyone has a right to respect for their<br />
private and family life, their home and<br />
their correspondence. Public authorities<br />
cannot interfere with this except in<br />
AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards<br />
Proposals on disclosure of certain spent convictions<br />
AS part of its continuing efforts to review<br />
the criminal records disclosure regime,<br />
the Government is proposing to reduce<br />
the time before certain convictions<br />
become spent.<br />
Currently, sentences between one and<br />
four years become spent after a further<br />
four to seven years respectively and<br />
sentences of more than seven years are<br />
never spent. The new proposals would<br />
mean that adult custodial sentences of<br />
up to one year would become spent after<br />
12 months from the end of the sentence<br />
(six months where the person was under<br />
18 when sentenced). Adult custodial<br />
sentences of between one and four years<br />
would become spent after four years<br />
from the end of the sentence (two years<br />
where the person was under 18 when<br />
sentenced). Adult custodial sentences of<br />
more than four years would become spent<br />
after seven years from the end of the<br />
sentence (three-and-a-half years where<br />
the person was under 18 when sentenced).<br />
accordance with the law and where<br />
necessary in the interests of public safety,<br />
the prevention of crime and the protection<br />
of the health, morals and rights of others.<br />
The court considered whether the<br />
officers had a reasonable expectation<br />
of privacy and found they did not. Their<br />
right was limited by their duties under the<br />
professional standards for police, which<br />
even applied when officers were off<br />
duty. The court found that, in joining the<br />
force, the officers accepted their right<br />
to privacy was limited as per their<br />
professional standards, so that if they acted<br />
in a way that contravened those standards,<br />
they could not have an expectation of<br />
privacy.<br />
For individuals who are subject to<br />
professional standards, this case suggests<br />
there will be limits on the right to keep<br />
messages sent on personal accounts<br />
private. For other individuals, a balancing<br />
exercise should be carried out, taking<br />
into account the particular circumstances<br />
including how a message was brought to<br />
the employer's attention, before deciding<br />
whether to include it in a workplace<br />
investigation.<br />
Once an offence becomes spent it<br />
will no longer show on a basic DBS<br />
disclosure certificate. It will also no<br />
longer be disclosable by a job applicant<br />
on an application form or in response to<br />
a question during interview. However,<br />
spent convictions will still show in<br />
standard and enhanced DBS checks<br />
unless they have been filtered according<br />
to DBS rules. Serious sexual, violent and<br />
terrorist offences will never be spent or<br />
filtered.<br />
Gender-fluid and non-binary workers protected<br />
IN a judgement that breaks new ground,<br />
the Birmingham Employment Tribunal<br />
has found that protection of non-binary<br />
and gender-fluid people falls within the<br />
scope of gender reassignment under the<br />
Equality Act.<br />
Ms Taylor, who had worked at Jaguar<br />
Land Rover for more than 20 years, began<br />
identifying as gender-fluid in 2017. Taylor<br />
suffered insults and abusive jokes from<br />
colleagues when she began dressing<br />
in women's clothes and also suffered<br />
difficulties using toilet facilities and a<br />
lack of support from management.<br />
Taylor successfully argued that she<br />
was constructively dismissed and<br />
suffered harassment, victimisation<br />
and discrimination because of gender<br />
reassignment and sexual orientation.<br />
Under s7 of the Equality Act, a person<br />
has the protected characteristic of gender<br />
reassignment if they are ‘proposing to<br />
undergo, is undergoing or has undergone<br />
a process (or part of a process) for the<br />
purpose of reassigning the person's sex by<br />
changing physiological or other attributes<br />
of sex.’<br />
The Tribunal described gender as a<br />
spectrum and ruled that it is beyond<br />
doubt that Taylor was protected by<br />
s7 as undergoing a process of gender<br />
reassignment is a personal journey by<br />
which an individual moves away from<br />
their birth sex.<br />
This is a first instance decision (and<br />
so not binding on other Tribunals). It is<br />
being described as a milestone moment<br />
of which employers should take note.<br />
Gareth Edwards is a partner in<br />
the employment team at<br />
VWV.gedwards@vwv.co.uk<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 51
CI<strong>CM</strong> MEMBER<br />
EXCLUSIVE<br />
Your CI<strong>CM</strong> lapel badge<br />
demonstrates your commitment to<br />
professionalism and best practice<br />
TAKE PRIDE IN<br />
WEARING YOUR BADGE<br />
If you haven’t received your badge<br />
contact: cicmmembership@cicm.com<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> launch critical<br />
AR Fact Sheets<br />
for EMEA countries<br />
Powered by<br />
Powered by Baker Ing, country specific factsheets<br />
provide up-to-date information on payment<br />
performance, legislation, and the effects of COVID-19<br />
and Brexit. Designed for the credit professional, they<br />
cover legal business forms, credit risk data, collections<br />
protocols, enforcement and more.<br />
Credit professionals need granular knowledge of the<br />
situation in their clients’ territories. Whether you need<br />
an off-the-peg checklist for dealing with a new country,<br />
or you need on-the-spot information to help review<br />
risk strategies and Credit Policies, these insightful<br />
documents will help.<br />
Powered by<br />
EU Factsheet<br />
COVID-19 RESPONSE<br />
Powered by<br />
Germany has introduced a raft of measures and programmes to help combat the<br />
economic impact of COVID-19 containment measures. Here we present what we<br />
consider to be the most significant and interesting. This section is not exhaustive.<br />
Loans and grants – employees:<br />
Three main tranches of wage subsidy have been introduced.<br />
The most wide-reaching is “Kurzarbeit”. This programme existed before COVID-19.<br />
It is a social security programme whereby the government will subsidy employees’<br />
wages up to 60% (more for those with children) in order to allow their employers to<br />
reduce their hours (and their expenditure on wages) instead of laying them off.<br />
Under COVID provisions, the subsidy has been increased. From the fourth month,<br />
the rate is increased to 70% of flat-net renumeration for those households without<br />
children and 77% for those households with children. From the seventh month, it is<br />
increased to 80% for those households without children and 87% for those<br />
households with children. In September, there was a decree to make this benefit<br />
more flexible (e.g., reducing the minimum number of employees effected by<br />
working hours reduction to 10% for the business the qualify) and to extend the<br />
period for receiving this benefit from 12 to 24 months until 31 st <strong>December</strong> 2021.<br />
