CM October 2021

CREDIT MANAGEMENT

CM

OCTOBER 2021 £12.50

THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND

COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS

Phishing tackle

Combatting the scourge

of cyber crime

The challenge of

Buy Now Pay Later

Page 9

Sean Feast FCICM talks

to Nigel Fields FCICM

Page 20

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OCTOBER 2021

www.cicm.com

24

COUNTRY FOCUS

Adam Bernstein

CONTENTS

12 – LEAP OF FAITH

Sue Chapple FCICM believes the road is

clear for a steady economic recovery.

14 – HOME RULE

Colin Wheeler of Hoist Finance says

that when it comes to workforce

optimisation, technology on its own is

not enough.

20

FIELDS OF VISION

Nigel Fields FCICM

12

LEAP OF FAITH

Sue Chapple FCICM

16 – GONE PHISHING

Why are cyber criminals enjoying so

much success?

20 – FIELDS OF VISION

Sean Feast FCICM talks to Nigel Fields

FCICM about trombones, train sets and

a career in credit.

24 – COOL CUSTOMER

Adam Bernstein explores how Latvia is

a hidden gem for UK exporters.

28 – SOLE ASYLUM

Tax changes are on the way for sole

traders and partnerships.

32 – LIFE CYCLES

Are we more productive working

from home?

CICM GOVERNANCE

President Stephen Baister FCICM / Chief Executive Sue Chapple FCICM

Executive Board: Chair Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) / Vice Chair Phil Rice FCICM /Treasurer Glen Bullivant FCICM

Larry Coltman FCICM / Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCICM

Advisory Council: Laurie Beagle FCICM / Glen Bullivant FCICM / Alan Church FCICM(Grad) / Brendan Clarkson FCICM

Larry Coltman FCICM / Niall Cooter FCICM / Bryony Crossland FCICM(Grad) / Peter Gent FCICM(Grad)

Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCICM / Neil Jinks FCICM / Charles Mayhew FCICM / Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad)

/ Allan Poole MCICM / Alice Purdy MCICM(Grad) / Matthew Roberts MCICM / Phil Rice FCICM / Chris Sanders FCICM

Stephen Thomson FCICM / Sarah Wilding FCICM / Atul Vadher FCICM(Grad)

View our digital version online at www.cicm.com. Log on to the Members’

area, and click on the tab labelled ‘Credit Management magazine’

Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international CICM

membership, as well as additional subscribers

Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without specific permission. Opinions expressed in this magazine do

not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor reserves the right to

abbreviate letters if necessary. The Institute is registered as a charity. The mark ‘Credit Management’ is a registered

trade mark of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.

Any articles published relating to English law will differ from laws in Scotland and Wales.

16

LEAD ARTICLE

Leanne Salisbury

Publisher

Chartered Institute of Credit Management

The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham

OAKHAM, LE15 8NB

Telephone: 01780 722900

Email: editorial@cicm.com

Website: www.cicm.com

CMM: www.creditmanagement.org.uk

Managing Editor

Sean Feast FCICM

Deputy Editor

Iona Yadallee

Art Editor

Andrew Morris

Telephone: 01780 722910

Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com

Editorial Team

Sam Wilson, Imogen Hart, Rob Howard

and Max Tyson

Advertising

Russell Bass

Telephone: 020 3603 7937

Email: russell@centuryone.uk

Printers

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International: £145 per annum

Single copies: £12.50

ISSN 0265-2099

Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / October 2021 / PAGE 3

EDITOR’S COLUMN

‘Facing’ a debt collector is

like ‘facing’ a firing squad

Sean Feast FCICM

Managing Editor

I

have no wish to pick a fight with a

Dame of the Realm, and certainly

not someone as illustrious as the

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice,

Dame Clare Moriarty. So I won’t.

I’ve just looked her up and I can’t

compete with a degree from Oxford and the

fact that she was once one of the highest

paid people in the public sector (if Wiki is

to be believed!).

But what I will say is that I was ‘startled’

that she was so ‘startled’ at the ‘sheer

number of shoppers facing debt collection’.

The statement is so wrong at so many levels,

that it’s difficult to know where to begin.

But first, some context: her comments

follow publication of research from

Citizens Advice into the Buy Now Pay Later

sector – the latest credit industry Pariah

(sorry chaps, it’s clearly your turn in the

barrel – you may need to seriously sharpen

up your act). Apparently, these beastly

people – now wait for it – expect their

customers to actually pay for what they

buy. And here’s the rub: if those customers

don’t pay, and the retailer has exhausted

other means to recover the money they

are owed, then they have the nerve to seek

the support of professional debt collection

agencies.

Now the clue, surely, is in the title: BUY

now, PAY later. Consumers can’t pick and

choose which part they fancy, and they

can’t, surely, be serious when they say that

they didn’t know the ‘agreement’ they are

effectively entering in to. So why should

Dame Moriarty on that basis be ‘startled’

that debt collectors are entered into the

process? In any form of business, if you’re

not getting paid and you’ve asked several

times, you may call in professional support.

It’s not a difficult concept to get your

head around.

But what disappoints me more is what

her comment infers and implies. The

concept of a shopper ‘facing’ debt collection

suggests that somehow this is a disastrous,

nay catastrophic outcome, akin to one

‘facing’ the firing squad. That’s not helpful.

In fact, I would go further and say it is

dangerous. There is no hint or suggestion

that being referred to a DCA may actually

result in the best possible outcome for the

consumer concerned, because of their

ability to manage vulnerable customers. As

one friend in the industry said to me, ‘it’s

as though being referred to a debt collector

is the same as being publicly flogged in the

market square’.

Now before the full weight of the Citizens

Advice comms team starts swinging into

action, let me make it clear that of course

we need to protect the most vulnerable in

society, and the examples the Charity gave

in its press release prove exactly that point.

Of course, also, there are people out there

who really don’t get it, or are desperate, or

have every intention of ‘paying later’ but

stuff happens, and they can’t. I get that,

and they need to be supported. But being

referred to a DCA is NOT a bad thing; it

could even be the best thing that happens

to them, perhaps even mores so than being

referred to a debt advice charity, especially

if they engage early.

So I just ask people like Dame Clare

Moriarty to be more careful in what they say

to grab a headline, and actually recognise

the work that many CICM members

working in debt collection agencies have

been doing over many years to ensure the

very best treatment of those in debt. She

should also be telling people to engage

early with their creditors, and not see debt

collectors as the enemy.

Do that, and even I will be startled.


CMNEWS

A round-up of news stories from the

world of consumer and commercial credit.

Written by – Sean Feast FCICM

Credit availability essential

to economic recovery

CREDIT – and the

availability of credit – is

essential to supporting

the economic recovery.

But there is still much

work for the collections

industry to do in promoting its role

in the credit cycle and why early

engagement between consumer and

creditor should be actively promoted

and encouraged.

These were some of the

key themes to emerge from

an opening address by Credit

Services Association (CSA) Chief

Executive Chris Leslie at its

annual conference in Newcastle

last month, a conference that also

heard presentations on the future

regulatory landscape and the broader

canvas of the UK economy.

In his speech, Chris stressed that

the CSA was by no means resting on

its laurels and was actively seeking

to update and renew its Code of Best

Practice to reflect an industry that

was constantly changing.

“What I have learned about our

industry in the last 12 months is that

there are many misconceptions,” he

said. “We need to dispel some of the

myths around debt collecting and

continue to encourage consumers

in debt to actively engage with our

members. That means it’s not just

about responding to the consultation

conveyor belt, but rather seeking

to influence policy makers to

understand better what we do and

the impact their decisions can have.

“In the majority of cases the public

does understand the consequences

of poor repayment practices in

restricting their availability to credit

in the future, and we need to do

more to promote the vital role our

members play in returning monies to

the economy.”

Chris said that the credit industry

continues to evolve, notably with a

shift to new forms of credit including

salary finance and Buy Now Pay

Later – or deferred payment creditor

as it is more formally known.

‘‘We need to dispel some of the myths around debt collecting

and continue to encourage consumers in debt to actively engage

with our members.’’


NEWS SPECIAL

‘Bizarre combination’ of forces

puts UK economy on a knife-edge

THE UK economy is on

a knife-edge, but with

a ‘bizarre combination’

of forces at work that

makes the future almost

impossible to predict.

A massive drop in GDP in 2020

of 10 percent and a huge rise in the

numbers of people not working has

been followed by a rise in output

returning close to pre-pandemic levels

and recorded unemployment at less

than five percent.

While the stock of Government

debt has risen to over 100 percent of

annual GDP, the cost of Government

borrowing is lower than ever, with

the UK able to borrow cash over 20

years at an annual real interest rate of

minus 2.5 percent.

David Miles, Professor of Financial

Economics at Imperial College

Business School, said that the fiscal

situation is far from pretty: “UK state

is deep in debt with not enough assets

(bridges, roads, hospitals, schools etc)

to cover it,” he told an audience at

UKCCC last month.

“They have been borrowing to

give us money – not to invest in new

assets. It means the UK is now one

of the world’s biggest borrowers but

in an environment when the cost of

borrowing for UK Government has

been coming down even though the

Government has been borrowing

vastly more than anyone expected

them to.”

The Professor explained how

despite concerns over borrowing,

there was plenty of good news

for those who chose to look: “UK

households have been saving a great

deal,” he continued. “Previously the

figure had been bobbing around five or

six percent, lower than most European

countries. Last year, however, it rose

to 21 percent – an extraordinary

increase.”

Explaining why this should be,

David believes that Government

support through Furlough and other

schemes has been key: “It meant that

household incomes were preserved

even when large numbers were not

actually working and GPD was falling.

Lockdowns and fear over future

finance has meant saving rates have

gone through the roof.”

With money in the bank, but little

“The financial markets may wake up one

morning and say lending at a minus 2.5

percent real interest rate is madness.

But for 40 years people have been saying

interest rates can’t get any lower and they

were wrong!”

to spend it on, many have taken the

opportunity of paying down their debts:

“Net repayment has reduced the stock

of household debt.,” he added, although

he noted that the ability to absorb any

future shocks was far greater for those

in the private sector than the public

sector, where the situation was ‘pretty

dire’.

The Professor also highlighted other

anomalies: house prices, for example,

continue to rise and mortgage rates

are at their lowest for generations.

Household balance sheets were

comparatively healthy and in better

condition than many would have

thought in terms of being able to handle

any future tax hikes.

“UK households

have been saving a

great deal, previously

the figure had been

bobbing around

five or six percent,

lower than most

European countries.

Last year, however,

it rose to 21 percent

– an extraordinary

increase.”


NEWS SPECIAL

What really mattered was people’s

wellbeing: “GDP is a very poor measure of

people’s wellbeing”

>NEWS

IN BRIEF

Receivables Finance

ALDERMORE has launched

Receivables Finance, a new invoice

finance product designed to support

the growth ambitions of the UK’s

small and medium-sized enterprises

(SMEs). Receivables Finance aims to

offer fast access to working capital

by advancing against contractually

complete deferred payments, thereby

improving the cashflow of businesses

by releasing the outstanding amount.

This gives businesses the flexibility

they need to grow and a financial

safety net, without the need to wait for

customer payment.

But he warned that an increase in

the public sector debt-to-income ratio

will be difficult to control if the Prime

Minister is still committed to his plan

of ‘levelling up’. He also said that what

really mattered was people’s wellbeing:

“GDP is a very poor measure of people’s

wellbeing,” he said. “Very many sectors

in the UK economy have performed

relatively ‘normally’ even though the

workforce was largely working from

home. Productivity may not be higher

but the satisfaction we get from not

commuting and spending more time

with our families will potentially leave

a lasting legacy on the UK economy.”

Uncertainty was one of the

biggest concerns ongoing: “People

are concerned about whether the

pandemic is really over,” he concluded.

“If we were to have another Lockdown,

there must be some doubt that the

Government could continue to provide

the level of support it has, and it may

have already reached the limit of its

generosity. Some will say we have to

do what we have to do to get through it,

but that will all come down to politics.”

Another concern was interest rate

rises: “The financial markets may wake

up one morning and say lending at a

minus 2.5 percent real interest rate

is madness,” David added. “But for 40

years people have been saying interest

rates can’t get any lower and they were

wrong!”

Euler appointments

EULER Hermes, the trade credit insurer,

has made two changes in its Regional

Management teams. Milo Bogaerts,

CEO of Euler Hermes Northern Europe,

is appointed CEO of Euler Hermes in

Germany, Austria and Switzerland

(DACH Region), effective October 1,

2021. He will replace Ron van het Hof,

who will leave the company after nine

years of regional leadership for private

reasons. Marine Bochot, Head of Credit

Underwriting for Euler Hermes Group,

will succeed Milo Bogaerts as CEO of

Euler Hermes Northern Europe.

Fitch Rating

FITCH Ratings has assigned Hoist

Finance UK an Asset-Backed Special

Servicer Rating of ABSS2+, confirming

HFUK’s leading position as a trusted

debt resolution partner to individuals,

companies and banks. It joins its sister

businesses in France and Germany

who have also recently secured a

similar rating as part of a Europewide

‘One Hoist’ approach to servicing

excellence. HFUK achieved three of the

highest scores (i.e commensurate with

a 1 rating category) for the integrity

of its administrative platform and

control processes, and how it engages

and interacts with its customers both

digitally (e.g self-service via a customer

portal) and in person to ensure the best

possible outcomes.

Liquid Asset

Liquid Link, finance arm of the

Portsmouth-based Liquid Friday Group,

has appointed Darren Levers to the

Board. Darren has more than 20 years’

experience within the invoice finance

and recruitment finance sectors. The

company recently launched a new

identity and website to better align

with the Liquid Friday Group brand.


NEWS SPECIAL

Collections industry leads the way

in lowest number of complaints

WHILE the consumer

credit industry

continues to account

for a large percentage of

complaints raised to the

Financial Ombudsman

Service (FOS), upheld complaints against

collections agencies and debt purchasers

are the lowest in the sector.

Whereas 40 percent of all complaints

raised to FOS are upheld, that figure falls

to 28 percent for those complaints raised

specifically against collections agencies

and purchasers. And of the c3,000 new

customers who contacted FOS about debt

collectors, almost half (1,394) were dealt with

at enquiry stage and never taken into the

full complaints process.

A presentation by FOS at UKCCC last

month showed complaints were on the rise

in ‘new’ areas of credit including guarantor

loans, indicative of the growth of certain

parts of the credit market. The total number

of complaints raised across all segments of

the banking and credit industry stands at

170,648 (2020/2021).

The most common complaints levelled

at debt collection agencies or purchasers

centre around cases of mistaken identity,

It does look, however,

at how an agency

communicates

with a customer

and whether such

communication is

fair and reasonable if

the agency considers

a debt is still live to

pursue.

or that the customer believes they are

being harassed or that their debt is statute

barred. FOS said, however, that they see

very little evidence of harassment, and

that the time bar is down to the courts to

decide. It does look, however, at how an

agency communicates with a customer and

whether such communication is fair and

reasonable if the agency considers a debt is

still live to pursue.

Overall, FOS told the conference that

the collections industry is in a good place,

and there is ongoing co-operation between

the ombudsmen and the agencies to ensure

their purposes are aligned. FOS touched

upon the issue of fees (it currently levies a

charge of £750 per case and each

business is allowed 25 free cases) and

explained that it was not inclined to

implement a sliding scale of fees based on

the complexity of each case. It also said that

most companies do not exceed their 25-case

allowance.

Agencies were advised to keep on top of

current response times (eight weeks) and

of the benefits of preventing a backlog of

cases from stacking up. A consultation is

to be published in the next few months and

agencies were invited to engage.

FCA to become ‘more assertive’

in future regulation

THE Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector is

fundamentally changing the credit and

payments landscape, and replacing large

parts of the ‘traditional’ credit card sector.

But the phenomenal growth of BNPL,

supercharged by the pandemic, is also

raising eyebrows within the Financial

Conduct Authority (FCA) and likely to

impact regulation and how collections are

conducted.

In an address by Rosanna Bryant, Partner,

Addleshaw Goddard at UKCCC, delegates

were warned that the FCA was committed

to becoming ‘more assertive’ in its actions in

future, and that while certain themes – such

as forbearance – were hardly revolutionary,

the Authority was still finding evidence of

poor practice.

Rosanna said that the FCA was

particularly focused on the treatment of

vulnerable customers, and especially how

agencies were going to manage a new

generation of older customers and ‘first time

The FCA was

‘calling out’

portfolio letters

and other customer

communications,

and likely to demand

more effective

systems and controls

in the way agencies

demonstrate their

compliance to TCF

(Treating Customers

Fairly).

debtors’ that were likely to emerge from the

pandemic. This was not an issue, she said,

that was going to go away but rather one

that would evolve and develop.

The FCA was ‘calling out’ portfolio letters

and other customer communications,

and likely to demand more effective

systems and controls in the way agencies

demonstrate their compliance to TCF

(Treating Customers Fairly).

She advised delegates that while the

FCA had a clear direction of travel, and

their expectations were high, the financial

implications were not yet known, neither

had the industry seen any cost/benefit

analysis relating to the FCA’s consultation

on the proposed new ‘consumer duty’.

There was a risk, delegates were told,

that mounting costs might impact future

innovation and competition to such an

extent as to stifle and frustrate those very

initiatives that the FCA says it wants to

encourage.


NEWS SPECIAL

PASSING THE BUCK

Debt collectors are being stigmatised in a

Buy Now Pay Later row

AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM

DEBT collection

agencies are being

blamed for the

woes of consumers

apparently ‘caught

out’ by Buy Now Pay

Later services.

But collection industry insiders have

expressed dismay at the continual

stigmatising of their industry and have

repeated calls for early engagement

between debtor and agency.

A report by Citizens Advice in

September suggested that one in 10

BNPL shoppers were being ‘chased’

(sic) by debt collectors, rising to one in

eight for younger people.

Whereas the popularity of BNPL

appears to be on the rise, Citizens

Advice fears for many people it can be

a slippery slope into debt. The charity’s

research shows BNPL shoppers were

charged £39 million in late fees in the

past year.

