Credit Management May 2022

CREDIT MANAGEMENT

CM

MAY 2022 £12.50

THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND

COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS

INSIDE

Winners of the

CICM British

Credit Awards

Pgs 35-51

ICE

MAGIC

The secrets of

Iceland revealed

What’s in it for

the ‘S’ in ESG?

Page 10

Exclusive: the future

of debt advice funding.

Page 12

Ethical and efficient debt recovery solutions to

help organisations improve cash-flow, increase

productivity and reduce overheads

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BRITISH CREDIT

AWARDS SUPPLEMENT

26

COUNTRY FOCUS

Adam Bernstein

MAY 2022

www.cicm.com

CONTENTS

8 – COUNTING THE COST

The truth behind how insolvency fees

are charged.

10 – SOCIAL VALUES

What’s in it for the ‘S’ in ESG?

12 – A FOOL AND HIS

MONEY?

The CSA ups the stakes in the debate

surrounding the future funding of debt

advice

17 – TAKE THE LEAP

Never let fear get in the way of applying

for your new job.

18 – FIT FOR PURPOSE

The future of wellness has implications

for all.

26 – GOING WITH THE FLOW

There’s much more to the island nation

of Iceland than first meets the eye.

30 – LATE CHAT

Sean Feast FCICM speaks to the cofounder

of one of the leading experts in

the management of probate debt.

62 – YOUNG MONEY

Apprenticeships are a marathon, not a

sprint!

CICM GOVERNANCE

12

EXCLUSIVE

Sean Feast FCICM

18

WELLBEING

Sean Feast FCICM

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

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.

Publisher

Chartered Institute of Credit Management

1 Accent Park, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate,

Peterborough PE2 6XS

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

Imogen Hart, Rob Howard, Natalie Makin,

Laura Rhodes, Sam Wilson and Mona Yazdanparast

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Email: paul@centuryone.uk

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ISSN 0265-2099

Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / May 2022 / PAGE 3

EDITOR’S COLUMN

Debt advice, hard-working

families and super yachts

Sean Feast FCICM

Managing Editor

SWITCHED on the television

this morning to hear more

gloom and doom about the

economy and the cost-of-living

crisis. Inflation at a level not

seen since the 1990s, average

wages worth three percent less than they

were at the start of the year, petrol prices

going through the roof, and consumers

having to make a judgment call on whether

they heat their homes or eat a good meal.

Wandered down to my desk (yes working

from home but then I was at a DE&I

conference the day before in Zurich – see

our article on page 10 – and arrived back

very late – so that’s my excuse) to see a press

release from the Money Advice Trust with

a headline screaming that households are

‘buckling under the strain of rising costs’,

and tales of more gloom. One in seven of

us are behind with our household bills and

one in five feel totally unprepared to deal

with rising costs.

This means that any time soon,

politicians will be spouting forth about

more forbearance on the forbearance

already provided, and some radical will

undoubtedly suggest that all debts should

be written off and/or we should have a

windfall tax on Russian Oligarchs, sell

their super yachts and give the proceeds

to ‘hard-working families’ – a phrase I

thoroughly detest. I work hard. I have a

family. But they don’t mean me or my kind.

But enough of such ranting. The serious

point is that more people will inevitably

fall into debt, meaning the need for

professional debt advice will be greater

than ever, which will probably mean

they are quickly swamped and will be

demanding more cash from the creditors

for the services they provide. The Credit

Services Association certainly thinks so,

and it is worried, and so too are many

CICM members working in consumer

collections.

Henry Aitchison, the policy chief at the

CSA, is so concerned that he’s written a

paper on the subject (see our exclusive on

page 12). In a nutshell it runs up the pole

a flag we’ve been waving vigorously in this

magazine for several years. Unless and until

there is greater visibility and transparency

on how the debt advice sector is currently

funded, why should the debt collection

industry fork out more? And why is there

such a narrow focus on collections, when

the scope of ‘who pays’ should be widened

to embrace a much broader church of

those who ultimately benefit?

The big fear that Henry highlights is

that policymakers will make decisions

behind closed doors, listening to only a

small number of loud voices, without fully

engaging the whole credit community who

will ultimately be picking up the tab. And

they will do so without the full knowledge

and insight of the role the collections

industry already plays in supporting

customers, and in achieving the right

outcomes by them. For it’s not simply a

numbers’ game; it needs to be all about

results, and I suspect that the debt advice

sector would agree.

I’m off now to see if I can pick up a

second-hand Sunseeker.


CMNEWS

A round-up of news stories from the

world of consumer and commercial credit.

Written by – Sean Feast FCICM

StepChange predicts huge

rise in demand for debt advice

STEPCHANGE Debt Charity’s

2021 Statistics Yearbook

shows that even before

the latest rise in general

inflation and the rise

in the energy price cap,

households in the UK experiencing

problem debt were already facing a

cost of living crisis.

In 2021, StepChange was contacted

by almost half a million (483,247)

new clients seeking debt advice or

guidance with their problem debt. The

charity website received 5.9 million

visits. StepChange completed full debt

advice online to 105,977 clients and by

telephone to 65,255 clients.

Last year, 28 percent of clients at

the time of advice were in arrears on

their electricity bill, and 23 percent

on their gas bill. This largely reflects

a continuation of the trend seen

throughout the COVID pandemic

period. Before the pandemic, in

2019, the equivalent figures were 17

percent and 13 percent respectively.

StepChange expects to see a worsening

of energy bill arrears over the coming

months.

Council tax also remained

problematic, with 37 percent of

StepChange clients who had a

responsibility to pay Council Tax being

in arrears at the time they sought

advice – compared to 30 percent in

2019, before the pandemic. Over half (56

percent) of all new StepChange clients

in 2021 had some form of additional

vulnerability as well as their financial

vulnerability. The most common

were depression (13 percent), stress

or anxiety (13 percent) and a physical

disability (seven percent).

With arrears on

priority bills becoming

more common, 2022

is going to be a tough

year for many, and

not just because of

energy prices.

Poor mental health remains closely

associated with debt problems, and

39 percent of all new clients were

experiencing some form of impaired

mental health at the time of advice.

Richard Lane, Director of External

Affairs at StepChange, says that more

help is clearly needed: “When so many

people are already struggling to make

ends meet, a steep rise in the cost of

living means debt becomes inevitable

for many. Debt advice services this

year are going to be vital to help

people navigate their best options for

managing a difficult situation – but

Government needs to implement better

structural support, too.

“With arrears on priority bills

becoming more common, 2022 is going

to be a tough year for many, and not

just because of energy prices. We can

see that the financial impact of the

pandemic was still being felt among

many of our clients last year, and this

is now being exacerbated by cost of

living pressures.”

Elsewhere, RCN (Royal College of

Nursing) Foundation has partnered

with free debt advice provider, PayPlan,

to support nurses, midwives and

healthcare support workers get their

finances back on track. Through RCN

Foundation, those who are worried

about their financial situation can now

be seamlessly referred to PayPlan for

support with tackling their money

worries.

Deepa Korea, Director, RCN

Foundation, says many nursing

and midwifery staff have faced

unexpectedly high costs or reduced

income during the pandemic: “We’re

really pleased to partner with PayPlan

so we can ensure every member of our

nursing team has access to holistic

debt advice as and when they need it.”

See CSA exclusive on future

funding of debt advice on page 12

RISING inflation, spikes in fuel prices

and the growing cost of living crisis

haven’t dampened UK borrowers’

climate conscience according to a

new report on attitudes to unsecured

lending from EQ Credit Services, (part

of Equiniti).

Almost half (45 percent) of

respondents classed lenders’

green credentials as either very or

extremely important when deciding

Green is the colour of success

who to borrow from. Of the 2000+

people surveyed, 56 percent would

also be interested in a loan product

that rewarded their efforts to live

sustainably with a lower interest

rate, should such a product become

available.

Will Ellis, Sales Director, EQ

Credit Services says it’s amazing

to see the British public prioritising

sustainability in their finances despite

all the pressures they’re feeling at the

moment: “Lenders now need to focus

on evolving their green initiatives

as quickly as they can; the market is

insisting on it.

“Our data also reveals an appetite for

credit products that are pegged to the

borrower’s energy efficiency. This is

a clear opportunity for an innovative

lender to tap into this strong national

sentiment.”


NEWS ROUNDUP

Young Brits think the credit score

system is ‘fundamentally flawed’

MORE than half (54

percent) of young

people, aged 18-34,

think the current

credit score system

is fundamentally

flawed according to new research from

MyLifeKit, a new company in the ‘AI for

Life’ space.

Almost half (44 percent) of all other

respondents, aged 35 and older, also

agreed that credit scores are flawed,

contributing to an average of 46 percent

of the total respondents who believe

that the current system does not work.

The data, which was based on a

poll of 2,000 British consumers, also

conducted analysis into respondents’

justifications for this belief: 39 percent

of people felt that it’s unfair that credit

scores condemn them for poor financial

decisions made in the past, often up to

five years ago, and a similar number

(38 percent) also believe that credit

scores do not accurately represent

their lifestyle or livelihood, neither does

it provide an accurate overview of a

person’s credit worthiness.

Interestingly, just over a third (35

percent) regularly check their credit

score and work to improve it. This figure

increases dramatically between the

age group of 25–34-year-olds. The most

apathetic groups were those between

the ages of 18-24 and 45+ with only

31 percent each checking their score

regularly.

We must start to see a

shift in how financial,

healthcare and retail

industries deploy

enriched data to

determine an individual’s

creditworthiness.

Romano Toscano, CEO & Founder

of MyLifeKit questions whether in an

age where people and organisations

have terabytes of enriched data at their

fingertips, it is fair to judge people’s

creditworthiness based purely on a

metric pertaining to financial history:

“Credit scores can mean the difference

between acceptance or dismissal

for things as important as financial

services, housing, or even mobile phone

contracts, even though it is apparent

that a vast fraction of the public have

good reason to believe the credit score

system is fundamentally flawed.

“Therefore, we must start to see

a shift in how financial, healthcare

and retail industries deploy enriched

data to determine an individual’s

creditworthiness. Said data could

include context relating to their

lifestyle, health, fitness and the wider

environment and economy, all of which

are already being tracked and observed

by consumers and businesses.”

Elsewhere, a new report by global

information and insights provider

TransUnion has revealed that the

number of people regularly checking

their credit score has increased by

nearly a third (30 percent) since the

pandemic began. The Consumer Credit

2022 white paper, an in-depth look at

the current financial landscape and

changing consumer habits, points

to greater understanding of credit

information and the importance of its

role, as the cost of living crisis deepens.

Payments platform says Zoomers

must be taken seriously

TO achieve growth and success past 2030,

businesses must start to understand the

living, shopping, and financial habits of Gen

Z or Zoomers (consumers aged between 16

and 24) now – and accept that they are very

different from previous generations. This

demographic, who never knew life without

the internet and smartphones, currently

represents the largest population group on

earth, accounting for almost 2.5 billion people.

Global payments platform Thunes

conducted a world-wide study into

consumers’ shopping, social, and payment

preferences. It found that Gen Z is influenced

by social media more than any other

generation. Eight out of 10 said they use social

media on multiple occasions throughout the

day. Three-quarters of Zoomers also check

in multiple times each day in emerging

markets, with two-thirds stating that they

have purchased products they first discovered

online.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Gen Z has

little enthusiasm for traditional financial

products - be it bank accounts or credit cards.

Almost two thirds (62 percent) of Gen Z’s

don’t have any bank account at all. Mobile

wallets are however growing rapidly and in

some emerging markets, and now almost

50 percent of Zoomers now use this type of

account.

Zoomers spend a slightly larger proportion

(19 percent) of their money online shopping

than they do on socialising, eating out, and

entertainment, and while cash is down, it

is not yet out. About a quarter of Zoomers

in western markets almost never use cash.

Physical currency remains important in

offline spend in emerging markets, but its

influence is in decline. This is not surprising

given the choice and accessibility of digital

tools.

Thunes CEO, Peter De Caluwe, says that

to many, Gen Z is a misunderstood and

overlooked generation: “This is a generation to

which ‘dial-up’ and ‘desktop’ are meaningless

words and who don’t just think ‘mobile-first’,

but live and breathe in apps, social media,

digital platforms and soon – the metaverse.

We should start to take this generation

seriously as the revenues and strategic plans

of many businesses – especially those that

are relying on fast growth – are dependent on

them.”


NEWS ROUNDUP

CICM 2022 British Credit

Awards break all records

THIS year’s British Credit Awards (BCAs),

hosted by the Chartered Institute of

Credit Management (CICM), was the

biggest on record with the highest

number of ticket sales and entries of any

previous CICM awards ceremony.

The 2022 ceremony was the first in

person for three years and was also

the first time the institute achieved

a complete sell-out, with almost 500

members and their guests in the

audience. Profit generated through the

success will be re-invested in delivering

more training courses and further

membership opportunities throughout

the remainder of the year.

Sue Chapple FCICM, Chief Executive

of the CICM said the event was a heartwarming

reminder of how supportive

the industry can be of its members and

colleagues: “With it being our first event

back in person, we expected attendance

numbers to be high, but to break records

Consumers in danger of

increasing loan shark attack

MAINSTREAM lenders are surrendering

people into the hands of illegal loan

sharks as many victims try to access

credit from legal, regulated sources but

the vast majority see their applications

rejected, leaving them nowhere to turn

except predatory illegal lenders.

Analysis of the CSJ’s dataset of 1,200

confirmed victims of illegal lending in

its Swimming with Sharks report by

Freedom Finance (a supporter of the

CSJs Debt Policy Unit) demonstrates

shortcomings of the lending industry,

with 38 percent of loan shark victims

stating that they had attempted to secure

credit elsewhere. However, four in five (80

percent) of these were rejected.

Further analysis of FCA data reveals

many people are also deterred from

applying for credit altogether - more

than one in 10 people with at least

one consumer credit product decided

against applying for a loan in the past

year because they were afraid of being

rejected, a proportion that rises far higher

was something we never expected.

“It reminds me just how important

collaboration and support are within

our industry, and on the night, to see

members congratulating their colleagues

and championing individuals was

heart-warming. It was a special night

and a special reminder of how incredible

our members are. We can’t wait for

next year’s event already…once we’ve

recovered from this one!”

The record number of tickets sales

was aided by the equally record-breaking

number of categories, entrants and

category sponsors with all awards

being sponsored by 15 of the Institute’s

corporate partners. The awards saw the

creation of three new award categories

bringing it to a total of 18, which

subsequently received almost 150 entries.

The dramatic increase in applications for

tickets meant the institute had to create

its first ever ticket waiting list.

among those with characteristics of

vulnerability (eg, 42 percent among those

with low financial resilience). Of those

deterred from making an application,

nearly half (48 percent) said they felt

there was no point.

Brian Brodie, Chief Executive of

Freedom Finance and CSJ Debt Policy

Advisory Board member, said it was a

wake-up call for the lending industry

to increase support for potentially

vulnerable borrowers: “This is an

industry problem as much as a social

problem as a large number of the victims

are already customers of our industry

who were not able to get the support

they need. “The withdrawal of many

alternative, short-term providers of

credit pulled up the ladder above what

the regulator might term “high-risk”

borrowers. This is now being filled by

illegal money lenders as

lenders wash their hands of

a responsibility to provide

fair access to credit for all.”

>NEWS

IN BRIEF

Praise for UK’s

‘robust’ Anti-Money

Laundering systems

JOHN Glen, Economic Secretary to

the Treasury, has praised the UK’s

robust Anti-Money Laundering

(AML) approach and pledged that the

Government will not compromise on

its high standards.

Addressing delegates in his

keynote speech at the Innovate

Finance Global Summit during

FinTech Week 2022, the minister

gave a wide-ranging speech

covering issues such as growth in

the UK’s FinTech sector, regulation,

management of crypto assets and

tackling the challenges posed by

money laundering.

Mr Glen praised the innovation

and resolve of the sector, stating that

year-on-year investment growth in

UK FinTech was up more than 200

percent in 2021. He also re-affirmed

the Government’s commitment to

embracing cryptocurrencies: “If

crypto-technologies are going to be a

big part of the future, then we – the

UK – want to be in, and in on the

ground floor. In fact, if we commit

now – if we act now – we can lead

the way.”

On regulation, he added: “The FCA

has already expanded and reinforced

its world-leading Regulatory

Sandbox, it’s piloting the new

‘scalebox’, which offers enhanced

support to newly authorised firms

and just a few weeks ago, Innovate

Finance announced the launch of

their International FinTech Group,

which they will co-chair with the

Department for International Trade.

“We’re setting direction for how

the UK can build on its successes so

far, notably through a new regulatory

oversight committee that will work

with industry to agree and implement

the vision for the future of open

banking in the UK.”

Wayne Johnson, CEO and cofounder,

Encompass Corporation,

says he is encouraged by the

Government’s apparent commitment:

“The UK’s FinTech sector has

so much potential, but, in an

increasingly uncertain world, having

the ability to investigate and ratify

sources of wealth and income is

critical. With the right regulatory

tools and technology in place,

organisations will be able to continue

growing, without the fear of failing to

adhere to increasingly complex and

strict requirements when it comes to

AML and Know Your Customer (KYC)."


INSOLVENCY

Counting the Cost

The truth behind how insolvency fees

are charged, reported and regulated.

ONE of the most scrutinised and

criticised aspects of insolvency

is the fees the profession

charges for its work – but much

of this is often unwarranted

and based on a lack of context

and understanding about the amount of work

carried out by insolvency practitioners (IPs) in

individual cases.

When high-profile cases are mentioned in

the media, the amount of money the insolvency

practice has charged for its work is frequently

highlighted, but an often-missed detail is the

difference between the fees charged and the fees

which are actually paid at the

end of the process.

The reality is that insolvency

fees are highly regulated and

must be approved by the creditors

of the insolvent company or

individual. And they can vary

hugely from case to case, with

many IPs not being paid in full

for the work they have carried

out, due to the very nature of

insolvency.

And criticisms of IP fees also

usually overlook the significant

personal liability IPs face when

carrying out their work, the strict regulatory

requirements they must adhere to, the complex

and numerous activities they must carry out,

and the complicated and unpredictable nature of

their cases.

COMPLEX ROLE

When a company becomes insolvent, an IP is

usually appointed as an office holder – a role

which means they are personally responsible for

protecting the interests of the company’s creditors

and can be held personally responsible for the

company’s actions.