Pre-Litigation<br />
Extended ROT; Assigned to the supplier in advance. In accordance with §354a<br />
of the Commercial Code, an advance assignment is effective despite a nonassignment<br />
agreement between the purchaser and any third parties.<br />
Letter before action. Do you have to send a demand letter to a debtor before<br />
going to court?<br />
Freelance artists in Germany can access funds if they work for cultural institutions<br />
funded by the Federal Government. They will be compensated for up to 60% o fees<br />
from cancelled events up to €1,000 and 40% up to €2,500.<br />
Students can access interest-free loans of up to €650 per month for jobs lost due to<br />
the pandemic.<br />
Loans and grants – businesses:<br />
EU Factsheet<br />
GERMANY<br />
As well as the enhanced terms of “Kurzarbeit”, there are a variety of direct loans<br />
and grants available which businesses of different sizes can access.<br />
A grant of up to €150,000 / 80% of fixed costs in the subsidy period is available for<br />
businesses showing decreased sales volumes compared to the same month of the<br />
previous year. This Federal Government grant has been supplemented by some<br />
Federal States’ own grant programmes.<br />
Powered by<br />
Before going to court, and even before filing the claim to the enforcement<br />
authority, a warning notice to the debtor's registered address is<br />
mandatory.<br />
The warning notice should contain;<br />
o The name of the creditor and the basis of the claim<br />
o The total amount of the claim, including any penalty interests<br />
o Prescription on how to transfer the payment, i.e. bank account etc.<br />
o A warning that the claim will be enforced through the enforcement<br />
authority in case the claim is not settled within from the date of the<br />
notice<br />
o Information on how the object to the claim if not acknowledged be<br />
the debtor.<br />
If this measure has been taken and the payment still has not been made after<br />
the two-week notice period (according to the law), the creditor may file for<br />
enforcement.<br />
It is worth noting that, in Germany, you may be ordered to all pay court fees if<br />
you did not send a warning letter to the debtor prior to issuing<br />
proceedings.<br />
Look out for the first AR Factsheet,<br />
coming to the CI<strong>CM</strong> website soon.<br />
CHARTERED<br />
BAKERING.GLOBAL CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 52
CAREERS ADVICE<br />
Positivity wins<br />
Proving your value in an uncertain world of work<br />
AUTHOR – Karen Young<br />
IF you have continued working<br />
throughout the pandemic, the<br />
uncertainty that has swept<br />
through our world of work might<br />
have left you feeling like you<br />
need to prove yourself in your<br />
job. This has been exacerbated by the<br />
rapid shift to remote working, which has<br />
left many experiencing the feeling of<br />
‘presenteeism’.<br />
Failing to manage this the right way<br />
can leave you feeling overwhelmed,<br />
overworked and burned out. Proving<br />
yourself should mean proving your value,<br />
not how late into the night you work or<br />
how many tasks you are juggling at one<br />
time. Here’s my advice on how to put your<br />
efforts into the right focuses and prove<br />
your value in a world of work riddled with<br />
change and uncertainty.<br />
FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE BIG<br />
PICTURE<br />
It’s hugely valuable to get an<br />
understanding of how your organisation<br />
is changing due to the pandemic and<br />
what your role is in this. Start a discussion<br />
with your manager or a senior leader<br />
about how the strategic objectives of your<br />
organisation may be changing, how your<br />
current role may evolve, and importantly,<br />
how you can personally prepare for this.<br />
By taking this pre-emptive approach, you<br />
will get a better understanding of where<br />
to put your efforts and where your value<br />
will be most felt. You’re also telling your<br />
employer that you are willing to grow and<br />
develop – which puts you in good stead for<br />
taking on new and exciting opportunities<br />
in the future.<br />
MAINTAIN YOUR VISIBILITY<br />
As we transition to hybrid ways of<br />
working where time is split between<br />
offices and home, you may find it more<br />
difficult to increase your ‘visibility’<br />
among your teammates. If<br />
you aren’t doing so already,<br />
routinely and regularly<br />
communicate with your manager and<br />
colleagues to inform them about specific<br />
projects you are working on or any<br />
challenges that you may be facing and<br />
key milestones or achievements you<br />
have delivered. Celebrating successes<br />
also helps you stay noticed, so become<br />
comfortable with a little self-promotion.<br />
Equally, highlight great work from your<br />
colleagues because they will do the<br />
same for you. During challenging and<br />
changing times, celebrating successes is<br />
particularly important and shines a light<br />
on the value you and your colleagues<br />
provide.<br />
If you say ‘no’ in the<br />
right way to things<br />
which you don’t<br />
see as advantageous<br />
or within your<br />
capacity, you will<br />
gain respect and<br />
further establish your<br />
value among your<br />
colleagues.<br />
NETWORK INTERNALLY<br />
Identify some key individuals in your<br />
organisation who impact you – and who<br />
you have an impact on. This is likely to<br />
span all the way from the top of your<br />
organisation to graduates, apprentices<br />
and new starters. Then, think<br />
about your relationship with<br />
these individuals and how<br />
you might be able to grow<br />
this for the purposes of your<br />
own and their development.<br />
Consider whether there is<br />
anyone who could act as your<br />
mentor, or if there is<br />
someone to whom you<br />
could help by offering advice. Networking<br />
in your business is a vital part of fuelling<br />
your progression and raising your profile,<br />
so don’t hesitate to reach out to people,<br />
even if remotely.<br />
LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’<br />
Proving your value will not happen by<br />
saying ‘yes’ to every project and task which<br />
comes your way. While wanting to expand<br />
your skills and grow professionally is<br />
only a positive thing, you also need to<br />
strategically manage your career and<br />
build your successes in order to move in<br />
your chosen direction. Plus, saying ‘yes’ to<br />
too many projects will quickly overwhelm<br />
and frustrate you. If you say ‘no’ in<br />
the right way to things which you don’t<br />
see as advantageous or within your<br />
capacity, you will gain respect and<br />
further establish your value among your<br />
colleagues.<br />
RADIATE POSITIVITY<br />
A positive and optimistic attitude has<br />
never been needed more than it is now.<br />
Positivity gets people through challenging<br />
times and helps individuals and teams<br />
thrive, not just in their jobs but in all<br />
aspects of their lives. Be mindful of the<br />
language that you use at work and whether<br />
it could be interpreted negatively. Ask<br />
yourself: how do I talk to my teammates<br />
each day? Do I gossip about my coworkers?<br />
Aim to spread positivity to the<br />