Of those who were referred to a debt

collector for missed payments, almost

all (96 percent) experienced what the

charity calls ‘a negative consequence’.

They reported at least one of the

following: sleepless nights; ignoring

texts, emails and letters in case they

were about debts; avoiding answering

the door; borrowing money to repay

the debt; or their mental health getting

worse.

Yet apparently the charity found

that not one of the BNPL checkouts

on leading retailers’ websites warned

people they could be referred to debt

collectors for missed payments.

Instead, this was only flagged in the

terms and conditions on a separate

page, if at all. Citizens Advice

conducted mystery shopping at 100

leading retailers and found 38 had a

BNPL offering, with 22 providing more

than two BNPL options, meaning there

were a total of 74 BNPL checkouts.

The research also found that out of

those offering BNPL, only 11 percent

warned shoppers they were taking

out a credit agreement, the remaining

89 percent put this information in the

small print or T&Cs.

Citizens Advice asked the BNPL

firms featured in the research if

they ever referred customers to debt

collectors. Klarna, Clearpay, Laybuy

and Openpay confirmed they do but

only as a last resort. Splitit said it

doesn’t. PayPal apparently declined to

comment.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief

Executive of Citizens Advice, believes

that the sheer number of shoppers

facing debt collection is startling: “We

know from our frontline advisers just

how much stress this can cause,” she

says. “A seamless Buy Now Pay Later

The research has

left many in the

credit industry

understandably

perplexed. One

industry insider told

Credit Management

that it was ‘deeply

disappointing’ to see

yet another report

‘over-dramatising’

the process of a

business seeking to

recover money that

is rightfully theirs to

collect.

checkout process should not mean

shoppers have to dig around in the

small print to find out they’re taking

out a credit agreement, and could

be referred to debt collectors if they

can’t pay. The warnings should be

unmissable.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, major

players within the BNPL sector have

been quick to state their case: "It

is important to note that when we

pass on customer information to the

agency, we retain full control of the

customer relationship, do not report

to credit rating agencies and we never

share customer information with

aggressive doorstep collectors," a

Clearpay spokesperson said.

Alex Marsh, Head of Klarna UK, was

similarly defensive: "At Klarna we

only ever use debt collection agencies

to help us contact customers we are

unable to reach and we do this on

fewer than one percent of orders. The

debt collection agencies we work with

are all Financial Conduct Authority

authorised and will only contact

customers by telephone or email and

do not use bailiffs."

A spokesperson for Laybuy said

that when they refer a debt to a

debt collector, it only ever refers the

outstanding purchase price of the

product: “Late fees, which are limited

to a maximum of £24 for a single

order, are never passed to a debt

collector,” the spokesperson explains.

“Laybuy also pays all the cost for debt

collection."

Georgina Whalley, interim UK chief

executive and group chief marketing

officer of Openpay, added: "We refer

some outstanding arrears to a third

party, but Openpay customers are only

contacted via SMS, email and post –

never in person."

The research has left many in

the credit industry understandably

perplexed. One industry insider told

Credit Management that it was ‘deeply

disappointing’ to see yet another report

‘over-dramatising’ the process of a

business seeking to recover money

that is rightfully theirs to collect: “If a

business agrees with a customer to

phase payments over time – whether

using BNPL or not – and the customer

doesn’t pay, then that business, its staff

and suppliers will all be out of pocket

unfairly.

“They have a right to be paid, and it

isn’t unreasonable that they should

seek assistance in getting what is

owed to them.”

Another said that collections

agencies offer extensive forbearance

to individuals who genuinely can’t

afford to make repayments: “We should

be encouraging dialogue between

customers, creditors and DCAs, not

stigmatising the process,” the insider

said.

Meanwhile, it appears that the

Government’s promise of ‘swift action’

in February to regulate the BNPL

industry has stalled, with no date

given as to when future rules may be

forthcoming.


NEWS

Global economy recovering

faster than expected

>NEWS

IN BRIEF

AN economic forecast

from trade credit insurer

Atradius suggests the

global economy will

grow by more than six

percent in 2021 – much

higher than was expected six months

ago.

As most economies have not fully

reopened yet, fiscal support is often

partially extended in 2021, while

monetary support also remains loose,

despite rising inflationary pressures.

Atradius reports that the economic cost

of the pandemic will likely be felt at

some point, but the pace of the recovery

is generally to the upside, certainly

among advanced markets with high

vaccination rates.

In the report, Atradius economists

forecast advanced economies will

grow 5.8 percent in 2021, more than

making up for the cumulative drop in

GDP in 2020. Some of the uncertainty

that hung over the market last year

has disappeared. In the United States,

President Joe Biden is expected to

follow a more consistent policy than

his predecessor did. Furthermore, the

Biden administration has implemented

several fiscal stimulus bills, boosting

GDP growth in the US and elsewhere.

The outlook for the United Kingdom

is also substantially brighter than

it was at the beginning of 2020.

Consumers are driving the recovery

in the UK, with strong growth in the

hospitality sectors, despite trade

growth with the EU falling behind on

Brexit and pandemic uncertainties.

While COVID levels are still a

concern, the health crisis is less acute

than it was in 2020, as vaccination

programmes are preventing higher

hospitalisation rates. The Delta variant

is a larger threat for emerging markets

with lower vaccination rates. Emerging

markets in Asia had the pandemic

relatively well under control, until

the Delta variant started to spread in

recent months. They have to prevent

infections from spreading further, but

Atradius reports growth prospects for

the region remain relatively strong.

Latin America has among the highest

infection rates in the world, but benefits

from looser restrictions and a robust US

recovery.

The current forecasts from Atradius

assume Governments will maintain

their grip on the pandemic and will

be able to effectively contain new

surges of the virus alongside continued

vaccine rollouts, unhampered by supply

constraints. However, if vaccines

are less effective than expected

against new virus variants like Delta,

governments may have to re-impose

restrictions later this year. This creates

a downside risk to positive forecasts

and would reduce consumption

opportunities and drag on GDP growth

in 2021 and 2022.

John Lorié, Chief Economist of

Atradius told Credit Management that

it will be a challenge for Governments

and central banks to navigate a path

out of the pandemic: “The recovery

prospects look good amid rising

consumer demand and fiscal stimulus,

but rising inflation indicates there

are supply-side issues that need to be

overcome,” he explains.

“While we expect inflation to

revert back to normal levels in 2022,

high inflation remains a downside

risk, especially if it triggers a forced

tightening of monetary policy that

would hamper the recovery.

The outlook for the

United Kingdom is also

substantially brighter than

it was at the beginning

of 2020. Consumers are

driving the recovery in the

UK, with strong growth

in the hospitality sectors,

despite trade growth with

the EU falling behind

on Brexit and pandemic

uncertainties.

“His undoubted

knowledge and first-hand

practical experience of

what small businesses

and larger customers face

will be invaluable to us’’

Industry Champion

PHILIP King FCICM, the former

Interim Small Business Commissioner

(SBC) and acknowledged expert in

the world of credit and cashflow

management, has joined Debt Register,

a payments Fintech, as an Advisor

to the Founder, the Board and as an

Industry Champion. He joins Debt

Register just as the Fintech is launched

to help businesses get paid and

address the long-standing issue of

late payments. Gary Brown, Founder

of Debt Register, says he is delighted

to welcome Philip to the business: “His

undoubted knowledge and first-hand

practical experience of what small

businesses and larger customers face

will be invaluable to us as we look to

transform the way businesses and

credit managers address poor payment

practice.”

Boost for Bibby

BIBBY Financial Services (BFS),

which claims to be the UK’s largest

independent invoice financier, has

appointed Derek Ryan as Managing

Director to boost its support for UK

SMEs. Derek joins BFS with more than

17 years’ experience in commercial

finance having held a variety of

senior executive, global operations

and strategy positions across the

financial services sector, including

roles in the UK, Germany, Sweden

and Indonesia. Most recently, Derek

was Global Head of Invoice Finance at

Siemens Financial Services

– Commercial Finance

where he also spent

time as Head of Global

Operations and as CEO

for Indonesia and CEO

for the Nordics.

Advancing the Advancing credit profession the credit / www.cicm.com profession / www.cicm.com / October 2021 / October PAGE 9 2021 / PAGE 10


Leap of Faith

The credit industry is clearing the final

hurdles on the road to economic recovery.

AUTHOR – Sue Chapple FCICM


FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

AUTHOR – Sue Chapple FCICM

IT has now been a staggering 18 months

since the rumours first started hitting these

shores of a new flu-like illness that had the

potential to become a global pandemic.

I don’t think any of us expected it to be as

difficult and protracted a period as it turned

out and still continues to be in some parts of the

world. Just when you think one nation has cracked

it, COVID-19 seems to have different ideas!

There is no doubt, however, that in the UK, things

are beginning to return to a pre-COVID normal.

The return to work has not been universal – you get

the sense that individuals and companies are still

feeling their way a little – but you also get the sense

that people actually want to return to an office, to

interact with their colleagues, to re-establish old

acquaintances, and to make new ones.

Many who have moved roles or been employed

have yet to meet their new employers or teams in

person, and still have that excitement to come.

Whereas the doom-sayers may have been right

about the pandemic, and the pace with which it

swept the world, they did not take into account the

resilience of individuals and companies not to be

beaten by it. Certainly, there have been difficulties

and some sectors have struggled more than most.

The hospitality sector, for example, has been on its

knees but even the worst hit industries who may

have been down, are definitely not out.

There have been far fewer job losses than the media

have been predicting and far fewer business failures.

That’s not to say that failures aren’t happening or

won’t continue, but more that the cliff edge has been

faced, and only a comparatively small number have

yet been forced over it.

ESSENTIAL SUPPORT

Government support in terms of loans, breathing

space and other aid packages have been essential.

Without it, we would undoubtedly be facing a much

bleaker picture. How that support continues will

be interesting to watch, as there has to be a day

of reckoning at some point. Money that has been

borrowed needs to be paid back, or else the whole

cycle of credit comes under threat. Our members

working in the commercial collections industry

will find their businesses under the same level of

scrutiny that those on the consumer side of the fence

have faced for years: the need to balance Treating

Customers Fairly (TCF) with a legitimate demand to

return money, in this case, to the public purse.

What has been particularly gratifying over the

last few months has been the renewed focus and

investment on learning and development. Our

country has a habit of seeing the positive in even

the most challenging conditions, and businesses

have taken the opportunity – and used the wide

acceptance of virtual meeting platforms – to support

their employees in learning new skills and acquiring

new talents that will benefit both parties moving

forward. The number of apprentices in the credit

industry also appears to be on the rise, and that is a

very pleasing outcome from a very difficult time in

all our lives.

What has also been pleasing is to see a return to

face-to-face meetings and events. ‘Virtual’ meetings

have served us well, and I expect they will continue

to be used in the future where a phone call used to

suffice. But there is nothing like seeing people in

person, and the bonds that are made when groups

of professionals come together to share ideas,

experiences, and even laughs.

Of course, there are still challenges to overcome.

Some appear small and are more of an irritation than

especially damaging; others are potentially more

serious, like the worrying lack of heavy goods vehicle

(HGV) drivers at a local level, compounded by supply

chain issues on a global level with the closure of the

Suez Canal and ongoing uncertainty over trading

arrangements with our partners near and far.

Notwithstanding all these things, however, I can’t

help feeling positive about the future. Perhaps it

is because I have always been a glass half full type

of person, or perhaps it is just that I have faith in

our members and our businesses to overcome any

obstacle that is put in their way.

What has also been pleasing is to see a return to face-to-face meetings

and events. ‘Virtual’ meetings have served us well, and I expect they

will continue to be used in the future where a phone call used to suffice.

But there is nothing like seeing people in person, and the bonds that

are made when groups of professionals come together to share ideas,

experiences, and even laughs.


WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

HOME RULE?

Key trends in workforce

optimisation and technology.

AUTHOR – Colin Whelan

THE biggest challenge to

all of us in the workforce

management space over the

last 18 months has been the

impact of COVID, and the

very specific challenge of

working from home (WFH).

Not to be confused with home working,

which has a very different set of legal

requirements, WFH is fundamentally a

temporary state of affairs, brought about

by the need to protect individuals and

indeed whole nations from the impact

of the pandemic. Its legacy will be far

reaching, however, not least in the way

it has prompted many employees to

rethink their work/life balance, and

similarly prompted employers to consider

whether greater flexibility in Workforce

Management can ultimately deliver even

better levels of customer service.

Technology is, of course, a great

enabler. Functionality within workplace

management software that was originally

designed to support the largest contact

centres in managing people is now

finding a new purpose in supporting

social distancing. Employees can be told

not just when they are due into the office,

but also through which door they should

enter, and at which desk they should sit.

What was once a hot-desking tool for

many thousands, has been repurposed for

much smaller numbers with health and

safety at its heart.

Technology alone, however, is not

enough. Whereas it gives the busy

resource management team the science

and the data they need to make informed

decisions, interpreting that data is the

art to delivering an effective workforce

management strategy. To that end, COVID

has shone a spotlight on many trends that

were already evolving, including flexible

working.

MEETING TARGETS

As a team, we understand the resource

required to deliver the targets our

business has set. Technology will provide

the insight as to the optimum times for

inbound/outbound calls, for example,

and therefore ensuring we have the right

people on the right seats at the right time

to cope with demand – right down to

15-minute segments. It also helps identify

the training they need, and ensures the

support is in place, not just to meet our

business need, but also ensure their own

individual needs and incentives are being

realised.

But however detailed your plan, and

however accurate the science, a plan can

easily and very quickly fall apart if even

just one member of the team is not at

their desk at the time you expect or want

them to be. If ten people are scheduled to

take inbound calls at a particular time,

and one team member is missing, albeit

because a previous call over-ran or they

have simply gone to wash their hands,

then every other member of that team has

to work 11 percent harder to achieve the

same original target.

Understanding the ‘Power of One’, as

we call it, and embedding an ‘adherence

to schedule’ strategy is a trend that has

become more important than ever and is

an important part of resource planning.

So too is another trend and more flexible

ways of working including ‘shift bidding’.

Accelerated by the experience of working

from home, ‘shift bidding’ is a way of

using technology to present shifts and

work patterns to employees that they can

‘bid’ for, and which best suit their personal

needs. Experience shows us that in up to

90 percent of cases, employees are able

to secure their top-three ranked choices.

‘shift bidding’ can also be complemented

by an additional ‘bulletin board’ that

enables individuals to ‘swap’ shifts in the

event that their circumstances change, to

plan around a school holiday or the need

to be home for an essential repair.

Empowering employees in this way

was happening pre-COVID but has

undoubtedly been a trend that has

accelerated in recent months and is

gaining in popularity. Giving employees

greater choice also suits the needs of a

new generation of millennials, as well as

pleasing our colleagues in HR.

EVOLVING TRENDS

What will be interesting going forward

is how this trend evolves through a post-

COVID, WFH lens, to the advantage of

employee and employer alike. Might it be

possible, for example, to have two seats

for every three members of staff? Will

employees be able to ‘bid’ for shifts to

work in the office, at home or both?

Technology can help us with managing

our resource and it’s not simply for the

larger contact centre and employers.

Even smaller contact centres with 50 or

so staff could benefit from the advantages

that such platforms can bring. Indeed,

without technology, it is difficult to see

how they can maintain an efficient and

effective workforce in the future.

The future is notoriously difficult

to predict. Few except for the most

enthusiastic pessimist predicted that

the pandemic would last as long as it

has. When it comes to WFH, the genie

is out of the bottle and can never be put

back. Workforce management teams,

working collaboratively with their HR

colleagues, will be finding new ways

of accommodating different ways of

working, where choice and flexibility

will be the watchwords to an even better

engaged and productive workforce.

Colin Whelan is Head of Workforce

Optimisation, Hoist Finance.

What was once a hot-desking tool for many thousands, has been repurposed

for much smaller numbers with health and safety at its heart.


WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

AUTHOR – Colin Whelan

Technology can help us with

managing our resource and it’s

not simply for the larger contact

centre and employers.


INSIGHT

GONE PHISHING

If fear increases our sensitivity to risk, why

were cyber criminals so successful during the

COVID-19 pandemic?

AUTHOR – Leanne Salisbury

*


INSIGHT


FEAR can often lead to a heightened

sense of risk and result in a rise

in protective measures being

deployed. But it can also have the

opposite result, and make people

react without fully thinking

through a plan and considering the potential

outcome.

The onset of the pandemic took many –

businesses, individuals and even officials –

by surprise and meant certain key decisions

had to be taken quickly, under pressure. For

organisations, the fear of the evolving global

situation and what it would mean for the

future of their business was compounded with

the responsibility to maintain both operations

and functioning remote workforce. The change

to the working environment happened almost

overnight following the announcement of the

first lockdown, and many businesses needed to

completely transform their ways of working to

allow for safe and efficient home working.

The increase in remote working using home

Wi-Fi to connect to company virtual private

networks (VPNs), coupled with growing fears

about the situation, created a perfect storm to

allow for heightened cyber exploitation and

attack. The National Cyber Security Centre

(NCSC) reported that as soon as the pandemic

started, cyber criminals increasingly used

COVID-19 related themes as an invasion tactic.

MANIPULATING FEAR

Cyber threat actors (can be groups or

individuals who aim to gain unauthorised

access to information systems for malicious

intent) understand how to manipulate fear.

They use social engineering methods to get

a targeted individual to carry out a specific

action or sequence of actions in order for them

to steal information or gain access to private

systems. Activity carried out by threat actors

included COVID-19-themed phishing emails

or malicious applications, often masquerading

as trusted entities. Common examples include

false National Health Service (NHS), GOV.UK

or World Health Organization (WHO) emails.

The aims of such attacks are consistent with

other cyber-attacks in terms of process: there is

a deployment of ransomware and/or malware

for the purposes of espionage, data exfiltration

and then ultimately, financial gain for the

criminal.

