Credit Management December 2022

CREDIT MANAGEMENT

CM

DECEMBER 2022 £12.50

THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND

COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS

INSIDE

2023 DESKTOP

CALENDAR

LAYER CAKE

Has the FCA added a

new layer of unnecessary

compliance?

The future of SME debt sale

will depend on building trust in

the system. Page 26

Sean Feast FCICM talks to

Pierre Haincourt MCICM on why

late is better than never. Page 30

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10

CALL OF DUTY

Jeanette Burgess

DECEMBER 2022

www.cicm.com

CONTENTS

18

CONFIDENCE TRICK

Jo Kettner

30

INTERVIEW – MIEUX VAUT

TARD QUE JAMAIS!

Sean Feast FCICM

26

SALE OR RETURN

Andrew Birkwood

8 – STORM CHASERS

The CICM and its members are well

placed to steer organisations through

the inevitable storm ahead.

14 – LAYER CAKE

Is the FCA’s new Consumer Duty adding

an unnecessary layer of compliance?

18 – CONFIDENCE TRICK

Confidence and knowledge are critical

to future success but are often in

short supply.

20 – ALLIED CAUSE

The Government’s anti-fraud efforts

could find a beneficial ally in the

insolvency profession.

24 – REQUEST ACCEPTED

How can Request to Pay create better

connections with customers.

36 – THE LAND THAT TIME

DIDN'T FORGET

Rich in resources, the Egyptian

economy is a gold-mine for exporters.

40 – IN SEARCH OF CHOICE

Freedom of choice in enforcement is

vital for court users in 2023 and beyond.

42 – DEAD FUNNY

Do you know your ‘bear market’ from

your ‘dead cat bounce’?

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

CICM GOVERNANCE

President Stephen Baister FCICM / Chief Executive Sue Chapple FCICM

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

Larry Coltman FCICM / Neil Jinks FCICM / Allan Poole MCICM

Advisory Council: Caroline Asquith-Turnbull FCICM / Laurie Beagle FCICM / Glen Bullivant FCICM / Brendan Clarkson FCICM

Larry Coltman FCICM / Peter Gent FCICM(Grad) / Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Andrew Hignett MCICM(Grad)

Dave Hindle FCICM / Laural Jefferies FCICM / Neil Jinks FCICM / Martin Kirby FCICM / Charles Mayhew FCICM / Hans Meijer

FCICM / Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) / Amanda Phelan MCICM(Grad) / Allan Poole MCICM / Phil Rice FCICM / Phil Roberts FCICM

Chris Sanders FCICM / Paula Swain FCICM / Mark Taylor MCICM / 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.

Managing Editor

Sean Feast FCICM

Deputy Editor

Iona Yadallee

Art Editor

Andrew Morris

Telephone: 01780 722910

Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com

Editorial Team

Joe Clarkson, Rob Howard, Roshika Perera,

Sam Wilson and Mona Yazdanparast

Advertising

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Telephone: 01727 739 196

Email: paul@centuryone.uk

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ISSN 0265-2099

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

EDITOR’S COLUMN

Two economists agree:

we’re in a pickle.

Sean Feast FCICM

Managing Editor

I

was in a CICM Think Tank recently,

minding my own business as I

usually do, desperate not to say

anything too stupid in a room full

of very brainy people, when I heard

something I’d never heard before:

two economists agreeing with one another.

The problem is, I wish I hadn’t, as then I may

have had something positive to cling to.

Mo Chaudhri, Chief Economist at

Experian and Markus Kuger, formerly of

Dun & Bradstreet and now a freelance

economist both agreed we’re in a bit of a

pickle. They didn’t quite use that word of

course. They are serious economists. But

what it all boiled down to is that we are up

the proverbial creek without a paddle, and

perhaps without even a boat.

Mo presented a series of charts and

graphs that spelled out the true extent

of the mess we are in, with interest rates

and inflation both on the rise, fixed rate

mortgages coming to an end, and a perfect

storm blowing a hurricane through our

collective finances. Interestingly, he says, it

will not be the young or the old who will be

affected the most, but rather the ‘squeezed

middle’. In simple terms, the young don’t

have the financial responsibility yet, the

old have probably paid off most of what

they owe, but the middle have had the good

times for so long that they’ve never had to

budget for things and haven’t yet developed

the right behaviours to see them through.