people you work with because it really is<br />
contagious and goes a long way to making<br />
people (including yourself) feel valued.<br />
When things get tough as they have for<br />
a lot of people as a result of the pandemic,<br />
working ‘smarter’ and not ‘harder’ can be<br />
tricky to navigate. But putting the above in<br />
place should get you on the way to striking<br />
the right balance and, as a result, making<br />
you more valuable to your colleagues and<br />
your organisation.<br />
Karen Young is Director at Hays Credit<br />
Management.<br />
Celebrating successes also helps you stay<br />
noticed, so become comfortable with a little<br />
self-promotion. – Karen Young<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 53
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NEW AND UPGRADED MEMBERS<br />
Do you know someone who would benefit from CI<strong>CM</strong> membership? Or have<br />
you considered applying to upgrade your membership? See our website<br />
www.cicm.com/membership-types for more details, or call us on 01780 722903<br />
Member<br />
Simon Armitage MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Jana Healey MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Michael Higgins MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Member (by exam)<br />
Jane Leighton MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Konstantinos Lekkas MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Philip Medland MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Graham Muir MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Ellisa Thompson MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Sarah Varney MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Matthew Hind MCI<strong>CM</strong> Sarah Peacock MCI<strong>CM</strong> Maxine Welford MCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Studying Member<br />
Lauren Ashton<br />
Austin Bishop<br />
Kim Bliss<br />
Tracy Boyd<br />
Andrew Brown<br />
David Brown<br />
Richard Carter<br />
Jack Cartwright<br />
Beatrice Chauveau<br />
Lisa Connell<br />
Rupan Deb<br />
Nihan Ergin Gurses<br />
Vincent Fransolet<br />
James Fray<br />
Kyra Gardner<br />
Marta Garner<br />
Melanie Harrison<br />
Christopher Hart<br />
Karen Hickman<br />
Courtenay Holliday<br />
Ivelin Iliev<br />
Mohd Iqbal<br />
Emma Jardine<br />
Bruce Jones<br />
Paula Kent<br />
Sarah Lewtas<br />
Tyler Lovatt<br />
Michael Marcinkiw<br />
Martin Matthews<br />
Megan McDowell<br />
Brennan Mckeown Shephard<br />
Natalie Mealing<br />
Matteo Mercadini<br />
Elena Miguel<br />
Clare Milne<br />
Kimberley Morgan<br />
Alan Morris<br />
Kaylem Nelson<br />
Emma Nicoletti<br />
Lisa Noddings<br />
Sherry Patterson<br />
Joanne Pentney<br />
Veronica Ponce de Carrera<br />
Chandni Premgi<br />
Karen Puddefoot<br />
Charlie Richardson<br />
Ben Robinson<br />
Caroline Rogers<br />
Tracey Smith<br />
Eniko Szabo<br />
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Dominic Tidmarsh<br />
Hannah Witt<br />
Ruslan Zakharov<br />
Affiliate<br />
Stephanie Clarke Nicola Cresswell Nicola Lawless<br />
Associate<br />
Linda Belton ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Laura Costa ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Upgraded member<br />
Richard Darfield ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Ahmed Hussam ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Kevin Sim ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Graham Stocks ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Rebecca Wilkins ACI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Congratulations to our current members who have upgraded their membership<br />
Colin Sanders FCI<strong>CM</strong> Ian Jamieson FCI<strong>CM</strong> Tariq Bhatti FCI<strong>CM</strong> Robert Clarkson FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
AWARDING BODY<br />
Congratulations to the following, who successfully achieved Diplomas<br />
Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management (ACI<strong>CM</strong>)<br />
NAME<br />
Cristina Radulescu<br />
Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections (ACI<strong>CM</strong>)<br />
NAME<br />
Donna Wilson Benjamin Holdsworth Olivia Ionescu<br />
WE WANT YOUR BRANCH NEWS!<br />
Get in touch with the CI<strong>CM</strong> by emailing branches@cicm.com with your branch news and event reports.<br />
Please only send up to 400 words and any images need to be high resolution to be printable, so 1MB plus.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 55
TAKE CONTROL OF<br />
YOUR CREDIT CAREER<br />
O2C MANAGER<br />
London/remote working, c.£55,000<br />
A rare opportunity has arisen at a global consultancy for a<br />
highly experienced order to cash (O2C) manager, on a 12 month<br />
fixed-term contract. Working closely with the Head of Finance,<br />
professional services and sales functions, you will focus on the<br />
efficient and accurate delivery of the end-to-end O2C process.<br />
This includes from order entry, provision of service license, billing,<br />
credit management and customer query resolution. Based in<br />
London, you will also be able to work remotely. Ref: 3883248<br />
Contact Mark Ordoña on 07565 800574<br />
or email mark.ordona@hays.com<br />
SENIOR CREDIT CONTROLLER<br />
Crawley, £30,000-£35,000 + bonus + benefits<br />
An excellent opportunity for a progressive credit professional to<br />
join a growing business has become available. Reporting to the<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> Qualified Manager, you will lead a small team on a daily basis<br />
and assist with all aspects of running a busy credit department.<br />
This role is ideal for either a senior credit controller looking to step<br />
up into a leadership position, or credit professional with some<br />
leadership experience who is keen to develop in a team leader role.<br />
Ref: 3869017<br />
Contact Natascha Whitehead on 0777 078 6433<br />
or email natascha.whitehead@hays.com<br />
OPERATIONS FINANCE MANAGER<br />
Leicester, £35,000-£40,000<br />
An opportunity has arisen at a national organisation to become the<br />
operations finance manager. You will manage a team of over 20<br />
transactional finance professionals, supporting the Head of Finance<br />
to lead, manage and develop the operational finance function.<br />
You will be required to promote, deliver and develop finance best<br />
practice and customer-focussed services, through strong and<br />
effective management of resources with performance standards<br />
and targets. Ref: 387536<br />
Contact Christopher Trenfield on 0116 251 1818<br />
or email christopher.trenfield@hays.com<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> CREDIT TRAINER<br />
Nationwide/remote working, £30,000-£35,000<br />
A great opportunity has become available for candidates with<br />
credit management experience, who are able to present,<br />
articulate and deliver training programs to educate and inspire<br />
credit professionals around the UK promoting best industry<br />
practice. The position is a permanent role with flexible, part time<br />
hours available. Head Office is based in Leicestershire, and with<br />
clients located around the UK, your own transport is essential.<br />
Ref: 3882096<br />
Contact Christopher Trenfield on 0116 251 1818<br />