And being an office holder means the IP

is legally obliged to perform a number of

activities, some of which include: planning,

devising, reviewing and revising a strategy for the

insolvency procedure; liaising with the company’s

advisors and creditors; and producing regular

reports for stakeholders and creditors throughout

the process.

While an IP is solely responsible for the case

when appointed as an office holder, they are not

normally the only person working on it. They will

usually have a team of staff working alongside

them, and this team may support them in a range

AUTHOR – Nicky Fisher

On occasion,

creditors may negotiate

a lower fee after the

insolvency procedure

has taken place, which

will mean the IP will not

receive full payment for

the time they have spent

on a case.

of tasks, including: compiling and analysing the

companies’ records, agreeing to creditors’ claims,

responding to queries from creditors and other

stakeholders, as well as a number of others.

VARIATIONS IN CASES

Legislation sets out how insolvency practitioners

charge their fees, but there are three main ways

fees can be and are charged. One option is to

charge them as a percentage of the value of the

assets realised during an insolvency procedure.

Another is to charge them as a percentage of the

assets with which an IP has had to deal in an

insolvency procedure, while the other options

are as a fixed amount, or by

reference to the amount of time

spent on a case by the IP and

their staff – known as a ‘time

cost’ basis.

Fees are usually charged

in one of the ways mentioned

above, or as a combination of all

of them, the most common of

which is a time cost basis. Under

this approach, IPs are required to

provide an estimate of the time

spent on a case by themselves

and their staff, alongside their

fees and expenses. They are also

required to report all their time costs to creditors,

but it’s worth stressing this amount is often not

the same as what IPs are actually paid for in a

case, given that there are often not enough assets

left to pay for this work in full.

And the size and complexity of the case can

affect the level of fees which are charged to

complete it, with fees for smaller insolvency cases

differing significantly from those for high-profile,

widely reported ones.

These high-profile, larger cases often involve

even more complex and highly-specialised work,

and are likely to involve additional activities,

which may increase the total fees charged.

For example, if the company has multiple sites,

IPs and their teams will often have to travel to

these various locations in order to access records,

speak to staff and secure assets. Or if the company

has a large number of staff, liaising with these

and other stakeholders will require more time,

and thus accrue a higher cost, than with a smaller

company. And if the creditors have agreed the

office holder will continue to run the business,

the IP will have to manage both the operational

and the potential restructuring processes, which

will naturally involve additional cost.


INSOLVENCY

AUTHOR – Nicky Fisher

Quite often, the hourly rate charged by IPs is the focus of

media stories, but the nature of insolvency work means

there is a vast discrepancy between the charges IPs report

as part of their statutory obligations to creditors and the

fees they receive at the end of a case.

STRICTLY REGULATED

Fees are heavily regulated via the Insolvency

Act (1986) and the Insolvency (England and

Wales) Rules 2016. The Insolvency Rules

regulate the way in which fees can be

charged, the information IPs must report

to creditors and the consent required by

creditors to approve fees for insolvency

processes.

Alongside this, there are a number of

principles set out on insolvency payments

to help ensure they are fair, reasonable and

proportionate to the insolvency appointment.

These principles state insolvency office

holders must disclose to creditors ‘what was

done, why it was done, and how much it cost’,

in a way that is transparent and of assistance

to creditors, and that office holders must

supply the information in sufficient time

for creditors to be able to make an informed

judgement about the reasonableness of their

requests.

If IPs don’t comply with these regulatory

requirements, they can be fined, sanctioned

and can lose their licence, and creditors and

stakeholders are able to submit a complaint

about an IP via the Insolvency Service’s

Complaints Gateway.

However, it’s worth noting that in 2020,

just three complaints were made to the

profession’s Recognised Professional Bodies

about IPs’ fees, in a year of 111,424 personal

and 12,557 corporate insolvencies.

CHARGES VS PAYMENTS

Quite often, the hourly rate charged by IPs

is the focus of media stories, but the nature

of insolvency work means there is a vast

discrepancy between the charges IPs report

as part of their statutory obligations to

creditors and the fees they receive at the end

of a case.

It is very common in smaller, low or no

asset cases, for the insolvent company to

have insufficient assets to pay an IP in full

for the work undertaken in administering the

insolvent estate. In fact, IPs are frequently

paid none of their time costs, and receive

only the fee in respect of pre-appointment

advice and support given to place the

company or individual into the appropriate

insolvency process.

On occasion, creditors may negotiate a

lower fee after the insolvency procedure has

taken place, which will mean the IP will not

receive full payment for the time they have

spent on a case, or an IP may agree to waive

part of their fee in order to return more

money to creditors.

The latter of these is more common than

you might think, with a number of our

members telling us they had regularly waived

tens of thousands of pounds in fees to ensure

a better return to the business’ creditors.

A LAYERED ISSUE

I hope it’s clear that the question of insolvency

fees is more complex than it appears on the

surface. As I’ve said above, there are multiple

factors which influence the amount of fees

charged in any one case, and there is often

a great difference between the fees charged

and actually paid. But I suspect this is

something we, and the profession, will have

to continue to explain for a good while yet.

Nicky Fisher is Deputy Vice President of

insolvency and restructuring trade body R3.

Nicky Fisher


ESG

SOCIAL VALUES

What’s in it for the ‘S’ in ESG?

AUTHOR – Aniela Unguresan

CORPORATE life is full of many

acronyms and ESG is just one

of them. Simply put, it stands

for Environmental, Social, and

Governance, and investors are

increasingly applying these

non-financial factors to their analysis of

organisations to identify material risks and

growth opportunities.

First coined in 2005 at the Who Cares

Wins conference in Zurich, ESG factors were

positioned from the outset as material aspects in

the context of longer-term investment. But while

ESG has been around for almost two decades, it

only seems to have moved from niche into the

mainstream in the last two or three years.

THE RISE OF ESG

ESG’s rise to prominence isn’t an overnight

sensation. Rather, it can be credited to three key

factors, each of which reinforces the other.

Firstly, capital markets are now very much

interested in ESG as a measure of sustainable

business performance. As capital moves

according to risk and opportunity profiles, so

organisations are reacting by changing their

focus. Significant capital is now being invested

in ESG-orientated funds and this inflow has

become a major driver of the move of ESG into

the mainstream.

The rise of the ‘E’ in ESG can also be attributed

to the current and legitimate preoccupation with

the environment; this too has driven processes

aligned with capital investment.

But there is a third underlying factor to

consider. ESG was set up initially as a ‘do no

harm’ type of framework. In other words,

organisations were examined in the context of

their financial results and how they ensured

that those results did not come at the expense of

Environmental, Social, and Governance issues.

But lately, and in line with the concept

of shared value coined by Michael Porter in

2009 which ignited the conscious capitalist

movement, the ambition has shifted from the

idea of ‘doing no harm’ to ‘this world is a better

place because a company is in it.’ In other words,

a net positive effect as Paul Polman – the CEO of

Unilever from 2009 to 2019 – describes it.

Society’s expectations of business have

changed dramatically, and organisations now

need to ask, ‘how can we make a positive

contribution to the world by virtue of our core

business?’ It is worth emphasising that this

is indeed a philosophy that is anchored in the

core business of an organisation. Rather than

being an afterthought or a layer on top of the

organisation’s core purpose, it is both vital and

fundamental to it.

Organisations

needed to take drastic

action with regards

to their workforce,

they also needed to

dramatically rethink

their supply chains,

their impact on

employees that

remained, and

their impact on the

community.

A CORPORATE BAROMETER

It’s interesting that the definition of ‘S’ has

morphed in recent times. Initially it related

primarily to human rights, but now it

encompasses labour issues, diversity, equity,

and inclusion (DE&I), workplace health and

safety, and product safety and quality, including

supply chains

So where ‘S’ was once related to ‘social’, we

believe that this narrow definition could be

expanded to stand for ‘stakeholder’, putting

at the centre of the ESG concept stakeholder

welfare.

Moreover, when ‘S’ practices amongst

organisations are examined, it is apparent that

they form an accurate barometer of corporate

culture.

We can see that organisations that have a

strong and a shared culture see ‘S’ practices

that are also strong because there is a common

sense of purpose and reason as to why that

organisation exists. Conversely, where neither

common sense of purpose or a shared culture

exists, ‘S’ practices of organisations tend to be

rather poor.

From an investor perspective, this makes

‘S’,one of the most subtle, yet very powerful and

relevant, measurements of risk associated with

reputation and sustainable business success.

AN INDIVIDUAL LETTER COUNTS

There are three letters that make up ‘ESG’ and

while there is a shared understanding of the

meaning behind the letters ‘E’ and ‘G’, when it

comes to the ‘S’, investors have a shakier view of

what it means and how it should be measured.

The point was well made by a 2019 study, from

BNP Paribas – the Global ESG Study. It found that

46 percent of investors from the 347 institutions

surveyed said that the ‘S’ in ESG was the most

difficult to analyse and embed in investment

strategies.

However, the pandemic and all its devastating

effects on many different levels moved ‘S’ into

the spotlight. Organisations needed to take

drastic action with regards to their workforce.

They also needed to dramatically rethink

their supply chains, their impact on employees

that remained, and their impact on the

community.

So, where once we focused almost exclusively

on defining what ‘E’ and ‘G’ meant and how

they could be measured, we are now doing

the same with ‘S’. And this is because we now

have the irrefutable evidence that ‘S’ does

indeed matter, and it is ‘material’ when it

comes to understanding an organisation’s risk

and opportunity profile. It’s a key requirement

to unlocking capital flows and investment,


ESG

AUTHOR – Aniela Unguresan

precisely because ‘S’ can affect the way in which an

organisation is performing now and will perform

in the future.

STANDARDS FOR MEASUREMENT

One problem faced by those surveyed by BNP

Paribas in 2019 was that investors said that existing

measurements and analysis of ‘S’ did not help them

respond to rising demand for socially responsible

investing strategies and products.

So, to accelerate the rise of ‘S’ in today’s world,

to make it an important measurement of how

sustainable the organisation is, to be able to view

its net positive footprint and how it creates shared

value, we need to measure its ‘S’ in a standardised

way so that information becomes comparable.

And we must do this because different rating

agencies, capital markets, and indices, all rely on

‘S’ to know what success looks like. Only robust

and standardised measurement, independent

oversight and verification that credibly position

organisations on where they stand can offer this.

Of course, there are different philosophies that

determine how standards are set and success is

defined. Should we set a minimum standard? Or

do we want to define the floor and then define the

target that we should aspire to? From an EDGE

perspective, setting minimum standards is not

enough – it’s not even the beginning of a journey.

While capital and capital markets are important

to raising standards, so too are Governments and

the creative use of legislation. They can, for example,

use tax systems to encourage voluntary efforts.

And they can require compulsory disclosures.

KPMG terms this ‘progressive legislation’ – which

encourages the adoption of voluntary standards

and market-based mechanisms to shift market

trends and expectations and improve social

outcomes.

Of course, ESG ratings will never replace

financial performance as the primary driver

of an organisation’s value. But what favourable

ratings can do is drive down the cost of capital for

those organisations because investors know that

lower risks equate to better management. And in

turn, those organisations will be able to attract,

retain, develop, and motivate the kind of talent

that they need to succeed. Put in the words of Paul

Polman’s Net Positive Manifesto: ‘The economy

won’t thrive unless people and the planet are

thriving.’

Aniela Unguresan is the Founder

of the EDGE Certified Foundation.

The rise of the

‘E’ in ESG can

also be attributed

to the current

and legitimate

preoccupation

with the

environment;

this too has

driven processes

aligned

with capital

investment.


EXCLUSIVE

A fool and his money?

The CSA ups the stakes in the debate

surrounding the future funding of debt advice.

AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM

THE Credit Services

Association (CSA) is reigniting

the debate over the

future funding of the debt

advice sector with a new

report that calls for an end

to behind closed doors agreements and

demands greater accountability for the

advice services its members are already

funding.

While the Association acknowledges

the vital role that debt advice plays, it

also questions the consistency of advice

given. It believes there is a need to shift

the conversation away from the binary

question of whether advice has been

given or not, towards one that recognises

whether the customer has ultimately

experienced the right outcome as a better

measure of ‘value’.

‘As a sector, we understand the value in

high-quality, efficient and effective freeto-client

advice which is why the sector

contributes many millions of pounds of

voluntary contributions on top of the

quite significant compulsory levy-based

ones,’ writes the report’s author Henry

Aitchison, the CSA Head of Policy.

‘Ultimately, high quality advice is

an investment on behalf of customers

and, in some way, an indirect cost to

those customers. As such it is important

to consider the extent to which that

investment represents value for money.’

KEY FINDINGS

The report details a number of key

findings which it uses as the basis for

future recommendations. While the scale

of the financial guidance levy is a known

quantity, and the Money and Pensions

Service (MaPS) tracks the number of

advice sessions provided, there is no

wholly reliable data for the overall level of

funding that free-to-client advice receives

or what it achieves with it. Without sight

of this, the CSA believes it is impossible

for MaPS to credibly determine what level

of funding is required or to determine

levels of genuine performance.

The CSA does not believe, in simple

terms, that more funding has delivered

proportionately more advice given. In

the past decade, levy-based funding has

quadrupled and, although levy-funded

sessions have grown at almost the same

rate until 2019, this is not reflected in the

estimated global figure, despite increases

in those funds. What’s more, even in the

levy-funded sessions, there is no pattern

of accelerating output that would indicate

improvements in efficiency. As such,

it says, simply applying more money to

increase the amount of advice is therefore

clearly not an effective approach in itself.

‘In real terms, there is no way to credibly

determine capacity or performance

within the free-to-client sector,’ Aitchison

continues. ‘Moreover, without a reliable

source for this information, demands

for greater compulsory levy funding lack

any vestige of accountability since there

is no way to gauge genuine need, value

for money or to challenge unreasonable

demands.’

INEFFICIENT AND INCONSISTENT

Inefficiencies within the debt advice

sector, and inconsistencies in service

delivery, are also issues that need to be

addressed. A lack of efficiency has been

identified on multiple occasions over the

years but as yet there is nothing to show

that genuine improvements in efficiency

have been made. And while in principle,

any organisation providing regulated

debt counselling is expected to meet

the same regulatory standards, many

of the same issues surrounding quality,

consistency and efficiency in behaviour

continue to be raised by creditors.

Outcomes can be variable, and anecdotal

evidence suggests that massaging

results of advice takes place and

ultimately, the question of whether value

for money is achieved rests squarely on

whether the customer experiences the

right outcome as a direct result of the

advice given.

When it comes to funding sources,

the report finds that contributors to debt

advice funding are drawn insufficiently

broadly. If there is a genuine expectation

that demand will increase significantly in

the months to come, then it will be critical

to both broaden the pool of contributions

and genuinely achieve a measure of

greater efficiency.

The key challenge for MaPS, and by

extension policy makers and funders, is

that unless some of the underlying and

well documented problems are honestly

tackled little progress will ultimately be

made: Why is more money always needed

when previous increases seem to have a

declining effect? What precisely is the

money that has already been provided

been spent on? Where is the evidence

of greater efficiencies being achieved?

Where is the evidence of the quality of

debt advice across the board? Where

is the evidence of outcomes actually

experienced by the customer and whether

they were the right ones, not just whether

they got advice or not?

Aitchison says that these are difficult

questions to put, but that the CSA has

a responsibility to future customers of

debt advice to ensure that high quality

support is available, subject to scrutiny

and delivering best value. So what, in the

CSA’s view, should policymakers be doing

about it?

PRINCIPAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Firstly, it believes policymakers need to

ensure that contributions are drawn from

a wider cross section of organisations

whose customers and service users

require advice, to ensure that it is

genuinely equitable. Doing so, it believes,

should widen and deepen the pool of

contributions while simultaneously

redressing current disproportionality.

Secondly, consideration needs to be

given as to whether the current patchwork

of providers is capable of delivering

consistent, high-quality advice across

the population as a whole, and whether

there are overlaps and gaps in provision

that mean resources are not focused

effectively. If they are not, consideration

should be given to whether more direct

control should be assumed for delivery in

each of the four national areas to ensure

national and local needs are met.

MaPS should continue pushing forward

with putting in place mechanisms to

ensure that it has full visibility of both

the standard of advice and that value

for money is genuinely being achieved.

Where it is not, or where funds are

diverted to non-advice activities, MaPS

should take steps to recover the relevant

proportion of any contract which is not

adequately performed or where funds

have been utilised for other purposes.

To the extent that any of the existing

compulsory funding framework continues,

it should be made genuinely

transparent and accountable to all those


EXCLUSIVE


2.4 In 2019, the Credit Services Association undertook an exercise to estimate

the amount of funding available to not-for-profit debt advice organisations 6

and what that funding had achieved. A conservative estimate for the

2018/2019 year found that in addition to the £56.3million funds available

in the formal levy, there appeared to be a further £55.7million in ‘Fairshare’

payments and somewhere in the region of another £60million in donations,

grants, and the like.

2.5

Debt Advice Funding (c. £172m)

With the exception of the Financial Guidance Levy 7 , which is a known

quantity, the amounts relating to ‘fairshare’ and donatives are conservative

estimates drawn from annual accounts and similar publications from those

making the payments or receiving them.

2.6 Having determined the scale of funding, the next question to be asked

is what those funds achieved. Again, only the information from MaPS is

potentially reliable in contributing to an understanding of what has been

delivered. The annual report 8 for the 2019/2020 year stated that 541,479

sessions had been delivered in England against a cost of some £61.145

million. Various advice organisations produce their own tallies of advice

given but it is unclear how much of that is accounted for in the MaPS

totals. What is less clear is what the wider funding pot achieved as a whole,

something that is further complicated by debt advice provision now being

split on a national level.

2.7 What we can see is that there is an apparently large amount of funding

already available for the provision of debt advice, even if the total is

obscured, but a fundamental lack of clarity as to what that is achieving.

13

6 See the blog ‘The money merry-go-round of debt advice’ – Credit Services Association [March 2019]

7 And Devolved Authorities levy

8 Money and Pensions Service - Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 – [Accessed 28

February 2022]

Levy - 33%

Fairshare - 32%

Donatives - 35%

Fig 1: 2018/2019 Estimated proportions of funding for free-to-client debt advice.