Mo is under no illusions that the country

is already in recession and has been for

some time. GDP, he believes, is a clumsy and

not especially accurate way of measuring

recession, and neither should we be

fooled by apparently low unemployment

figures that at another time might suggest

a country in fine fettle. It’s not. Inflation

is out of control, and the gloomy truth is

that we need a long recession to help get

inflation down.

Markus concurred. Every statistic Markus

pulled out from his economist’s bag was

as depressing as the next. Inflation was

going to go up, before it would come down,

because of the lag in the effect of monetary

policy. Payment performance gave a mixed

picture everywhere except in the UK and

Ireland, where things were decidedly

going to get worse, and in Atradius’ joyful

forecast of business failures, we could

expect an increase in insolvencies in 27

of the 30 principal countries monitored.

Inflation, he told us, may have been around

10 percent, but that was a consumer price

statistic. The product price inflation figure

was 47 percent, impacted by rising energy

costs and a shortage of raw materials.

So was there anything to cheer at all that I

can report? Markus did his best. The Suez is

no longer blocked, and the Federal Reserve

Global Supply Chain Index is apparently

showing signs of improvement. There are

fewer delays, and supply chain integrity is

being restored. Hallelujah for Suez, is all I

can say.

As we head into Christmas and the New

Year, I wanted to end with a message of

cheer and goodwill to all men. Or in my

newly DE&I-educated mind, to all people.

But let’s be honest: a tough few months

and a difficult year are only giving way

to more uncertainty, and tolerance and

understanding are commodities that

are going to be much in demand. As our

Chief Executive says in her Christmas

message, we’re stronger together. So chin

up, hard hats on, and for now enjoy the

Christmas festivities.

Tomorrow is most definitely another day.


CMNEWS

A round-up of news stories from the

world of consumer and commercial credit.

L

OWELL Group, one of

Europe’s leading credit

management services

providers, has completed

the acquisition of Hoist

Finance UK following

receipt of regulatory approval.

Hoist UK’s Salford office will

remain and will be positioned as a

recruitment hub for talent in the North

West. Approximately 180 individuals

currently in the Hoist business will

transition to Lowell.

The transaction includes the

operations of Hoist Finance UK and

its entire unsecured non-performing

loan portfolio, comprising of over two

million consumer accounts, which

had approximately £585m, 180-month

estimated remaining collections as at

Written by – Sean Feast FCICM

Lowell completes acquisition

of Hoist Finance UK

December 2021. The loan portfolio is

almost exclusively in the credit card

and personal loan sector.

John Pears, Lowell UK CEO, says the

acquisition is a big step in Lowell’s

targeted expansion: “This purchase will

position us as the UK’s largest credit

management service provider and not

only expands our customer base but

also aligns with our growth plans of

moving into financial services.

We’re taking on two million more

accounts, which will give us the

data and insight we need to further

strengthen our award-winning

customer interactions. We’re looking

forward to welcoming Hoist colleagues

into the Lowell family and growing

together as one business.”

Julian Winfield, CEO of Hoist

Finance UK, is excited to be hitting the

ground running: “Lowell’s approach

is industry-leading and the business

has played a major role in setting the

standard for others within the UK.

The way that we work aligns perfectly

to Lowell and this new partnership

couldn’t be a better fit for us.”

The acquisition is described as

continuing Lowell’s growth trajectory

as well as delivering targeted, strategic

expansion into the UK financial

services sector, specifically banking.

Lowell claims it will also benefit

from improved data insight from the

financial services market, materially

speeding up pricing and analysis

whilst reducing investment risk.

Cashflow becomes top priority for small

businesses as economic storm brews

With inflation hovering at a 40-year

high, managing day to day cashflow

has become the primary reason

for small business applications for

finance, according to iwoca’s latest SME

Expert Index.

The survey of brokers has revealed

that managing cashflow is the most

common loan purpose for over two in

five small businesses (42 percent) over

the last quarter, a 16 percentage point

increase from the same period last year.