or email christopher.trenfield@hays.com<br />
hays.co.uk/creditcontrol<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 56
INSPIRE ME IN THE<br />
NEW ERA OF WORK<br />
Your resource hub for reaching<br />
your career goals<br />
Read our latest guides and articles<br />
Tips to help you prepare successfully<br />
To find out more visit<br />
hays.co.uk/embrace-the-new-era<br />
REVENUE CONTROLLER<br />
Cheltenham, up to £28,000 DOE<br />
A leading law firm which focuses on media, entertainment and<br />
technology is looking for a revenue controller to join its team.<br />
The objective of the role is to drive cash into the business as<br />
quickly as possible by managing the working capital cycle of<br />
client matters and financial risk. To be successful, you will have<br />
experience as a credible revenue controller working in a law firm or<br />
professional services environment, that can hit the ground running<br />
in a target driven environment. Ref: 3864009<br />
Contact Edward Kennedy on 01242 226227<br />
or email edward.kennedy@hays.com<br />
CREDIT CONTROLLER (B2C)<br />
London, £25,000-£27,000<br />
A credit controller position has become available at a private<br />
medical company in the heart of London. Working in the patient<br />
billing side of the business chasing outstanding payments, you<br />
will therefore have day-to-day contact with the patients, ensuring<br />
the delayed payments are proceeded. To be successful, business<br />
to consumer experience, confidence using Excel and being<br />
comfortable with high volumes of incoming calls are essential.<br />
Ref: 3881947<br />
Contact Rebecca Hutton on 0116 251 1818<br />
or email rebecca.hutton@hays.com<br />
This is just a small selection of the many opportunities we<br />
have available for credit professionals. To find out more visit<br />
us online or contact Kabir Gulabkhan, Hays Credit Management<br />
UK Lead on 020 3465 0020<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 57
www.cicm.com<br />
‘‘<br />
Since being a<br />
member I am kept<br />
updated on latest changes<br />
to laws and regulations,<br />
good governance and<br />
not forgetting the<br />
wealth of knowledge.<br />
Laural Jefferies, FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
The value<br />
of CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
membership<br />
Laural Jefferies, FCI<strong>CM</strong><br />
Head of Accounts Receivable,<br />
Fashion Edge Ltd<br />
Read more about her story and join your<br />
credit community by visiting:<br />
www.cicm.com/value-of-cicm-membership/<br />
info@cicm.com<br />
www.cicm.com<br />
01780 722900<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 58
WHAT'S ON<br />
We are asking all members to invite a colleague to a CI<strong>CM</strong> membership event,<br />
free of charge. Book online on our website www.cicm.com/cicm-events<br />
Studying at a<br />
distance<br />
with CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
From interactive virtual classrooms to supporting texts,<br />
from mentor advice to peer support, we’ve got it all.<br />
Contact CI<strong>CM</strong> for more information on any of these services,<br />
or check them out at cicm.com<br />
Giving you the tools to continue<br />
working through this crisis.<br />
MANAGING THE NEW<br />
CREDIT FUTURE<br />
As the world continues to react<br />
to constant change, our credit<br />
profession needs to prepare for the<br />
new credit future.<br />
For more information contact:<br />
info@cicm.com or 01780 722900<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 59
Cr£ditWho?<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> Directory of Services<br />
COLLECTIONS<br />
INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS<br />
COLLECTIONS LEGAL<br />
Controlaccount Plc<br />
Address: Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road,<br />
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4FD<br />
T: 01527 549 522<br />
E: sales@controlaccount.com<br />
W: www.controlaccount.com<br />
Controlaccount Plc provides an efficient, effective and ethical<br />
commercial debt recovery service focused on improving business<br />
cash flow whilst preserving customer relationships and established<br />
reputations. Working with leading brand names in the UK and<br />
internationally, we deliver a bespoke service to our clients. We<br />
offer a no collect, no fee service without any contractual ties in.<br />
Where applicable, we can utilise the Late Payment of Commercial<br />
Debts Act (2013) to help you redress the cost of collection. Our<br />
clients also benefit from our in-house international trace and<br />
legal counsel departments and have complete transparency and<br />
up to the minute information on any accounts placed with us for<br />
recovery through our online debt management system, ClientWeb.<br />
INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS<br />
Atradius Collections Ltd<br />
3 Harbour Drive,<br />
Capital Waterside, Cardiff, CF10 4WZ<br />
Phone: +44 (0)29 20824397<br />
Mobile: +44 (0)7767 865821<br />
E-mail:yvette.gray@atradius.com<br />
Website: atradiuscollections.com<br />
Atradius Collections Ltd is an established specialist in business<br />
to business collections. As the collections division of the Atradius<br />
Crédito y Caución, we have a strong position sharing history,<br />
knowledge and reputation.<br />
Annually handling more than 110,000 cases and recovering over<br />
a billion EUROs in collections at any one time, we deliver when<br />
it comes to collecting outstanding debts. With over 90 years’<br />
experience, we have an in-depth understanding of the importance<br />
of maintaining customer relationships whilst efficiently and<br />
effectively collecting monies owed.<br />
The individual nature of our clients’ customer relationships is<br />
reflected in the customer focus we provide, structuring our service<br />
to meet your specific needs. We work closely with clients to<br />
provide them with a collection strategy that echoes their business<br />
character, trading patterns and budget.<br />
For further information contact Yvette Gray Country Director, UK<br />
and Ireland.<br />
Premium Collections Limited<br />
3 Caidan House, Canal Road<br />
Timperley, Cheshire. WA14 1TD<br />
T: +44 (0)161 962 4695<br />
E: paul.daine@premiumcollections.co.uk<br />
W: www.premiumcollections.co.uk<br />
For all your credit management requirements Premium<br />
Collections has the solution to suit you. Operating on a national<br />
and international basis we can tailor a package of products and<br />
services to meet your requirements.<br />
Services include B2B collections, B2C collections, international<br />
collections, absconder tracing, asset repossessions, status<br />
reporting and litigation support.<br />
Managed from our offices in Manchester, Harrogate and Dublin our<br />
network of 55 partners cover the World.<br />
Contact Paul Daine FCI<strong>CM</strong> on +44 (0)161 962 4695 or<br />
paul.daine@premiumcollections.co.uk<br />
www.premiumcollections.co.uk<br />
Baker Ing International Limited<br />
Office 7, 35-37 Ludgate Hill, London. EC4M 7JN<br />
Contact: Lisa Baker-Reynolds<br />
Email: lisa@bakering.global<br />
Website: https://www.bakering.global/contact/<br />
Tel: 07717 020659<br />
Baker Ing International is a dedicated team of Credit industry<br />