7

vi. The key challenge for the Money and Pensions Service, and by extension

policy makers and funders, is that unless some of the underlying and welldocumented

problems are honestly tackled little progress will ultimately be

made:

• Why is more money always needed when previous increases

seem to have a declining effect?

• What precisely is the money that has already been provided

been spent on?

• Where is the evidence of greater efficiencies being achieved?

• Where is the evidence of the quality of debt advice across the

board?

• Where is the evidence of outcomes actually experienced by

the customer and whether they were the right ones, not just

whether they got advice or not?

These are difficult questions to put, but we have a responsibility to future

customers of debt advice to ensure that high quality support is available,

subject to scrutiny and delivering best value.

A lack of efficiency has been identified on

multiple occasions over the years but, as

yet, there is nothing to show that genuine

improvements in efficiency have been

made.

A CREDIT SERVICES ASSOCIATION REPORT

APRIL 2022

HENRY AITCHISON

WIDE OF THE MARK?

ASSESSING THE DELIVERY AND VALUE OF

FREE-TO-CLIENT DEBT ADVICE.

A Credit Service

Association report.

By Henry Aitchison

‘Ultimately, high quality advice is an

investment on behalf of customers

and, in some way, an indirect cost

to those customers. As such it is

important to consider the extent to

which that investment represents

value for money.’

expected to pay. As such, any proposed demand for

funding should be consulted on with MaPS and DWP

requiring robust evidence both of the necessity and

fairness of any proposal, having regard to the interests

of all parties. It should no longer be possible to agree

funding demands behind closed doors or without genuine

opportunity for those expected to pay to consider

and, where appropriate, challenge unreasonable proposals.

The CSA says that providers should be held to the

same standard irrespective of whether they charge a

fee or not. The efforts that MaPS has made to improve

the consistency and quality of funded advice should

continue. However, while the Financial Conduct

Authority has done much to improve the standard of

commercial providers, it must also ensure that it takes

steps to do so in relation to non-commercial providers

as the potential consequences of poor, inconsistent

or inadequate advice are no less harmful by virtue of

having been caused by non-commercial providers.

In short, there needs to be much more

accountability. Those receiving levy funds should

demonstrate as a matter of course that quality,

consistency and efficiency in advice is being achieved,

and not merely claim that this is the case.

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS

The CSA’s report comes after a decade of significant

change among lenders and the consumer credit

industry towards how customers are treated. The

concern is that assumptions for future funding will be

made based on out-of-date thinking, and a conscious/

unconscious bias against the collections industry.

Many sectors have invested considerable time and

resource in moving towards greater collaboration

with those who owe them money. Long before the

advent of the FCA, changes in the various consumer

credit markets were already focused on better arrears

engagement to secure better outcomes: of having

fewer conversations which were longer but better,

instead of many rapid short ‘when can you give me

the money’ conversations; of having staff with the

necessary life experience and empathy; of having the

right sort of forbearance strategy and options in place.

‘That is not to suggest for an instant that every firm

is the same, or even that every sector in the economy

has the same approaches to handling arrears or nonpayment,’

Aitchison concludes. ‘The quality and

consistency of engagement can be highly variable. But

the underlying point is simple: as creditors continually

improve – and it will be an ongoing and open-ended

process – the extent to which debt advice is a direct

‘benefit’ to those firms will continue to decline.

‘As it does, Government and policy makers will

find it increasingly difficult to justify drawing on

creditors to fund it. Moreover, a stagnant debt advice

sector and poorly judged Government intervention,

present key challenges not least because they impact

both the value and benefit of debt advice and more

fundamentally affect the wider economy.’

The report is entitled Wide of the Mark – assessing

the delivery and value of free-to-client debt advice.


Apprentice profile

REBECCA Lothian describes herself as just

a regular gal from Warrington who outside

of work loves animals, her family and

going for hikes in the great outdoors: “I am

only 27,” she says, “and thoroughly enjoy

spending my summertime at festivals,

however I always joke that I am secretly 80 as nothing

beats a good old cup of tea and good book on the sofa on a

Saturday night! Haha!”

Prior to working at United Utilities, Rebecca used to be

a Drama and English teacher in Secondary Education. As

much as she loved being dramatic in the studio everyday

with the children, she says she honestly never had a feeling

of belonging in the classroom and experienced doubts if it

was the right career choice: “Just before national lockdown

in 2020, I decided to leave the profession to pursue

something else. I noticed the role at United Utilities and

thought why not, let’s give this a go and the rest is history!”

Rebecca began her journey working in general debt

and talking to customers daily regarding their payments:

“I picked up a great deal very quickly, and considering I

had never worked in this sector before and found it really

interesting.

“I was quite successful in my cash collection so was asked

to join the Court team within the same department. It was

quite nerve-wracking at first as there was much to learn,

however it only made my passion for credit management

grow.”

NATURAL INTEREST

When Rebecca heard about the CICM, her natural interest

in education came to the fore: “Although I left that world,

I still have a thirst for knowledge and still want to learn to

better myself,” she says.

“The first module was brilliant as it affirmed everything

that I’d been doing in the role and I loved hearing the theory

behind the practice. I was very nervous for my first exam

so went into overdrive with revision, reading the textbook

aloud like I was rehearsing Shakespeare or something, but

I can say that it worked as I passed. Since then, our second

module has been assignment based. Now this is more my

forte! I was asked to share my writing knowledge with

the other apprentices, so I created training sessions and

e-learning to boost their writing skills which has been an

absolute joy to do.”

Rebecca says that she has learned a great deal throughout

the course: “Working mainly with domestic customers I

had very limited knowledge surrounding debt collection in

a commercial or business setting, so I have found this very

insightful.

“I have also began to scratch the surface in regards to

bankruptcy accounts, which has been eye-opening in my

role. I do believe the course has provided me with a wider

understanding of debt, which has improved my negotiation

tactics and enabled me to feel more confident when

speaking to customers. I really like that this opportunity has

given me not only a wider perception of our business but

of other businesses working with the collections lifecycle.”

Latest in a new series

of how CICM-led

Apprenticeships are

supporting professional

development.

Rebecca Lothian

United Utilities

“I was quite successful in my cash

collection so was asked to join the Court

team within the same department. It was

quite nerve-wracking at first as there was

much to learn, however it only made my

passion for credit management grow.’’

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

• 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


www.tcmgroup.com

Probably thebest debt collection network worldwide

Certificate of Compliance

This is to certify that TCM Exchange Platform has successfully complied Penetration Testing

conducted by Pentest-Tools SRL. No critical dangers have been found.

CERTIFICATE NUMBER

001/08/2021

DATE OF THE PENETRATION TEST

20th of August 2021

FULL NAME OF CERTIFIED COMPANY

TCM Group International ehf.

DATE OF THE NEXT PENETRATION TEST

20th of August 2022

Head of Professional Services

Razvan-Costin Ionescu

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CAREERS

Take the leap

Why fear shouldn’t prevent you from

applying for that dream job.

AUTHOR – Natascha Whitehead

HAVE you ever come

across a desirable role

which prompted you to

update your CV and draft

a carefully considered

cover letter, but then,

when it came to pressing ‘send’ during the

application process, something physically

stopped you?

This may be due to your internal ‘what

if’ fears. From a lack of self-belief to

worrying about your current employer’s

response, I’ve listed three simple ways

to keep common concerns at bay. As the

demand for credit professionals remains

high – there’s no reason to not go for that

opportunity!

1. NO IMPOSTER SYNDROME HERE

Have confidence in your skills and

abilities, even if it’s a new industry.

You may analyse your CV and realise

that your skillset and experience might not

be an identical fit (especially if it’s a new

industry), but do not let this hold you back!

It’s easy to forget that even the most senior

staff began their career with a lack of

experience and were most probably faced

with the same self-doubting thoughts you

might be encountering.

How do you reduce these sceptical

thoughts? While there’s no denying that

‘required’ skills and experience are more

challenging to overcome, hiring managers

are often more flexible when considering

their listed ‘desired’ skills. If you can

emphasise that you have the soft skills

needed to build on your credit experience,

such as being a diligent quick learner, this

can aid your application process.

You can also demonstrate your

transferable skills, especially if it’s not in

the same industry as your current role.

For example, if you’ve worked in a large

corporate – your experience of dealing

with a large number of stakeholders and

deadlines are excellent transferable skills

to highlight.

2. DON’T FRET THE COMPETITION

In the digital age we live in, more often

than not you’ll find you can now see

how many others have applied for a

specific role, particularly on job boards

and LinkedIn. In certain situations, this

can act as a deterrent when weighing-up

whether you want to apply or not.

Whilst it may be easier to accept the

negative, self-deprecating voice, practise

substituting this dialogue with positive,

self-confident thoughts. Implementing

positive habits can help with selfconfidence,

which in turn, can aid your

self-belief when it comes to applying for

jobs.

If you’re ever feeling hesitant, write

down all your achievements in your career

so far, as well as what you can offer for

the new role. This will help you visualise

your accomplishments, rather than seeing

them within a generic CV format. You can

then play a match-making game, where

you identify key words used to describe a

job’s ideal candidate and pair them with

your own list of skills and experience.

This will naturally make you stand

out amongst the crowd, which should

naturally boost your confidence when

applying for a role which has a significant

number of active candidates.

3. IT’S YOUR LIFE

Remember to put yourself first. And don’t

let loyalty and guilt prevent you from

applying to a vacancy, especially when it is

your ideal role within a desired company.

It may seem that your company needs

your resources right now, and by applying

to a job you feel a hint of dishonesty.

However, this is not the case. There is

nothing misleading or deceitful about

putting your career progression or

happiness first. Putting yourself at the

forefront may feel unfamiliar, and you

may feel guilty about your decision, but

it’s necessary when navigating the world

of work.

This is not to say that you should be

inconsiderate to your current employer

– you can give an ample notice period

and thank them for the opportunities

and development, whilst simultaneously

prioritising your own career journey.

Whilst you may not be able to control your

managers response, you can monitor how

you handle the situation.

A final thought – next time you find

yourself debating whether to go through

with the application process, due to fears

holding you back, remember to trust the

process, have self-confidence, and put

yourself first!

Natascha Whitehead is Business

Director & UK Channel Lead of Hays

Credit Management.

Natascha

Whitehead

Next time you

find yourself

debating whether to

go through with the

application process,

due to fears holding

you back, remember

to trust the process,

have self-confidence,

and put yourself

first!


WELLBEING

FIT FOR PURPOSE

The future of wellness has implications for

individuals, organisations and Governments.

IF it’s always daunting to predict trends

in the fast-moving wellness space, it’s

especially so two years into a pandemic

where the long-promised ‘post-pandemic

world’ is becoming visible but is

repeatedly delayed.

So says Susie Ellis, Chair and CEO of the

Global Wellness Summit (GWS) who recently

published an extensive report into the wellness

economy to predict future trends: “One thing that

this forecast makes clear,” Sue says, “is that the

future of wellness will be anything but a ‘restart’

of 2019. What consumers now need most, what

they perceive as ‘true wellness,’ has profoundly

changed.”

A few key themes emerge from the report. With

new awareness of the radical fragility of life and

the planet, a ‘survivalist wellness’

is emerging: more people are

seeking resilience and selfreliance

and they’re now keenly

aware that their own wellbeing

is inextricably linked to the

wellbeing of the planet.

Another theme is tackling the

glaring gaps, missing links, and

underserved populations in both

healthcare and wellness: from

male body issues finally getting

the attention they deserve, to

innovative technology closing

the women’s health research

gap. They include a focus on

‘senior living’ to the rise of professional wellness

coaches dedicated to solving that great unsolved

issue in both healthcare and wellness: motivating

behaviour change.

With the pandemic further subsuming us

in a digital world, the future of wellness and

technology is complex: the metaverse will plunge

us into evermore immersive health and wellness

experiences while a new ‘technological wellness’

will have us interrogating our relationship to tech

as never before. The report covers the cool, new

experiences rising in wellness: from pandemicweary

cities being reimagined as accessible

‘wellness playgrounds’ to destinations answering

the call of a new purpose-seeking wellness

traveller, with experiences that help them grow

intellectually, spiritually and creatively. So let’s

look at the 2022 trends in more detail.

DIRT-Y WELLNESS

Soil is our planet’s most extraordinary ecosystem:

one handful contains 50 billion life forms. For


Mounting research

indicates that the

soil and human

microbiomes are

anciently connected,

and that soil exposure

has an eye-opening

impact on everything

from immune to

mental health.

millions of years, the microbial stew that is living

soil did its job: from cycling nutrients to plants to

capturing vast amounts of atmospheric carbon.

Mounting research indicates that the soil and

human microbiomes are anciently connected,

and that soil exposure has an eye-opening impact

on everything from immunity to mental health.

The problem: we’re in a huge soil crisis, so, a

food, environmental and health crisis. Industrial

agricultural methods quickly decimated the

world’s soil microbiome: one-third of all farmland

is intensely degraded.

A new regenerative agriculture—techniques

that restore soil’s biodiversity—is the hottest topic

in farming and will now become a hot topic in

wellness. ‘Regen-,’ or ‘soil-certified,’ will be the

next food label, because it’s far more meaningful

than ‘organic’—not only for its

huge environmental impact but

also because soil health is the

true lens into food’s nutritional

value. More wellness brands will

pivot to Regen-farm-sourced ingredients.

In wellness real estate,

Regen-agrihoods are a real trend

to watch. More people are becoming

serious ag-geeks. An unprecedented

greening of the urban

landscape and an explosion

in urban farms are underway.

A new microbial architecture/

design is even creating indoor

spaces teeming with healthy soil

microbes. At more wellness resorts, the farm—and

increasingly the regenerative farm—is becoming as

important as spa and fitness.

The world is waking up to the dire need to rewild

the world’s soil and to the soil-human microbiome

connection. A ‘dirty' wellness deliberately refutes

wellness’ ‘clean’ obsession: our bodies aren’t

gated temples, we’re just a dance between the

trillions of microorganisms in the soil and in our

gut.

TOXIC MUSCULARITY

A growing body of research is revealing that body

image is no longer solely a ‘women’s issue’. In

April 2021, a survey by a United Kingdom male

suicide prevention charity and Instagram found

that half of men aged 16-40 had struggled with

their mental health because of how they feel

about their bodies—and half pointed the finger at

mainstream and social media.

‘Toxic muscularity’ can be literally poisonous.

Anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse is hiding in


WELLBEING


plain sight in the improbable shape of actors,

athletes, influencers and action figures. The

consequences, both mental and physical

(sometimes fatal), could however soon be hard

to ignore. And steroids are merely the most

notorious of an ever-expanding pharmacopeia

of image- and performance-enhancing drugs

(IPEDs) that have spread from backstreet gyms

to commercial and high-end health clubs to

high schools.

Toxic muscularity is contributing to the rise in

male eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia:

the pathological preoccupation that you’re not

muscular enough, no matter how big and lean

you may be. Thankfully, the male equivalent of

the conversation about unhealthily thin female

models and Barbie dolls is finally happening—if

still underdeveloped.

‘DIGITAL’ HEALTH

Between fitness wearables, telehealth apps, and

smart home gyms, there seems to be no shortage

of technologies promising to make us well. But

the truth is that most technologies – that make

up the majority of our screen time are harming

our health, not helping it. That’s where the

need for technological wellness comes in: a kind

of wellness that doesn’t just remedy the toxic

toll that tech takes on our minds on bodies, but

rather, puts health at the centre of how often we

engage with technology at large.

To accomplish this, a new kind of

collaboration between the technology industry

and wellness industry is required. The

world’s biggest tech companies are already

racing to build a world where we interact via

virtual reality headsets and trade our glasses

for augmented reality contacts. But by

pausing, asking the tough questions, and

developing everyday technologies with health

in mind, we can create a better kind of world:

one where we treat our tech intake more like our

food intake — taking greater care to understand

how it affects our mind, body, and overall

wellbeing.

SENIOR LIVING DISRUPTED

According to leading aging experts, 90 will be the

new 40 within a decade. The exponential jump

in longevity means that people are retiring later

and focusing on being active and engaged with

personal growth into old age. Healthier, more

youthful, and more active than their cohorts in

previous generations, this incoming senior class

doesn’t ‘feel old’ and doesn’t want to be defined

by age, nor socially segregated by it. That’s why

today’s age-segregated models of senior living

communities are no longer cutting it with a new

generation that doesn’t believe in the concept of

being put out to pasture.

To meet the changing expectations of aging

adults, senior living will, and needs to, focus

more on intentional intergenerationality. Oldschool

intersectionality still exists in the world’s

Blue Zones—places like Okinawa, Japan and

90 will be the new

40 within a decade.

The exponential

jump in longevity

means that people

are retiring later and

focusing on being

active and engaged

with personal growth

into old age.

Sardinia, Italy—which also happen to be among

the places where people live the longest and age

the healthiest.

New models for intergenerational living

environments are being explored that can set

the stage for reducing age segregation, while

increasing social connections, decreasing

loneliness, and resulting in better health

and wellbeing outcomes for all residents.

The latest trend is towards the development

of pocket neighbourhoods; innovative,

mutually beneficial intergenerational coliving

models; and strategies for designing for

intergenerationality.

WELLNESS TRAVEL

Social indicators such as the ‘great resignation’,

record retirements and global nomadism reveal

profound commitments to work/life balance

and personal growth and happiness. In fulfilling

those goals, the travel industry is rolling out

the welcome mat for these new intentional

travellers with the invitation: seekers, welcome.

New travel experiences tap into a sense

of purpose, a desire to grow creatively and

intellectually and flourish in new environments.

Nature as a healer and a source of awe remains

primary, whether at a rooftop yoga class or

trekking the forthcoming Trans Bhutan Trail.

Seekers will be exploring the wisdom of the

ancients in Indigenous travel experiences;

learning to grow their own food; expressing

their creativity in art classes; and giving back to

academia in citizen science programs.

The pandemic underlined the need to attend

to personal health and taking a break became a

bigger part of the wellness picture. In 2022, it’s

clear that the thread of wellness is so braided

into the travel world that nearly every trip is

an opportunity for travellers to reclaim their

lives, improve their health, and discover their

purpose.