By masquerading as a trusted entity, the threat

actor can create a sense of authority and play

on the fear of people as they look for security

and assurance from trusted institutions. To

create the impression of authenticity, these

cyber threat actor groups can spoof sender

information in an email to make it appear as

if it comes from a trusted source. Capitalising

on working from home arrangements, threat

actors also send emails appearing to come

from their company’s human resources (HR)

department with advice for the employee to

open an attachment.


continues on page 18 >

INSIGHT


Leanne Salisbury

By masquerading

as a trusted entity,

the threat actor can

create a sense of

authority and play on

the fear of people as

they look for security

and assurance from

trusted institutions.

Pre-pandemic awareness of phishing

(targeting via email), vishing (targeting via

voice call) and smishing (targeting via SMS

text messaging) was already on the rise, and

many companies were already providing

security awareness training on the subject

for employees. However, the fear around

COVID-19 allowed criminals to ramp up

exploitations and take advantage in cases

where perhaps previously individuals

would have paused and considered the

email more carefully. Malicious file

attachments containing malware payloads

had COVID-19-related titles and prompted

the receiver opening a file containing

malware. There were also malicious

android apps that claimed to have real-time

trackers but instead aimed to get the user

to provide administrative access to install

"CovidLock" ransomware on their device .

WEBSITE DOMAINS

Some threat actor groups went a step further

and registered new website domain names

containing wording related to COVID-19

or Coronavirus. During a six-week period

in early 2020 the United Nations Office

on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported

that as of the end of March 2020, more

than 9,000 domains were registered with the

Coronavirus theme. While some were set

up for legitimate reasons, many presented

information related to the pandemic only as

a lure for malicious purposes. Using these

domains, attackers could bypass the need

to obtain victim email addresses and then

send a phishing email with a malicious

attachment or link. The malicious website

could be used as a mechanism to deliver

malware and obtain credentials through

direct access by the victim landing on

the page.

Video and teaming apps also proved to

be an area of weakness. At the beginning

of the pandemic, the use of thirdparty

videoconferencing and teaming

applications grew exponentially as firms

– and individuals – used them to stay

connected. One of these in particular went

from being largely unknown to becoming

the most widely used app within weeks of

lockdown restrictions being implemented.

However, this popularity surge also made

them a target. A weakness in the application

opened the door for attackers, allowing

them to take control of certain sessions,

intercepting audio and video meetings and

injecting unsolicited content. While the

application provider has since managed to

fix the vulnerabilities, it demonstrates the

importance of firms’ system defences.

So how does a business successfully build

resilience into their operations? A good

multi-layered approach to controls and

the hardening of a system’s exterior shell

are critical for preventing attacks being

successful. Organisations must decrease

their ‘attack surface’ and make themselves

more difficult to target in the first place.

INSECURE NETWORKS

One of the most common methods

cyber criminals use to gain access to an

environment is to exploit insecure network

services, especially remote desktop

protocol (RDP). Having a comprehensive

understanding of all external-facing

systems along with implementing an

advanced Endpoint Detection and Response

(EDR) solution will enable proactive

techniques, such as machine learning and

behavioral analysis, to identify potentially

new or complex threats before they become

a critical issue.

As seen with the video conferencing

example, it is also crucial to manage thirdparty

risks. It is important to proactively

identify weaknesses in the supplier

landscape and have the ability to respond

quickly to manage incidents when they

occur. A robust due diligence process

that considers the inherent risk profile of

the supplier and service can significantly

help an organisation to identify potential

threats.

Threat actors are continually evolving

their tactics, techniques and procedures in

new and inventive ways, responding to realworld

events to capitalise on fear-based

behaviours and decision making. Ensuring

resilience is built in from the start,

including employee’s ability to respond and

react under pressure, is critical.

Leanne Salisbury is Senior Manager,

Technology Consulting, EY.


HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

Supporting

vulnerable debtors

The effect of Covid-19 on responsible High Court

enforcement.

AUTHOR – Alan J Smith

THE pandemic has had a

profound and lasting impact

on the country’s finances.

The vulnerable and those

with poor mental health have

long been associated with

higher levels of debt but Covid-19 means the

issue is touching far greater sectors of the

community than ever before.

The Financial Lives 2020 survey by the

Financial Conduct Authority has found that

over-indebtedness increased by a third to

14.2 million in October 2020. That’s more

than a quarter of the UK’s adult population.

In addition to the significant rise in

problem debt, 27.7 million people are

showing characteristics of vulnerability –

such as poor health, low financial resilience

or recent negative events in their lives,

putting them at greater risk of harm when

dealing with financial affairs. This is an

increase of 15 percent from pre-pandemic

levels.

Fewer jobs, furlough, and zero hours

contracts are all adding to financial struggles

and problem debt. A 2021 report by Pro Bono

Economics – The Impact of the Covid-19

Pandemic on Problem Debt in the UK – echoes

this. It states that “the stresses and strains

of unmanageable debt are closely related

to wider problems in people’s lives, such as

financial exclusion, family breakdown and

poor physical and mental health.”

High Court Enforcement Officers

Association (HCEOA) members have long had

procedures in place to identify and support

vulnerable debtors, but the pandemic has

brought more emphasis to this area.

Our code of conduct covers vulnerability:

High Court Enforcement Officers have a role

in ensuring that the vulnerable and socially

excluded are protected and that the recovery

process includes procedures agreed between

HCEOs and creditors about how such

situations should be dealt with.

A number of initiatives have driven this

increased focus on the needs of vulnerable

debtors, notably the Government’s Breathing

Space scheme, the HCEOA’s return to

enforcement strategy and the constraints

placed on enforcement action during

lockdown.

The Breathing Space scheme allows people

in problem debt to freeze interest, fees and

enforcement for up to 60 days, with further

protections for those receiving mental health

crisis treatment. This relieves some of the

pressure and stress on debtors who are

seeking advice while they work on a debt

solution. I am pleased to say that all of our

members have embraced and supported

Breathing Space as part of their commitment

to practising responsible enforcement.

Our return to enforcement strategy,

published in July 2020, included a number of

measures and enforcement agent training,

which members needed to implement

to support the vulnerable and recognise

mental health issues. This has resulted in

better processes and systems within High

Court enforcement businesses to identify

vulnerability.

Many members have extended training

in their businesses to include additional

staff, beyond their enforcement agents

and welfare teams, to help them identify

vulnerability and changes in circumstances,

which provides greater resilience.

And the halt on enforcement visits

to residential addresses during the first

lockdown has led to enforcement agents

implementing new and better ways of

communicating with debtors, many of which

have enabled earlier identification of mental

health issues and vulnerability.

The other factor that is driving improved

support for vulnerable debtors has come

from creditors themselves, especially those

businesses with high volumes of consumer

judgments, who want their policies around

the fair treatment of customers incorporated

into those of our members’.

Whilst the increase in indebtedness and

problem debt is undoubtedly something that

none of us would wish for, the silver lining

is that the enforcement industry is in a far

better place to identify vulnerability and

support those who need it.

Alan J Smith FCICM is the newly appointed

Chair of the High Court Enforcement

Officers Association.

The Breathing Space

scheme allows people

in problem debt to

freeze interest, fees and

enforcement for up to

60 days, with further

protections for those

in mental health crisis

treatment.


INTERVIEW

FIELDS

OF VISION

Sean Feast FCICM talks to Nigel Fields FCICM

about home entertainment, trombones, and

train sets.


INTERVIEW


Growing up in Kent, Nigel

spent his leisure hours

either playing the trombone

or practicing Jiu-Jitsu.

Sadly, it was the latter

that did for the former

and scuppered a life in the

armed forces.

NIGEL Fields FCICM might

never have become a

credit manager. He’d

thought about being a

long-distance coach driver

like his father, and then

toyed with the idea of joining the Royal Air

Force (RAF) as a bandsman. In the end, he

went into supermarket management with

the Co-op before a friend tempted him

into the world of credit.

Growing up in Kent, Nigel spent his

leisure hours either playing the trombone

or practicing Jiu-Jitsu. Sadly, it was

the latter that did for the former and

scuppered a life in the armed forces: “I was

injured in a fight, badly dislocating my

knee in training and spending six weeks

in traction and a further six months in

recovery. As a result, I failed my medical

for the RAF, which was ironic because I

only wanted to play in the band!”

At school Nigel was offered little in the

way of careers advice but was encouraged

to take up computing: “This was in the

days of the Tandy TRS80 and I learned

Pascal and basic coding. I also learned

that I liked analysing data – it’s one of

those things that I find easy and enjoyable

– and that has certainly helped me in my

career in credit.”

TRAINEE MANAGER

Joining the Co-op as a trainee manager,

Nigel quickly accelerated up the ranks,

becoming one of the chain’s youngest

ever store managers at the tender age of

21. He got chatting to a friend who was

working as a sales-ledger clerk with GEC,

and shortly after Nigel was embarked on a

new career in credit management:

“I was 23 and joined a business called

AEI Cables in a billing role. Through my

employer I started studying for an AAT

qualification but having worked out that

the ICM qualification (as it was then) was



INTERVIEW


more aligned to my actual role, I swapped

over to the ICM and have never looked back.”

Nigel became a member of the CICM in

1991 and an active member of the Kent and

London branches. He is also a very active

member of the CICM Think Tank, and a

regular contributor to Credit Management

magazine as a panel expert. Community,

and both learning and sharing experiences

with his peers, is what Nigel particularly

enjoys from his membership: “It has always

been important to me to be a member

of a professional body and to have that

professionalism recognised inside and outside

of a business. There is no doubt that being a

member of the CICM has helped advance my

career, while being qualified means I have

also always felt I was giving something back

to my employer in terms of the skills I could

bring to the company.”

Within five years of starting out at AEI,

Nigel had become Head of Credit Operations

before joining Hornby, the world-famous

model railway business, in Margate: “I felt I

needed to expand my experience by working

in a different business and industry sector,

and it was especially interesting dealing with

small retailers rather than wholesalers. What

I quickly learned was the model-shop owners

knew a great deal about models, but not so

much about running a business!”

Nigel also learned to work in a very

different culture to one that he had been used

to: “You’d think being a toy manufacturer that

they might be more fun, but in many ways,

they were more corporate than a bank. They

were a great bunch of people, but we all had

to wear a suit and tie!”

BEST PRACTICE GROUP

At Hornby, Nigel became involved with

setting up and later chairing a Credit Best

Practice Group discussing best practice

credit management in the toy industry. Toy

manufacturers shared similar challenges:

most of the toys were sold in the period

between September and Christmas, but in the

New Year they had to deal with the returns.

To that end, he innovated several ideas to

encourage retailers to extend their buying

cycle, by effectively offering an extended

credit facility and better pricing for buying

outside of peak periods. He was not averse

to some tough talking when it was required:

“You had to be strong when dealing with

model retailers,” he laughs, “but I found that

if you threatened to take their train set away,

they usually paid up quite quickly!”

Through the Credit Best Practice Group,

Nigel extended his network, and through

one of his contacts applied for a role at

20th Century Fox, working for its Theatrical

Business. This was the beginning of more

than two decades in the business, and

“You’d think being

a toy manufacturer

that they might be

more fun, but in many

ways, they were more

corporate than a bank.

They were a great

bunch of people, but

we all had to wear a

suit and tie!”


INTERVIEW


Nigel immediately set about making

changes: “I think I have always been a

transformational person at heart, seeking

ways of making things better.

“At 20th Century Fox I was able

to drastically reduce the volume of

documentation that our customers had to

process, getting it down in one case from

more than 30,000 documents to less than

1,000. By having fewer documents, we

created fewer issues, and improved our

efficiency and performance considerably.

Our customers were also happier.”

Moving to the Home Entertainments

business, Nigel found the challenges faced

by his new customers to be similar to those

at Hornby: “In Home Entertainments we

had physical products – in those days

DVDs, VHS etc – and there were always

issues with returns, disputes and pricing.

Being a fast-moving consumer goods

(FMCG) business, I focused on reducing

disputes and in doing so made significant

business improvements, so much so that I

was asked to look at the issue globally and

they created what was effectively a new

position, Director of Credit.”

OUTSOURCING ISSUES

It was during his time at 20th Century Fox

that Nigel also began looking seriously at

outsourcing, working first with a Business

Process Outsourcing (BPO) partner onsite.

“It was a way of managing overhead,

since the BPO was paid by a third-party

and we could ‘flex’ when we needed to.

Then we looked to centralise our Order to

Cash (O2C) into a single site and created

a new hybrid model that seemed to work

very well.

“We outsourced certain elements to

countries with a lower cost base, and

retained those services that were more

customer facing. So many of the backroom

services (billing, cash, applications etc)

were managed in India, whereas any

customer-facing roles were managed

from Poland, Guatemala and China where

they had multiple language skills.”

Nigel admits that outsourcing meant

that some of his former colleagues had to

be redeployed or lost their jobs, but he was

pleasantly surprised at how positively the

move was received: “It was an example of

how good people are with change,” he says.

“They have the capacity to understand

that businesses and technologies evolve,

and I received fantastic support from my

teams, even those who had to leave.”

PROFESSIONAL HANDOVER

The acquisition of 20th Century Fox

by Disney in December 2017, meant

that Nigel also found himself surplus

to requirements, though not before

completing a professional handover and

knowledge transfer. His departure from

20th Century Fox after more than 20 years

gave him time to pause and reflect. It

also came shortly before the COVID-19

pandemic first took hold, giving Nigel

even more time to consider his future

plans which included setting up his own

consultancy.

In February of this year, he successfully

applied for the role of Senior Director

(Global Process Owner – Order to Cash)

at NBC Universal Media. In some ways,

it is similar to the job that had kept

him employed for two decades, but on

a considerably larger scale: “It’s been

interesting to see how the concept of

‘home entertainment’ has shifted,” he

explains. “People have wanted to watch

television and be entertained at home

through Amazon, Netflix and other

streaming services, often in preference to

going to the cinema.”

It is, of course, still early days for Nigel

at his new company, and because of the

pandemic, he has not yet had the chance

of meeting all of his team. He is, however,

excited by the challenge. He is similarly

excited and interested to see how the

world of credit is evolving: “Order to Cash

is becoming far more automated and new

technical innovations and ways of doing

business are creating different jobs and

governance roles that were not needed

before.”

Automation, Nigel believes, is

generally a good thing, but there needs

to be a balance: “Implementing any new

technology or process has to be done

properly and should not be rushed,” he

says. “It’s not about ticking boxes; you

have to have the right levels of control

in place, and you still need intelligent

oversight by people who can understand

what’s good, what’s bad, and when things

are going wrong.

“In a changing world focused on forever

improving processes and efficiencies, you

will always need good people to keep you

on track.”


COUNTRY FOCUS

Latvia is a potential

hidden gem for UK

exporters.

Cool Customer

AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein

Latvia has plans to improve rail in the short to

medium term through what has been termed ‘Rail

Baltica’ that will link Finland, the Baltics and Poland

to the rest of the EU.


COUNTRY FOCUS


THERE are two excellent ways

to upset a Latvian. One is to

denigrate their country –

but, to be fair, that applies to

residents of most countries.

The other is to refer to

Latvians as Russians just because they

speak the language of their former master.

For some, the association is logical given

their former histories – but that doesn’t

make it right.

Latvia has a history that goes back to the

end of the last glacial period, some 11000

years ago, when man first arrived. More

‘recently’ there were the Vikings, Nordics

and German traders, the latter of which

established the capital, Riga, in 1201; by

1282 Riga had become the trading centre of

the Hanseatic League.

But with a central position in Europe,

it’s not hard to see why the land that is

now Latvia was fought over by the Swedes,

Russians, Teutons and Polish-Lithuanians.

In 1710 control switched from Sweden

to Russia, and post-World War One, it

won independence in 1920, but was later

subsumed by the Soviet Union in 1940,

overrun by the Nazis in 1941 and then

reoccupied by the Soviet Union in 1944-5,

before finally becoming a sovereign nation

in 1991.

GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHICS

Located on the eastern coast of the Baltic

Sea, Latvia is bordered by Estonia to the

north, Russia in the east, Belarus in the

south-east, Lithuania in the south and

Sweden, albeit via a sea border, to the west.

Of the three Baltic states, Latvia is the

second largest by landmass. With an area

of 64,589 sq. km, it’s only just behind

Lithuania’s 65,300 sq. km but well ahead of

Estonia’s 45,339 sq. km.

In terms of Latvia’s population, the CIA’s

World Fact book estimated it as standing

at 1.88m in September 2020. Curiously,

that’s an 8.5 percent decline since 2011.

To put this into context, data published in

1999 by the Latvian Academic Information

Centre noted that Latvia’s population stood

at 2.4m. So, in 21 years, the population has

declined by 22 percent.

In comparison, Ireland has a landmass

of 70,273 sq. km and a population of 5.1m

(July 2018 estimate), up over 36 percent

over the same period from 3.73m.

In other words, Latvia is sparsely

populated and getting more so. On

ethnicity, 62.2 percent of the population

identifies itself as Latvian, 25.2 percent

Russian, 3.2 percent Belarusian, 2.2

percent Ukrainian, 2.1 percent Polish, 1.2

Lithuanian and ‘other’ and ‘unspecified’

makes up the balance.

The official language is Latvian which

is spoken by 56.3 percent of the population

Riga, Latvia’s capital, is set on

the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the

River Daugava. It's considered

a cultural center and is home

to many museums and concert

halls. The city is also known for

its wooden buildings, art nouveau

architecture and medieval Old

Town.

and Russian is spoken by 33.8 percent of

the people.

Most, some 68.3 percent of the

population, are urbanised but around 0.93

percent of the population has left for the

countryside; that latter rate is an estimate

for 2015-20 which, no doubt, will have risen

further in an era of COVID.

CITIES AND TOWNS

There are just seven cities in Latvia of

which Riga is by far the largest with

632,000 inhabitants (2019 data). Next comes

Daugavpils with 93,000 and in seventh place

is Rezekne with just 32,000. Again, 1999

data showed Riga with 796,000 residents.