experience that, combined, covers time served in most industries.<br />
The team is wholly comprised of working Credit Manager’s<br />
across the Globe with a minimum threshold of ten years working<br />
experience within Credit Management. The team offers a<br />
comprehensive service to clients - International Debt Recovery,<br />
Credit Control, Legal Services & more<br />
Our mission is to help companies improve the cost and efficiency<br />
of their Credit Management processes in order to limit the risks<br />
associated with extending credit and trading around the globe.<br />
How can we help you - call Lisa Baker Reynolds on<br />
+44(0)7717 020659 or email lisa@bakering.global<br />
Sterling Debt Recovery<br />
E: info@sterlingdebtrecovery.com<br />
T: 0207 1005978<br />
W: www.sterlingdebtrecovery.com<br />
Sterling specialises in international business debt collection<br />
to get outstanding invoices paid quickly and cost effectively.<br />
Our experienced, enthusiastic collectors achieve results whilst<br />
maintaining a professional image.<br />
We work on a commission only basis with no up-front fees and<br />
no hidden costs. Each client is allocated a named collector for<br />
personal service and regular updates. We collect the majority<br />
of debt without litigation, with our on-site lawyer supporting us<br />
where appropriate.<br />
Where local expertise is required our global network are available<br />
to assist.<br />
COLLECTIONS LEGAL<br />
Keebles<br />
Capitol House, Russell Street, Leeds LS1 5SP<br />
T: 0113 399 3482<br />
E: charise.marsden@keebles.com<br />
W: www.keebles.com<br />
Keebles debt recovery team was named “Legal Team of the Year”<br />
at the 2019 CI<strong>CM</strong> British Credit Awards.<br />
According to our clients “Keebles stand head and shoulders<br />
above others in the industry. A team that understands their client’s<br />
business and know exactly how to speedily maximise recovery.<br />
Professional, can do attitude runs through the team which is not<br />
seen in many other practices.”<br />
We offer a service with no hidden costs, giving you certainty and<br />
peace of mind.<br />
• ‘No recovery, no fee’ for pre-legal work.<br />
• Fixed fees for issuing court proceedings and pursuing claims to<br />
judgment and enforcement.<br />
• Success rate in excess of 80%.<br />
• 24 hour turnaround on instructions.<br />
• Real-time online access to your cases to review progress.<br />
Lovetts Solicitors<br />
Lovetts, Bramley House, The Guildway,<br />
Old Portsmouth Road,<br />
Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1LR<br />
T: 01483 347001<br />
E: info@lovetts.co.uk<br />
W: www.lovetts.co.uk<br />
With more than 25yrs experience in UK & international business<br />
debt collection and recovery, Lovetts Solicitors collects £40m+<br />
every year on behalf of our clients. Services include:<br />
• Letters Before Action (LBA) from £1.50 + VAT (successful in 86%<br />
of cases)<br />
• Advice and dispute resolution<br />
• Legal proceedings and enforcement<br />
• 24/7 access to your cases via our in-house software solution,<br />
CaseManager<br />
Don’t just take our word for it, here’s some recent customer<br />
feedback: “All our service expectations have been exceeded.<br />
The online system is particularly useful and extremely easy to<br />
use. Lovetts has a recognisable brand that generates successful<br />
results.”<br />
CONSULTANCY<br />
Sanders Consulting Associates Ltd<br />
T: +44(0)1525 720226<br />
E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com<br />
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com<br />
Sanders Consulting is an independent niche consulting firm<br />
specialising in leadership and performance improvement in all<br />
aspects of the order to cash process. Chris Sanders FCI<strong>CM</strong>,<br />
the principal, is well known in the industry with a wealth of<br />
experience in operational credit management, billing, change<br />
and business process improvement. A sought after speaker<br />
with cross industry international experience in the business-tobusiness<br />
and business-to-consumer markets, his innovative and<br />
enthusiastic approach delivers pragmatic people and process lead<br />
solutions and significant working capital improvements to clients.<br />
Sanders Consulting are proud to manage CI<strong>CM</strong>Q on behalf of<br />
and under the supervision of the CI<strong>CM</strong>.<br />
COURT ENFORCEMENT SERVICES<br />
Court Enforcement Services<br />
Wayne Whitford – Director<br />
M: +44 (0)7834 748 183 T : +44 (0)1992 663 399<br />
E : wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk<br />
W: www.courtenforcementservices.co.uk<br />
EXPERTLY RESOLVED.<br />
We help law firms, in-house debt recovery and legal teams to<br />
enforce CCJs by transferring them up to the High Court. With our<br />
fast, fair and personable approach to service, we work harder to<br />
bring you the sector’s best results without risking client reputation.<br />
• Free Transfer Up process of CCJs to High Court<br />
• Market-leading recovery rates<br />
• Over 100,000 writs, recovering >£187 million since 2014<br />
• Real-time access to cases via our own Award-Winning App<br />
• Our highly trained and certificated agents cover every postcode<br />
in England & Wales.<br />
FAST. FAIR. FOR YOU.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 60
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT<br />
russell@cabbells.uk 0203 603 7937<br />
CREDIT INFORMATION<br />
CREDIT INFORMATION<br />
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE<br />
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CoCredo<br />
Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD<br />
T: 01494 790600<br />
E: customerservice@cocredo.com<br />
W: www.cocredo.co.uk<br />
CoCredo has 18 years experience in developing credit reports for<br />
businesses and is the current CI<strong>CM</strong> Credit Information Provider<br />
of the Year. Our company data is continually updated throughout<br />
the day and ensures customers have the most current information<br />
available. We aggregate data from a range of leading providers<br />
across over 235 territories and offer a range of services including<br />
the industry first Dual Report, Monitoring, XML Integration and<br />
DNA Portfolio Management.<br />
We pride ourselves in offering award-winning customer service<br />
and support to protect your business.<br />
CREDIT INFORMATION<br />
THE ONLY AML RESOURCE YOU NEED<br />
SmartSearch<br />
SmartSearch, Harman House,<br />
Station Road,Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 8BX<br />
T: +44 (0)113 238 7660<br />
E: info@smartsearchuk.com W: www.smartsearchuk.com<br />
KYC, AML and CDD all rely on a combination of deep data with<br />
broad coverage, highly automated flexible technology with an<br />
innovative and intuitive customer interface. Key features include<br />
automatic Worldwide Sanction & PEP checking, Daily Monitoring,<br />
Automated Enhanced Due Diligence and pro-active customer<br />
management. Choose SmartSearch as your benchmark.<br />
CEDAR<br />
ROSE<br />
R<br />
Cedar Rose<br />
3, Georgiou Katsonotou Street,3036, Limassol, Cyprus<br />
E: info@cedar-rose.com T: +357 25346630<br />
W: www.cedar-rose.com<br />
Cedar Rose has been globally recognised as the expert for credit<br />