This is the first time since Q2 2021 that

cashflow concerns have overtaken

ambitions to grow their business as the

primary reason to access finance.

iwoca’s Q3 2022 SME Expert Index

is based on insight from UK brokers

who collectively submitted over 3,000

applications for unsecured finance on

behalf of their SME clients over a fourweek

period in September.

One in five brokers (19 percent) say

it would take over 12 months for

the lending market to return to the

number of loan requests they received

pre-pandemic, a significant increase

since Q2 2022, when only seven percent

of brokers thought it would take over a

year for markets to bounce back.

As inflation pinches, small businesses

are being mindful of APR, which is

currently the leading deciding factor for

SME owners when choosing between

loan offers, according to a quarter of

brokers (24 percent). This is followed

by one in five (21 percent) who say the

approved amount of the loan is the most

impactful factor.

Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth

Director of iwoca, says the challenging

economic environment has hit small

businesses everywhere: “They’re needing

to manage cashflow in the face of

rising business costs, as well as having

to consider the cost of borrowing,” he

explains. “Our priority is to continue to

support them over the coming months

by providing access to finance as soon as

they need it.”


NEWS ROUNDUP

Mass insolvency and

redundancy fears as

UK heads for recession

M

ORE than two

out of every

five (41 percent)

established small

and medium

businesses (those

with between 10 and 100 employees)

across the UK expect to shut their

doors permanently, be forced to

conduct mass redundancies or close

locations within the next 12 months.

And more than one in three (39

percent) fear their business will

be fatally or critically impacted by

any forthcoming recession, while

a similar number (43 percent) say

they will have to borrow money

just to keep their business afloat or

refinance existing debt (37 percent).

It paints a worrying picture for

British business as we look likely to

enter a recession, with this segment

of the economy accounting for

around 30 percent of UK jobs.

The data comes from a recent

survey by Allica Bank of 150

established small and medium

businesses in the UK across

multiple industries. It reveals, too,

that 83 percent of business owners

want to see their bank do more

to support them as costs of raw

materials, fuel, interest rates and

inflation continue to rise.

Conrad Ford, Chief Product Officer

at Allica Bank, agrees that banks

will play a critical role in keeping

business owners’ heads above the

water: “It’s clear that large numbers

of established small and medium

businesses are struggling to stay

afloat and in fact, many are going to

find themselves in further debt just

to keep the lights on.

“Banks must do more to help these

businesses – either with funding

or sharing expertise – because

Government help can only go so

far. As an industry, we support

businesses who, in turn, employ

millions of people already struggling

in a cost-of-living crisis. Our team

of relationship managers have been

working closely with our business

customers to provide information

and support, and we think that’s

going to become ever more

important in the coming months.”

Ania George, Operations Director

at Ashley Care, a Norfolk-based

operator of three care homes, told

Credit Management: “As employers

of 150 staff, we are very concerned

about the current market conditions

and the severe economic headwinds

of double figure inflation, significant

Millions of people in the UK admit

they never think about their credit

score, despite many saying they are

expecting to borrow more money from

their bank or lender in order to manage

the cost of living crisis.

New research commissioned by

CRIF – a provider of consumer and

business credit information – surveyed

thousands of people in countries

across the continent including France,

the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany,

Slovakia, and the UK.

The findings show nearly half

(46 percent) of UK consumers never

think about their credit score,

significantly higher than the European

Brits least likely in Europe to

think about their credit score

average (31 percent excluding the UK),

and the highest of all European

countries surveyed, including France

(35 percent), Germany (40 percent) and

Italy (27 percent).

This is despite the UK having

one of the highest household debt

levels in Europe, and one in five (19

percent) saying they expect to borrow

more from their lender in the next

12 months.

Understanding of how credit scores

are calculated is also poor. Less than

half (48 percent) of people in the UK

say they understand how their score is

calculated, and one in five (20 percent)

say that were their score to go down,

they wouldn’t know how to improve it.

This lack of engagement and

understanding is having a detrimental

effect. One in ten (10 percent)

consumers say they have been turned

down for borrowing since March 2020

(the start of the pandemic lockdowns

in the UK). Of this group: 64 percent

say they received no information from

their lender on how to improve their

situation; 50 percent say they had to

turn to more expensive forms of credit,

such as payday or short-term loans –

the highest in Europe; and 52 percent

say they were surprised to be turned

down as they believed they had a good

credit history.