THE GENDER GAP

Too many women’s health conditions are

underfunded and under-researched. This has

led to major issues in healthcare: women with

chronic conditions have a harder time securing

a correct diagnosis and finding effective

treatments, thereby impacting their view of

mainstream medicine. Patients wonder: why

aren’t there more solutions out there?

Startups and technology giants are

increasingly trying to expand and improve

research data through AI, smartphone apps,

wearables, and virtual trials. From datagathering

trackers to ‘smart bras,’ Silicon Valley

is reimagining a host of existing technologies.

These new advancements allow for better

representation in trials, quicker access to

participants, and more longitudinal data.

Research institutions and academia are starting

to show interest, partnering with a wide range

of startups, proving there’s more than one way

to collect health information.

Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / May 2022 / PAGE 19 continues on page 20 >

THE FUTURE

OF WELLNESS

2022.

From virtual reality and augmented

reality to merged reality and haptics, the

coming wellness metaverse will create vast

opportunities for each sector of the $4.4

trillion global wellness economy.


WELLBEING


WELLNESS PLAYGROUNDS

Whether it’s new or renovated bathhouses featuring

hydrothermal bathing, large-scale wellness water

resorts, or public parks where nature meets art

and wellness, cities around the globe are suddenly

making the pursuit of wellness accessible,

affordable and inclusive.

Communal bathing that hearkens back to

European and Asian bathing cultures is inspiring

an urban bathhouse renaissance around the

globe. Additionally, sauna bathing is becoming

more popular and playful—it’s less about being

serious and silent and more about communal joy!

Large event saunas have been opening outside of

European sauna hot spots, with cities like Las Vegas

hosting high-octane ‘Sauna Aufguss’ performances

and London night spots offering private rooftop

saunas adjacent to the rooftop bar. New public

playgrounds that merge nature and art with

wellness are transforming cityscapes—with new

manmade beachfronts, scenic boardwalks, pop-up

wellness classes, and even water sports becoming

available in very unexpected places.

NEXT-GEN NATURALISM

For decades, the concept of progress has been

about requiring humans to do as little as possible.

We praise automation, reward the businesses

who deliver convenience on-demand, and admire

nature from a safe distance — glorifying it without

respecting it. But the looming threat of global

upheaval is forcing us to change our ways. As we

collectively reckon with the fragility of our planet

and the instability of our supply chains, we’ll see a

long-overdue return to self-reliance.

This self-sufficiency boom is already evident

in the global growth of outdoor survival schools,

foraging, homegrown produce, and TikTok

#ecohacks. And it’s a trend that’s very much in

line with the larger shifts towards back-to-basics

wellness. Just as wellness is returning to the

fundamentals, Next-Gen Naturalism requires a

Marie-Kondo-esque simplification of one’s life and

consumption, placing a refreshing focus on the

natural world and ancient practices. It’s a no-frills

kind of wellness that forces us to rethink how we

use our natural resources, how we source our food,

and ultimately—how we prepare for a shaky future.

WELLNESS COACHING

The world spends $8.3 trillion a year on healthcare,

$4.4 trillion on wellness, but we can’t stem the tide of

chronic diseases. Behaviour change is the toughest

nut. So, why haven’t coaches devoted to helping

people make healthy changes been at the centre

of everything? They’re a no-brainer, they’ve been

absent, but now the certified health and wellness

coach (HWC) is finally here.

In the Wild West of ‘wellness coaching,’ the

future is new distinctions, because what a certified

HWC does is utterly unique. They’re healthcare

professionals trained in evidence-based, nuanced

conversational techniques that get people

developing the intrinsic motivation and confidence

to hit realistic wellbeing goals. Unlike the 15 minutes

doctors give you, they spend time: around 50 minutes

a week for at least three months. Their approach

is radically different from the ‘prescriptive’ model

that rules both medicine and wellness. Doctors say

exercise; wellness gurus say follow me on this path

to weight loss or enlightenment. Motivation must

be sparked from within.

The need for such coaches will explode; rigorous

training and certification programmes are now

in place. Primary care startups and public health

initiatives are shaking up medicine with ‘care team

models, where this coach is as central as the doctor.

There is a positive avalanche of digital health

companies promising to revolutionise everything

from chronic disease management to weight loss

by automating ‘personalised health coaching’—and

problems with all the coach-bots coding the human

out of the process. Wellness resorts, working on the

‘a week can change your life’ models, have resisted

HWCs, but that is set to change, with urban wellness

centres opening up for more ‘everyday’ coaching.

Certified HWCs will increasingly work with

doctors, insurers, employers, physical therapists,

fitness trainers, and people independently. Because

they are the missing link.

WELCOME TO THE METAVERSE

The metaverse is happening; it isn’t a maybe. And

thanks to a wide range of social forces, including

the pandemic, the rise of the ‘Wellness Metaverse’

is inevitable. With wellness front and centre in

consumers’ minds—and at the forefront of business

and Government strategies around the globe—the

world is seeking new technologies that can far

better engage and impact the health of many more

people. From virtual reality and augmented reality

to merged reality and haptics, the coming wellness

metaverse will create vast opportunities for each

sector of the $4.4 trillion global wellness economy.

To build a Wellness Metaverse, there will

be unprecedented new synergies between the

technology, wellness and health industries.

Wellness sectors, including fitness, beauty, healthy

eating, mental wellness, wellness tourism, wellness

real estate, spas and workplace wellness are

introducing new technologies and virtual worlds

that deliver a far more immersive experience and

radically transform how wellness is delivered to

global consumers.

And the entire world is paying attention. Fortune

500 companies are unveiling creative, disruptive

new products and services that can improve people’s

health and lives. The coming metaverse will move

beyond gaming and health and wellbeing will be at

the centre—it will prove one of its meaningful bright

spots. And it’s a bright future where the wellness

industry can play a leadership role.

Adapted from the Global Wellness Trends Report

– The Future of Wellness 2022. The author would

like to thank Cassandra Cavanah for her support in

preparing this article.

This selfsufficiency

boom is already

evident in the

global growth

of outdoor

survival schools,

foraging,

homegrown

produce,

and TikTok

#ecohacks. And

it’s a trend that’s

very much in line

with the larger

shifts towards

back-to-basics

wellness.


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Q&A

Credit Management speaks to Michelle Frewin

MCICM(Grad) about the experience of obtaining

the company’s first CICMQ accreditation.

The credit control team at Shorterm, one of the largest and fastest growing specialist technical

engineering recruiters and training providers in the UK, has achieved best practice with CICMQ

accreditation, a formal acknowledgement of excellence in all things credit. The award was

presented to the team in March.

Michelle Frewin

MCICM(Grad)

Michelle Frewin

MCICM(Grad) is the Credit

Control Manager at Shorterm.

She was in conversation

with Mona Yazdanparast and

Laura Rhodes.

CM: What is the size of your credit team

and what services do you provide?

MF: The team is made up of me as credit

manager, with three credit controllers

who are responsible for specific business

units or businesses within our group of

companies, and a credit control analyst

who has responsibility for our self-billing

clients. We are a training and recruitment

agency originally specialising in the

provision of contract engineers to a wide

range of engineering companies. After

multiple acquisitions over the years,

and one most recently in 2022, we have

expanded our staffing and training

solutions to business partners across

an extensive range of industry sectors,

notably energy, aviation, aerospace,

automotive, electronics, engineering,

construction, telecommunications, rail,

and power.

CM: What are the advantages of being

accredited to CICMQ?

MF: It is beneficial to acknowledge

hard work as a team and to continue to

develop and fulfil the high standards

we set. It is a major achievement to

have an industry leader like the CICM

personally attest for the quality of our

work. It demonstrates to our clients

and stakeholders that we are working to

robust processes which are underpinned

by expertise and knowledge of credit

management.

CM: What are the reasons that you

sought CICMQ accreditation?

MF: The CICMQ accreditation confirms

that an organisation is meeting industry

best practices. We wanted to be

assessed as working in line with credit

management best practices set by the

Institute of Credit Management. It is an

achievement for us, and one that we are

incredibly proud of as a team.

CM: What were the central challenges

you faced in gaining accreditation? And

is there anything you will do differently

next time now that you have gained

accreditation?

MF: To prepare ourselves before starting

the accreditation process, we spoke to

another company that has achieved

CICMQ accreditation. It helped us greatly

in our preparation as I was fully aware

of the expectations from the CICMQ

assessment and what was expected from

our business in order to be accredited.

Some of the key lessons learned are to

fully document process improvements,

as we did not document the process and

the outcome earlier. This is an area we

are consistently looking at to improve

efficiency.

CM: Does the team receive any CICM

training and are there plans for this to

begin or expand?

MF: I am a CICM graduate and qualified

in 2020 and we currently have one

student in the team. We are in process of

considering our plans going forward.

The credit control team at Shorterm

was reviewed by Pam Thomas of CICM,

who stated that the assessment period

revealed the team to be professional

in their work: “They have developed a

good reputation within the business

and have embraced the opportunity to

improve working relationships, highlight

deficiencies in processes and procedures,

drive performance to achieve positive

outcomes for all those involved,” she said.

“The team demonstrate good

stakeholder involvement with process

developments and working capital at the

forefront of their activities. This small

but effective team demonstrates the

attributes and rightly deserve recognition

for their achievements.”


International Trade

Monthly round-up of the latest stories

in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.

Russia creates more risk

THE effects of the Russian

invasion are spilling out

across the world. Pakistan

created waves when its prime

minister, Imran Khan, struck

a huge trade deal with Russia to import

natural gas as well as 2m tons of wheat

following a visit shortly after the war

began.

Khan’s actions have not gone down

well. While he has expressed concern

over the invasion of Ukraine, he’s not

denounced it either. The US reacted

angrily to the news of Khan’s visit.

India too is in trouble and risks the

‘wrath’ of the West by opening talks with

Moscow to buy heavily discounted oil

and other goods according to The Times.

By using a rupee-rouble transaction,

sanctions imposed on Russia by the West

could be bypassed. India currently buys

only around three percent of its fuel from

Russia, but discounts of around 40 percent

has made Russian oil tempting.

This could blowback on both Pakistan

and India. Exporters ought to be wary –

who knows what sanctions the US could

impose on those that trade, indirectly,

with Russia.

Other nations including Poland,

Moldova, Finland, and Sweden have

also been threatened by Russian sabrerattling.

And with Putin having effectively

nationalised billions of dollars’ worth of

stranded leased aircraft, those exporting

to threatened countries face the risk,

albeit small right now, of sales going

unpaid through sanction or Russian

intervention.

UK trade deal with the US

TOWARDS the end of March, the

UK and US struck a trade deal that

removes US tariffs on British steel and

aluminium, while the UK will lift levies

on American whiskey, motorcycles, and

tobacco.

The deal requires any UK steel

company owned by a Chinese entity to

audit their financial records to assess

possible influence from China and

share the results with the US.

The agreement follows similar deals

the Biden administration signed with

the European Union and Japan in

recent months as part of its effort to

repair trade ties with friendly nations

damaged by Trump’s trade war.

Notably, The Wall Street Journal

said that the tariffs originally

imposed in 2018 by the former Trump

administration: “succeeded in pushing

down US steel imports but didn’t lead

to the steelmaking renaissance that

Trump promised.”

THE Russian invasion has forced

multinational firms to think carefully

about how they act. Many cut off

supplies and dealings, even to the point

of writing off billions in assets and

business. Others have been shredded in

the court of public opinion as the media

made clear its unhappiness with their

inaction.

Consider Shell. At the start of the war,

it bought heavily discounted Russian

oil just as it said it was closing its 500

Media pressure can sink a firm

petrol stations there and cutting links

with Gazprom – all within days of

condemning the invasion.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign

Minister, summed up the global

sentiment of Shell when he tweeted:

“Doesn’t Russian oil smell [like]

Ukrainian blood for you?”

But because of such damaging

opprobrium, Shell recanted and stated

that it would immediately stop

buying Russian crude oil on the spot

market and would not renew

contracts.

In a similar position was Japanese

clothing firm, Uniqlo. It initially refused

to stop trading in Russia because it felt

its clothing was ‘essential’. It too has

changed tack.

So, for those who haven’t got the

message, be very careful. One misstep

and a brand can be destroyed. The

management of P&O Ferries is now

learning this lesson the hard way.


Putin has killed globalisation

PUTIN’S invasion of Ukraine has hastened

the death of globalisation by pushing

up the cost of energy, disrupting supply

chains and hiking up inflation. Many

businesses are now looking at sources

closer to home for raw materials, energy,

components, and other supplies. It’s likely

that manufacturing will be repatriated or

brought closer to home.

For exporters, this means that far flung

markets may see trade dented and as a

result, living standards in export markets

dropping as demand for products wanes.

However, a contrarian view suggests that

demand won’t evaporate but instead, will

relocate. This brings its own problems

Brazil is back on the map

BRAZIL exited recession in the fourth

quarter of 2021. It still suffers from weak

growth and high inflation but it’s GDP

grew by 0.5 percent from October through

December. GDP for 2021 ended up 4.6

percent.

While this is good news for all, there

are plenty of uncertainties around the

country's political future which will

make things unpredictable and will delay

strategic decisions on the economy. Some

commentators are looking at the horror

show that is stagflation.

In more detail, Brazil's agricultural sector,

which is key, grew 5.8 percent quarter-onquarter

(it contracted 0.2 percent on the

year); services grew 0.5 percent quarteron-quarter

and 4.7 percent year-on-year;

and industry contracted 1.2 percent for the

quarter but grew 4.5 percent for the year.

The Getulio Vargas Foundation, a

Brazilian higher education institution and

think tank, doesn’t consider this a solid

recovery. But it’s better than nothing and

offers something to those willing to trade

with Brazil.

Procurement Instrument

THE European Parliament, the European

Commission and the Council of the EU

have come to an agreement, published

in EU acts to improve reciprocal access

to international procurement, on the

International Procurement Instrument

(IPI).

Once implemented, this instrument

means that the Commission will be

entitled to impose market access

restrictions on third countries’ companies

to the European public procurement

market if it finds European companies

face serious and recurring restrictions in

accessing public procurement markets of

these third countries.

Countries which are parties to an

international public procurement

agreement with the EU are exempted

from the IPI. Least developed countries

will also not be subject to IPI measures.

The IPI will apply only to procedures

above €15m for works and concessions

and above €5m for goods and services.

and bonuses – on the one hand, local

demand will rise, but on the other,

inflation may follow.

So, consider where you export to and

review the threats, especially to sectors

that are sensitive, such as tourism. If the

market moves closer to home, follow it.

And as if you need telling, keep a firm

eye on energy costs – the world has

weaponised it.

Many societies are going to struggle,

and civil unrest is perfectly plausible

where economies suffer. Beyond that,

countries with strong economic ties to

Russia will suffer as sanctions trickle

down.

Paperless toolkit

EXPORTING has become so bureaucratic

that the International Chamber of

Commerce and the World Trade

Organization have published a standards

toolkit to help firms and government

agencies adapt to the digitalisation of

trade processes.

It won’t surprise or shock readers that

the average transaction now requires

36 documents and 240 copies and less

than 1 percent of trade documents is

fully digitised. The toolkit covers nearly

100 standards and puts in place a set of

standardised trade-related document and

data formats.

A report that runs alongside the

toolkit covers off details such as country

codes as well as offers specific kits for

organisations such as operators and

customs authorities.

The detail can be found in a press

release entitled ICC and WTO launch

irst-ever standards toolkit for paperless

trade.

Trade body

launches £1m voucher fund

EXPORTERS can access £1.1m in free

training and consultancy to help them

trade more effectively overseas. The pot

is funded by the Institute of Export and

International Trade in the form of vouchers

worth £1,100 excluding VAT and is on offer

to 1,000 businesses that want to access the

institute’s services.

The institute says that the initiative is

in response to a fall in the number of UK

exporters in the last year. Its latest export

monitor found that in February numbers

had declined by 521 to 61,005 compared

with the year before.

Calls for alignment with EU

THE UK Trade and Business Commission

has published its annual report, Promoting

Internationalism: Annual Report 2021-

2022, which proposes 21 interventions at

improving cooperation and trade between

the UK and the EU.

Included in the recommendations are an

EU-UK veterinary agreement; a successor

to the Brexit Support Fund; a long-term

plan to improve UK-EU relations; more

flexible visa rules for seasonal workers,

service industries and the creative sector;

and a more defined process and increased

scrutiny of new trade deals, including

the creation of new bodies to assess the

impact the new agreements will have on

UK standards and carbon ambitions.

Germany to speed up

renewables push

GIVEN its reliance on Russian gas,

Germany not unsurprisingly, wants

to speed up its wind and solar energy

projects. The country also announced plans

to ensure that its gas storage facilities are

full at the beginning of winter, irrespective

of operator interests.

The drive has added impetus as

Germany has plans to exit nuclear power

this year and coal-fired energy by 2030 to

help it reach climate change targets. New

legislation will suspend cuts to subsidies

for new solar panels on roofs this year and

will increase solar tenders to 20 gigawatts

by 2028 from about five gigawatts now.

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This data was taken on 19th April and refers to the month

previous to/leading up to 18th April 2022.


COUNTRY FOCUS

Iceland may be

small, but it has

much to offer.

Going with the flow

AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein

IT can’t be easy for a country to be

synonymous with a UK food retailer,

especially when that company attempts

to trademark the name of that state.

However, in 2019, Iceland – the country

– won. Its objection was upheld by the

European Union Intellectual Property Office. It

said that that Iceland Food Ltd could not register

a trademark for the sole use of the word ‘Iceland’

within the European Union.

Of course, there’s more to the island nation of

Iceland than a court case.

Located in the North Atlantic, on the mid-

Atlantic ridge, between the UK, Greenland

Denmark and Norway, its placed 106th in the world

in terms of landmass with an area of 100,000 km2.

By way of comparison, Iceland occupies land that

is around 41 percent that of the UK’s 242,495 km2

which itself is ranked 78th.

Iceland, as anyone affected by the 2010 eruption

of Eyjafjallajökull and the subsequent disruption

to Atlantic air travel will remember, is set on a

volcanic plateau that is highly active. Just outside

of the Arctic Circle it nevertheless has a temperate

climate since it’s warmed by the Gulf Stream.

Iceland is a relatively young nation having

been first settled in 874 by Viking explorers.

Independent until the 13th century, it became

part of the Kalmar Union in 1397 and subject to

Norwegian rule. Post 1523, when Sweden left the

union, Iceland moved to Danish rule. Fast forward

to 1918 and Iceland regained independence and

became a republic in 1944.