reports, due diligence and data for the Middle East and North<br />
African countries since 1997. We now cover over 170 countries<br />
with the same high quality, expert analysis and attention to detail<br />
we are well-known and trusted for.<br />
Making best use of artificial intelligence and technology, Cedar<br />
Rose has won several awards including Credit Excellence &<br />
European Business Awards. Our website is a one-stop-shop for<br />
your business intelligence solutions. We are the ultimate source;<br />
with competitive prices and friendly customer service - whether<br />
you need one or one thousand reports.<br />
Graydon UK<br />
66 College Road, 2nd Floor, Hygeia Building, Harrow,<br />
Middlesex, HA1 1BE<br />
T: +44 (0)208 515 1400<br />
E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk<br />
W: www.graydon.co.uk<br />
With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading provider of<br />
business information, analytics, insights and solutions. Graydon<br />
helps its customers to make fast, accurate decisions, enabling<br />
them to minimise risk and identify fraud as well as optimise<br />
opportunities with their commercial relationships. Graydon uses<br />
130+ international databases and the information of 90+ million<br />
companies. Graydon has offices in London, Cardiff, Amsterdam<br />
and Antwerp. Since 2016, Graydon has been part of Atradius, one<br />
of the world’s largest credit insurance companies.<br />
Company Watch<br />
Centurion House, 37 Jewry Street,<br />
LONDON. EC3N 2ER<br />
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300<br />
E: info@companywatch.net<br />
W: www.companywatch.net<br />
Organisations around the world rely on Company Watch’s<br />
industry-leading financial analytics to drive their credit risk<br />
processes. Our financial risk modelling and ability to map medium<br />
to long-term risk as well as short-term credit risk set us apart<br />
from other credit reference agencies.<br />
Quality and rigour run through everything we do, from our unique<br />
method of assessing corporate financial health via our H-Score®,<br />
to developing analytics on our customers’ in-house data.<br />
With the H-Score® predicting almost 90 percent of corporate<br />
insolvencies in advance, it is the risk management tool of choice,<br />
providing actionable intelligence in an uncertain world.<br />
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE<br />
ONGUARD<br />
T: 020 3868 0947<br />
E: lisa.bruno@onguard.com<br />
W: www.onguard.com<br />
Onguard is specialist in credit management software and market<br />
leader in innovative solutions for order to cash. Our integrated<br />
platform ensures an optimal connection of all processes in the<br />
order to cash chain and allows sharing of critical data.<br />
Intelligent tools that can seamlessly be interconnected and<br />
offer overview and control of the payment process, as well as<br />
contribute to a sustainable customer relationship.<br />
In more than 50 countries the Onguard platform is successfully<br />
used for successful credit management.<br />
Tinubu Square UK<br />
Holland House, 4 Bury Street,<br />
London EC3A 5AW<br />
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /<br />
E: uksales@tinubu.com<br />
W: www.tinubu.com<br />
Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor, enabler<br />
of the Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital<br />
transformation.<br />
Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to<br />
significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial,<br />
operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology<br />
solutions and services. Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions<br />
and services to different businesses including credit insurers,<br />
receivables financing organizations and multinational corporations.<br />
Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20<br />
countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in<br />
Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore.<br />
Credica Ltd<br />
Building 168, Maxell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT<br />
T: 01235 856400E: info@credica.co.uk W: www.credica.co.uk<br />
Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections<br />
and Query Management System has been designed with 3 goals<br />
in mind:<br />
•To improve your cashflow • To reduce your cost to collect<br />
• To provide meaningful analysis of your business<br />
Evolving over 15 years and driven by the input of 1000s of<br />
Credit Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is<br />
successfully providing significant and measurable benefits for our<br />
diverse portfolio of clients.<br />
We would love to hear from you if you feel you would benefit from<br />
our ‘no nonsense’ and human approach to computer software.<br />
Data Interconnect Ltd<br />
Units 45-50<br />
Shrivenham Hundred Business Park, Majors Road,<br />
Watchfield. Swindon, SN6 8TZ<br />
T: +44 (0)1367 245777<br />
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk<br />
W: www.datainterconnect.com<br />
Data Interconnect is dedicated to solving complex Accounts<br />
Receivable problems through reliable, easy-to-use cloud<br />
software. We empower billing managers and collections experts<br />
with the tools and data they need in a user-friendly interface, for<br />
timely, tax-compliant invoicing, collections and reconciliation in<br />
the most cost effective, secure, auditable and trackable manner.<br />
The powerful, flexible, Corrivo platform is the only system your<br />
AR team needs to manage your company’s cashflow better.<br />
HighRadius<br />
T: +44 7399 406889<br />
E: gwyn.roberts@highradius.com<br />
W: www.highradius.com<br />
HighRadius is the leading provider of Integrated Receivables<br />
solutions for automating receivables and payment functions such<br />
as credit, collections, cash allocation, deductions and eBilling.<br />
The Integrated Receivables suite is delivered as a software-as-aservice<br />
(SaaS). HighRadius also offers SAP-certified Accelerators<br />
for SAP S/4HANA Finance Receivables Management, enabling<br />
large enterprises to maximize the value of their SAP investments.<br />
HighRadius Integrated Receivables solutions have a proven track<br />
record of reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), bad-debt and<br />
increasing operation efficiency, enabling companies to achieve an<br />
ROI in less than a year.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 61
Cr£ditWho?<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> Directory of Services<br />
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION<br />
OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT<br />
russell@cabbells.uk 0203 603 7937<br />
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE<br />
DATA AND ANALYTICS<br />
FORUMS<br />
ESKER<br />
Sam Townsend Head of Marketing<br />
Northern Europe Esker Ltd.<br />
T: +44 (0)1332 548176 M: +44 (0)791 2772 302<br />
W: www.esker.co.uk LinkedIn: Esker – Northern Europe<br />
Twitter: @EskerNEurope blog.esker.co.uk<br />
Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes the all-toocommon<br />
obstacles preventing today’s businesses from collecting<br />
receivables in a timely manner. From credit management to cash<br />