NEWS ROUNDUP

❝

“It’s clear that large numbers of established small and medium businesses

are struggling to stay afloat and in fact, many are going to find themselves in

further debt just to keep the lights on.”

– Conrad Ford, Chief Product Officer at Allica Bank

increases in energy costs and the pressures

in recruitment.

“We have tried hard to find ways to minimise

the impact on our business, but the situation

is so challenging that these kinds of measures

alone may not be enough for many SMEs.

“We are very lucky to have always been

closely supported by our relationship manager

at Allica Bank, but I know this is not the case

for many other businesses. Banks will play a

critical role in helping SMEs to weather the

current storm and I believe there has never been

a more important time for banks to connect and

engage with their customers and offer support –

whether it’s through advice, additional lending,

extensions of maturity of obligations, easing

covenants, or any other facilities they may have

available to them.

“While the market is challenging, I believe that

by failing to help businesses, banks will lose the

opportunity to build a relationship and in turn

strengthen their portfolio in the future.”

The Government’s new energy freeze policy

will go some way to offering support for

businesses like Ashley Care, with over half

saying it will be critical to keeping their doors

open. Almost three quarters (73 percent) of

businesses surveyed, however, don’t believe

the support will last long enough, potentially

leading to more insolvencies.

The picture painted by the data is also

supported by Allica’s network of brokers. Chris

Field, Head of Care & Hospitality at Sirius

Property Finance said the number of business

owners applying for funding to help them

survive in the current climate, and to some

extent ‘futureproof’ their business, has more

than doubled.

“There has been a deluge of businesses

seeking funding to cover the increasing costs

of maintaining their businesses. This covers

everything from essential capital expenditure to

maintaining the business premises, to covering

wage bills and supporting interest payments for

financial commitments,” he says.

“We have seen an increase in enquiries

where applicants are looking to refinance their

business, and this is usually due to their current

facility approaching its renewal date (and the

new terms on offer being untenable). So they

are looking for us to run a process to identify

preferable terms, or they are looking to refinance

to release equity and reinvest in the business,

expand, or carry out improvement work. A good

example of this is in the hotel and hospitality

sector, where the quality of the asset can often

dictate KPIs, which ultimately impact revenue

and net cashflow.

“If we don't all sort this out, the Government’s

levelling up agenda and its attempts to bounce

back from the current crisis are at risk of

being just ‘soundbites’ rather than something

resembling reality! These businesses are vital

to local communities given the activity they

generate, who they serve and who they employ.”

Sara Costantini, CRIF’s Regional Director for the UK & Ireland,

says the increasing cost of living is putting huge strain on people’s

finances: “The fact that many more plan to turn to their banks for

financial support, coupled with rising interest rates, mean it’s vital

that people have a good grasp of their creditworthiness. However,

there is a severe lack of awareness and understanding among people

in the UK of their credit score, how it works and how to improve it.

During these challenging economic times, it’s critical that consumers

and businesses alike fully understand their creditworthiness.

“Financial providers need to work to engage and improve people’s

understanding, utilising innovations in open banking, and enabling

more accurate, lower-risk lending decisions that can help people

avoid turning to more costly forms of credit.”

❝

“During these challenging economic times, it’s

critical that consumers and businesses alike fully

understand their creditworthiness.” – Sara Costantini,

CRIF’s Regional Director for the UK & Ireland


FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

STORM CHASERS

The CICM and its members are well placed to steer

organisations through the inevitable storm ahead.

Sue Chapple FCICM

In much the same way as I find police

officers are getting younger, the years

also now seem to flash by in a moment.

One minute you’re just recovering from

an over-indulgence of Hogmanay and

knuckling down for the year ahead, and

the next you’re in full preparatory mode

for Christmas, wondering where the last

12 months have gone.

Certainly 2022 has gone in a heartbeat

and didn’t, as was predicted by some,

lead to an enormous tsunami of business

failures, neither did it see a massive

increase in defaults and delinquencies.

Consumer confidence – at least in the first

half of the year – remained pretty resilient,

and a feared halt in discretionary spend did

not materialise.