Present day Iceland is a member of NATO

the European Economic Area, European Free

Trade Association United Nations, International

Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade

Organization, Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development and Organization

for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

THE PEOPLE

In terms of population, Iceland has just 376,000

inhabitants which puts it in 172nd position

globally. The UK, in contrast, is in 21st place

globally with a population of 67m. Doing the

maths, Iceland’s population density couldn’t

be more different with an average of just three

people per km2; the UK can count 277 people per

km2. Only Western Sahara (two people per km2),

Mongolia (2), the Falkland Islands (0.3), Svalbard

and Jan Mayen (0.04) and Greenland (0.03) have

lower population densities. Of course, statistics

don’t tell the full story as populations aren’t evenly

Iceland may be

small, but it has much

to offer, not least of

which is an almost

limitless supply of

very inexpensive

energy which does

not rely on fossil

fuels.

spread about a country’s surface. In terms of

Iceland, the population is almost entirely urban

with most located in and around the capital of

Reykjavik. There are smaller clusters along the

coast in the north and west.

In more detail, there are some 107 settlements

of which the capital, Reykjavik, is the largest with

124,847 (2018 data), followed by Kópavogur with

35,966, and Hafnarfjöròur and its 29,409 souls.

There are four more towns with between 10,225

and 18,542 residents each. And beyond that, 23

towns count between 1006 and 7564 people. That

leaves that smallest 76 settlements with anywhere

from 43 up to 970 inhabitants.

The mother tongue is Icelandic, and stems from

Old Norse; it has changed remarkably little since

the country was first settled by the Vikings. That

said, English is widely spoken, and most Icelanders

speak at least one Scandinavian language. Further,

most students, past compulsory schooling age,

will have learnt German, Spanish or French.

As to ethnicity, the CIA World Factbook

estimates – using 2021 data – that Icelandic is

spoken by 81.3 percent of the population, Polish

by 5.6 percent, Danish by one percent, and 12.1

percent comes from elsewhere.

By looking at data from Statistics Iceland from

2008, it’s possible to see how the population has

changed. Back then, Icelandic was spoken by 93.2

percent of the population, Polish by 2.74 percent,

Lithuanian by 0.43 percent, English by 0.32

percent, and German and Danish by 0.31 percent

each. Just 2.72 percent spoke by ‘others’.

In terms of age, the CIA estimates (2020 data)

that the demographic is relatively evenly spread

out with 20.31 percent aged 14 or under (male

36,394/female 34,837); 12.85 percent aged 15-24

years (male 22,748/female 22,317); 39.44 percent

aged 25-54 years (male 70,227/female 68,095);

11.94 percent aged 55-64 years (male 20,762/

female 21,111); and 15.47 percent aged 65 and

over (male 25,546/female 28,697). The median age

is 37.1 years.

According to the World Economic Forum’s

Global Gender Gap Report, Iceland is the most

gender-equal country – a position it has held for

the past 12 years.

INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS SECTORS

As for the economy, the OECD, citing 2021 data,

puts the Icelandic economy at ISK 2844.bn or

some $22bn. The OECD also thinks that the

economy will grow by 5.2 percent in 2022 and

four percent in 2023, largely driven by foreign


COUNTRY FOCUS


On wind power, Landsvirkjun has plans to build a 200

MW wind farm near Búrfell Power Station. Others have

shown interest in constructing wind farms and some

pilot projects have been initiated.

tourism and exports. But in terms of business

sectors, many may know Iceland from the

2008 banking crisis and collapse. Its currency

crashed, unemployment soared, and the

stock market was almost wiped out. Worse,

the country’s three major banks – Kaupthing,

Glitnir and Landsbankinn – were allowed to

fail and the Government went after ‘reckless’

bankers. Many senior executives were jailed,

and the country's ex-prime minister Geir

Haarde was also put on trial, although he was

subsequently cleared of negligence.

The Icelandic banking system now

consists mainly of three banks: Arion Bank,

Íslandsbanki and Landsbankinn; and the

investment bank Kvika. Today, only Arion

Bank and Kvika are owned by private investors

and publicly listed; the Government owns

Íslandsbanki and 98 percent of Landsbankinn.

Iceland is endowed with many natural

resources and industries based on those

resources constitute 22 percent of Iceland’s

GDP and roughly 73 percent of exports.

However, according to the Icelandic Chamber

of Commerce: “the exact definition of resourcebased

sectors is open to interpretation as

most economic activity is reliant on natural

resources to a certain extent.” As a result,

the chamber goes on to classify the resource

sector as consisting of three main sectors;

tourism, which is by far the largest, seafood,

and energy intensive industries of which

aluminium production is the largest.

TOURISM

Tourism has now surpassed fishing and

aluminium as Iceland’s main export industry

and in 2016 accounted for, according to the

CIA World Factbook, 8.6 percent of Iceland’s

GDP and 39 percent of total exports of

merchandise and services. The Factbook also

highlighted that between 2010 to 2017, the

number of tourists visiting Iceland increased

by nearly 400 percent and is now a main driver

of Icelandic economic growth. The number of

tourists in 2016, at times, reached 4.5 times the

Icelandic population.

Tourism, says the Icelandic Chamber of

Commerce, is mostly concentrated around the

southern and western part of Iceland. Visitors

in 2019, mainly came the US (23.4 percent

of total), followed by the UK (9.7 percent)

and Germany (6.7 percent). This growth

can be partly attributed to the falling value

in the Icelandic Krona post-banking crisis.

It also helps that the country has a unique

and largely unspoiled landscape. However,

COVID-19 swept the legs from underneath

the sector which peaked in 2018 and the

Government sought ways to revive the sector.

One strand of this was a ISK 1.5bn grant from

the Government to Promote Iceland.

SEAFOOD

Before 2006, seafood accounted for over half

of exported goods but that now has decreased

to 21 percent. The OECD cites 2018 data when

it notes that Iceland produced 1.3m tonnes

of fish (including molluscs and crustaceans)

to a value of $1.3bn. Official policy is based

on ‘individual transferable quotas’ (ITQ)

which aim to protect and ensure sustainable

fishing in conjunction with exploitation

of the resource. Fishing quotas are bought

and sold in the market, with the ITQ system

incentivising companies to plan and invest

with a long-term perspective.

Beyond the sustainable fisheries policy

which has led to strong fish stocks, the

fishing fleet and associated equipment has

been replaced in recent years. The Icelandic

Chamber of Commerce considers the UK to be

its most important market with a 15 percent

share (2020) which is followed by France (11

percent), Spain, Norway and the US all with a

9-10 percent share.

Another strand to Iceland’s seafood sector

is agri- and aquaculture. However, despite

investment in the sector, this remains small

compared to the catch of wild fish and only

accounts for about two percent of total exports.

But just, to illustrate that data should always

be taken with a pinch of salt, the OECD says

that nine percent of fish came via aquaculture

while 91 percent was derived from wild fish.

Nevertheless, the Icelandic Chamber of

Commerce says that some 27,000 tons of

farmed fish was produced in 2019 – 20,000

tons more than in 2013. The plan is to further

expand open-cage salmon farming in the

Westfjords and Eastfjords.

INDUSTRY

Iceland is fortunate, considering the global

energy crisis at present, to be located

between two tectonic plates and so can

harness geothermal power. The country also

has abundant precipitation, glaciers and


continues on page 26 >

COUNTRY FOCUS


mountains which are perfect for generating

renewable energy inexpensively. Some 73

percent of Iceland’s electricity is produced

from hydropower, while geothermal

power accounts for 27 percent says the

Iceland Government’s latest data (2015).

As a result, Iceland is well placed to host

energy intensive industries which consume

77 percent of the electricity generated

and which contribute 17 percent to total

exports.

The country hosts three large aluminium

plants (Alcoa Fjarðaál, Norðurál, and

ISAL) which accounted for over 15 percent

of Iceland’s total exports in 2019 and over

one percent of global aluminium production.

Aluminium production is tied to the

power generation and grid investments of

Landsvirkjun (the national power company

and producer of 71 percent of Iceland’s

electricity). 2019 coincided with a collapse

in the global price of aluminium to a low of

$1,443 a tonne and plants reduced output.

One, ISAL, was placed under operational

review. However, the price has recovered to

more than $3,500 a tonne in February 2022.

Silicon is another sector of importance

to Iceland. The Icelandic Chamber of

Commerce says that three plants have been

built although only Elkem’s ferrosilicon

was, at one point operating – United Silicon

had been shut down following complaints

about its operation, and in June 2020 PCC

Bakki had to shut down temporarily due

to a sharp decrease in the world price of

silicon.

Data centres are a new and rapidly

growing industry in Iceland which has

benefitted from the growing global

demand for data storage and the recent

boom in cryptocurrencies. A combination

of Iceland’s cold climate, low energy prices

and almost limitless renewable energy

production make it an ideal location for

such operations. Multiple data centres

have been constructed in recent years and

further growth is anticipated.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Looking to the future, there’s potential

for the construction of an electrical

interconnector between Iceland and

the UK. The project has stalled, but the

current crisis may change thinking and

Landsvirkjun is still interested.

On wind power, Landsvirkjun has plans

to build a 200 MW wind farm near Búrfell

Power Station. Others have shown interest

in constructing wind farms and some pilot

projects have been initiated. The Federation

of Icelandic Industries thinks the country’s

electrical grid needs investment. Landsnet,

the grid owner, is planning for 26 new

maintenance and investment projects over

the next four years.

In terms of transport, there is a need

for road maintenance, as well as new

roads, bridges, and tunnels. However, the

Government’s budget is tight and won’t

cover the estimated ISK 68bn ($530m) – so,

public-private partnership projects may be

the answer.

There’s also the planned Finnafjord Port

Project, a deepwater port for the northeast

of Iceland. Made possible by the melting of

Arctic ice, Icelandic engineering firm EFLA

thinks the port could become a distribution

hub for offshore Arctic oil and mineral

resources in Greenland and Iceland.

Keflavik airport is outdated and

investment in the airport’s infrastructure is

necessary. Icelandair is pushing for a new

international airport between Reykjavik

and Keflavik, in Hvassahraun.

TAX

Lastly, there’s the matter of taxation in

Iceland. Looking at income tax first, it is

divided into state income tax and municipal

income tax, both of which are withheld and

paid monthly on progressive rates.

On the first ISK 349,018, both taxes equate

to a rate of 31.45 percent; income from

ISK 349,019 to ISK 979,847 37.95 percent is

charged; and on income over ISK 979,847

46.25 percent is payable.

The current personal tax allowance is ISK

50,792 per month.

On Corporation Tax, resident corporations

pay tax on their worldwide income less

operating expenses. Corporate income tax

(CIT) for limited liability companies and

limited partnership companies is assessed

at a rate of 20 percent. CIT for other types

of legal entities, such as partnerships, is

assessed at a rate of 37.6 percent.

And in terms of VAT, it is charged on

goods and services supplied in Iceland

Reykjavik, on the coast of Iceland,

is the country's capital and largest

city. It's home to the National and

Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s

Viking history. The striking concrete

Hallgrimskirkja church and rotating

Perlan glass dome offer sweeping

views of the sea and nearby hills.

Exemplifying the island’s volcanic

activity is the geothermal Blue Lagoon

spa, near the village of Grindavik.


COUNTRY FOCUS


by businesses and on imported goods. The

standard rate is 24 percent. A reduced rate of 11

percent applies to certain goods, such as hotel

rooms, newspapers, books, and food for human

consumption (except for alcohol). Financial

services are exempt. The export of goods

and services is generally zero-rated although

exceptions can apply for services.

SUMMARY

Iceland may be small, but it has much to offer,

not least of which is an almost limitless supply

of very inexpensive energy which does not rely

on fossil fuels. Situated mid-Atlantic it’s well

placed for trade, especially as the Arctic ice is

now retreating.

Adam Bernstein is a freelance

business writer.

The Factbook also

highlighted that between

2010 to 2017, the number

of tourists visiting Iceland

increased by nearly 400

percent and is now a

main driver of Icelandic

economic growth.

Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran

parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland.

At 74.5 metres tall, it is the largest

church in Iceland and among the

tallest structures in the country.


INTERVIEW

LATE CHAT

Sean Feast FCICM speaks to Adam Cohen

about collecting deceased debt, digital tools,

and why he supports Man City.


ADAM Cohen never set out for

a career in credit, but 25 years

after co-founding Phillips & Cohen

Associates with a good friend –

Matt Phillips – in the US, he seems

to have made a pretty good fist

of things.

He’s helped build a business that now works

with more than 70 of the UK’s largest creditors

across a range of different sectors, from finance

and banking to local government and utilities. It’s

a business that’s been winning awards and plaudits

ever since it opened its doors to UK business in

2006.

As one of the world’s most respected businesses

handling specialty recoveries, Phillips & Cohen

has earned the right to be considered a genuine

thought leader in the management of probate debt,

and in delivering a range of services to simplify and

ease the journey for customer and clients alike. It

might claim to have been a pioneer in the deceased

account management space, managing more than

$30 billion in specialty portfolios in a quarter of a

century of trading.

It could have been very different for Adam had

he stayed at the firm in Pennsylvania he joined

from Law School: “It took me 90 days to realise that

it wasn’t for me,” he laughs, “and so I joined a debt

collection agency instead!”

PASSION FOR LAW

Born in Philadelphia, an early passion for the law

led him to study Political Communications at the

George Washington University before a further

three years at Villanova University Charles Widger

School of Law: “I had always wanted to be a

transactional attorney,” Adam explains.

“I used to watch all of the TV programmes at

the time with criminal defence attorneys getting

their clients off with some fantastic last-minute

evidence and just knew it wasn’t for me. For me it

was always about business and doing deals.”

Happily, his friend Matt Phillips reached out

at that very moment and Adam’s career took a

different path. He joined Matt at MRS Associates

to set up a legal department, spending the first

six months on the ‘phone, learning the ropes: “I

figured that if I was going to be advising a business

on how to do things then I needed experience and

context for the advice I would be giving,” he adds.

“Matt ran the business development team,

and I ran the legal department. MRS was a good

company to work for. It was the 1990s, and we were

steadily moving from quad paper to tertiary, then

secondary and finally prime debt.”

Adam was only 26 at the time and Matt was

27, and the pair recognised an opportunity to

start their own business and focus on some of

the more nuanced areas of the credit industry

that they felt were not yet being addressed. They

looked at particular parts of the recoveries world,

like bankruptcy work, researching and devising a

strategy for how that could be serviced, and how to

recover money from people who had died.

WATERSHED MOMENT

Phillips & Cohen Associates was formally

established in 1997, initially handling general

recoveries before specialising in areas such as

cease and desist, and gaining a reputation as

‘problem solvers’. The watershed moment was

the award of a deceased portfolio of debt from

MBNA in 1999, which subsequently became the

company’s core focus.

“The buying power of the baby boom generation

coincided with the launch of the first charge cards,

and by analysing the demographics, it was clear

that at a certain point in the future, creditors would

find themselves in a position where a significant

portion of their debt would be tied up in deceased

estates,” Adam says.

“The large financial institutions were great at the

macro level, but not geared up for more localised

events such as probate. We saw an opportunity to

bridge that gap while also bringing some social

capital by way of information and resources that

would support all of the constituents in the probate

process.

“Executors of estates are very often an adult

child of the deceased, so not only are they dealing

with the loss of a loved one, but they also have a

responsibility to creditors and other beneficiaries

of the Will. Helping them through the process

is a ‘win win’ for all concerned – it makes a very

difficult time much easier to cope with, and

ultimately leads to a better return to the creditor.”

“There are many in the industry who now do great work in supporting

consumers and don’t always get the credit they deserve for the work that they do.

We have the advantage, perhaps, in that we have been doing it for 25 years.”


EMPATHY AND COMPASSION

The skill of the collections team rests in

the empathy and compassion they have

for the bereaved, and the ability for each

collector to envisage themselves on

either side of the conversation. These

interpersonal skills are also supported

by technology, including the very latest

speech analytics: “Technology today can

not only identify tone of voice, but even

sarcasm,” Adam says.

Adam believes that the secret, albeit

acquired through 25 years of knowledge,

insight and experience, is in making it

clear from the outset that the executor is

not personally liable for the debts of the

deceased This immediately removes the

potential for an adversarial exchange:

“When somebody dies, the executor is

responsible for notifying their creditors

of the death.

“The creditor then has several

options open to them. If there is a zero

credit balance, then no action needs

to be taken. If there is credit in favour

of the deceased, then that has to be

reconciled with the estate. If there is

a debt, the creditor has an obligation

to send a creditor’s claim against the

estate. “What we do is make contact

with the executor and expressly tell

them that they are not personally liable

in any way. We also help them with the

process using a combination of online

digital tools and human interaction,

whichever suits them best.”

SUPPORT TOOLS

Among the tools Phillips & Cohen has

developed are a range of support services

that go way and above what might be

expected of a ‘traditional’ collections

agency. They include ContinuedPath,

an information resource that helps

the bereaved to cope with grief and

better understand Wills, Estates, and

the probate process. They also include

Estate-Serve, a system that provides

executors with the ability to manage all

aspects of their accounts online, from

uploading important documentation all

the way to paying an account in full.

“Consumers may still choose to speak to

one of our representatives at any time,

and what we usually find is that they

use the online platform to complete

most of the tasks, and then speak to an

individual when they feel ready,” Adam

says. “We’ve developed these platforms

for convenience when they want it, and

compassion when they most need it.”



INTERVIEW


These established digital tools have since

been further expanded with a number of

complementary services including Notify

NOW, Legacy Now and Inherit Now.

NOTIFYING CREDITORS

NotifyNOW recognises that the most

challenging part of the probate process is

in identifying and notifying creditors that

an individual has passed: “In the old days

an executor would simply wait for a letter

in the post to identify which accounts the

deceased may have had and who they owed

money to. But with everything now digital

and online, and password protected, this

has become more difficult. Through our

‘NotifyNOW’ service executors can easily

identify and notify multiple creditors with

a single communication.”

With LegacyNOW, Phillips & Cohen

has created a service that allows an

individual to plan for their death in a way

that will simplify the probate process:

“It is in effect a digital ‘lock box’,” Adam

explains, “in which an individual can

keep all of their passwords and personal

information, and all of the notifications

you would have to make as an executor, so

that in the event of their death, everything

is in the one place.”