allocation, Esker automates each step of the order-to-cash cycle.<br />
Esker’s automated AR system helps companies modernise<br />
without replacing their core billing and collections processes. By<br />
simply automating what should be automated, customers get the<br />
post-sale experience they deserve and your team gets the tools<br />
they need.<br />
Dun & Bradstreet<br />
Marlow International, Parkway Marlow<br />
Buckinghamshire SL7 1AJ<br />
Telephone: (0800) 001-234 Website: www.dnb.co.uk<br />
Dun & Bradstreet Finance Solutions enable modern finance<br />
leaders and credit professionals to improve business performance<br />
through more effective risk management, identification of growth<br />
opportunities, and better integration of data and insights across<br />
the business. Powered by our Data Cloud, our solutions provide<br />
access to the world’s most comprehensive commercial data<br />
and insights - supplying a continually updated view of business<br />
relationships that helps finance and credit teams stay ahead of<br />
market shifts and customer changes. Learn more here:<br />
www.dnb.co.uk/modernfinance<br />
FORUMS INTERNATIONAL<br />
T: +44 (0)1246 555055<br />
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk<br />
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk<br />
Forums International Ltd have been running Credit and Industry<br />
Forums since 1991. We cover a range of industry sectors and<br />
International trading, attendance is for Credit Professionals of all<br />
levels. Our forums are not just meetings but communities which<br />
aim to prepare our members for the challenges ahead. Attending<br />
for the first time is free for you to gauge the benefits and meet the<br />
members and we only have pre-approved Partners, so you will<br />
never intentionally be sold to.<br />
INSOLVENCY<br />
SERRALA<br />
Serrala UK Ltd, 125 Wharfdale Road<br />
Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham<br />
Berkshire RG41 5RB<br />
E: r.hammons@serrala.com W: www.serrala.com<br />
T +44 118 207 0450 M +44 7788 564722<br />
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for organisations<br />
seeking efficient cash visibility and secure financial processes.<br />
As an SAP Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies<br />
worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience and<br />
thousands of successful customer projects, including solutions<br />
for the entire order-to-cash process, Serrala provides credit<br />
managers and receivables professionals with the solutions they<br />
need to successfully protect their business against credit risk<br />
exposure and bad debt loss.<br />
C2FO<br />
C2FO Ltd<br />
105 Victoria Steet<br />
SW1E 6QT<br />
T: 07799 692193<br />
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com<br />
W: www.c2fo.com<br />
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables into income,<br />
uniquely connecting buyers and suppliers to allow discounts<br />
in exchange for early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers<br />
access additional liquidity sources by accelerating payments<br />
from buyers when required in just two clicks, at a rate that works<br />
for them. Buyers, often corporates with global supply chains,<br />
benefit from the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while<br />
strengthening the financial health of supply chains through<br />
ethical business practices.<br />
Menzies<br />
T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London<br />
T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff<br />
W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services<br />
Operating across seven UK offices, Menzies LLP is an<br />
accountancy firm delivering traditional services combined<br />
with strategic commercial thinking. Our services include:<br />
advisory, audit, corporate and personal tax, corporate<br />
finance, forensic accounting, outsourcing, wealth<br />
management and business recovery – the latter of which<br />
includes our specialist offering developed specifically for<br />
creditors. For more information on this, or to see how the<br />
Menzies Creditor Services team can assist you, please<br />
visit: www.menzies.co.uk/creditor-services. Bethan Evans,<br />
Partner and Head of Menzies Creditor Services, email:<br />
bevans@menzies.co.uk and phone: +44 (0)2920 447512<br />
LEGAL<br />
Redwood Collections Ltd<br />
0208 288 3555<br />
enquiry@redwoodcollections.com<br />
Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, CR0 0XZ<br />
“Redwood Collections offers a complete portfolio of debt<br />
collection services ranging from sensitive client-debtor mediation<br />
through to legal and insolvency action.<br />
Incorporated in 2009, we are pleased to represent in excess of<br />
11,000 clients. Whatever your debt collection needs, we have<br />
the expertise and resources to deliver a fast, efficient and costeffective<br />
solution.”<br />
Satago<br />
48 Warwick Street, London, W1B 5AW<br />
T: +44(0)020 8050 3015<br />
E: hello@satago.com<br />
W: www.satago.com<br />
Satago helps business owners and their accountants avoid credit<br />
risks, manage debtors and access finance when they need it – all<br />
in one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud accounting<br />
apps with just a few clicks, helping businesses:<br />
• Understand their customers - with RISK INSIGHTS<br />
• Get paid on time - with automated CREDIT CONTROL<br />
• Access funding - with flexible SINGLE INVOICE FINANCE<br />
Visit satago.com and start your free trial today.<br />
identeco – Business Support Toolkit<br />
Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove,<br />
Worcestershire B60 4FD<br />
Telephone: 01527 549 531 Email: info@identeco.co.uk<br />
Web: www.identeco.co.uk<br />
identeco’s Business Support Toolkit is an online portal connecting<br />
its subscribers to a range of business services that help them<br />
to engage with new prospects, understand their customers and<br />
mitigate risk. Annual subscription is £79.95 per year for unlimited<br />
access. Providing company information and financial reports,<br />
director and shareholder structures as well as a unique financial<br />
health rating, balance sheets, ratio analysis, and any detrimental<br />
data that might be associated with a company. Other services<br />
also included in the subscription include a business names<br />
database, acquisition targets, a data audit service as well as<br />
unlimited, bespoke marketing and telesales listings for any sector.<br />
FINANCIAL PR<br />
Gravity Global<br />
Floor 6/7, Gravity Global, 69 Wilson St, London, EC2A 2BB<br />
T: +44(0)207 330 8888. E: sfeast@gravityglobal.com<br />
W: www.gravityglobal.com<br />
Gravity is an award winning full service PR and advertising<br />
business that is regularly benchmarked as being one of the<br />
best in its field. It has a particular expertise in the credit sector,<br />
building long-term relationships with some of the industry’s bestknown<br />
brands working on often challenging briefs. As the partner<br />
agency for the Credit Services Association (CSA) for the past 22<br />
years, and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management since<br />
2006, it understands the key issues affecting the credit industry<br />
and what works and what doesn’t in supporting its clients in the<br />