Unfortunately, I believe that 2022 may

be seen very much as the lull before the

storm, like an uneasy truce or the Phoney

War. The emperor is naked but not everyone

is prepared to admit it. Sadly, and if the

expert commentators and the views of

our own CICM Think Tank members are

to be believed, there are undoubtedly

difficulties ahead.

Squeezed middle

The c2.6 million mortgages that are due

to come off low fixed-rate deals towards

the middle of 2023 will definitely happen,

causing a nightmare for borrowers and

lenders alike. By the end of 2024, more

than five million households will be facing

higher mortgage payments compared to

Q3 2022. The withdrawal of Government

buffers moving towards a more meanstested

delivery, is very likely to happen.

And the so-called ‘squeezed middle’ will

become even more squeezed and will be

the group most affected as the recession

begins to bite.

Preparing for the inevitable downturn

is a must. Mohammed Chaudhri, Chief

Economist and Director of Market

Intelligence at Experian, told a CICM Think

Tank in November that in reality the UK is

already in recession, and the industries that

will be most impacted will be those related

to discretionary spend. There are further

tough times ahead for the hospitality sector

which has already had to come through

tough times, and some of the smaller

businesses across all sectors who perhaps

just about made it through by the skin of

their teeth and a Government hand-out

may find themselves facing a bridge too far.

For businesses, however, this is not the

time to start burying our heads in the sand.

This is when the key principles of bestpractice

credit and collections management

really come into their own. It’s when the

basics of ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) take

on even greater significance. It’s when

understanding not just your own suppliers,

but also the wider supply chain and your

customers’ customers becomes even more

important. It’s when invoicing accurately

and on time is essential, and your credit

teams are fully engaged as one of your

greatest sales enablers.

Training investment

It's also a time when an investment in

training and development is also critical.

Recruiting and retaining talent is an

ongoing challenge and presents both an

opportunity and a threat. Those who feel

that their careers are being nurtured and

developed are more likely to stay, and it

is that retained knowledge and expertise

that will become increasingly important

in helping firms navigate the choppy

waters ahead.

It goes without saying that your Chartered

Institute is here to support you as individuals,

and the organisations you represent, with a

range of training, services, and peer-led

expert advice. We don’t have a crystal ball,

and none of us can truly know what next

year will bring. But what we do know, is that

together we are stronger, and together we can

tackle whatever challenges the New Year has

in store.



CONSUMER CREDIT

CALL OF DUTY

What are the implications of the FCA’s new

‘Consumer Duty’ drive for the credit industry?

AUTHOR – Jeanette Burgess

TREATING customers fairly has

been the maxim of the financial

services for many years. With

the sector under permanent

supervision, it’s no wonder that

at the end of July (2022) the FCA

published PS22/9: A new Consumer Duty that

requires a higher standard of customer care.

On reading the document, many firms will

soon realise that they have significant and

urgent work to do to ensure compliance with

the new duty.

The new Consumer Duty is a package of

measures intended to improve the standard

of care firms offer to consumers. It comprises

a new consumer principle that provides

an overarching standard of conduct; a set

of cross-cutting rules which are intended

to clarify the FCA’s expectations; and four

outcomes relating to key elements of the firmconsumer

relationship.

The document is not a one-time obligation,

rather, the FCA expects the duty to be reflected

in firms’ strategies, governance, leadership,

and people policies. Senior managers will be

accountable for delivering the higher standards

and good customer outcomes required by the

new duty within their areas of responsibility.

Changes to individual conduct rules within the

senior managers and certification regime rules

in the FCA’s Code of Conduct sourcebook will be

made in time.

The consumer principle

Looking at the consumer principle, it will

become principle 12 in the FCA’s Principles for

Business Handbook and will replace existing

principles six (customers’ interests) and seven

(communications with clients) in this context and

will state that ‘a firm must act to deliver good

outcomes for retail customers.’

The consumer principle sets a higher

standard than existing principle six – which

requires firms to pay due regard to the interests

of its customers and treat them fairly; it directs

firms to play a greater and more positive role in

delivering good outcomes for consumers. The

FCA has confirmed that, as with any principle,

the consumer principle cannot be defined

exhaustively. Its meaning is, however, clarified

and amplified through the cross-cutting rules

and four outcomes and firms will need to take

responsibility for serving consumers’ interests

and delivering good outcomes.