InheritNOW is different again: it is

a non-recourse advance for money that

is ultimately due to a beneficiary, ahead

of probate being completed. It’s another

service that helps ease the minds of those

going through the bereavement process.

draws many parallels with the people of

Manchester and those from his home

town of Philadelphia. “If you come from

Philly you’re passionate about sport, and I

am a great admirer of talent when I see it.”

He admits to being a Manchester City

fan and likes to stress that he was a fan

before the money arrived: “I realise that

in stating I am a City fan I will upset some

people, especially those who support

United,” he says.

In terms of the future, Adam is also

excited about how the company is

evolving, and his plans for the coming

months and years ahead: “We’re looking at

further extending our global footprint over

the next 12 to 24 months,” he concludes,

“and in delivering on our vision to become

the pre-eminent compassionate care

conglomerate. We think we have proven

that if you do it right, and you do it well,

and you treat people in the right way, then

success will naturally follow.”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city, is

notable for its rich history, on display at the Liberty

Bell, Independence Hall (where the Declaration of

Independence and Constitution were signed) and

other American Revolutionary sites. Also iconic

are the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,

immortalized by Sylvester Stallone’s triumphant run

in the film "Rocky."

“What we do is

make contact with

the executor and

expressly tell them

that they are not

personally liable

in any way. We

also help them with

the process using

a combination

of online digital

tools and human

interaction,

whichever suits

them best.”

EXPANDED ECOSYSTEM

Adam is excited about the new products

and services his team are developing to

address different parts of the probate

ecosystem. He is also proud of the work

and the thinking his team have done

historically, including the foundation

of the Samaritans Academy, a training

academy aimed specifically at developing

best practices in emotional engagement

with consumers and in supporting both

distressed customers and colleagues: “For

innovation you need time and resource,”

he continues, “and we have both.

“There are many in the industry

who now do great work in supporting

consumers and don’t always get the credit

they deserve for the work that they do. We

have the advantage, perhaps, in that we

have been doing it for 25 years.”

With six national offices serving nine

national markets, Phillips & Cohen is well

represented on the global stage. Adam

is a regular visitor to the UK, basing

himself in the firm’s UK headquarters

in Manchester. As a keen sportsman, he


THE MARKET LEADERS IN

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Proud Sponsor of the ‘Legal Provider of the Year Award’ at the CICM British Credit Awards 2022

CONGRATULATIONS

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Contact us to discover

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performance with a

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01993 220557

bd@courtenforcementservices.co.uk

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BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

THE CICM

BRITISH CREDIT

AWARDS 2022

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19/12/2019 09:35

BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Recognising

the best in credit

management

IN our proud history, the CICM has come through a great many

challenges, and there will doubtless be more to follow as we head

into further economic uncertainty, and an increasingly troublesome

world. But while we need to be mindful of these difficulties, we

must not allow ourselves to be defined by them. We should still

take the opportunity to celebrate some of the more positive aspects

of life, like these awards which are a celebration of all that is good about

our fabulous profession and our brilliant people. To the winners, many

congratulations and thank you for demonstrating excellence in all you do. To

the highly commended and indeed to all of those shortlisted, be proud of the

company you keep, and delighted to be up there with the best.

Sue Chapple, FCICM

Chief Executive of the CICM

Sue Chapple, FCICM


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

B2B Team of the Year Award

Winner

Associated

British Ports

Sponsor: Amex

Judges' comment: Outstanding

financial results demonstrating the

core value of a high performing credit

management team.

Presenter : Natalie Ross, Head of Strategic Sales, American Express

Collector of award : Associated British Ports Team

B2B Supplier of the Year

Winner

Chaser

Sponsor: Global Credit Recoveries

Judges' comment: The judges saw a

clear focus on the customer with both

meeting and anticipating their needs.

Presenter : Joshua Mayhew ACICM , Director, Global Credit Recoveries

Collector of award : Chaser Team


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Supplier of the Year Award

Winner

Escalate Law

Sponsor: Chaser

Judges' comment: Escalate’s

innovative approach to its pricing

model has made its service

more attractive and enhanced its

collaboration with DCA partners.

Presenter : Sonia Dorais, CEO, Chaser

Collector of award : Stephen Rose MCICM Associate Debt Collection Manager and

Costas Nicolaou

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award

Winner

Shoosmiths LLP

Highly Commended: Weightmans LLP

Sponsor: Company Watch

Judges' comment: Shoosmiths takes

the diversity agenda seriously and

works proactively to ensure it is at

the heart of the business. Its High

Performing Women Programme and

its three Employee Networks are good

examples of its approach.

Presenter : Jo Kettner, CEO, Company Watch

Collector of award : Paula Swain FCICM, Partner at Shoosmiths LLP, Gillian Crotty,

Partner at Shoosmiths & Rachel McNeice


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Innovation & Technology Award

Winner

IncomeMax

Sponsor: Cedar Rose

Judges' comment: A digital platform

that has truly made a difference to

people's lives, including vulnerable

customers. What a fantastic set of

results attributable to this tech and

innovation.

Presenters : Cynthia Gebeily, Managing Director, Cedar Rose

Collector of award : Becki Sharpe ACIM, Marketing and Events Manager at CICM

Risk Management Achievement Award

Winner

Company

Watch Ltd

Sponsor: High Court Enforcement

Judges' comment: The Covid Forecast

Scenario H-Score is a great example

of pro-active product development

and enhancement to meet changing

circumstances and needs.

Presenters : Alan Smith FCICM, Director at High Court Enforcement Group

Collector of award : Jo Kettner, CEO of Company Watch & Mike Newman, Sales

Director of Company Watch Ltd


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Shared Service Provider of the Year Award

Winner

Biffa Waste

Services Ltd

Sponsor: Paladin

PALADIN

Judges' comment: A stand out

winner for this award with strong and

delivered investment in people and

process.

Presenters : George Miles, Managing Director, Paladin

Collector of award : Biffa Waste Services Ltd Team

Debt Collection Agency of the Year Award

Winner

Atradius

Collections Ltd

Sponsor: Payt Software

Judges' comment: Atradius has

introduced a range of technologybased

innovations that have enhanced

its effectiveness, and despite its size,

has allowed it to offer a personalised

service.

Presenters : Alastair Wallace, Country Director, Payt Software

Collector of award : Atradius Collections Ltd Team


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Legal Provider of the Year Award

Winner

Clarke Willmott LLP

and DWF Law LLP

Sponsor: Court Enforcement

Services

Winner : Clarke Willmott LLP

Presenters : Wayne Whitford

FCICM, Director, Court

Enforcement Services

Collector of award : Anna

O’Reilly FCICM Debt Recovery

Team Manager at Clarke

Willmott, & Kate Huish FCICM,

Supervisor at Clarke Willmott

Judges' comment: Clarke Wilmott

– A holistic approach to client and

customer management which enables

Clarke Wilmott to deliver strong results

DWF – An impressive array of

initiatives introduced to address the

impacts of Covid and ensure high

levels of service and success were

maintained.

Winner : DWF Law LLP

Presenter : Wayne Whitford FCICM, Director, Court Enforcement Services

Collector of award : DWF Law LLP Team

Giving Back Award

Winner

Scottish Water

Business Stream

Highly Commended: Bryony Crossland

FCICM(Grad), Anixter Ltd

Sponsor: Quadient

Judges' comment: The commitment

to ‘make a positive difference’ is

impressive and effective.

Presenters : Duncan Groom, Chief Operating Officer, Quadient

Collector of award : Martin Kirby FCICM, Head of Risk and Credit Management, Kirsty

Montgomery Operations Manager, Julie Donnelly, from Scottish Water Business

Stream


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working capital.

• Cash application

• Collections management

• Disputes & deductions management

• AR Intelligence

• Team and task management

• Credit and risk management

Visit blackline.com to start your

journey to world-class standards.


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Rising Star Award

Winner

Ethan Court,

Themis Global

Sponsor: Hays

Judges' comment: The Themis Global

board were so impressed, that a

number of his ideas developed into an

integral module of our new, groundbreaking

Customer Correspondence

Management system.

Presenters : Natasha Whitehead, Business Director, Hays

Collector of award : Michael Court FCICM, Director, Mark Robertson MCICM, Director

and Co-Founder Patrick Wanless, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of

Themis Global

Resilience & Continuity Award

Winner

Skyscanner

Sponsor: Atradius

Judges' comment: They have done a

great job to get things back on track

and with great client feedback.

Presenters : Yvette Gray MCICM, Regional Manager, UK & Ireland

Collector of award : Skyscanner Team


The most complete smart accounts

receivable management software

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and boost your customer

relationships with less work,

less worry, and more control?

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receivable management easy

and clear for you and your

customers. Want to know more?

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Whatever you make. Whatever you deliver.

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BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Best Employer of the Year

Winner

Stonegate

Group

Sponsor: Amex

Judges' comment: A good example

of how focusing on learning &

development can lead to better career

progression.

Presenters : Natalie Ross, Head of Strategic Sales, American Express

Collector of award : Stonegate Group Team

Sir Roger Cork Prize

Winner

Liana Jones

ACICM

Judges' comment: Liana Jones ACICM

has successfully achieved the highest

aggregate pass-mark in 2021 for CICM

examinations.

Presenters : Dr Debbie Tuckwood, Chief Advisor (Professional Development), CICM

Collector of award : Liana Jones ACICM, Credit Analyst at Credit Reporting Agency

Limited


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

The Jenny Oldfield Supporting Women in Credit Award

Winner

Anita Pickersgill

MCICM, Thornbury

Collections

Judges' comment: Anita is already a

member of the CICM and has been for

many years and is a great advocate

and proud member of the CICM so

furthering her CICM career by having a

qualification would be a great thrill to

her, and one she'd cherish.

Presenters : Jenny Oldfield FCICM

Collector of award : Becki Sharpe ACIM, Marketing and Events Manager at CICM

Credit Professional of the Year Award

Winner

Dee Weston FCICM,

Exclusive Networks

Ltd

Sponsor: Blackline

Judges' comment: Commitment to

her team and the CICM is paramount,

interdepartmental collaboration is also

at the top of her agenda identifying

common goals to unite the various

departments.

Presenters : Andy Lilley, VP Product Global AR at BlackLine

Collector of award : Dee Weston FCICM, Credit Manager at Exclusive Networks Ltd


BRITISH

CREDIT

AWARDS

2022

Excellence in Credit Management Award

Winners

Aggregate Industries, Veolia, RS

Components, Adecco and HSCNI

The Excellence in Credit Management Award is the highest accolade awarded by CICM. It recognises

organisations at the very top of their game The winners of this award have demonstrated their best in class

standing by meeting challenging criteria, ratified by the Institutes Executive Board – including; business results,

continuous improvement, membership, learning and qualifications across their teams as well as sharing

examples and supporting others in our profession.

Presenter : Dr Stephen Baister FCICM, President, CICM

Collector of Veolia award: Sarah Bolas, Credit Services Manager

at Veolia & Stephanie Priest, Senior Credit Support Services

Administrator at Veolia


Collector of HSCNI award: John Kane FCICM, Head of Stratigic

Relationships at CICM


Collector of Aggregate award: Aggregate Team


Collector of RS Components award: RS Components Team


CICM MEMBER

Excellence in Credit Management Award

EXCLUSIVE


Collector of Addeco award: Adecco Team

Your CICM lapel badge

demonstrates your commitment to

professionalism and best practice

TAKE PRIDE IN

WEARING YOUR BADGE

If you haven’t received your badge

contact: cicmmembership@cicm.com

Outstanding Contribution to the Industry

Winner

Angela Widdup

ACICM, Royal Mail

Highly Commended: Brenda Linger

FCICM, Credit Management Ltd

Sponsor: The Portfolio Group

Judges' comment: Angela sounded

not only like a wonderful friend, but a

force to be reckoned with. She clearly

had a huge impact on the Royal Mail

team and has left a great legacy

Presenters : Chad Vigano, Business Manager, Portfolio Group

Collector of award : Mary Delahunty MCICM (Grad) Cert Ed. Professional

Development Advisor at CICM

Save the date – 2 February 2023 – Register your interest here.

BCA2023

Register for the next British Credit Awards 2023

We look forward to seeing you all next year.




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

independent and privately owned High Court

enforcement company in the country, with more

authorised and experienced officers than anyone

else. This allows us to build and 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.

T: 08450 999 666

E: clientservices@hcegroup.co.uk

W: hcegroup.co.uk

YayPay makes it easy for B2B finance teams to stay

ahead of accounts receivable and get paid faster –

from anywhere.

Integrating with your ERP, CRM, and billing

systems, YayPay presents your real-time data

through cloud-based dashboards. Automation

improves productivity by 3X and accelerates

collections by up to 34 percent. Predictive analytics

provide insight into payor behavior and an online

portal enables customers to access their accounts

and pay at any time.

T: +44 (0)7465 423 538

E: marketing@yaypay.com

W: www.yaypay.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-tocash

process and increase working capital availability

by automating receivables and payments processes

across credit, electronic billing and payment

processing, cash application, deductions, and

collections.

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

payments simple, secure and seamless.

T: 0870 081 8250

E: emea-info@bottomline.com

W: www.bottomline.com/uk

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.

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

Management Center, a cloud-based SaaS platform;

the Tinubu Credit Intelligence service and the

Tinubu Risk Analyst advisory service. Over 250

companies rely on Tinubu Square to protect their

greatest assets: customer receivables.

T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /

E: uksales@tinubu.com

W: www.tinubu.com.

Building on our mature and hugely successful

product and world class support service, we are

re-imagining our risk awareness module in 2019 to

allow for hugely flexible automated worklists and

advanced visibility of areas of risk. Alongside full

integration with all credit scoring agencies (e.g.

Creditsafe), this makes Credica a single port-of-call

for analysis and automation. Impressive results

and ROI are inevitable for our customers that also

have an active input into our product development

and evolution.

T: 01235 856400

E: info@credica.co.uk

W: www.credica.co.uk


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

collected. We help lawyers and creditors across all

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 corporate Credit Control

teams with Accounts Receivable software for bulk

e-invoicing, collections, dispute management and

invoice finance. The modular, cloud-based Corrivo

platform can be configured for any business model.

It integrates with all ERP systems and buyer AP

platforms or tax regimes. Customers can self-serve

on mobile friendly portals, however their invoices are

delivered, and Credit Controllers can easily extract

data for compliance, audit and reporting purposes.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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. For more information please contact

enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

T: +44(0)7747 761641

E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com

VISMA | Onguard is a 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. This enhanced visibility with the secure sharing

of critical data ensures optimal connection between

all processes in the order-to-cash chain, resulting

in stronger, longer-lasting customer relationships

through improved and personalised communication.

The VISMA | Onguard platform is used for successful

credit management in more than 70 countries.

T: 020 3868 0947

E: edan.milner@onguard.com

W: www.onguard.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)


Fill your vacancy or find your next career

move at www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

“Angela sounded not only like a

wonderful friend, but a force to

be reckoned with.

She clearly had a huge impact on

the Royal Mail team and has left a

great legacy”

Angela’s award was collected

by Mary Delahunty on behalf of

Angela for her family.

Angela Widdup ACICM, Royal Mail for winning

‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’!

Mark Watson, award-winning Comedian & Author; Mary Delahunty, Professional Development

Advisor - CICM and Chad Vigano, Senior Business Manager – Portfolio Credit Control.

Portfolio Credit Control, part of the

Portfolio Group, are proud to be the only

true specialist Credit Control recruitment

agency in the UK.

Contact us to hire

the best Credit Control talent

Scan with your phone to fill your vacancy or find your next career move

at www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

Contact one of our specialist recruitment consultants to fill your vacancy or find your next career move!

LONDON 020 7650 3199

1 FINSBURY SQUARE, 3 RD FLOOR, LONDON EC2A 1AE

MANCHESTER 0161 523 5585

THE PENINSULA, VICTORIA PLACE, MANCHESTER M4 4FB

www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com

theportfoliogroup

portfoliocredit

Rated as Excellent

portfolio-credit-control


PAYMENT TRENDS

Pole Position

Improvements to late payments across regions

and sectors see the UK leading the way.

AUTHOR – Rob Howard

FOLLOWING recent improved

performance across the

board, the latest late payment

statistics show the UK

setting the standard with

more reductions across regions

and sectors, leaving Ireland with a

little catching up to do. The average Days

Beyond Terms (DBT) across regions and

sectors in the UK reduced by 3.4 and 3.0

days respectively. In Ireland, the average

regional figure increased by 1.7 days but

reduced by 1.2 across sectors. Average

DBT across the four provinces of Ireland

increased by 4.3 days.

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

In the UK, performance across sectors

is promising with all but four of the

22 sectors making reductions to late

payments. Business from Home remains

the best performing sector with an overall

DBT of 6.8 days, but the Transportation

and Storage sector saw the biggest

improvement, reducing its DBT by 10

days to 7.8 days overall. The International

Bodies (-8.7 days), Water & Waste (-8.1

days), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

(-7.0 days) and Energy Supply (-6.3 days)

sectors also made notable reductions

to late payments. The Mining and

Quarrying sector remains at the bottom

of the rankings, but is at least moving in

the right direction, with a much-needed

reduction of 5.1 days to its DBT. Of the

four sectors which saw increases, Health

& Social saw the biggest jump, with an

increase of 1.9 days to its terms.

In Ireland, there is not a huge amount

of movement. Four sectors saw increases

to late payments, five made reductions,

and more than half (11) saw no change

at all. Of those standing still, five remain

joint-top of the standings with an overall

DBT of zero days. Of those moving in the

right direction, most made notable cuts

to late payments – Agriculture, Forestry

and Fishing (-13.5), Professional and

Scientific (-11.0 days), Construction (-10.4

days) and Transportation and Storage

(-7.9 days). Of those moving in the wrong

direction, Real Estate saw the biggest

hike to late payments, with an increase

of 15.5 days taking its overall DBT to 47.8

days, which means it is now the worst

performing sector in Ireland.