As for towns, there are 71 – but they

are rather small and range in size from

Ogre with 24,768 inhabitants (2018 data)

to Durbe with just 542 residents. Most

towns have levels of occupants that can be

counted with four digits.

The CIA World Factbook states that

Latvia has a 99.9 percent literacy rate and

according to the OECD’s 2020 Education

Policy Outlook, Latvian students achieve

above the OECD average in mathematics

and around the OECD average in science.

Latvia’s education system is highly

decentralised towards schools and

municipalities, and in 2017, schools had

responsibility for 64 percent of educational

decisions compared to 34 percent on

average across the OECD.

As for higher education, public

expenditure in this area in Latvia is

relatively low and accounts for 0.9 percent

of GDP in 2016 (excluding R&D), compared

to 1.1 percent on average across the OECD.

Unfortunately, the report found that

developments in tertiary spending have

not mirrored those in national wealth.

Between 2010 and 2016, Latvia’s GDP

grew by 21 percent while expenditure on



COUNTRY FOCUS


tertiary institutions as a percentage of GDP fell by

24 percent. It’s notable that this coincided with

declining student numbers – down 38 percent since

its peak in 2005/06.

While higher education offers either academic

or professional routes, there are just two major

universities in the country – the University of Latvia

and the Riga Technical University.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

According to 2021 Comtrade data, the country

mainly exports sawn or chipped wood (5.3 percent),

radio-telephony transmission tools (5.3 percent),

alcohol products (3.9 percent), fuel woods (3.6

percent), medicaments (3.5 percent), wheat products

(3.3 percent), motor vehicles etc. (2.2 percent),

rough wood (1.8 percent), manufactured wood (1.8

percent) and parts for motor vehicles (1.6 percent)

Imports are led by petroleum oils (5.3

percent), motor cars (4.3 percent), radio-telephony

transmission tools (4 percent), aircraft (3.9 percent),

medicaments (3.3 percent), alcohols (2.1 percent),

petroleum products (1.8 percent), parts for motor

vehicles (1.4 percent), data processing machinery

(1.4 percent) and electricity (1.3 percent).

Overall, Latvia exported $15.6bn worth of goods

in 2019 but imported goods to the tune of $18.9bn.

A 2020 report from Credit Agricole, highlights

several strands to the Latvian economy.

Turning first to agriculture, it contributes three

percent to GDP but employs seven percent of the

active population. The sector is dominated by cattle

and dairy farming but also produces grain cereals,

sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables. Fishing and

forestry are also important – its timber is largely

exported. Agriculture, in total, utilises 30 percent

of the land mass. And since the 1990s, collective

farming has given way to private farming. Despite

this, the agricultural sector is not overly competitive.

As for industry, it makes up 18.6 percent

of GDP and employs almost a quarter of the

active workforce. Key sectors are construction,

metallurgy, industrial food-processing, and

mechanical engineering sectors which the report

described as ‘booming.’ Products also made include

railway equipment, radios, refrigerators, medicines,

and steel by-products. Manufacturing, in particular,

is estimated to account for 10 percent of GDP.

However, it’s believed that overall annual production

dropped by 2.5 percent because of COVID-19.

The Investment and Development Agency of

Latvia also notes biomedicine which forms the

fourth largest part of Latvia’s manufacturing sector,

and engineering and metalworking which has

exports of €1.4bn in 2019.

But far and away the largest part of the Latvian

economy is the services sector which takes up

73.7 percent of GDP and employs 70 percent of the

active population. Key services include transport

and technology with more than 6,900 firms in

technology alone.

It was to be expected that COVID-19 adversely

affected transportation – in the first nine months of

2020 the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia noted

Of the three Baltic states, Latvia is

the second largest by landmass. With

an area of 64,589 sq. km, it’s only just

behind Lithuania’s 65,300 sq. km but

well ahead of Estonia’s 45,339 sq. km.


COUNTRY FOCUS


that, freight, carried by land and pipeline,

fell by 19.7 percent and via ports by 29.7

percent. The same situation was seen

in tourism with a fall in the number of

foreign tourists of 61.2 percent between

January and November 2020 compared to

the year before. However, retail grew by

1.5 percent.

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

It’s natural for those looking to export to

Latvia to enquire about the opportunities

for business in the country and the UK

Government lists a number.

Starting with Infrastructure, Latvia

has plans to improve rail in the short to

medium term through what has been

termed ‘Rail Baltica’ that will link Finland,

the Baltics and Poland to the rest of the EU.

The project has reportedly been valued at

£5.8bn. On top of this, there are a number

of key construction projects that include

a new terminal at Riga airport, new roads,

military projects and a new concert hall

for Riga.

Energy next, and it should be noted

that Latvia has almost no natural

resources which leaves the country to

import all its energy products, mainly

from Russia. That said, the sector is going

green, and renewables are high up on

the agenda. The Government has a target

of 40 percent of its energy requirements

coming from renewables – especially

that used by businesses. Latvia is also

developing an offshore wind facility

with Estonia in the Riga Gulf. Beyond

that, there are opportunities for energy

efficient systems generally.

There are opportunities in technology

– ICT and software – as well as the

creative industries, cybersecurity, 5G

mobile telephony, mobile payments, and

artificial intelligence.

Education is highly prized in Latvia

despite the relative decline in spending

in the sector. And since English is the

main language spoken in the workplace,

courses in the language are highly sought

after.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Credit Agricole reckons that Latvia

should be a destination market because

of its political stability, a skilled but lowcost

work force that is productive, an

attractive tax system, a central position

for accessing both Europe and Russia,

and a Government interested in backing

business start-ups.

But on the negative side, Latvia faces

a few challenges that cannot be set aside.

These involve a small domestic market

with a strong Scandinavian influence,

a relatively weak industrial base, a

high level of reliance on Russia, and a

reasonably high risk of corruption.

That said, the country is open to

foreign direct investment and will assist

those interested in Latvia. No sectors

are off limits to foreign investors who

can access funding from both the EU

and the Latvian Government. It’s also

worth pointing out, as highlighted by the

Investment and Development Agency

of Latvia, that Latvia has three ice-free

ports and five special economic zones

(SEZ) – Riga Free Port, Ventspils Free Port,

Liepaja, Rezekne and Latgale. Each SEZ

has its own benefits for companies which

generally include rebates on real estate

tax, corporate income tax, withholding

tax for dividends, management fees

and payments for usage of intellectual

property for non-residents and others.

These zones are planned to operate until

2035.

TAX RATES

Corporation tax

Businesses must follow a model of

taxation that was introduced at the start

of 2018. Under this regime, undistributed

profits are exempted regardless of

whether the entity is active (trading) or

passive (not trading). The regime covers

interest, dividends, and the sale of any

and all assets and no corporate tax is due

until the profits are distributed at which

time a rate of 20 percent will apply to the

taxable base.

To add complexity to the process,

before applying the statutory rate,

the taxable base must be divided by a

coefficient of 0.8. As the taxable base is

increased by the coefficient, the effective

rate is actually 25 percent.

Microbusinesses – whether existing or

newly formed – can opt to use a system

set up under the Micro-business Tax Act

if they meet certain criteria. The regime

allows for the option to pay tax at 15

percent based on revenue of up to €40,000

which covers payroll taxes, business risk

duties, and corporate tax.

INCOME TAX

Latvian residents are liable to Latvian

income tax on their worldwide income.

However, non-residents are liable to

income tax only on their Latvian-source

income.

Income tax is banded so that a rate

of 20 percent applies up to €20,004; 23

percent from €20,004 to €62,800; and

anything above that last figure is taxed at

31 percent.

Dividends attract a rate of 20 percent –

but not if corporation tax has been paid,

in which case, there is nothing to pay. The

same 20 percent rate applies to capital

gains.

NATIONAL SOCIAL INSURANCE

CONTRIBUTIONS (NSIC)

The employee's part of national insurance

is deducted at source at the rate of 10.5

percent. The employer's contribution is

charged at 23.5 percent on top of gross

employment income. NSIC applies to

annual income up to €62,800. Beyond that

is a solidarity tax on income over €62,800

at the same rates as NSIC.

VAT

There are four rates of VAT in Latvia –

zero for certain services related to the

export, import and transport of goods;

a five percent lower tariff for fresh

foodstuffs; a 12 percent tariff for goods

such as medicaments, publications,

heating products and domestic public

transport; and a 21 percent standard rate.

Education, financial services, medical

services, insurance services and real

estate are exempt from VAT.

All of the detail is on the Latvian

Ministry of Finance website.

CONCLUSION

It’s a regret that these country profiles are,

by virtue of appearing in print, limited

in scope and size. When reading around

the subject that is Latvia there is much to

warrant it being a target for any exporter.

The advice is clear to those wishing to

invest: there’s a land of opportunity,

albeit small in population, but it’s backed

by a Government willing to help firms do

business.

Adam Bernstein is a freelance

business writer.


OPINION

SOLE ASYLUM

Tax changes are on the way for sole traders

and partnerships.

LATE on in July (2021) the Government

announced a consultation on

proposals which would change the

way that sole traders and partnerships

are taxed. Whilst in some ways it is

a welcome simplification of often

complex tax rules, it could lead to nasty financial

problems and personal financial failure for those

caught out by the move.

In fact, so great are the changes that Kirsty

Swinburn, a Tax Senior Manager at BHP, considers

that it could lead to an acceleration of tax liabilities

for many businesses.

And Emma Rawson, a technical

officer at the Association of Taxation

Technicians (ATT), agrees: “In the

2022/23 tax year when the change

is introduced, special transitional

rules may result in more profits

being taxable than would normally

be the case,” she explains.

As to whom it will affect, Kirsty

says that the plans are for the

new system to apply to all sole

traders and partnerships but will

mainly affect those businesses who

currently have anything other than

a 31 March or 5 April accounting

year end.

According to an estimate reported by the

Financial Times, some 280,000 sole traders and

250,000 partners could be caught up in the change

based on 2019/20 tax returns.

THE PROPOSALS

Kirsty details that under the current regime,

businesses are taxed based on the profits for

the accounts year ending in the tax year: “So if a

business has a 30 June year end, its 2020/21 tax will

be based on the 30 June 2020 accounts,” she says.

This, she believes, creates complexities,

particularly in the opening years of a business

when profits can be assessed twice, and ‘overlap’

profits created. “This overlap is used when the

business ceases, but the value is often eroded by

time, or lost if a record isn’t kept,” she explains.

Under the Government’s proposals, these

businesses will be taxed on profits earned in a

given tax year, irrespective of their accounting

year end, with an apportionment being applied

if required. As Emma highlights: “For those with

accounting years which do not align with the tax

year, the planned changes are very significant.”

BRINGING THE CHANGE IN

The question for many is when will the change

occur? On this, Kirsty says that as the proposals


“Those with a

31 December

year end would

have just one

month to

prepare the

accounts before

the figures have

to be submitted

to HMRC.”

presently stand, the ‘tax year basis’ would replace

the ‘current year basis’ entirely from 2023/24.

She adds: “The 2022/23 tax year will be

the transitional tax year and the transitional

adjustments involve the use of the historic overlap

profits.”

This may, depending on profit levels, increase

the tax liability for that year: “Amongst those

who will be most affected,” she says, “are those

who experience really good trading results in the

2022/23 transitional year – so it has the potential to

hit them just as they are bouncing back.”

And it’s likely that seasonal

businesses such as farming,

garden centres or leisure could be

adversely affected.

Emma highlights the problem

with an example: “Let’s assume a

sole trader normally draws up their

accounts to 30 April each year.

In tax year 2022/23 they would,

under the current rules, be taxed

on their profits for the year ending

30 April 2022. However, under the

proposed new rules, they would

instead be taxed on their profits for

the year ending 30 April 2022; and

their profits for the period from 1

May 2022 to 5 April 2023; less any

overlap profits.”

This, she says, effectively results in up to

23 months’ worth of the profits being taxed in

2022/23, rather than the usual 12 months.

And she cites a worked example that HMRC has

given in the consultation. A sole trader has profits

to 30 April 2022 of £55,000, profits to 30 April

2023 of £66,000 and overlap profits of £20,000.

Bypassing the maths, Emma says that under the

new regime: “This results in £8,100 of extra profits

being taxable in 2022/23, and each of the following

four years. For a higher rate taxpayer, that equates

to extra tax payable of £3,240 a year.”

Any additional tax would be payable 31 January

2024.

FIVE-YEAR SPREAD

But in mitigation, Kirsty says that there are

proposals to allow a five-year spread of the

additional tax for those businesses adversely

affected, but this has not yet been finalised:

“This five-year spread is crucial to dampening

the impact in her opinion; without it there will be

some real pain,” she says.

And for those that worry about HMRC wielding

a large stick, for the moment at least, it’s not

being that aggressive towards collecting tax from

individual taxpayers; rather it’s offering easy to


OPINION


access Time to Pay arrangements. However,

Kirsty questions the future: “Whether that

continues as we emerge from the pandemic and

the state of the nation’s finances starts to take

centre stage above the pressing need to support

individuals and businesses through the worst

effects of the pandemic, only time will tell,” she

notes.

The change may result in many businesses

considering whether to change their year-end

to either 31 March or 5 April from 2023, both

of which, Kirsty notes, are accepted as aligning

with the tax year.

That said, Kirsty notes that for those

businesses currently experiencing poor trading

results, arising from the pandemic for example,

early adoption of a 31 March on 5 April year end

may be beneficial. But she says that this needs

“At its core, is a

requirement for

quarterly reporting,

a process which

will be much

simpler if all

businesses are on

a tax year basis for

the assessment of

profits.”

to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

And for those sole traders and partners

in businesses with anything other than a 31

March or 5 April year end her advice is clear:

“They should ensure they have a record of their

overlap profits as relief for this will need to be

claimed in the 2022/23 tax year at the latest. This

figure should have been recorded on the tax

return each year.”

Of course, there is nothing written down in

the proposals that requires businesses caught

by the proposals to change their accounting

year end but as Kirsty details, businesses that

don’t will need to do an apportionment each

year. “Those with a 31 December year end,” she

warns, “would have just one month to prepare

the accounts before the figures have to be

submitted to HMRC.”

WHAT COMES NEXT?

The proposed reforms are all part of the

Government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD)

programme. MTD has been in place for VAT for

several years now and MTD for Income Tax is

scheduled to be introduced from 6 April 2023,

so aligning with the start date for these is part of

the proposed reforms.

MTD for Income Tax will apply to all selfemployed

businesses and landlords with annual

business or property income above £10,000.

“At its core,” Kirsty says, “is a requirement for

quarterly reporting, a process which will be

much simpler if all businesses are on a tax year

basis for the assessment of profits.”

So, whilst, in general, the proposed change

seems a sensible one, there will be winners

and losers and most will move to a tax year

basis for their accounts to remove the extra

administrative burden, and potential time

pressures, associated with the need to apportion.

Some, who don’t fall into line, and who are poor

at putting money away to pay their tax, could be

forced into hardship and financial distress.

For Emma, the solution is clear: “As

businesses could still be feeling the impacts of

the COVID-19 pandemic by the time the rules

come into force, they should consider working

with their tax adviser or agent to model what

the extra tax payable may be, and budget

accordingly.”

As an aside, retired tax inspector Wendy

Bradley, writing on AccountingWeb in July

(2021), quoted former MP Sir Oliver Letwin. He

reportedly said, in 2012, that the Government

only consults when it seeks confirmation that a

policy or change is going to work as expected,

‘but if you want your views known, you should

write to your MP.’

For those in need of some night-time

reading, the consultation, Basis period reform –

consultation, is on gov.uk.

Adam Bernstein is a freelance

business writer.


INTERNATIONAL

TRADE

Monthly round-up of the latest stories

in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.

Global supply chains are at risk

BACK in March, the blocking of

the Suez Canal by the cargo ship,

Ever Given, illustrated how just

a single incident could disrupt

trade globally. But now there’s

another example – the partial

closure mid-August of one of China's biggest

cargo ports, Ningbo-Zhoushan, due to the

Delta variant of coronavirus, and it has raised

fresh concerns about weak points in global

trade.

The closure will cut the port’s capacity to

handle containers by a quarter; and if the

terminal remains shut for an extended period

it could have an especially large impact on

the world economy.

Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China is the

world's third-busiest cargo port; its closure

could lead to more disruption in supply

chains before the Christmas shopping season

gets under way.

And the problem isn’t going away any time

soon according to Jason Chiang from Ocean

Shipping Consultants – he told the BBC that

‘we don't expect to see any new shipping

capacity until two years down the road. So,

everything between now and two years will

be dependent on how the pandemic plays

out.’ Each time something closes a port it

has a tendency to ripple out and trigger

problems elsewhere, including congestion

at other ports – many of which are already

operating at a lower rate than usual due to

COVID.

With a closure at the end of May at another

Chinese port, Yantian, firms need to be

especially alive to how they ship goods.

The problem of port closures isn’t going

away anytime soon.

CHINA’S CRACKDOWN ON BUSINESS

IN an attempt to further regulate its

economy, the Chinese Government

has published a five-year plan that

details tighter regulation of much

of its economy. The new rules cover

areas such as national security,

technology and monopolies and come

after the Government began targeting

the technology and education sectors.

The 10-point plan will tighten

law in areas such as science and

technological innovation, culture

and education. It will also deal with

monopolies and ‘foreign-related

rule of law’. Similarly, China's digital

economy, including internet finance,

artificial intelligence, big data,

cloud computing etc will also be

reviewed.

The worry for many is this new

crackdown could continue and

even expand in years to come. And

it’s no surprise then, that shares

in many Chinese listed firms have

fallen sharply in 2021, irrespective

of whether they’re listed in China or

elsewhere such as the US.

UK exporters should be aware

of what’s going on and invest

accordingly; dealing with markets is

one thing, but dealing with one-party

state Governments is quite another.

Wheelbarrows of cash?