media and beyond.<br />
Shoosmiths<br />
Email: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk<br />
Tel: 03700 86 3000 W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk<br />
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work closely with credit<br />
teams to recover commercial debts as quickly and cost effectively<br />
as possible. We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt<br />
recovery, including:<br />
•Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and keep costs down<br />
•Litigation service<br />
•Post-litigation services including enforcement<br />
•Insolvency<br />
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to relate to your goals,<br />
and adept at advising you on the most effective way of achieving<br />
them.<br />
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS<br />
Bottomline Technologies<br />
115 Chatham Street, Reading<br />
Berks RG1 7JX | UK<br />
T: 0870 081 8250 E: emea-info@bottomline.com<br />
W: www.bottomline.com/uk<br />
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps businesses<br />
pay and get paid. Businesses and banks rely on Bottomline for<br />
domestic and international payments, effective cash management<br />
tools, automated workflows for payment processing and bill<br />
review and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural analytics<br />
and regulatory compliance. Businesses around the world depend<br />
on Bottomline solutions to help them pay and get paid, including<br />
some of the world’s largest systemic banks, private and publicly<br />
traded companies and Insurers. Every day, we help our customers<br />
by making complex business payments simple, secure and<br />
seamless.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 62
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS<br />
American Express<br />
76 Buckingham Palace Road,<br />
London. SW1W 9TQ<br />
T: +44 (0)1273 696933<br />
W: www.americanexpress.com<br />
American Express is working in partnership with the CI<strong>CM</strong> and is a<br />
globally recognised provider of payment solutions to businesses.<br />
Specialising in providing flexible collection capabilities to drive a<br />
number of company objectives including:<br />
• Accelerate cashflow • Improved DSO • Reduce risk<br />
• Offer extended terms to customers<br />
•Provide an additional line of bank independent credit to drive<br />
growth • Create competitive advantage with your customers<br />
As experts in the field of payments and with a global reach,<br />
American Express is working with credit managers to drive growth<br />
within businesses of all sectors. By creating an additional lever<br />
to help support supplier/client relationships American Express is<br />
proud to be an innovator in the business payments space.<br />
ARE YOU A LEADER<br />
OR FOLLOWER?<br />
Key IVR<br />
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000<br />
E: sales@keyivr.com<br />
W: www.keyivr.com<br />
Key IVR are proud to have joined the Chartered Institute of<br />
Credit Management’s Corporate partnership scheme. The<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong> is a recognised and trusted professional entity within<br />
credit management and a perfect partner for Key IVR. We are<br />
delighted to be providing our services to the CI<strong>CM</strong> to assist with<br />
their membership collection activities. Key IVR provides a suite<br />
of products to assist companies across the globe with credit<br />
management. Our service is based around giving the end-user<br />
the means to make a payment when and how they choose. Using<br />
automated collection methods, such as a secure telephone<br />
payment line (IVR), web and SMS allows companies to free up<br />
valuable staff time away from typical debt collection.<br />
RECRUITMENT<br />
Hays Credit Management<br />
107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN<br />
T: 07834 260029<br />
E: karen.young@hays.com<br />
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol<br />
Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CI<strong>CM</strong><br />
and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and<br />
credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this<br />
challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within<br />
it. Whatever your needs, we have temporary, permanent and<br />
contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate<br />
registration process is unrivalled, including face-to-face screening<br />
interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively for<br />
Hays by the CI<strong>CM</strong>. We offer CI<strong>CM</strong> members a priority service and<br />
can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and<br />
recruitment issues.<br />
PORTFOLIO<br />
CREDIT CONTROL<br />
Portfolio Credit Control<br />
1 Finsbury Square, London. EC2A 1AE<br />
T: 0207 650 3199<br />
E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com<br />
W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong>Q accreditation is a proven model<br />
that has consistently delivered dramatic<br />
improvements in cashflow and efficiency<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong>Q is the hallmark of industry<br />
leading organisations<br />
The CI<strong>CM</strong> Best Practice Network is where<br />
CI<strong>CM</strong>Q accredited organisations come<br />
together to develop, share and celebrate<br />
best practice in credit and collections<br />
BE A LEADER – JOIN THE CI<strong>CM</strong> BEST<br />
PRACTICE NETWORK TODAY<br />
To find out more about flexible options<br />
to gain CI<strong>CM</strong>Q accreditation<br />
E: cicmq@cicm.com T: 01780 722900<br />
Portfolio Credit Control, solely specialises in the recruitment of<br />
permanent, temporary and contract Credit Control, Accounts<br />
Receivable and Collections staff. Part of an award winning<br />
recruiter we speak to and meet credit controllers all day everyday<br />
understanding their skills and backgrounds to provide you with<br />
tried and tested credit control professionals. We have achieved<br />
enormous growth because we offer a uniquely specialist approach<br />
to our clients, with a commitment to service delivery that exceeds<br />
your expectations every single time.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 63
Working<br />
Capital that<br />
works for you<br />
The many reasons why suppliers love working with C2FO<br />
“The benefit of C2FO<br />
is simple, it’s flexible,<br />
and it’s helping us<br />
meet our cash needs”<br />
“Having support from<br />
C2FO has freed me<br />
up to invest, take my<br />
business to the next<br />
level and thrive”<br />
“It allows me to plan<br />
my business, which<br />
is everything,”<br />
C2FO provides an additional debt-free working capital<br />
option that enables you to take control of your cash<br />
flow on-demand. This flexible and simple cash and risk<br />
management option provides an additional lever to help<br />
manage reporting targets and KPIs, seasonality, credit risk<br />
exposure or daily operational business activities.<br />
Whatever your cash flow needs, C2FO can help.<br />
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / <strong>December</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / PAGE 64