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

The UK regional standings show a clean

sweep of improvements, with all 11

regions reducing their DBT. The South

West maintains its pole position with an

overall DBT of 7.4 days following a further

reduction of 3.4 days, and a reduction

of 2.3 days means that Yorkshire and

Humberside isn’t too far behind with an

overall DBT of 8.8 days. Northern Ireland

was the biggest mover, reducing its DBT

by 7.2 days and moving it off the bottom

of the standings. Despite a reduction

of 0.6 days, London is now the worst

performing region with an overall DBT of

17.1 days.

As with the sector standings, the

regional figures across Ireland show

many counties (15 of 26) staying where

they were with no change to late

payments. Only four regions made

improvements, with Roscommon (-12.2

days) and Wicklow (-9.0 days) the very

best of the bunch. However, of the seven

regions moving in the wrong direction,

a huge increase of 36.5 days means that

Kerry slides right down the standings.

Mayo and Sligo, also previously with

an overall DBT of zero days, also saw

increases.

Across the four provinces of Ireland,

Connacht made a steady reduction (-1.2

days) to its DBT, while no change is good

news for Ulster as it remains the best

performing region. Leinster saw a small

increase (+1.0 day) to its late payments,

but a hefty hike of 17.4 days means that

Munster is now the worst performing

region.


STATISTICS

Data supplied by the Creditsafe Group

Top Five Prompter Payers

Region March 22 Change from Feb 22

South West 7.4 -3.4

Yorkshire and Humberside 8.8 -2.3

Wales 10.7 -3

East Midlands 10.9 -3.1

North West 11.3 -3.9

Bottom Five Poorest Payers


London 17.1 -0.6

Northern Ireland 17 -7.2

East Anglia 14.4 -5.5

South East 13.5 -1.9

Scotland 12.6 -3

Top Five Prompter Payers

Sector March 22 Change from Feb 22

Business from Home 6.8 -1.3

Entertainment 7.4 -4.4

Transportation and Storage 7.8 -10

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 8.9 -7

Water & Waste 9.4 -8.1

Bottom Five Poorest Payers


Mining and Quarrying 17 -5.1

Professional and Scientific 16.7 -1.8

Business Admin & Support 15.7 -1.1

Health & Social 15.6 1.9

Other Service 15.5 -2.5

Getting better

Transportation and Storage -10

International Bodies -8.7

Water & Waste -8.1

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing -7

Energy Supply -6.3

Mining and Quarrying -5.1

Entertainment -4.4

Wholesale and retail trade -4

Hospitality -2.9

Other Service -2.5

Construction -2.4

Dormant -2.2

Professional and Scientific -1.8

IT and Comms -1.7

Manufacturing -1.7

Business from Home -1.3

Business Admin & Support -1.1

Public Administration -0.4

Getting worse

Health & Social 1.9

SCOTLAND

-3 DBT

Real Estate 1.7

Financial and Insurance 0.9

NORTHERN

IRELAND

-7.2 DBT

SOUTH

WEST

-3.4 DBT

WALES

-3 DBT

NORTH

WEST

-3.9 DBT

WEST

MIDLANDS

-4 DBT

YORKSHIRE &

HUMBERSIDE

-2.3 DBT

EAST

MIDLANDS

-3.1 DBT

LONDON

-0.6 DBT

SOUTH

EAST

-1.9 DBT

EAST

ANGLIA

-5.5 DBT

Education 0.7

Region

Getting Better – Getting Worse

-7.2

-5.5

-4

-3.9

-3.4

-3.1

-3

-3

-2.3

-1.9

-0.6

Northern Ireland

East Anglia

West Midlands

North West

South West

East Midlands

Scotland

Wales

Yorkshire and Humberside

South East

London


PAYMENT TRENDS

Getting worse / no change

MUNSTER

17.2 DBT

KERRY

36.8 DBT

CLARE

0 DBT

GALWAY

0 DBT

CORK

0 DBT

CONNACHT

-1.2 DBT

ROSCOMMON

0 DBT

DONEGAL

0 DBT

LEITRIM

0 DBT

LONGFORD

0 DBT

CAVAN

0 DBT

CARLOW

0 DBT

ULSTER

-0 DBT

LOUTH

0 DBT

KILKENNY

0 DBT WEXFORD

0 DBT

MONAGHAN

0 DBT

LEINSTER

1 DBT

Real Estate 15.5

Wholesale and retail trade 3.4

IT and Comms 1.5

Financial and Insurance 0.2

Business Admin & Support 0

Education 0

Energy Supply 0

Entertainment 0

Health & Social 0

Hospitality 0

Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland


Cavan 0 0

Clare 0 0

Cork 0 0

Donegal 0 0

Kilkenny 0 0

International Bodies 0

Mining and Quarrying 0

Other Service 0

Public Administration 0

Water & Waste 0

Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland


Louth 120 0

Monaghan 91.8 0

Carlow 65 0

Wexford 48.2 0

Kerry 36.8 36.8

Top Four Prompter Payers – Northern Ireland


Ulster 0 0

Connacht 4.8 -1.2

Leinster 10.2 1

Munster 17.6 17.2

The latest late payment

statistics show the UK

setting the standard with

more reductions across

regions and sectors,

leaving Ireland with a little

catching up to do.

Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland


Entertainment 0 0

Health & Social 0 0

Hospitality 0 0

International Bodies 0 0

Other Service 0 0

Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland


Real Estate 47.8 15.5

Construction 39.8 -10.4

Water & Waste 34 0

Business Admin & Support 28 0

Energy Supply 26 0

Getting better

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing -13.5

Professional and Scientific -11

Construction -10.4

Transportation and Storage -7.9

Manufacturing -1.4


Shortlisted as Debt Collection Agency of the Year, for

the British Credit Awards, Global Credit Recoveries Ltd

are specialists in Arbitration and Debt Collection with

offices in London & Dubai and an extensive global

partner network.

We have the ability, and network, to have someone visiting

your debtors offices, throughout EMEA, within 72 hours.

Collecting International Debt for over 28 years.

Contact Global Credit Recoveries:

Charles Mayhew FCICM or Joshua Mayhew ACICM

Email: info@globalcreditrecoveries.com

U.K Telephone: +44 (0) 203 589 6655

U.A.E Telephone: +971 (0) 4 8790 250

www.globalcreditrecoveries.com


MARKETING & EDUCATION

Virtual Classes

for 2022

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

3

LEVEL

5

Business Environment

Classes start in June

Credit Management (Trade, Export and Consumer


Business Law

May 2022

Compliance with legal, regulatory,

ethical and social requirements


Strategic Planning


Process Improvement


Book your place today, visit www.cicm.com

or contact a member of our team on 01780 722900


EDUCATION & MARKETING

These are pre-recorded training sessions that

you can access anywhere and at anytime.

These are live, interactive sessions,

delivered virtually by a qualified trainer.

Upcoming Virtual Workshops

Effective communication

Collect that cash

Reflect and develop

Collection skills

Advanced collection skills

Best practice skills to

assess credit risk

Credit Boot Camp

Register your interest today

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.

Book your place today, visit www.cicm.com

or contact a member of our team on 01780 722900


YOUNG MONEY

Going the Distance

In a new series, we speak to CICM apprentices

to discover more about their learning experience.

AUTHOR – Sam Wilson

WHAT do a detective and a marathon

runner have in common? Credit

management it would seem. Well,

that’s very much the case for

Nicole Magg, a marathon runner

and assistant cash manager, now

studying with the CICM as part of its apprenticeship

programme.

“I started running at the beginning of lockdown. I

wasn’t even a runner; I was just doing the odd 5k. Then

I met a marathon world record holder (Nick Nicholson)

and he asked if I’d ever run a marathon. I said, “I can’t

do that!” to which he replied “Well, have you tried?” Fast

forward to now, I’ve been running one a month for the

past 10 months toward a goal of 12 in 12 months!”

Having held an interest in credit management since

1991, it’s that goal-driven mentality that has pushed

Nicole to pick up where she left off in South Africa in

1996 and continue her studies.

“I’ve been in credit for 32 years,” she explains. “It all

started in South Africa after my schooling in Germany.

I had no idea what I really wanted to do as a job. I had

been an apprentice as a beauty consultant, but I wanted

an office role and I saw an advert for some office work

and ended up working for an FMCG brand issuing credit

notes for returned or damaged stock.”

After three months, and getting extremely bored

writing credit notes, Nicole started on the path to her

future career as a credit manager.

“I asked my boss if there was anything else I could do,

so he put me in charge of balancing the regional ledgers.

He then offered me a junior credit controller position. I

had no idea what the job meant but I’m so glad I took it.”

That’s when Nicole’s inner detective took over and her

love of learning became apparent. Through her drive to

reconcile the books and solve the problem on the first

go, she discovered her love of credit.

“I quite like it when there’s an anomaly, it means I have

to go and think outside the box. It’s like solving a riddle.

I have to speak to many different people, look through

the ledger to find a missing invoice or payment and the

satisfaction of solving that is great.”

From becoming a veritable detective, Nicole decided

after her move to the UK in 2000 that it was time to finish

the qualifications she’d started with the Institute of

Credit Management South Africa.

“I quite like it when there’s an anomaly, it means I have to go and think

outside the box. It’s like solving a riddle. I have to speak to many different

people, look through the ledger to find a missing invoice or payment and

the satisfaction of solving that is great.”


YOUNG MONEY


“I now have tools to be a better credit controller. The Accounting Principles module,

for example, was one of my favourites and gave me a clear example of how credit fits

into a business and why it’s crucial. But more than that, it’s allowed me to be a more

collaborative team member. I’m now seen as the ‘Guru’ of credit.”

“I started my diploma in SA back in

1996 with the intention of completing it

right through to Level 3 but things got in

the way. I was a young working mum and

I was singing in a band. There was just

too much going on. I was waiting to have

a little bit more time.

“More than two decades later and

moving to the UK, I thought I was too

old. But my boss encouraged me to

pick up my learning again. The HR

development & learning team suggested

an apprenticeship, to which I thought

‘no, that’s for the young ones’ but they

said no, it’s for all ages. After looking

through it all, I thought it would take two

years, and I’ll always be two years older,

but this way I could be two years older

with a diploma!”

After getting on board with the scheme,

Nicole realised she’d have to learn how to

learn again. Something the inner credit

detective loved doing.

“It’s been a real challenge, more so

than the marathons but I’m proud of

myself. I’ve learned things even a 32-year

career in credit can’t teach. I’ve learned

how credit control impacts the rest of a

business, I’ve learned about business

law, how and why sales and credit should

work together and how cash forecasting

can impact the bigger picture. I’m no

longer in a credit control bubble.”

It’s this ‘extra knowledge’ that Nicole

sees as the biggest value add to her career.

“I now have tools to be a better credit

controller. The Accounting Principles

module, for example, was one of my

favourites and gave me a clear example

of how credit fits into a business and

why it’s crucial. But more than that, it’s

allowed me to be a more collaborative

team member. I’m now seen as the ‘Guru’

of credit.”

With her new role of Assistant Cash

Manager in the treasury team, Nicole

feels her learning has been invaluable

and allowed her transition to the new

role to be seamless, thanks to her new

skillset.

And on being in a class of young

apprentices, Nicole loved it.

“They were such lovely people. There

was a huge age mix, including the young

ones, but they bring so much to the

table, like technology experiences which

helps us all learn and develop. So, it was

a beneficial experience having people

from all walks of life and age groups.”

So, what’s next?

“I am considering the Level 5

qualification. But I might have a year off

first!”


ANNUAL

GENERAL MEETING

The eighth Annual General Meeting of the

Chartered Institute of Credit Management will

be held on Thursday, 16 June 2022 at CICM,


Peterborough PE2 6XS at 13:00 (or at the rising

of the Advisory Council from its preceding

meeting, whichever is later).

By order of the Executive Board

Sue Chapple FCICM

Chief Executive

To read the Notice, visit:

http://www.cicm.com/about-cicm/governance/

VOTING IS NOW OPEN

Voting is now open until 31 May 2022

for the CICM Advisory Council Elections!

The engaged and driven individuals within the CICM’s Advisory Council reflect the fantastically diverse range of

skills and experience amongst the Institute’s membership.

Now is YOUR chance to vote and elect those members who you feel will help continue to advance the important

work of the CICM, bring valuable expertise and knowledge to the table, and drive its strategy forward.

PLEASE USE YOUR VOTE

Eligible* members will have received their ballot information via email, however if you have not, please contact

Mi-Voice at support@mi-voice.com or +44 (0)2380 763987, or email elections@cicm.com.

*Currently, eligible voters are fully paid-up members who hold the professional letters of MCICM or FCICM.

The Chartered Institute

of Credit Management

Elections

2022

Brave | Curious | Resilient

BRANCH NEWS

How technology and

automation in accounting has

changed since the Pandemic

East of England branch

AUTHOR – Mark Maynard

AT a webinar held at the

end of March, General

Manager EMEA of

Cforia Software, Matthew

White gave members

of the CICM East

of England Brand a fascinating insight

into how the pandemic has accelerated

AI and technology by several years,

making almost all previous research

obsolete. In the session, which was facilitated

by the Branch’s Andy Moylan and

Lyn Commons, Matt gave valuable examples

of how developing methods of requesting

payment and open banking can

improve the collection process.

Generation X and Millennials will make

up 72 percent of the workforce by 2029

and they want to be able conduct the same

transactions anywhere in the world that

they currently can on their smart phones.

‘Buy now pay later’ demand is

increasing the importance of knowing

your customer (for B2B this means the

right person, message, time and channel),

and technology.

Understanding your employees,

including their emotional and mental

health, is important and so too is find

ways of sharing the knowledge held by the

WFH age group.

An example of an early challenge

presented by employees working from

home was not being able to take credit

card payments, which was quickly

resolved by easily implemented and cost

effective virtual portal terminals.

The questions generated by Matt’s talk

showed that there was far more ground

to cover than the webinar allowed. It

became clear there was an appetite to both

continue an overview of the latest trends

and to dive deeper into specific types

of automation that credit professionals

would benefit from knowing more about

in these uncertain times.

If you are interested to hear more, please

contact Andy Moylan or Lyn Commons

via the Branch LinkedIn Group.

If you missed this highly informative

and engaging webinar, you can watch

the recording of the webinar on the

Branch page of the CICM website or on

YouTube.

CICM MEMBER

EXCLUSIVE

Save this

diary date

Kent Branch – The 2022 Credit Management Review

Wednesday, 15 June : 11:00 – 13:00

The Law Society in London,

113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL

Networking

Back to basics and training your teams

Building your career from Credit Controller to Credit Manager

Importance of Credit Risk

Court Enforcements

Q&A Session

Your CICM lapel badge

demonstrates your commitment to

professionalism and best practice

TAKE PRIDE IN

WEARING YOUR BADGE

If you haven’t received your badge

contact: cicmmembership@cicm.com

Register Today!

CPD

2


OPINION

Inspirational stories

A Platform for Change – Women in Credit


IN an industry dedicated to

celebrating other’s achievements,

championing ones own can be

difficult. For Jenny Oldfield, she

believes it’s vital for building

confidence and inspiring those in

the industry to push their career forward.

Especially for women.

At the 2022 British Credit Awards, the

CICM introduced a new award, The Jenny

Oldfield Supporting Women in Credit

Award, sponsored by Jenny, a long-standing

Fellow of the CICM, for women working in

credit management.

The award is presented to women

currently working in credit management,

who display a passion and drive for

personal development in the credit industry

regardless of their age, length of service or

experience.

Jenny believes the BCAs created a platform

for young credit managers to champion

their careers by meeting colleagues and coworkers

and being seen by the industry: “I

think awards dinners and events encourage

people to be seen, meet the right people and

connect and that’s really important for those

looking to progress their careers.”

“The credit-control industry is often

made up of small teams or often individuals

that can, especially in smaller businesses, be

sat on their own within an office performing

many different credit control related job

roles. So having access to the institute and

being able to be seen to be succeeding is

important for their development.”

“More importantly, thanks to the recent

changes to the level of access members

have to education programmes, like soundbite

courses, people can progress their

own careers and champion themselves,

especially young women coming into the

profession.”

INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT

Jenny was inspired to sponsor the award after

her diagnosis with Stage Four pancreatic

cancer and being given two years to live,

which she decided to use to encourage more

women in the industry to recognise their

own achievements, and hopefully inspire

future credit controllers.

“The award was created to celebrate

women in the industry that push boundaries

and innovate,” she says. “Women in business

don’t often push themselves forward or

believe in self-promotion, and so their

achievements are not always recognised. We

The CICM and I, wanted to encourage women

to see their achievements documented as

part of their application process, because we

don’t do that enough.”

Having had much success in her own

career including a ten-year stint at PwC

and opening and running her own business

for 20 years, Jenny recognises the unique

skills some women in credit possess: “Over

the 20 years running my business, I’ve

recruited and developed numerous credit

professionals and I think female credit

controllers and credit managers have

something really unique and special and it

should be celebrated.

“This award is almost a manifestation of

what support and achievement I would have

liked to have seen available to me as I was

coming up through the industry.”

The award forms part of the BCAs for the

next two years thanks to Jenny’s sponsorship;

however, she hopes it will continue into the

future and form its own legacy.

“I would like to see someone take the

award forward for the aspirational benefits

and encouraging women to shout about their

achievements. I’d be delighted to see entries

continue to grow and see an undercurrent

of women being recognised for their success

as there’s merit in this level of positivity.

Equally, it means I would carry on making

a difference, and I’d like to that memory to

be focussed on encouraging those in the

industry to achieve what they deserve.”

After her diagnosis, Jenny decided to

wind up her business to live her life by

celebrating causes that are close to her

heart – creating this award and supporting

Pancreatic Cancer UK

Jenny raised an incredible £17,000 for

Pancreatic Cancer UK in less than two

months, with donations still coming in:

“The support I have received from my

family and friends and from The British

Credit Awards and Pancreatic Cancer UK

has been amazing. I’ve had both women

and men come to me saying the work we’ve

done has encouraged them to get their own

health checked and that could be potentially

making a difference to people’s lives and

outcomes.”

Jenny is continuing to fundraise for

Pancreatic Cancer UK and is encouraging

people to get involved with her 77 Ways

campaign.

To donate or read more about Jenny’s

journey, visit https://fundraise.

pancreaticcancer.org.uk/fundraisers/

jennyoldfield

Jenny Oldfield

“The award was created

to celebrate women in

the industry that push

boundaries and innovate,”

she says. “Women in

business don’t often push

themselves forward or

believe in self-promotion,

and so their achievements

are not always

recognised.’’