ANYONE with an eye on history will

remember how, in the post-World War One

Weimar Republic, hyperinflation destroyed

its economy. Where a loaf of bread in Berlin

at the end of 1922 cost 160 Marks, by late

1923 it cost 200bn Marks and required a

wheelbarrow to carry the cash required to

buy the bread.

And so it is that current-day Venezuela is

to shave six zeroes – that is, divide amounts

by one million – off its inflation battered

currency, the bolivar, as from 1 October. The

change will come through the distribution

of new currency notes and seeks to make

transactions less complicated.

Of course, while this may have the desired

effect, it doesn’t detract from the state of the

Venezuelan economy.

In high inflation countries, maybe it is

now time for exporters to accept payment in

the likes of Bitcoin. Alternatively, they could

invest in cash printing services.


Malaysia loses its shine

ACCORDING to Bloomberg, Malaysia lost its

status as a role model for the developing

world some time ago.’ Its report noted the

‘endless misery’ of the pandemic – rolling

lockdowns, ‘galloping’ infections and a low

vaccination rate – has ‘come to epitomise

the descent’ of a once-proud nation.

Malaysia’s leaders were once

given credit, despite being somewhat

authoritarian, for growing the country

through low inflation and stable budgets.

Markets were opened, but waste,

corruption and cronyism crept in.

The country is now ‘beset’ by social,

economic and political crises and

Bloomberg reckons that parliamentarians

Who will gain from US spending?

THE US Senate recently approved

President Biden’s $1.2tn proposal to

improve the nation’s aging infrastructure. If

approved by the House of Representatives,

it could give a boost to several industries.

The question is – which?

Time Magazine thinks it has a good

idea. It thinks that cable and fibre-optic

internet companies should do well as the

bill allocates $65bn to improve internet

access for low-income and isolated

communities. In particular, home internet

providers should receive some $40bn in

grants to expand their networks to rural

areas.

Next to benefit are those in global

supply chains and delivery who could

receive around $130bn in new funding for

just cannot find a way to unite. Worse, the

IMF’s forecast growth of 6.5 percent in 2021

seems unlikely and further interest rate

cuts and fiscal spending are almost

certain.

COVID has hurt the country and

lockdowns have left local factories

struggling to function. Foreign trade

associations have complained bitterly

about the rules. But lockdowns do end and

Malaysia looks the second-most likely

country in the region to exceed 80 percent

full vaccination rate by October, behind

only Singapore. That should enable a

domestic reopening later in the year and a

big boom from pent-up demand.

It’s all going swimmingly well

THERE have been several beneficiaries of

the pandemic – consumer technologies,

video communications and dine-in food

and drink. But there seems to be another

reckons Germany’s Wirtschaftswoche.

It points to Barcelona-based Fluidra

which is, apparently, the world’s

biggest provider of swimming pools

and related accessories. It’s found that

pool ownership is on the rise amid

the increase in global wealth and

construction, and the pandemic has

given the trend a boost which has been

further enhanced by travel bans and

heatwaves.

The publication noted that the

global market for pools and accessories

is, however, fragmented, with 1,000

companies taking up than 50 percent

of it with Fluidra, on its own, taking 17

percent.

What does this mean? Look to expand

your reach if you’re in this sector as

people are clearly buying.

transit systems and ports of entry, supply

chain and parcels.

There’s also funding of $7.5bn to further

develop electric vehicle charging stations

across the country beyond the existing

43,600 EV charging stations in the US.

And by dint of upgrading the physical

infrastructure of the US – that means

roads, bridges, pipes, electric wires

and rails – those involved in steel,

aluminium and copper should do well

with approximately $550bn in new federal

spending towards commodity-intensive

infrastructure projects. Similarly, providers

of cement and timber won’t do too badly

either and nor will nuclear power which

will see a four-year, $6bn programme to

keep reactors going.

A Euro-centric

view of infrastructure

THERE are opportunities for firms to help

France and Germany grow their cycling

infrastructure. France is intent on building

700km of cycle routes over the next few

years while Germany is to spend €1.5bn on

similar projects to promote cycling as a

greener way to go to work and get around.

Apart from the infrastructure, there’s

also a rising awareness of the benefits of

cycling which may feed into demand for

bikes, accessories, and clothing.

So, while ‘get on your bike’ was the

advice that former cabinet minister

Norman Tebbit gave to millions of

unemployed people in the 1980s, maybe

it’s time that cycling-related firms take his

words quite literally.

Don’t ignore inflation

ACCORDING to Timothy Taylor – not the

brewery, but the Managing Editor of the

Journal of Economic Perspective that’s

based in Minnisota – high inflation

should be a real concern to all. Taylor

cites Lebanon as a warning, pointing to a

recent World Bank report that ranked the

economic crisis there as one of the most

severe in the world since the mid-19th

century.

In overview, its GDP per capita, in US

dollars, has fallen by around 40 percent

and prices have risen by an average of 84.3

percent in 2020 as the stock of currency in

circulation rose by 197 percent.

Taylor points also to an essay written

by V.S. Naipaul in 1992 which examined

the role of inflation on Argentina where

inflation was, he said, a ‘monetary disease’.

Money disintegrates, people cease to plan

and so live day-to-day. Productivity gains

halt because it becomes more important

to think about protecting working capital

than long-term investments in technology.

Long queues form for necessities like food

and prescription drugs demand a backpack

full of cash.

The key point is that when inflation

arrives, people and firms need to sit up and

pay attention. And so do those that trade

with an inflation-riven country.

CURRENCY UK

EXCHANGE RATES VISIT CURRENCYUK.CO.UK

OR CALL 020 7738 0777

Currency UK is authorised and regulated

by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

HIGH LOW TREND

GBP/EUR 1.17548 1.16114 Flat

GBP/USD 1.39069 1.36067 Up

GBP/CHF 1.27993 1.24797 Up

GBP/AUD 1.91431 1.85705 Flat

GBP/CAD 1.76145 1.72807 Up

GBP/JPY 152.791 149.287 Up

This data was taken on 17th September and refers to the

month previous to/leading up to 16th September 2021.


LIFE

LIFE CYCLES

Are we more productive working from

home, or is it just more convenient for

doing the laundry?

AUTHOR – Glen Bullivant FCICM

– is there anybody there?’

‘Can you hear me, Steve?’

‘Have you anything to tell us,

Audrey?’ There was a time

when this method of trying to

communicate with each other

‘EY up

was known as a séance but now it’s more usually

referred to as video calling.

When I say usually do I mean normally, and

if the latter, what exactly is normal? The COVID

pandemic has thrown a whole host of different

ingredients into the stewing pot of our lives and

perhaps the resultant dish now set before us is

not to everyone’s taste.

There is a generally accepted yearning to

return to normal when the virus has been driven

off, but major cataclysms have always caused

change – life in 1919 was never the same as it

had been in 1914, nor 1946 compared to 1939. In

this 20th anniversary year of 9/11, can anyone

remember when boarding a plane was about

as simple as catching a bus or a train? I suspect

that what we all really want to do is retain the

best of what we used to enjoy and embrace the

advantages that change has brought about. I can

almost hear the Dowager Countess Grantham

right now sitting behind a pyramid of cream

cakes in the drawing room at Downton saying to

His Lordship, ‘Robert, if things do not alter, they

will stay as they are.’

GREAT DEBATE

The great debate around a return to something

we can call normal is that which concerns the

office and working from home, and the shift from

buying in-store to on-line. We all know that the

media thrive on sound bites and love to predict

the dire consequences of this or of that – mass

unemployment, business failures and the end of

civilisation as we know it. They went overboard

when someone in a business somewhere said

that working from home had increased employee

productivity – a collective nodding of heads

from Penzance to Perth, though I failed to spot

any of the nodders defining what they meant by

productivity.

A simple definition of greater output will not

do – are we producing more because we are not

commuting three or four hours a day, logging

on at 08.00 instead of 09.00 and logging off at

17.30 instead of 16.30? Or are we more efficient

at home, collecting the cash as the washing

machine runs its full hot wash cycle?

Many companies have called for full office

return as the pandemic eases, others are offering

a hybrid home/office alternative – the debate

Glen Bullivant

Many

companies have

called for full

office return as

the pandemic

eases, others are

offering a hybrid

home/office

alternative.

continues and I doubt that anyone has really

found an answer to satisfy all. As my washing

machine begins its final spin, however, I would

like to throw in my minor four penneth to the

discussion – credit management is a people

profession and if I am assessing a customer

in respect of a £1m contract, or negotiating a

repayment plan of importance to both seller

and buyer, no amount of digital séances can

replace the value of actual face-to-face meetings

involving as they do, real eye contact, body

language and the genuine sense of comfort or

discomfort that can easily be masked by the

computer screen.

FASHION AND FAD

It may be that the current home office working is

little more than a fad or a fashion and who is to say

that it will become permanent as circumstances

change, as inevitably they will. The same could

be said of the boom in on-line shopping – it is

true that some famous names in the High Street

have gone, but in in many cases they were

doomed even before the pandemic and the online

boom. They had failed to adapt to changing

habits early enough, assuming that what they

offered in 1965 suited 2015, not to mention 2020.

Independents faired much better, being more

flexible and dynamic in their operations and

focusing both on the needs of their customers

and the best way to meet those needs. Putting all

your eggs in one basket has never been a good

idea, and the seemingly unstoppable rise in

cyber crime and on-line fraud may yet bite many

bottoms. The same could be said of supply chain

fragility – the weakness of ‘just in time’ has been

graphically exposed by the combined impact

of the pandemic, Brexit and one container ship

trying to sail sideways through the Suez Canal.

Let me end on a more cheerful and positive

note by recommending a ride on a double decker

bus. Before you say you have never been on a bus,

the likelihood is that you have used a hop-on,

hop-off bus when visiting Paris, Berlin or London

(probably not Venice for obvious reasons). My

recommendation is the 840 Coastliner from

Malton to Whitby, across the North Yorkshire

Moors, taking in Thornton-Le-Dale (Bangers

& Cash), Goathland (Aidensfield in Heartbeat)

and the Hole of Hocum. Drive your own car if

you must, but you won’t see the views as you

concentrate on trying to avoid those bikers who

really should not be wearing Lycra at their age.

Glen Bullivant FCICM is a freelance business

writer an a CICM Executive Board Trustee.


LIFE

AUTHOR – Glen Bullivant FCICM

Or are we more

efficient at home,

collecting the cash

as the washing

machine runs

its full hot wash

cycle?


CICM Development Partner

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development solutions

for your team

Develop your teams

Benefit from CICM Membership and have access to

professional development, networking, knowledge and

information opportunities.

Raise your corporate profile in the profession

As a Development Partner, your organisation

demonstrates a commitment to the profession and

excellence within it.

Enquire today about becoming a CICM Development

Partner and let us help you create a tailored package for

your organisation and your team.

For details contact: info@cicm.com


THE 2021 CICM

TURNER

LECTURE

THE LAW SOCIET Y, LONDON

FREE EVENT

TO CICM

MEMBERS

DATE: FRIDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2021 | TIME: 11:00 - 13:30

Join our panel, aided by Richard Seadon FCICM as moderator, where they will

explain the difficulties they each faced during the pandemic, and their views on

what the future looks like for the industry and our members. It is hoped this will

be an interactive session where our members will also be invited to put their own

views and ask questions.

Following the lecture, we would also like to invite you to attend an optional

lunch which is charged at £75.00+vat per person.

Special thanks for the event sponsors, including Henderson Chambers,

TG Baynes, Global Credit Recoveries and the HCEO Association.

To book your place, scan below or visit cicm.com/events.

THE 2021 CICM

TURNER

LECTURE

THE LAW SOCIET Y, LONDON

Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com /October 2021 / PAGE 35

PAYMENT TRENDS

Lucky Charms

The latest payment performance statistics

show promising sounds of progress.

AUTHOR – Rob Howard

Overall, the sector standings in Ireland

are impressive, with only one of the 20 sectors

moving in the wrong direction.

FOR the first time ever in the

Payment Trends series, we

can provide an update and

insight on the world of late

payments from the island

of Ireland, both North and

South. As the old saying goes, call it luck

if you will, but their first appearance

coincides with continued improvement,

with a number of regions and sectors

reducing their terms.

The average Days Beyond Terms (DBT)

across regions and sectors in the UK

reduced by 1.4 and 2.2 days respectively.

In Ireland, the figures dropped by 9.1

and seven days respectively. Average

DBT across regions in Northern Ireland

reduced by a massive 20.9 days.

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Overall, the sector standings in Ireland

are impressive, with only one of the 20

sectors moving in the wrong direction.

But even more impressive, is the three

sectors (International Bodies, IT and

Comms, and Other Services) that are tied

at the top with an overall DBT of Zero

days. Zero. Nil. No late payments.

There is, however, some distance

between top and bottom, with Business

Admin and Support far and away the

worst performing sector with an overall

DBT of 56.6 days.

The UK figures are also promising, with

a number of steady improvements being

made. The Hospitality sector continues

to flourish after opening its doors again,

a further reduction of 3.1 days means it

remains the best performing sector with

an overall DBT of 4.8 days. It’s closely

followed by the Entertainment sector on

five days overall following a reduction

of five days to payment terms. At the

opposite end of the standings, a hefty hike

of 10.6 days means Energy Supply is now

the worst performing sector in the UK.

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

In a similar vein to the sector spotlight,

the regional figures for Ireland are a

tale of two extremes. Impressively, seven

regions (Cavan, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Offaly,

Sligo, Waterford and Westmeath) are tied

at the top of the standings with an overall

DBT of zero days.

But while those at the top revel in

speedy payments, those at the other

end of the scale need to make drastic

improvements. Monaghan is by far and

away the worst performing region in

Ireland with an enormous overall DBT of

91.8 days. Carlow (65 days) and Wexford

(46.1 days) also need to improve.

The UK standings are also positive,

with all but two of the 11 regions reducing

payment terms. The South West of

England continues to reign in top spot,

with a reduction of half a day taking its

overall DBT to 8.5 days. London (-1.1 days)

and the North West (minus three days) are

not too far behind though, with overall

DBT’s of 10.8 and 10.9 days respectively.

East Anglia continues to be cut adrift

however, an increase of 3.1 days means

its overall DBT is now 20.5 days, and so it

remains the worst performing region by a

growing margin.

In Northern Ireland, all four regions

made improvements to their payment

terms. The most significant came in

Ulster, with a huge reduction of 39.7 days

taking its overall DBT to 8.2 days. Leinster

is the best performing region in the

country with a DBT of 5.7 days, following

an improvement of 21.4 days.

By Rob Howard.


STATISTICS

Data supplied by the Creditsafe Group


Getting Better

SCOTLAND

-2.4 DBT

IT and Comms -6.8

International Bodies -6.7

NORTH

WEST

-3 DBT

YORKSHIRE &

HUMBERSIDE

-1.4 DBT

Real Estate -6.5

Public Administration -6.2

Business from Home -5.4

Entertainment -5.2

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing -4.1

Mining and Quarrying -3.5

WALES

-3.2 DBT

WEST

MIDLANDS

-0.4 DBT

EAST

MIDLANDS

-2.4 DBT

EAST

ANGLIA

-3.1 DBT

Other Service -3.5

Hospitality -3.1

Health & Social -2.9

Education -2.6

LONDON

-1.1 DBT

Professional and Scientific -2.6

Business Admin and Support -2.1

SOUTH

WEST

-0.5 DBT

SOUTH

EAST

-1 DBT

Wholesale and retail trade -2.1

Dormant -1.6

Transportation and Storage -1.1

Financial and Insurance -0.6

Top Five Prompter Payers - UK

Region August 21 Change from July21

South West 8.5 -0.5

London 10.8 -1.1

North West 10.9 -3

Scotland 10.9 -2.4

East Midlands 11.3 -2.4

Getting Worse

Energy Supply -10.6

Water & Waste -3.3

Construction -2.8

Bottom Five Poorest Payers - UK

Region August 21 Change from July21

East Anglia 20.5 3.1

West Midlands 13.3 0.4

Wales 11.9 -3.2

South East 11.5 -1

Yorkshire and Humberside 11.3 -1.4

Top Five Prompter Payers - UK

Sector August 21 Change from July21

Hospitality 4.8 -3.1

Entertainment 5 -5.2

Health & Social 7.6 -2.9

Education 8.4 -2.6

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 9.4 -4.1

Bottom Five Poorest Payers - UK

Sector August 21 Change from July21

Energy Supply 22.8 10.6

International Bodies 19.2 -6.7

Mining and Quarrying 18.3 -3.5

Construction 17 2.8

Water & Waste 13.8 3.3

Region

Getting Better – Getting Worse

-3.2

-3

-2.4

-2.4

-1.4

-1.1

-1

-0.5

-3.1

-0.4

Wales

North West

East Midlands

Scotland

Yorkshire and Humberside

London

South East

South West

East Anglia

West Midlands



PAYMENT TRENDS


But while those at the top revel in speedy payments,

those at the other end of the scale need to make drastic

improvements. Monaghan is by far and away the worst

performing region in Ireland with an enormous overall

DBT of 91.8 days. Carlow (65 days) and Wexford (46.1 days)

also need to improve.