The FCA has clarified that the consumer

principle will apply proportionately. Firms

will not be required to go beyond what is

❝

The duty will

come into force

via a two-phase

implementation

period beginning

on 31 July 2023 for

new and existing

products and

services that are

open to sale or

renewal, and on

31 July 2024 for

closed products and

services.

❝

reasonably expected given the nature of their

role, the product or service they offer and the

characteristics of the customer (in particular,

their financial capability). What can be

‘reasonably expected’ is an objective standard

and will be assessed on the facts. Neither

will firms be responsible for the activities or

actions of others within the distribution chain

(except in the case of specific regulatory or

contractual requirements). Consumers will

remain responsible for the decisions they

make, but firms must use more judgement

when considering the impact of their actions

on consumers.

Overall, the consumer principle places a new

emphasis on consumer outcomes and firms’

obligations to be proactive in delivering those

outcomes. Firms should not focus simply on

processes, but on the impact of their actions

on consumers. Delivering good outcomes goes

much further than simply paying ‘due regard’ to

customers’ interests. Whilst delivery of a ‘good

outcome’ does not have an established legal

meaning, relevant factors include whether the

firm communicates the support available to

customers; whether firms ensure that support

works effectively; operational resilience; dealing

with non-standard issues; and whether firms

consider and properly deal with customers with

protected characteristics and customers with

changing needs.

Although the FCA will dis-apply principles

six and seven, its handbook and non-handbook

material linked to them will continue to be

applicable to firms and business activities

outside the scope of the consumer duty and

should remain helpful to firms in considering

their obligations where the duty does apply.

Cross-cutting rules

The cross-cutting rules provide greater clarity

on the FCA’s expectations and aim to help firms

interpret the four required outcomes. The rules

require firms to do several things.

Firstly, they must act in good faith towards

retail consumers. The FCA has confirmed

that acting in good faith involves a standard

of conduct characterised by honesty, fair and

open dealing, and acting consistently with the

reasonable expectations of retail consumers.

Paragraphs 5.6 – 5.16 of the guidance contain

relatively detailed information and examples

which aim to further clarify the concept of good

faith for these purposes.

Next, they must avoid causing foreseeable

harm to consumers through action or inaction,

either in direct relationships with customers


CONSUMER CREDIT


❝

The document is not a one-time obligation, rather, the FCA expects the duty to be reflected

in firms’ strategies, governance, leadership, and people policies. Senior managers will be

accountable for delivering the higher standards and good customer outcomes required by the

new duty within their areas of responsibility.

or as a result of their position in the

distribution chain.

What is foreseeable is dynamic: if

harm was not foreseeable at the outset

but later becomes foreseeable, firms

should take action to address it. Firms

therefore need to stay abreast of, and

respond to, new and emerging sources

of harm. Paragraphs 5.20 – 5.36 of the

guidance provide detailed information

and examples to explain concepts of

reasonableness and foreseeability, and

also include some important carve-outs

for firms. The guidance confirms that

a firm’s responsibility to avoid causing

reasonable harm can involve taking

proactive steps; not exploiting customers’

vulnerabilities, lack of understanding or

behavioural biases; and being clear and

fair when it comes to communications

with customers throughout the customer

journey and in relation to the description

of products and services.

Lastly, firms must enable customers

to pursue their financial objectives.

The actions a firm might need to take

to support customers in pursuing their

financial objectives will be determined by

the nature of the products or services and

what is within the firm’s control based on

its role and its knowledge of the customer.

Firms should take account of behavioural

biases and vulnerabilities and should

empower customers to make choices in

their own interests as per paragraphs 5.37

– 5.48 of the guidance.

Four outcomes

There are four outcomes that cover the key

elements of the firm-customer relationship.

The first is the products and services

outcome. The new consumer duty

requires all products and services to be fit

for purpose. That is, they must be designed

to meet the needs, characteristics, and

objectives of customers and targeted or

distributed accordingly.