TAKE CONTROL OF

YOUR CREDIT CAREER

ACCOUNTS HANDLER

London, competitive salary and bonus

An insurance company is looking for someone to join their

finance team as an Accounts Handler and take on end to end

insurance credit control processes. You will be investigating bad

debt, attending divisional meetings and chasing clients of the

underwriters and brokers. Experience in the insurance sector will

be a big bonus in applications for this role. Ref: 4182419

Contact Daniel Lee on 020 3465 0020

or email daniel.lee1@hays.com

GLOBAL HEAD OF CREDIT

Paddington, competitive salary and bonus

Reporting to the CFO, as the Global Head of Credit you will

establish best practice across all countries, and improve the

overall credit control function. Managing a team of two UK-based

credit controllers, you will remain hands on, actively working with

key customers and managing the credit insurance policy. Cash

forecasting, aged debt reporting and complex reconciliation work,

will also form a key part of this role. Experience working in the

FMCG industry is essential for this position. Ref: 4185140

Contact Hussain Ahmed on 03330 107453

or email hussain.ahmed@hays.com

HEAD OF CREDIT

Brentwood, hybrid working, up to £55,000

Working for a FTSE100 business, you will work with the largest

and most recognisable brands and are market leaders in their

industry. As Head of Credit you will have a significant place in

the UK finance leadership team. Your daily responsibilities will

focus around the operational management of a UK-based and

overseas collections team, developing their skills and helping

those individuals reach their potential. You will have a forward

thinking and progressive mindset and be able to identify areas of

improvement, working with a dedicated transformation team to

facilitate progress. Ref: 4179945

Contact William Plom on 01603 760141

or email william.plom@hays.com

INTERIM INVOICING MANAGER

(12 MONTH CONTRACT)

Ipswich, hybrid working, up to £60,000 + car

Working for a leading global shipping business, providing an

unparalleled service to an international client base, you will be

joining a high performing finance team as a member of the

leadership team. This role will manage a total of 40 staff through

4 direct reports and be influential in the operation efficiency

of a large scale invoicing process. You will have strong staff

management exposure and understand the O2C or billing cycle

extensively. You will be a proactive thinker and work with the wider

team to improve and streamline business processes. Ref: 4167262

Contact William Plom on 01603 760141

or email william.plom@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

ORDER TO CASH PROCESS SME

Stockport, up to £47,500

Holding a pivotal role within the company you will assist the Head

of OTC, representing the UK OTC in any process improvement

and associated projects. You will be responsible for maintaining

documented processes, process flow charts, in relation to

project(s) or continuous improvement initiatives, and leading a

culture of continuous improvement through root cause analysis,

data gathering & problem solving. Ref: 4064584

Contact Joanna Taylor-Coburn on 0161 926 8605

or email joanna.taylor-coburn@hays.com

CONTRACT AR OPERATIONS ANALYST

Weybridge, up to £200 per day

The purpose of the role is to develop and maintain the right

support to the AR/Credit delivery function, with analytical insight

and interpretation of activity based performance. Reporting to the

Head of AR/Credit this role is key to deliver timely and accurate

information about AR performance, projects and opportunities

for improvements. This will include a deep dive analysis of OTC

process and performance, to identify improvement areas across

the AR function. Ref: 4182135

Contact Natascha Whitehead on 07770 786433

or email natascha.whitehead@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 Natascha Whitehead, Hays Credit

Management UK Lead on 07770 786433


Some jobs…

...require a

professional

We support you during every step

of your credit management with:

Final demand letters

Accounts Receivable outsourcing

Debt Collection (domestic and international)

CICM knows a professional when they see one. That’s why they

awarded us with the Debt Collection Agency of the year Award.

Curious how we can support you?

Visit www.atradiuscollections.com


Switch to Direct Debit

Why not spread

the cost of your

Serrala

CP

CICM Membership

Manage your own cashflow

Simply scan the code below using

your phone, print and return to:

Chartered Institute of Credit Management


Peterborough PE2 6XS

Another reason to be a member

Make the switch to Direct Debit

For details contact: info@cicm.com

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

For details contact: info@cicm.com


HR MATTERS

Sounds Business Sense

A winning IR35 tax case and an example of how a

person’s conduct counts when it comes to compensation.

AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards

AN individual’s employment

status for tax determines the

taxes they pay. Individuals who

avoid income tax and National

insurance by supplying services

through an intermediary

to disguise their employment status, have been

targeted in recent years under a set of tax rules.

Recent case law has demonstrated how a

hypothetical contract of employment between

two parties contracting through a personal

service company can lead to large tax bills.

However, in the case of Basic Broadcasting v

HMRC, the First Tier Tax Tribunal has held

there to be no employment relationship

between TV presenter Adrian Chiles, and two TV

companies, despite mutuality of obligation and

control being established.

In overview, Mr Chiles is a director of his

personal service company, Basic Broadcasting

Ltd (BBL). He performed services for the

BBC and ITV through BBL. His hypothetical

contracts with each of the TV companies were

lengthy and represented over 75 percent of his

income (although they took up less than half his

working time).

In examining the relationship between Chiles

and the two TV companies, the tribunal found

there was mutuality of obligation, in that he

was under ‘some’ obligation to work, and the

TV companies were under the obligation to pay

for his work. The tribunal also found that Chiles

was under the TV companies control in terms of

the way editorial control was exerted over the

content he produced.

However, the tribunal found that because

Chiles was in business on his own account

and had entered into the relevant contracts

as part of that business, there was no

employment relationship between him and the

TV companies.

In reaching its decision, the tribunal took

into account Chiles’ freelance work history, in

particular that he used a management company

to which he paid a 15 percent commission, and

a personal assistant to promote his reputation

and generally manage his career, which was

indicative of sound business management.

He also provided his services to 25 additional

clients, generating over £350,000, and used his

own tools (in particular, a home office) to provide

his services to the TV companies, and was not

integrated into their businesses (although he

was an integral part of the programmes he

presented).

It should be said that HMRC may yet seek

to appeal the decision to the Upper Tier Tax

tribunal.

Conduct can affect compensation

A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal

(EAT) decision provides a useful

demonstration of the circumstances

under which the conduct of either

employer or employee can reduce the

amount of compensation awarded in an

unfair dismissal claim.

In this case, Wilkinson v Driver and

Vehicle Standards Agency, Mr Wilkinson

was a driving examiner who had

knowingly breached his employer's policy

by driving a candidate's car back to the

test centre after an aborted test. He then

failed to disclose his actions to his line

manager and also deliberately completed

paperwork, giving vague information, in

order to hide what he had done.

When his line manager found out about

the breach by chance some weeks later,

a disciplinary procedure was instigated.

Wilkinson remained in his post with

no restrictions during the procedure,

although his line manager emailed the

investigating officer saying his trust

in Wilkinson was broken and ‘‘hard to

repair.’’ Wilkinson was subsequently

dismissed for gross misconduct and for a

breakdown in trust and confidence.

But was Wilkinson’s dismissal unfair?

He thought so and claimed as such.

The Tribunal found that the procedure

followed by the employer had been flawed,

so that the dismissal was indeed unfair.

Turning to the question of what level

of compensation it was appropriate to

award, the Tribunal reduced the amount

of both the basic and the compensatory

award to zero “because of Mr Wilkinson's

conduct”. Wilkinson appealed to the EAT.

In looking at the impact of contributory

conduct, the EAT allowed the appeal.

It held that an unfair dismissal

compensatory award can be reduced for

contributory conduct by the employee

even if, had the employer acted fairly,

the dismissal would not have occurred.

However, the EAT also found the impact

of the employer's contributory conduct

should also have been taken into account

by the Tribunal in determining the

appropriate value of the award. The EAT

remitted the case back to the Tribunal for

it to reconsider the appropriate amounts

of the basic and compensatory awards.

Gareth Edwards is a partner in the

employment team at VWV.

He then failed to disclose his actions to his line manager and also

deliberately completed paperwork, giving vague information, in order to hide

what he had done.



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/


Predict your exposure to

financial risk

Managing risk takes more than a backward look at past

performance: it needs a glimpse into the future too.

We call it #HindsightInAdvance

Want to know more?

Scan me

www.companywatch.net


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

Adam Seaton-Shaw

Annemarie Harding

Cally Hamilton

James Hamilton

James Ryan

Iuliana Georgeta Constantinou

Christopher Firman

Claire Spoelstra

Emily Smith

Celia Forbes

Francesca Long

Gagandeep Virdee

George Holmes

Graeme Conroy

Heather Knight

Heather Bates

Helena Krajewski

Kirsty Ingle

Irina Eugenia Zbranca

Istiaq Ahmed

James Vine

Jasmine Marshall

Jennifer Brown

John Chinaka

Jordi Sancho

Kelly Farrar

Laura Cleaver

Leon Thompson

Letizia Beghi

Lucy Hanson

Martin Bowden

Melanie Lottering

Kamisha Grant

Mohammed Mukith Chowdhury

Natasha Pomeroy

Nicola Mirzai

Paul Bayliss

Samantha Rehman

Rhian Showers

Richard Feely

Robert Green

Samantha Battensby

Samantha Walker

Scott Cooper

Neal Farrant

Natalie Bloomfield

Sophia Hidalgo Aviles

Stephen Horan

Emily Thomas

Natasha Clarke

Thandazile Dlamini

Michelle Walker

Yuen Ting Chan

Affiliate

Carlotta Vanetti Deborah Morley Marie Lebourg Paola Gasbarrone

Congratulations to our current members who have upgraded their membership

Upgraded member

Eric Roe MCICM

AWARDING BODY

Congratulations to the following, who successfully achieved Diplomas

Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management (ACICM)

Candice Marlen

Julie Coghlan

Kimblerley Morgan

Sadia Akram

Helen Archer

Emma Fairbrother

Kalyan Gurung

Jennie Hill

Manjinder Mangat

Tracey Mcmanus

Liana Jones

Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections (ACICM)

Leo Rossiter

Glenn Langdown

Mona Rathod

Beverley Jackson-Broome

Rochus-Cornelis Hillebrink

Angela Hall

Vijay Chauhan

Chandni Premgi

Level 3 Diploma in Money & Debt Advice (ACICM)

Jaden Brookin

Level 5 Diploma in Credit & Collections Management MCICM (Grad)

Satya Oleti

Harvey Fielding

Kirstie Day

Steven Radley

Benjamin Ryland

Aurelie Smith

WE WANT YOUR BRANCH NEWS!

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THE LATEST

HIRING TRENDS

ARE HERE

Hays Credit Management would like to

congratulate all nominees, finalists and

winners at the British Credit Awards 2022.

Covid-19 recovery continues to affect the UK hiring

landscape, demonstrated by changing trends in work

practices, skills shortages and salary benchmarks.

Employers are continuing to encounter talent

shortages, with over three quarters (77%) saying they

don’t have access to the skills they need.

As a market leader, we are experts at finding,

engaging, and matching the right talent to build your

workforce. We drive the latest reports and training

products to give employers the tools required to

upskill employees and inform industry leaders.

View the latest trends and insights in our spring

update of the UK Salary Guide. Request your copy

today at hays.co.uk/salary-guide

hays.co.uk

© Copyright Hays plc 2022. HAYS, the Corporate and Sector H devices, Recruiting experts worldwide, the HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide logo and Powering the world of work are trademarks of Hays plc.

The Corporate and Sector H devices are original designs protected by registration in many countries.All rights are reserved.


Cr£ditWho?

CICM Directory of Services


COLLECTIONS

COLLECTIONS LEGAL

CREDIT INFORMATION

Controlaccount Plc

Address: Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road,

Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4FD

T: 01527 386 610

E: sales@controlaccount.com

W: www.controlaccount.com

Controlaccount plc has been providing efficient, effective and

ethical pre-legal debt recovery for over forty years. We help our

clients to improve internal processes and increase cashflow,

whilst protecting customer relationships and established

reputations. We have long-standing partnerships with leading,

global brand names, SMEs and not for profits. We recover

over 30,000 overdue invoices each month, domestically and

internationally, on a no collect, no fee arrangement. Other

services include credit control and dunning services, international

and domestic trace and legal recoveries. All our clients have

full transparency on any accounts placed with us through our

market leading cloud-based management portal, ClientWeb.

BlaserMills Law

High Wycombe | Amersham | Marlow | Silverstone

Rickmansworth | London

Jackie Ray : 07802 332104 | 01494 478660

jar@blasermills.co.uk

Nina Toor : 01494 478661 nit@blasermills.co.uk

Edward Bible : 07766 013352 ceb@blasermills.co.uk

www.blasermills.co.uk

Commercial Recoveries & Insolvency

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.

CoCredo

Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD

T: 01494 790600

E: customerservice@cocredo.com

W: www.cocredo.co.uk

Celebrating its 20th year in business, CoCredo has extensive

experience in providing online company credit reports and

related business information within the UK and overseas. In 2014

and 2019 we were honoured to be awarded Credit Information

Provider of the Year at the British Credit Awards and have been

finalists every other year. 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.

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)

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.”

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.

CONSULTANCY

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.

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. For more information please contact:

enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

identeco – Business Support Toolkit

Compass House, Waterside, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove,

Worcestershire B60 4FD

Telephone: 01527 386 607

Email: info@identeco.co.uk

Web: www.identeco.co.uk

identeco Business Support Toolkit provides company details

and financial reporting for over 4m UK companies and

business. Subscribers can view company financial health and

payment behaviour, credit ratings, shareholder and director

structures, detrimental data. In addition, subscribers can also

download unlimited B2B marketing and acquisition reports.

Annual subscription is only £79.95. Other services available

to subscribers include AML and KYC reports, pre-litigation

screening, trace services and data appending, as well as many

others.


Paladin Commercial would like to congratulate

Biffa Waste Services Ltd

as winners of

Shared Service provider of the Year

At the CICM British Credit Awards 2022

www.paladincommercial.co.uk

Outsourcing|Collections|Litigation

Contact: sales@paladincommercial.co.uk


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS

AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196

CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

ENFORCEMENT

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.

Tinubu Square UK

Holland House, 4 Bury Street,

London EC3A 5AW

T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /

E: uksales@tinubu.com

W: www.tinubu.com

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

of the Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital

transformation.

Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to

significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial,

operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology

solutions and services. Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions

and services to different businesses including credit insurers,

receivables financing organizations and multinational corporations.

Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20

countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in

Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore.

Credica Ltd

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

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

Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections

and Query Management System has been designed with 3 goals

in mind:

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

• To provide meaningful analysis of your business

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

Credit Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is

successfully providing significant and measurable benefits for our

diverse portfolio of clients.

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

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

Data Interconnect Ltd

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

We are dedicated to helping finance teams take the cost,

complexity and compliance issues out of Accounts Receivable

processes. Corrivo is our reliable, easy-to-use SaaS platform

for the continuous improvement of AR metrics and KPIs in a

user-friendly interface. Credit Controllers can manage more

accounts with better results and customers can self-serve on

mobile-responsive portals where they can query, pay, download

and view invoices and related documentation e.g. Proofs of

Delivery Corrivo is the only AR platform with integrated invoice

finance options for both buyer and supplier that flexes credit

terms without degrading DSO. Call for a demo.

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.

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.

FOR

ADVERTISING

INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND

PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk

01727 739 196

VISMA | ONGUARD

T: 020 3966 8324

E: edan.milner@onguard.com

W: www.onguard.com

VISMA | Onguard is a 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. This enhanced visibility with the secure

sharing of critical data ensures optimal connection between all

processes in the order-to-cash chain, resulting in stronger, longerlasting

customer relationships through improved and personalised

communication. The VISMA | Onguard platform is used for

successful credit management in more than 70 countries.

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.

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

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.

Cr£ditWho?



Cr£ditWho?


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196

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.

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.

RECRUITMENT

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.

INSOLVENCY

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 Bethan Evans, Licensed

Insolvency Practitioner, at bevans@menzies.co.uk or call

+44 (0)2920 447 512.

LEGAL

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.

Cr£ditWho?


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.

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.

YayPay by Quadient

T: + 44 (0) 7465 423 538

E: r.harash@quadient.com

W: www.yaypay.com

YayPay by Quadient makes it easy for B2B finance teams to stay

ahead of accounts receivable and get paid faster – from anywhere.

Integrating with your existing ERP, CRM, accounting and billing

systems, YayPay organizes and presents real-time data through

meaningful, cloud-based dashboards. These increase visibility

across your AR portfolio and provide your team with a single

source of truth, so they can access the information they need to

work productively, no matter where they are based.

Automated capabilities improve team efficiency by 3X and

accelerate the collections process by making communications

customizable and consistent. This enables you to collect cash

up to 34 percent faster and removes the need to add additional

resources as your business grows.

Predictive analytics provide insight into future payer behavior to

improve cash flow management and a secure, online payment

portal enables customers to access their accounts and pay at any

time, from anywhere.


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.

FOR

ADVERTISING

INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND

PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk

01727 739 196

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

Brave | Curious | Resilient

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


Fill your vacancy or find your next career

move at www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

RECRUITING FROM

YOUR OFFICE...

Portfolio Credit Control, part of

the Portfolio Group, are proud

to be the only true specialist

Credit Control recruitment

agency in the UK.

...OR

REMOTELY

Specialising in solely recruiting for Credit

Controllers and Credit professionals since

2008. We place permanent, temporary and

contract credit professionals at all levels.

Our expert market knowledge & industry

experience is trusted by SME’s through

to Global Blue Chip businesses including

FTSE 100 companies across the UK for all

their Credit Control hiring needs.

We recruit for: Credit Manager / Head of Credit Control; (Senior)

Credit Controller / Team Leader / Supervisor; Credit and Billing

Manager; Sales Ledger / Accounts Receivable (Manager);

Credit Analyst.

Contact us to hire

the best Credit Control talent

Scan with your phone to fill your vacancy or find your

next career move at www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

Contact one of our specialist recruitment consultants to fill your vacancy or find your next career move!

LONDON 020 7650 3199

1 FINSBURY SQUARE, 3 RD FLOOR, LONDON EC2A 1AE

MANCHESTER 0161 836 9949

THE PENINSULA, VICTORIA PLACE, MANCHESTER M4 4FB

www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com

theportfoliogroup

portfolio-credit-control

portfoliocredit

Rated as Excellent

Credit Management May 2022

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