CONNACHT

-4.8 DBT

ULSTER

-39.7 DBT

Ireland

Getting Better – Getting Worse

-39.7

-21.4

-17.7

-4.8

Ulster

Leinster

Munster

Connacht

Getting Better

Real Estate -37.9

Health & Social -18.7

MUNSTER

-17.7 DBT

LEINSTER

-21.4 DBT

Professional and Scientific -17.4

Transportation and Storage -16.5

Construction -16

C

M

Y

Manufacturing -12.5

CM

Financial and Insurance -11.9

MY

Wholesale and retail trade; -11.7

CY

IT and Comms -5.7

CMY

K

Top Four Prompter Payers – Ireland / N Ireland

Region August 21 Change from July 21

Leinster 5.7 -21.4

Bottom Four Poorest Payers - Ireland

Munster 6.1 -17.7

Connacht 6.3 -4.8

Ulster 8.2 -39.7

Getting Worse

Entertainment 7.7

Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland


Cavan 0 -0.5

Kilkenny 0 -28

Leitrim 0 -17.5

Offaly 0 -32.7

Sligo 0 -3.6

Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland


Monaghan 91.8 0

Carlow 65 0

Wexford 46.1 -2.1

Dublin 26.6 -7.2

Limerick 22.9 -11.8

Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland

Sector August 21 Change from July 21

International Bodies 0 0

IT and Comms 0 -5.7

Other Service 0 0

Public Administration 0.8 0

Wholesale and retail trade 4.4 -11.7

Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland

Sector August 21 Change from July 21

Business Admin & Support 56.6 0

Water & Waste 34 0

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 31 0

Energy Supply 26 0

Financial and Insurance 22.8 -11.9


WWW.BAKERING.GLOBAL

SOUTHERN EUROPE

KEY TAKEAWAYS

GROWTH

Positively, after having

contracted by high

single digits or even low

double digits in 2020,

real GDP growth in the

region has turned

positive again.

In the Eurozone, to which all four covered

markets belong, the economy fell by 1.3% year

on year (y/y) in January-March 2021 but

switched into a much higher gear in Q2 when

real GDP expanded by a never seen before

13.6%.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Positively, unemployment

did not increase by as

much as initially feared,

helped by the sizeable

wage subsidy schemes

national government

launched during the

pandemic. Overall, the Eurozone's harmonised

unemployment rate rose from 7.1% in March

2020 to 8.6% in August 2020. Since then it has

lowered to 7.7% again in June 2021, indicating

that the worst for the European labour

markets is over.

MARKUS KUGER,

CHIEF ECONOMIST

Average payment delays in days have increased in most European

countries as most companies faced faltering demand for their goods and

services while at the same time having to deal with social distancing

rules or lockdown measures. On a European level, delays increased by an

average 1.2 days, with Italy (1.3 days increase) and Spain (2.1 days)

reporting above-average deteriorations. The outlier is Portugal, where

average payment delays fell by more than 3 days.

DOWNLOAD MY NEW REPORT ON SOUTHERN EUROPE FROM

WWW.BAKERING.GLOBAL

INFLATION

For the remainder of

2021, inflation is likely

to stay on its current

upward trend as base

effects (such as

temporary tax cuts and

low commodity prices in 2020) are still at play

and supply chain disruptions are also pushing

producer prices upwards. Positively, it is likely

that the increased price pressures will subside

in 2022 as supply chain integrity will be

restored and base effects will be eliminated

from the calculation base.

Southern Europe

Economic Outlook

INTRODUCING OUR

CORPORATE PARTNERS

For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a

Corporate Partnership with the CICM, please contact corporatepartners@cicm.com

High Court Enforcement Group is the largest

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enforcement company in the country, with more

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Clients trust us to deliver and service is paramount.

We cover all aspects of enforcement –writs of

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T: 08450 999 666

E: clientservices@hcegroup.co.uk

W: hcegroup.co.uk

Satago helps business owners and their

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one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud

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HighRadius provides a cloud-based Integrated

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organisations to reduce cycle time in the order-tocash

process and increase working capital availability

by automating receivables and payments processes

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T: +44 (0) 203 997 9400

E: infoemea@highradius.com

W: www.highradius.com

Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps

businesses pay and get paid. Businesses and banks

rely on Bottomline for domestic and international

payments, effective cash management tools, automated

workflows for payment processing and bill review

and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural

analytics and regulatory compliance. Every day, we

help our customers by making complex business

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T: 0870 081 8250

E: emea-info@bottomline.com

W: www.bottomline.com/uk

Operating across seven UK offices, Menzies LLP is

an accountancy firm delivering traditional services

combined with strategic commercial thinking. Our

services include: advisory, audit, corporate and

personal tax, corporate finance, forensic accounting,

outsourcing, wealth management and business

recovery – the latter of which includes our specialist

offering developed specifically for creditors. For

more information on this, or to see how the Menzies

Creditor Services team can assist you, please

visit: www.menzies.co.uk/creditor-services.

T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London

T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff

W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services

Key IVR provide a suite of products to assist companies

across Europe with credit management. The

service gives the end-user the means to make a

payment when and how they choose. Key IVR also

provides a state-of-the-art outbound platform

delivering automated messages by voice and SMS.

In a credit management environment, these services

are used to cost-effectively contact debtors and

connect them back into a contact centre or

automated payment line.

T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000

E: sales@keyivr.com

W: www.keyivr.com

With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading

provider of business information, analytics, insights

and solutions. Graydon helps its customers to make

fast, accurate decisions, enabling them to minimise

risk and identify fraud as well as optimise opportunities

with their commercial relationships. Graydon

uses 130+ international databases and the information

of 90+ million companies. Graydon has offices in

London, Cardiff, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Since 2016,

Graydon has been part of Atradius, one of the world’s

largest credit insurance companies.

T: +44 (0)208 515 1400

E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk

W: www.graydon.co.uk

Tinubu Square is a trusted source of trade credit

intelligence for credit insurers and for corporate

customers. The company’s B2B Credit Risk

Intelligence solutions include the Tinubu Risk

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the Tinubu Credit Intelligence service and the

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companies rely on Tinubu Square to protect their

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T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /

E: uksales@tinubu.com

W: www.tinubu.com.

Building on our mature and hugely successful

product and world class support service, we are

re-imagining our risk awareness module in 2019 to

allow for hugely flexible automated worklists and

advanced visibility of areas of risk. Alongside full

integration with all credit scoring agencies (e.g.

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for analysis and automation. Impressive results

and ROI are inevitable for our customers that also

have an active input into our product development

and evolution.

T: 01235 856400

E: info@credica.co.uk

W: www.credica.co.uk


Each of our Corporate Partners is carefully selected for

their commitment to the profession, best practice in the

Credit Industry and the quality of services they provide.

We are delighted to showcase them here.

THEY'RE WAITING TO TALK TO YOU...

Hays Credit Management is a national specialist

division dedicated exclusively to the recruitment of

credit management and receivables professionals,

at all levels, in the public and private sectors. As

the CICM’s only Premium Corporate Partner, we

are best placed to help all clients’ and candidates’

recruitment needs as well providing guidance on

CV writing, career advice, salary bench-marking,

marketing of vacancies, advertising and campaign

led recruitment, competency-based interviewing,

career and recruitment trends.

T: 07834 260029

E: karen.young@hays.com

W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol

Court Enforcement Services is the market

leading and fastest growing High Court Enforcement

company. Since forming in 2014, we have managed

over 100,000 High Court Writs and recovered more

than £187 million for our clients, all debt fairly

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sectors to recover unpaid CCJ’s sooner rather than

later. We achieve 39 percent early engagement

resulting in market-leading recovery rates. Our

multi-award-winning technology provides real-time

reporting 24/7.

T: +44 (0)1992 663 399

E: wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk

W: courtenforcementservices.co.uk

Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work

closely with credit teams to recover commercial

debts as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt

recovery, including:

• Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and

keep costs down • Litigation service • Insolvency

• Post-litigation services including enforcement

As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to

relate to your goals, and adept at advising you on the

most effective way of achieving them.

T: 03700 86 3000

E: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk

W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk

Forums International has been running Credit and

Industry Forums since 1991 covering a range of

industry sectors and international trading. Attendance

is for credit professionals of all levels. Our forums

are not just meetings but communities which

aim to prepare our members for the challenges

ahead. Attending for the first time is free for you to

gauge the benefits and meet the members and we

only have pre-approved Partners, so you will never

intentionally be sold to.

T: +44 (0)1246 555055

E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk

W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk

Data Interconnect provides ERP-agnostic AR

software. The Corrivo platform transmits invoices

in multiple formats using tax compliant templates

custom-designed for your business. Corrivo expedites

collections, reconciliation and dispute processes with

flexible workflow tools for creating and assigning tasks,

limits, chase paths or stops and a self-service portal

where customers can query, comment, dispute or pay.

Corrivo manages data securely and efficiently so that

you can manage your customers and cashflow better.

T: +44 (0)1367 245777

E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk

W: www.datainterconnect.com

Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for

organisations seeking efficient cash visibility

and secure financial processes. As an SAP

Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies

worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience

and thousands of successful customer projects,

including solutions for the entire order-to-cash

process, Serrala provides credit managers and

receivables professionals with the solutions they

need to successfully protect their business against

credit risk exposure and bad debt loss.

T: +44 118 207 0450

E: contact@serrala.com

W: www.serrala.com

American Express® is a globally recognised

provider of business payment solutions, providing

flexible capabilities to help companies drive

growth. These solutions support buyers and

suppliers across the supply chain with working

capital and cashflow.

By creating an additional lever to help support

supplier/client relationships American Express is

proud to be an innovator in the business payments

space.

T: +44 (0)1273 696933

W: www.americanexpress.com

C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables

into income, uniquely connecting buyers and

suppliers to allow discounts in exchange for

early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers

access additional liquidity sources by accelerating

payments from buyers when required in just two

clicks, at a rate that works for them. Buyers, often

corporates with global supply chains, benefit from

the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while

strengthening the financial health of supply chains

through ethical business practices.

T: 07799 692193

E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com

W: www.c2fo.com

Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes

the all-too-common obstacles preventing today’s

businesses from collecting receivables in a

timely manner. From credit management to cash

allocation, Esker automates each step of the orderto-cash

cycle. Esker’s automated AR system helps

companies modernise without replacing their

core billing and collections processes. By simply

automating what should be automated, customers

get the post-sale experience they deserve and your

team gets the tools they need.

T: +44 (0)1332 548176

E: sam.townsend@esker.co.uk

W: www.esker.co.uk


INTRODUCING OUR

CORPORATE

PARTNERS

For further information and to discuss the

opportunities of entering into a Corporate

Partnership with the CICM, please contact

corporatepartners@cicm.com

The Company Watch platform provides risk analysis

and data modelling tools to organisations around

the world that rely on our ability to accurately predict

their exposure to financial risk. Our H-Score®

predicted 92 percent of quoted company insolvencies

and our TextScore® accuracy rate was 93

percent. Our scores are trusted by credit professionals

within banks, corporates, investment houses

and public sector bodies because, unlike other credit

reference agencies, we are transparent and flexible

in our approach.

T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300

E: info@companywatch.net

W: www.companywatch.net

Onguard is a specialist in credit management

software and a market leader in innovative solutions

for Order to Cash. Our integrated platform ensures

an optimal connection of all processes in the Order

to Cash chain and allows sharing of critical data. Our

intelligent tools can seamlessly interconnect and

offer overview and control of the payment process,

as well as contribute to a sustainable customer

relationship. The Onguard platform is successfully

used for successful credit management in more

than 50 countries.

T: 020 3966 8324

E: edan.milner@onguard.com

W: www.onguard.com

The Atradius Collections business model is to support

businesses and their recoveries. We are seeing a

deterioration and increase in unpaid invoices placing

pressures on cashflow for those businesses. Brexit is

causing uncertainty and we are seeing a significant

impact on the UK economy with an increase in

insolvencies, now also impacting the continent and

spreading. Our geographical presence is expanding

and with a single IT platform across the globe we can

provide greater efficiencies and effectiveness to our

clients to recover their unpaid invoices.

T: +44 (0)2920 824700

W: www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/

Chris Sanders Consulting – we are a different

sort of consulting firm, made up of a network of

independent experienced operational credit and

collections management and invoicing professionals,

with specialisms in cross industry best practice

advisory, assessment, interim management,

leadership, workshops and training to help your

team and organisation reach their full potential in

credit and collections management. We are proud to

be Corporate Partners of the Chartered Institute of

Credit Management and to manage the CICM Best

Practice Accreditation Programme on their behalf.

T: +44(0)7747 761641

E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com

The CICM Benevolent Fund is

here to support members of

the CICM in times of need.

Some examples of how CICM have helped our members are:

• Financed the purchase of a mobility scooter for a disabled member.

• Helped finance the studies of the daughter of a member who

became unexpectedly ill.

• Financed the purchase of computer equipment to assist an

unemployed member set up a business.

• Contributed towards the purchase of an orthopaedic bed for one

member whose condition was thereby greatly eased.

• Helped with payment for a drug, not available on the NHS, for

medical treatment of another member.

If you or any dependants are in need or in distress, please apply today – we are here to

help. (Your application will then be reviewed by the CICM Benevolent Fund committee and

you will be advised of their decision as quickly as possible)


EDUCATION & MARKETING

Booking your

exams has never

been easier

Head over to our new exam pages

for all the information you need to prepare,

book and take your CICM exams

www.cicm.com/exams/


MARKETING & EDUCATION

Virtual Classes

for 2021

Get CICM qualified by attending

Virtual Classes: The best of both worlds.

Home study does not mean you have to study alone. Our ‘gold standard’

distance learning offer, our Virtual Classes have the greatest success

rate of all our packages. Your study will be supported and led by one of

our experienced CICM Tutors via a series of virtual classes and activities,

which are interactive, challenging and fun.

LEVEL

2

Commercial

LEVEL

3

Advanced

LEVEL

5

Strategic

Telephone – 1 November

Business Comms – 4 October

Debt Recovery Management – 1 November

Credit Risk Management (TCE) – 1 November

Planning – 1 November

Book your place today, visit www.cicm.com

or contact a member of our team on 01780 722900


Apprentice profile


CHRISTOPHER Holden started his

career at United Utilities in December

2012 in the Income department as a

Customer Advisor Advanced.

“In my nine years at United Utilities,

I’ve held a number of roles gaining

experience in customer service, our systems and how

they work and workforce planning,” he explains. “My

current role is a Customer Team Leader. I manage the

Affordability team who are responsible for looking

after United Utilities’ more financially vulnerable

customers.”

Christopher signed up to the Level 3 Apprenticeship

Scheme to support his professional development: “I

felt it was a fantastic opportunity to develop further

in my current role in Income by getting a detailed

insight into credit management.

“Initially, I thought it would be hugely time

consuming and difficult to manage alongside the

demands of my everyday role. However, as the

sessions began and I received good feedback on my

first couple of Directed Learning assignments and

CICM classes, I have realised its easily manageable as

we have a well put together schedule for our Directed

Learning along with good study text material for our

CICM qualification.”

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

Christopher is already learning new skills and

building his knowledge: “So far, I have learned

a number of things within the first few weeks of

the course,” he says. “I have learned about how

customers fall into arrears and what macro trends

can contribute to them going down this path. I have

learned more about the collection’s lifecycle and how

this can relate back to the way we operate here at

United Utilities.

“Everything we have looked at so far has given

me a different perspective on why we do the things

that we do when it comes to tailoring our collection

strategies and treatments to deal with certain types

of customer. As a result, I’ve started to look at things

more holistically to determine the right resolution for

individual customer scenarios.”

Christopher is excited by the future: “I feel by

working through this apprenticeship it will help me

achieve my goal of furthering my career at United

Utilities especially within in Income. I want to put

into practice the things I learn over the next two

years to help the area achieve its goals.”

First in a new series

of how CICM-led

Apprenticeships are

supporting professional

development

Christopher Holden

United Utilities

Customer Team Leader

“Initially, I thought it would be hugely time

consuming and difficult to manage alongside the

demands of my everyday role. However, as the

sessions began and I received good feedback on my

first couple of Directed Learning assignments and

CICM classes I have realised its easily manageable

as we have a well put together schedule for our

Directed Learning along with good study text

material for our CICM qualification.”

Apprenticeships in Credit

Control and Collections

There are five apprenticeships for those working in the credit

profession. At each Level of apprenticeship you will be able to

gain professional CICM qualifications

• Credit Controller/Collector Apprentice

• Advanced Credit Controller and Debt Collection Specialist

Apprenticeship

• Compliance/Risk Officer Apprenticeship

• Senior Compliance/Risk Specialist Apprenticeship

• Financial Services Degree Apprenticeship

For more details on how CICM can help you start your

apprenticeship journey, visit cicm.com/apprenticeships


CICM Resource Centre

Delivering the best

Resources for you

and your team

Member Exclusive resources

Whether you’re completely new to credit

management or want to take your skills to the next

level, our free guides, toolkits,

Serrala

blogs and tips are

CP

designed to help you enhance your knowledge,

stay informed about developments and gain advice

from a range of experts.

Keeping you up-to-date with:

Help and Advice from our Corporate Partners

Money and Debt Advice / Wellbeing / Legal Advice

Log in to your members area for

Member Exclusive resources



EDUCATION & MARKETING

CICM Virtual Training is an ‘access anywhere’ range of interactive, online training

courses, designed to give you the skills and tools you need to thrive in your credit

work. Each training course offers high quality approaches to credit-related topics, and

practical skills that can be used in your workplace. A highly qualified trainer, with an

array of credit management experience, will guide you through the subject to give you

practical skills, improved results and greater confidence.

These are pre-recorded training

sessions that you can access

anywhere and at anytime. Short,

sharp and to the point – these suit

you if you are short on time, or need

a quick introduction or update on a

subject.

These are live, interactive sessions,

delivered virtually by a qualified trainer,

experienced in the subject. Through

a series of tasks and discussions, you

will access a hands-on training session

that offers the best practice approach to

essential credit and debt skills.

NEXT VIRTUAL

WORKSHOPS

Collection Skills for the new credit future – 13 October @ 9:30am

Advanced Skills in Collections – 13 October @ 11:30am

Best Practice Skills To Access Credit Risk – 13 October @ 13:30pm

MEET YOUR TRAINER: Jules Eames FCICM(Grad); PGCE, is a qualified teacher,

trainer and credit manager with experience in credit and debt specialisms across the

O2C spectrum and ancillary businesses, in consumer, B2B and export markets.

INTRODUCTORY PRICE £90.00+VAT per person.

For group training, please contact info@cicm.com


Switch to Direct Debit

Why not spread

the cost of your

Serrala

CICM Membership

CP

Manage your own cashflow

Simply scan the code below using your phone,

print and return to CICM, The Watermill, Station

Road, South Luffenham, Rutland, LE15 8NB

and we will do the rest!

Another reason to be a member

Make the switch to Direct Debit



ADVERTORIAL

The AI Advantage:

Why the Time is Right

Everybody is talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI), but what

is all the fuss about if your finance teams are still operating

efficiently? Will AI take jobs, or even replace industries?

THE simple truth is no. It is

however becoming clear

that teams who are not leveraging

AI for collections,

credit and disputes rapidly

risk losing market share to

competitors who are.

THE STORY OF ALEXA

When we first heard the term ‘Alexa’,

there were mixed reactions to the speaker

that could pick up voice commands.

Seven years on, Alexa is available in 15

languages, across 80 countries and boasts

more than 100,000 skills.

Today, it can wake up your cat, help

prepare dinner, keep your home secure,

find your phone, even clean your house!

All cleverly driven through the power of

machine learning and AI.

Within finance, AI tools can handle

huge amounts of manual processes in

the areas of cash, credit, collections, and

disputes. Often these manual processes

are subject to manual errors that can lead

to huge losses and damage a company’s

reputation.

LATE PAYMENT FORECASTING

Looking in several places for payment

due dates in multiple currencies is always

a challenge for clients who are reactive

and results in customers only being

contacted when a payment is already late.

By leveraging algorithms that analyse

payment trends, AI can create payment

date predictions so finance can prepare

for collection activities before an invoice

is even due. Organisations leveraging AI

in this way can realise an improvement

of between eight and 12 percent in

working capital just by tapping into this

functionality.

PREDICTING DISPUTES

Unresolved disputes account for large

losses. Finance teams waste hours looking

through unresolved deductions with 15-20

percent of disputes being invalid.

AI and machine learning algorithms

can predict the validity of these disputes,

saving time and increasing output.

As the data pool increases, AI can identify

patterns and predict the validity of future

deduction claims.

AI IS IMPACTING THE FUTURE OF

FINANCE

Although AI is changing the way finance

teams operate, there are opportunities

to embrace this change and replace

manually intensive processes with more

critical and strategic projects.

AI and machine learning allow

teams to reduce the number of manual

transactions posted, close their books

faster and reduce the cost of regulatory

compliance.

PROCESS

Cheque Data Capture

Remittance Handling

Remittance Handling

Collections

Deductions Integration

Deductions Validity

Predictor

Deductions Data

Extraction

While many order-to-cash solution

vendors claim to have AI, few are

leveraging this engine to drive business

improvement, reduce costs and impact

the user experience.

Ask yourself if your existing tool is

actioning repeatable, high-volume tasks

(Robotic Process Automation), leveraging

machine learning to make decisions

when repetitive information is presented

(machine learning), or truly leveraging

AI for deductive reasoning to come to

an outcome, such as predicting invoice

disputes (AI).

Here are some checkpoints to consider

when evaluating use of AI:

AI CAPABILITY

AI-based OCR technology to capture data

from cheque and cheque stub without

having to maintain templates.

ML algorithms to intelligently use AR

data to predict invoices with probability

parameter.

ML algorithms to intelligently use AR

data to predict invoices with probability

parameter.

Predict invoice payment dates so

collections teams have insight into

potential delays.

Integrations with customer and carrier

websites/emails to backup documents

such as Claims, POD, BOL etc.

Deductions validity predictor to provide

an insight on the outcome of a deduction

with confidence score parameters.

Deductions validity predictor to provide

an insight on the outcome of a deduction

with confidence score parameters.


HR MATTERS

Guiding Light

New guidance on hybrid working and the

initial burden of proof.

NEW guidance on hybrid

working has been

published by ACAS to

help employers consider,

discuss, and introduce

this flexible way of

working in their workplace.

Hybrid working is a type of flexible

working where an employee splits their

time between the workplace and working

remotely. The new guidance is timely

given that a recent study published by

ACAS shows that over half of employers

in Great Britain expect an increase

in demand for flexible working from

employees after the country comes out of

the coronavirus pandemic.

ACAS’s new hybrid working guidance

AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards

advises employers to consult widely

with staff or their representatives about

introducing hybrid working while

discussing practical considerations such

as regular communication, technology,

performance management and health

and safety.

It also suggests creating a hybrid

working policy to establish which roles

are eligible, how someone can request

it and any principles such as allowing

remote working for a maximum number

of days a week.

Further, ACAS recommends ensuring

staff who are working remotely are

not excluded and have access to the

same opportunities as those in the

workplace such as team-building

The initial burden of proof

IN Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi, the Supreme

Court has confirmed that in discrimination

claims, the claimant bears the initial burden of

proof to establish facts from which an inference

of discrimination can be drawn.

Mr Efobi is a black Nigerian and citizen of

Ireland. He was employed as a postman by Royal

Mail Group Limited (RMG) and over a period

of three years he applied for over 30 IT posts

with RMG. He made the applications online

and accompanied each one with a CV detailing

his graduate and post-graduate qualifications

in information systems. He uploaded a

generic CV for each application, including

details of his town and country of birth

on his application (although not required

to do so). He did not tailor his application.

He was unsuccessful on every occasion and

subsequently brought various claims, including

direct race discrimination.

At the employment tribunal hearing, RMG

did not call as witnesses any of the recruiters

or managers who were involved in processing

Efobi’s applications, instead calling on managers

who were familiar with the recruitment process

generally. Nor did it provide any evidence as to

the race and national origins of other applicants

for relevant posts.

The employment tribunal dismissed Efobi’s

race discrimination claims on the basis that he

had not proved the facts from which it could

conclude that discrimination had occurred.

For example, he had not provided evidence to

demonstrate that the successful applicants were

appropriate comparators.

activities, training and development.

Other considerations include making

sure decisions around whether to approve

a request for hybrid working are fair

and transparent, and that other forms

of flexible working that could work as

possible alternatives can be discussed

with employees; thinking about training

line managers and staff to help them

prepare for and manage hybrid working;

and considering a trial period to see if it

works and if any further adjustments to

arrangements are needed.

Such guidance may be helpful given

that employers are likely to have to deal

with an increasing number of flexible

working requests from employees in the

coming months.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT),

however, allowed Efobi’s appeal, and held that

the tribunal had misdirected itself as to the

effect of section 136(2) Equality Act (EqA), when

it concluded that it was for Efobi to prove a

prima facie case of discrimination.

According to the EAT, the proper interpretation

of section 136(2) was for the tribunal to consider

all the evidence, rather than only to consider

Efobi’s evidence, meaning there was no burden

on the claimant at all.

This decision was overturned by the Court

of Appeal and Efobi appealed to the Supreme

Court. The Supreme Court rejected the EAT’s

interpretation of section 136(2) EqA and its

decision confirms that the change in the wording

in the EqA did not change the law. Therefore, the

burden of proof will not shift to the employer to

explain the reason for the alleged unfavourable

treatment of the claimant unless the claimant

is able to prove, on the balance of probabilities,

facts from which the tribunal could conclude

(in the absence of an adequate explanation) an

unlawful act of discrimination had occurred.

Efobi’s second ground of appeal was that

the employment tribunal had failed to draw

adverse inferences from RMG’s failure to call

any decision-makers as witnesses. The Supreme

Court held that tribunals should be free to draw

(or refuse to draw) inferences from the facts of

the case using their common sense, rather than

just referring to legal rules.

Gareth Edwards is a partner in the employment

team at VWV. www.gedwards@vwv.co.uk


BE ONE CLICK AWAY

FROM OUR WEBSITE

How to set up a great one click link to the CICM website

on your mobile phone. Follow these four simple steps...

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Go to cicm.com > Click highlighted icon at bottom of screen > Click add to Home screen icon

> Click add icon at top right of screen > CICM icon will appear on your screen

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Open cicm.com in Google Chrome browser > Tap Menu button > Tap add shortcut to Home screen

> Icon will appear on your screen. Menu button on other Android devices may be displayed differently.

ADVANCING THE CREDIT PROFESSION

T: +44 (0)1780 722900 | WWW.CICM.COM


NEW AND UPGRADED MEMBERS

Do you know someone who would benefit from CICM membership? Or have

you considered applying to upgrade your membership? See our website

www.cicm.com/membership-types for more details, or call us on 01780 722903

Studying Member

Stuart Brookes

Barry Demello

Amber Durrant

Kathryn Hilton

Peter Jones

Theophilus Kakero

Gavin Keegan

Sharon Kinlock

Leanne Martyn

Jade Price

Chelsea Pullin

Catherine Stern

Tamsin Wright

Affiliate

Joseph Barter

John Bithell

Rachael Butcher

Claire Dennett

Mandy Eaton-Vale

Tony Fan

James Goates

Eleanor Jackson

Benjamin Jones

John O'Laogun

Mark Peterson

Ferdinand Salah

Eimear Shields

Deborah Spencer

Adele Whitehurst

Lisa Wingfield

Chloe Wood

Karen Wyld

Manpreet Singh

AWARDING BODY

Congratulations to the following, who successfully achieved Diplomas

Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management (ACICM)

NAME

Emma Allen ACICM

Natalie Benyon ACICM

Abigail Carter ACICM

Ian Crichton ACICM

Terry Garnett ACICM

Katalin Pataki-Woolley ACICM

Janice Ryder ACICM

Emily Wilkins ACICM

Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections (ACICM)

NAME

NAME

NAME

Jade Counter ACICM Laura Maxwell ACICM Karen Willis ACICM

Level 3 Diploma in Money & Debt Advice (ACICM)

Jessica Dew ACICM

Benjamin Edwards ACICM

Zoe Graham ACICM

Julie Jackson ACICM

Level 5 Diploma in Credit Management MCICM(Grad)

NAME

Tracy White MCICM(Grad)

Level 5 Diploma in Credit & Collections MCICM(Grad)

Alice Cogan MCICM(Grad)

Laura Martin MCICM(Grad)

Sharon Noland MCICM(Grad)

Maureen Leadley MCICM(Grad)

Lorren Noons ACICM

Anthony Peel ACICM

Thomas Magor MCICM(Grad)

Joanne Summers ACICM

Kate Warner ACICM

WE WANT YOUR BRANCH NEWS!

Get in touch with the CICM by emailing branches@cicm.com with your branch news and event reports.

Please only send up to 400 words and any images need to be high resolution to be printable, so 1MB plus.


CSA Apprenticeships

The CSA is an approved

Apprenticeship Training

Provider specialising in

Credit and Collections, and

Compliance and Risk.

Our apprenticeships are

designed and delivered by a

team of financial services, risk

and compliance professionals,

who combine extensive industry

knowledge and understanding

with highly developed training,

coaching and assessment

expertise.

Level 2 Credit

Control & Collections

15 months

Next cohort starts: 19 October 2021

Level 3 Advanced Credit

Control/Specialist

Collections

20 months


Level 4 Regulatory

Compliance Officer

16 months

Next cohorts starts:

27 October & 17 November 2021

Level 3 Compliance

Risk Officer

16 months

Next cohort starts: 16 September 2021

Level 4 Counter

Fraud Investigator

27 months


Level 6 Senior Compliance

Risk Specialist

36 months

Next cohort starts: 23 September 2021

NEW

Level 3 Debt Adviser 18 months


For further information please

contact us:

*Learners can join up to six weeks after start date

w: www.csa-uk.com/apprenticeships

e: apprenticeships@csa-uk.com

t: 0191 217 3073


TAKE CONTROL OF

YOUR CREDIT CAREER

CREDIT MANAGER

Near Milton Keynes, £40,000 DOE

A great opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior

Credit Professional looking to step up. The business is a Plc

in construction and ideally would like relevant construction

experience. This sole role is a highly visible permanent position

within the company and involves high level reporting and

requires excellent analytical and business partnering skills.

The role is office based at the company’s HQ located between

Bedford and Milton Keynes. Ref: 4047355

Contact Caroline Evans on 01494 419740

or email caroline.evans@hays.com

SOLE CHARGE CREDIT CONTROLLER

Camberley, £35,000

This is a newly created role, within a growing business. Working

in a sole charge capacity you will ensure that cash collection is

maximised, while risk to the business is kept to a minimum. Your

duties will include running credit checks, monitoring customers

against agreed limits, proactively managing aged debt and

dealing with customer queries. Ref: 3987637

Contact Natascha Whitehead on 07770 786433

or email Natascha.whitehead@hays.com

SENIOR CREDIT CONTROLLER

South West London, £35,000

A world leading provider of niche services to SME and blue chip

clients requires a Senior Credit Controller. You will be responsible

for overseeing and supporting a small professional credit control

team. Your key focus will be to ensure the top 20 key accounts

are chased effectively whilst driving and leading process

improvements with the Credit Manager and Senior Management.

Ref: 4052891

Contact Mark Ordoña on 07565 800574

or email mark.ordona@hays.com

E-BILLING ASSISTANT

Birmingham City Centre, up to £32,000

An opportunity has arisen within a law firm based in Birmingham

with a global presence. This is an excellent opportunity to join

an organisation who is leading in their field with the personal

development of their staff of paramount importance. This role

requires an individual who prioritises the development of both

internal and external relationships. Experience within E-Billing or

Billing in a professional environment is needed to be successful for

this position. Ref: 4042326

Contact Dan Day on 07734 726142

or email dan.day@hays.com

hays.co.uk/creditcontrol


TRAIN FOR THE

YEAR AHEAD

My Learning – free skills

training from Hays

To find out more visit

hays.co.uk/mylearning

CREDIT CONTROLLER

High Wycombe, £28,000 DOE

A superb opportunity has arisen for an experienced Credit

Controller in High Wycombe at a market leading business

which has grown steadily, organically and by acquisition, during

lockdown. The role requires a team player with good Excel skills

and great customer focus. Ideally they want someone to cover

an early start/finish. The role is office based at the company’s HQ

outside the busy town centre. Ref: 4048595

Contact Caroline Evans on 01494 419740

or email Caroline.evans@hays.com

SALES LEDGER TEAM LEADER

Colchester, £24,000-£26,000

Working for an expanding provider of care solutions across

the UK, you will support the Head of Credit and AR in the day to

day management of the Sales ledger function. You will oversee

a team of 5, troubleshooting any escalated queries and continuing

to development improvements in process and procedure.

Ref: 4042853

Contact William Plom on 01603 760141

or email William.plom@hays.com

This is just a small selection of the many opportunities we

have available for credit professionals. To find out more visit

us online or contact Karen Young, Hays Credit Management

UK Lead on 07834 260029



CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT

ONLINE EVENTS

Keep an eye on our events calendar at CICM.COM for all CICM events!

Visit our website and book online at: www.cicm.com/cicm-events

Many of our events are now

available online, along with a new

series of live recorded webinars

for the credit profession.

Visit our website for updates

and instructions on how to register...


BRANCH NEWS

Standing out from the crowd

Preparing for exams

AT a recent East England

Branch webinar, moderated

by Mark Maynard MCICM,

speakers Katherine Bailey

FCICM of Valor Hospitality

and CICM’s Jules Eames

FCICM(Grad) – who both teach CICM units –

offered advice on preparing for CICM exams

by planning ahead with advice on integrating

these skills into everyday life.

Jules stressed the importance of planning a

study programme from the outset, identifying

the course length, breaking it down into

learning, revising and self testing sections –

leaving enough time at the end of the course

to go over areas of difficulty. Use friends,

family and any others for support, giving

you space and time to study. Where possible,

relate learning to the work place. Staying

in touch with CICM is also vital – they will

support wherever possible.

Katherine outlined Mind Maps, an easy

method of brainstorming the topic without

worrying about order or structure – a visual

way to create a non-linear graphical layout

allowing you to build the framework around

a central concept. Building a Mind Map

diagram that works in line with the brain's

natural way of doing things – making it

as colourful as you like – can help with

learning. Mind Mapping is effective – a John

Hopkins case study indicated that students

using it improved their grades by 12 percent!

They aren’t just for studying, they are a

useful tool in day to day life, an example of

holiday planning demonstrated how easily

you can build the itinerary to remember the

places you want to visit.

At the end of the webinar, there were some

interesting questions and discussions, and

also great feedback for our excellent speakers

to take away. Overall, a very well received

webinar by all who attended. If you missed it,

or would like to view the recording, catch it on

the CICM’s YouTube channel.

Author: Naimesh Khetia,

Aggregate Industries UK LTD

Mind Maps, an

easy method of

brainstorming

the topic without

worrying about order

or structure – a

visual way to create a

non-linear graphical

layout allowing you to

build the framework

around a central

concept.

CICM MEMBER

EXCLUSIVE

Your CICM lapel badge

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CICM Directory of Services

COLLECTIONS

COLLECTIONS LEGAL

CONSULTANCY

Controlaccount Plc

Address: Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road,

Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4FD

T: 01527 549 522

E: sales@controlaccount.com

W: www.controlaccount.com

Controlaccount Plc provides an efficient, effective and ethical

commercial debt recovery service focused on improving business

cash flow whilst preserving customer relationships and established

reputations. Working with leading brand names in the UK and

internationally, we deliver a bespoke service to our clients. We

offer a no collect, no fee service without any contractual ties in.

Where applicable, we can utilise the Late Payment of Commercial

Debts Act (2013) to help you redress the cost of collection. Our

clients also benefit from our in-house international trace and

legal counsel departments and have complete transparency and

up to the minute information on any accounts placed with us for

recovery through our online debt management system, ClientWeb.

Guildways

T: +44 3333 409000

E: info@guildways.com

W: www.guildways.com

Guildways is a UK & International debt collection specialist with over

25 years experience. Guildways prides itself on operating to the

highest ethical standards and professional service levels. We are

experienced in collecting B2B and B2C debts. Our service includes:

• A complete No collection, No Fee commission based service

• 10% plus VAT commission for UK debts

• Commission from 22% plus VAT for International debts

• 24/7 online access to your cases through our CaseManager portal

• Direct online account-to-account payments, to speed up

collections and minimise costs

If you are unable to locate your customer, we also offer a no trace, no

fee, trace and collect service.

For more information, visit: www.guildways.com

COLLECTIONS (INTERNATIONAL)

Atradius Collections Ltd

3 Harbour Drive,

Capital Waterside, Cardiff, CF10 4WZ

Phone: +44 (0)29 20824397

Mobile: +44 (0)7767 865821

E-mail:yvette.gray@atradius.com

Website: atradiuscollections.com

Atradius Collections Ltd is an established specialist in business

to business collections. As the collections division of the Atradius

Crédito y Caución, we have a strong position sharing history,

knowledge and reputation.

Annually handling more than 110,000 cases and recovering over

a billion EUROs in collections at any one time, we deliver when

it comes to collecting outstanding debts. With over 90 years’

experience, we have an in-depth understanding of the importance

of maintaining customer relationships whilst efficiently and

effectively collecting monies owed.

The individual nature of our clients’ customer relationships is

reflected in the customer focus we provide, structuring our service

to meet your specific needs. We work closely with clients to

provide them with a collection strategy that echoes their business

character, trading patterns and budget.

For further information contact Yvette Gray Country Director, UK

and Ireland.

BlaserMills Law

London – High Wycombe – Amersham – Silverstone

T: 01494 478660

E: jar@blasermills.co.uk

W: www.blasermills.co.uk

Blaser Mills Law’s commercial recoveries team is internationally

recognised, regularly advising large corporations, multinationals

and SMEs on pre-legal collections, debt recovery, commercial

litigation, dispute resolution and insolvency. Our legal services

are both cost-effective and highly efficient; Our lawyers are also

CICM qualified and ranked in the industry leading law firm rankings

publications, Legal 500 and Chambers UK.

Keebles

Capitol House, Russell Street, Leeds LS1 5SP

T: 0113 399 3482

E: charise.marsden@keebles.com

W: www.keebles.com

Keebles debt recovery team was named “Legal Team of the Year”

at the 2019 CICM British Credit Awards.

According to our clients “Keebles stand head and shoulders

above others in the industry. A team that understands their client’s

business and know exactly how to speedily maximise recovery.

Professional, can do attitude runs through the team which is not

seen in many other practices.”

We offer a service with no hidden costs, giving you certainty and

peace of mind.

• ‘No recovery, no fee’ for pre-legal work.

• Fixed fees for issuing court proceedings and pursuing claims to

judgment and enforcement.

• Success rate in excess of 80%.

• 24 hour turnaround on instructions.

• Real-time online access to your cases to review progress.

Lovetts Solicitors

Lovetts, Bramley House, The Guildway,

Old Portsmouth Road,

Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1LR

T: 01483 347001

E: info@lovetts.co.uk

W: www.lovetts.co.uk

With more than 25yrs experience in UK & international business

debt collection and recovery, Lovetts Solicitors collects £40m+

every year on behalf of our clients. Services include:

• Letters Before Action (LBA) from £1.50 + VAT (successful in 86%

of cases)

• Advice and dispute resolution

• Legal proceedings and enforcement

• 24/7 access to your cases via our in-house software solution,

CaseManager

Don’t just take our word for it, here’s some recent customer

feedback: “All our service expectations have been exceeded.

The online system is particularly useful and extremely easy to

use. Lovetts has a recognisable brand that generates successful

results.”

Chris Sanders Consulting

T: +44(0)7747 761641

E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com

Chris Sanders Consulting – we are a different sort of consulting

firm, made up of a network of independent experienced

operational credit & collections management and invoicing

professionals, with specialisms in cross industry best practice

advisory, assessment, interim management, leadership,

workshops and training to help your team and organisation reach

their full potential in credit and collections management. We are

proud to be Corporate Partners of the Chartered Institute of Credit

Management and to manage the CICM Best Practice Accreditation

Programme on their behalf. For more information please contact:

enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

CREDIT INFORMATION

CoCredo

Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD

T: 01494 790600

E: customerservice@cocredo.com

W: www.cocredo.co.uk

CoCredo has 19 years’ experience in developing credit reports for

businesses and in 2019 we were honoured to be awarded Credit

Information Provider of the Year at the British Credit Awards. Our

company data is continually updated throughout the day and

ensures customers have the most current information available.

We aggregate data from a range of leading providers across over

235 territories and offer a range of services including the industry

first Dual Report, Monitoring, XML Integration and DNA Portfolio

Management. We pride ourselves in offering award-winning

customer service and support to protect your business.

Graydon UK

66 College Road, 2nd Floor, Hygeia Building, Harrow,

Middlesex, HA1 1BE

T: +44 (0)208 515 1400

E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk

W: www.graydon.co.uk

With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading provider of

business information, analytics, insights and solutions. Graydon

helps its customers to make fast, accurate decisions, enabling

them to minimise risk and identify fraud as well as optimise

opportunities with their commercial relationships. Graydon uses

130+ international databases and the information of 90+ million

companies. Graydon has offices in London, Cardiff, Amsterdam

and Antwerp. Since 2016, Graydon has been part of Atradius, one

of the world’s largest credit insurance companies.


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS

AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196

CREDIT INFORMATION

CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE


Company Watch

Centurion House, 37 Jewry Street,

LONDON. EC3N 2ER

T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300

E: info@companywatch.net

W: www.companywatch.net

Organisations around the world rely on Company Watch’s

industry-leading financial analytics to drive their credit risk

processes. Our financial risk modelling and ability to map medium

to long-term risk as well as short-term credit risk set us apart

from other credit reference agencies.

Quality and rigour run through everything we do, from our unique

method of assessing corporate financial health via our H-Score®,

to developing analytics on our customers’ in-house data.

With the H-Score® predicting almost 90 percent of corporate

insolvencies in advance, it is the risk management tool of choice,

providing actionable intelligence in an uncertain world.


HighRadius

T: +44 (0) 203 997 9400

E: infoemea@highradius.com

W: www.highradius.com

HighRadius provides a cloud-based Integrated Receivable

Platform, powered by machine learning and AI. Our Technology

empowers enterprise organisations to reduce cycle time in the

order-to-cash process and increase working capital availability by

automating receivables and payments processes across credit,

electronic billing and payment processing, cash application,

deductions, and collections.

Data Interconnect Ltd

Units 45-50

Shrivenham Hundred Business Park, Majors Road,

Watchfield. Swindon, SN6 8TZ

T: +44 (0)1367 245777

E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk

W: www.datainterconnect.com

Data Interconnect is dedicated to solving complex Accounts

Receivable problems through reliable, easy-to-use cloud

software. We empower billing managers and collections experts

with the tools and data they need in a user-friendly interface, for

timely, tax-compliant invoicing, collections and reconciliation in

the most cost effective, secure, auditable and trackable manner.

The powerful, flexible, Corrivo platform is the only system your

AR team needs to manage your company’s cashflow better.

ESKER

Sam Townsend Head of Marketing

Northern Europe Esker Ltd.

T: +44 (0)1332 548176 M: +44 (0)791 2772 302

W: www.esker.co.uk LinkedIn: Esker – Northern Europe

Twitter: @EskerNEurope blog.esker.co.uk

Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes the all-toocommon

obstacles preventing today’s businesses from collecting

receivables in a timely manner. From credit management to cash

allocation, Esker automates each step of the order-to-cash cycle.

Esker’s automated AR system helps companies modernise

without replacing their core billing and collections processes. By

simply automating what should be automated, customers get the

post-sale experience they deserve and your team gets the tools

they need.

ONGUARD

T: 020 3966 8324

E: edan.milner@onguard.com

W: www.onguard.com

Onguard is specialist in credit management software and market

leader in innovative solutions for order to cash. Our integrated

platform ensures an optimal connection of all processes in the

order to cash chain and allows sharing of critical data.

Intelligent tools that can seamlessly be interconnected and

offer o verview a nd control o f t he p ayment process, a s w ell as

contribute to a sustainable customer relationship.

In more than 50 countries the Onguard platform is successfully

used for successful credit management.

DATA AND ANALYTICS

C2FO

C2FO Ltd

105 Victoria Steet

SW1E 6QT

T: 07799 692193

E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com

W: www.c2fo.com

C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables into income,

uniquely connecting buyers and suppliers to allow discounts

in exchange for early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers

access additional liquidity sources by accelerating payments

from buyers when required in just two clicks, at a rate that works

for them. Buyers, often corporates with global supply chains,

benefit from the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while

strengthening the financial health of supply chains through

ethical business practices.

Tinubu Square UK

Holland House, 4 Bury Street,

London EC3A 5AW

T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /

E: uksales@tinubu.com

W: www.tinubu.com

Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor, enabler

of the Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital

transformation.

Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to

significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial,

operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology

solutions and services. Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions

and services to different businesses including credit insurers,

receivables financing organizations and multinational corporations.

Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20

countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in

Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore.

SERRALA

Serrala UK Ltd, 125 Wharfdale Road

Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham

Berkshire RG41 5RB

E: r.hammons@serrala.com W: www.serrala.com

T +44 118 207 0450 M +44 7788 564722

Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for organisations

seeking efficient cash visibility and secure financial processes.

As an SAP Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies

worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience and

thousands of successful customer projects, including solutions

for the entire order-to-cash process, Serrala provides credit

managers and receivables professionals with the solutions they

need to successfully protect their business against credit risk

exposure and bad debt loss.

identeco – Business Support Toolkit

Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove,

Worcestershire B60 4FD

Telephone: 01527 549 531 Email: info@identeco.co.uk

Web: www.identeco.co.uk

identeco’s Business Support Toolkit is an online portal connecting

its subscribers to a range of business services that help them

to engage with new prospects, understand their customers and

mitigate risk. Annual subscription is £79.95 per year for unlimited

access. Providing company information and financial reports,

director and shareholder structures as well as a unique financial

health rating, balance sheets, ratio analysis, and any detrimental

data that might be associated with a company. Other services

also included in the subscription include a business names

database, acquisition targets, a data audit service as well as

unlimited, bespoke marketing and telesales listings for any sector.

ENFORCEMENT

Credica Ltd

Building 168, Maxell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT

T: 01235 856400E: info@credica.co.uk W: www.credica.co.uk

Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections

and Query Management System has been designed with 3 goals

in mind:

•To improve your cashflow • To reduce your cost to collect

• To provide meaningful analysis of your business

Evolving over 15 years and driven by the input of 1000s of

Credit Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is

successfully providing significant and measurable benefits for our

diverse portfolio of clients.

We would love to hear from you if you feel you would benefit from

our ‘no nonsense’ and human approach to computer software.

Satago

48 Warwick Street, London, W1B 5AW

T: +44(0)020 8050 3015

E: hello@satago.com

W: www.satago.com

Satago helps business owners and their accountants avoid credit

risks, manage debtors and access finance when they need it – all

in one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud accounting

apps with just a few clicks, helping businesses:

• Understand their customers - with RISK INSIGHTS

• Get paid on time - with automated CREDIT CONTROL

• Access funding - with flexible SINGLE INVOICE FINANCE

Visit satago.com and start your free trial today.

Court Enforcement Services

Wayne Whitford – Director

M: +44 (0)7834 748 183 T : +44 (0)1992 663 399

E : wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk

W: www.courtenforcementservices.co.uk

Court Enforcement Services is the market leading and fastest

growing High Court Enforcement company. Since forming in 2014,

we have managed over 100,000 High Court Writs and recovered

more than £187 million for our clients, all debt fairly collected. We

help lawyers and creditors across all sectors to recover unpaid

CCJ’s sooner rather than later. We achieve 39% early engagement

resulting in market-leading recovery rates. Our multi-awardwinning

technology provides real-time reporting 24/7. We work in

close partnership to expertly resolve matters with a fast, fair and

personable approach. We work hard to achieve the best results

and protect your reputation.


Cr£ditWho?


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196

ENFORCEMENT

INSOLVENCY

PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

High Court Enforcement Group Limited

Client Services, Helix, 1st Floor

Edmund Street, Liverpool

L3 9NY

T: 08450 999 666

E: clientservices@hcegroup.co.uk

W: hcegroup.co.uk

Putting creditors first

We are the largest independent High Court enforcement company,

with more authorised officers than anyone else. We are privately

owned, which allows us to manage our business in a way that

puts our clients first. Clients trust us to deliver and service is

paramount. We cover all aspects of enforcement – writs of control,

possessions, process serving and landlord issues – and are

committed to meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations.

FINANCIAL PR

Menzies

T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London

T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff

W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services

Our Creditor Services team can advise on the best way for you

to protect your position when one of your debtors enters, or

is approaching, insolvency proceedings. Our services include

assisting with retention of title claims, providing representation

at creditor meetings, forensic investigations, raising finance,

financial restructuring and removing the administrative burden

– this includes completing and lodging claim forms, monitoring

dividend prospects and analysing all Insolvency Reports and

correspondence.

For more information on how the Menzies Creditor

Services team can assist please contact Giuseppe Parla,

Qualified Insolvency Practitioner, at gparla@menzies.co.uk

or call +44 20 7465 1919.

LEGAL

Key IVR

T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000

E: sales@keyivr.com

W: www.keyivr.com

Key IVR are proud to have joined the Chartered Institute of

Credit Management’s Corporate partnership scheme. The

CICM is a recognised and trusted professional entity within

credit management and a perfect partner for Key IVR. We are

delighted to be providing our services to the CICM to assist with

their membership collection activities. Key IVR provides a suite

of products to assist companies across the globe with credit

management. Our service is based around giving the end-user

the means to make a payment when and how they choose. Using

automated collection methods, such as a secure telephone

payment line (IVR), web and SMS allows companies to free up

valuable staff time away from typical debt collection.

RECRUITMENT

Gravity Global

Floor 6/7, Gravity Global, 69 Wilson St, London, EC2A 2BB

T: +44(0)207 330 8888. E: sfeast@gravityglobal.com

W: www.gravityglobal.com

Gravity is an award winning full service PR and advertising

business that is regularly benchmarked as being one of the

best in its field. It has a particular expertise in the credit sector,

building long-term relationships with some of the industry’s bestknown

brands working on often challenging briefs. As the partner

agency for the Credit Services Association (CSA) for the past 22

years, and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management since

2006, it understands the key issues affecting the credit industry

and what works and what doesn’t in supporting its clients in the

media and beyond.

FORUMS

FORUMS INTERNATIONAL

T: +44 (0)1246 555055

E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk

W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk

Forums International Ltd have been running Credit and Industry

Forums since 1991. We cover a range of industry sectors and

International trading, attendance is for Credit Professionals of all

levels. Our forums are not just meetings but communities which

aim to prepare our members for the challenges ahead. Attending

for the first time is free for you to gauge the benefits and meet the

members and we only have pre-approved Partners, so you will

never intentionally be sold to.

FOR ADVERTISING

INFORMATION OPTIONS

AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk

01727 739 196

Shoosmiths

Email: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk

Tel: 03700 86 3000 W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk

Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work closely with credit

teams to recover commercial debts as quickly and cost effectively

as possible. We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt

recovery, including:

•Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and keep costs down

•Litigation service

•Post-litigation services including enforcement

•Insolvency

As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to relate to your goals,

and adept at advising you on the most effective way of achieving

them.

PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

American Express

76 Buckingham Palace Road,

London. SW1W 9TQ

T: +44 (0)1273 696933

W: www.americanexpress.com

American Express is working in partnership with the CICM and is a

globally recognised provider of payment solutions to businesses.

Specialising in providing flexible collection capabilities to drive a

number of company objectives including:

• Accelerate cashflow • Improved DSO • Reduce risk

• Offer extended terms to customers

•Provide an additional line of bank independent credit to drive

growth • Create competitive advantage with your customers

As experts in the field of payments and with a global reach,

American Express is working with credit managers to drive growth

within businesses of all sectors. By creating an additional lever

to help support supplier/client relationships American Express is

proud to be an innovator in the business payments space.

Bottomline Technologies

115 Chatham Street, Reading

Berks RG1 7JX | UK

T: 0870 081 8250 E: emea-info@bottomline.com

W: www.bottomline.com/uk

Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps businesses

pay and get paid. Businesses and banks rely on Bottomline for

domestic and international payments, effective cash management

tools, automated workflows for payment processing and bill

review and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural analytics

and regulatory compliance. Businesses around the world depend

on Bottomline solutions to help them pay and get paid, including

some of the world’s largest systemic banks, private and publicly

traded companies and Insurers. Every day, we help our customers

by making complex business payments simple, secure and

seamless.

Hays Credit Management

107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN

T: 07834 260029

E: karen.young@hays.com

W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol

Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CICM

and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and

credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this

challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within

it. Whatever your needs, we have temporary, permanent and

contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate

registration process is unrivalled, including face-to-face screening

interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively for

Hays by the CICM. We offer CICM members a priority service and

can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and

recruitment issues.

PORTFOLIO

CREDIT CONTROL

Portfolio Credit Control

1 Finsbury Square, London. EC2A 1AE

T: 0207 650 3199

E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com

W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

Portfolio Credit Control, a 5* Trustpilot rated agency, solely

specialises in the recruitment of Permanent, Temporary & Contract

Credit Control, Accounts Receivable and Collections staff

including remote workers. Part of The Portfolio Group, an awardwinning

Recruiter, we speak to Credit Controllers every day and

understand their skills meaning we are perfectly placed to provide

your business with talented Credit Control professionals. Offering

a highly tailored approach to recruitment, we use a hybrid of faceto-face

and remote briefings, interviews and feedback options.

We provide both candidates & clients with a commitment to deliver

that will exceed your expectations every single time.

Cr£ditWho?



View our digital version online at www.cicm.com

Log on to the Members’ area, and click on the tab labelled

‘Credit Management magazine’

Just another great reason to be a member

Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international

CICM membership, as well as additional subscribers

Advancing the credit profession

www.cicm.com | +44 (0)1780 722900 | editorial@cicm.com


The software platform to automate and

optimise your order-to-cash process

Manage risk and decrease DSO by 20% with our innovative software

solutions for invoicing, cash allocation and dunning.

Connecting data. Connecting you.

www.vismaonguard.com

+44 (0) 20 396 683 24


CM October 2021

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