Key questions which are likely to impact

a firm’s delivery of this outcome include

whether the firm has considered the

target market of its products and services

in sufficient granularity. Whether the

firm has satisfied itself that its products

and services meet the needs of consumers

in the target market and performed as

expected. How the firm has identified

if products or services could risk harm,

for example for vulnerable groups of

customers. Whether the firm is sharing all

necessary information with other firms

in the distribution chain and receiving

all necessary information itself. If the

firm is properly monitoring distribution

strategies. And if the firm is regularly

gathering, reviewing, or acting upon data

relating to this outcome.

Second is the price and value outcome.

This centres on consumers receiving fair

value. But value means more than just

price; it involves firms assessing products

and services “in the round” to ensure that

there is a reasonable relationship between

the price paid and the benefit a customer

receives. The FCA has confirmed that it

does not expect firms to quantify non-


continues on page 12 >

CONSUMER CREDIT


monetary costs and benefits, but it does expect

firms to qualitatively consider these factors.

Chapters seven of the policy statement and

guidance together provide detailed information,

examples, and assistance for firms in relation to

assessing value, including suggestions as to the

types of data that firms can use to monitor their

performance against this outcome.

The third outcome is that relating to consumer

understanding. This requires that firms’

communications give customers the necessary

information to support and enable customers to

make informed decisions about financial products

and services. Information must be provided to

customers at the right time and in a way the

particular targeted customers can understand.

This outcome requires firms to communicate

information in a way which is clear, fair, and

not misleading. It goes further than existing

principle seven because it specifically requires

communications to be tailored considering

the characteristics of the customers intended

to receive the communication, including any

characteristics of vulnerability; the complexity of

products; the communication channel used; and

the role of the firm. It also requires firms, when

interacting directly with a customer on a one-toone

basis, and where appropriate, to ask if the

customer has understood and whether they have

any questions. This outcome also involves firms

demonstrating consumer understanding through

testing and ongoing review/improvement.

The fourth and last is the consumer support

outcome. This involves the design and delivery of

support to meet the needs of customers, including

those with characteristics of vulnerability;

ensures that customers can use their products as

reasonably anticipated; ensures that the customer

journey allows for the mitigation of risk of harm

and gives customers sufficient opportunity to

understand and assess their options; ensures

that customers do not face unreasonable barriers

(including unreasonable additional costs) during

the lifecycle of a product or service; and requires

firms to monitor the quality of the support

they are offering and to act promptly if/when

issues arise.

Scope and application

The new Consumer Duty will apply to regulated

firms’ activities in relation to products and

services sold to retail clients. Notably, regulated

firms in the e-money and payments sector are in

scope. In addition, firms which are involved in the

manufacture or supply of products and services to

retail clients are in scope, even if they do not have

a direct relationship with the end consumer.

The duty will not have retrospective effect.

It will apply, on a forward-looking basis, to new

and existing products and services, including

closed book products and services. In relation to

firms currently applying for authorisation or to

vary their permissions, the FCA has clarified the

need to demonstrate, from now on, the ability to

meet the requirements of the new Consumer Duty.

The Duty will come into force via a two-phase

implementation period beginning on 31 July 2023

for new and existing products and services that

are open to sale or renewal, and on 31 July 2024

for closed products and services.

Importantly, chapter 12 of the policy statement

sets out a roadmap of the FCA’s expectations

of firms during the implementation period. In

particular that by the end of October 2022, boards

and management bodies should have agreed their

implementation plans and be able to evidence

that they have scrutinised and challenged their

plans to make sure they are deliverable and robust

enough to meet the new, higher standards. Firms

should expect to share their implementation plans

and supporting board papers and minutes and to

be challenged on their contents.

Firms should aim to complete all necessary

reviews to meet the four-outcome rule, and to

share all necessary information with distributors,

by the end of April 2023.

They should also identify where changes need

to be made to existing products and services, and

implement remedies, by the end of July 2023.

Where firms identify serious issues causing

immediate consumer harm, they must be

prioritised. And where actions to comply with

the Consumer Duty can be taken more quickly

than the implementation deadlines, firms should

consider doing this.

Practical advice

Compliance with the new Consumer Duty will

involve urgent and significant action on the part

of all affected firms.

In the short term, firms should have undertaken

the necessary reviews to enable them to have

demonstrably agreed implementation for meeting

the new, higher standards. But over the coming

months, the reviewing and amending of all relevant

policies and procedures, as well as products,

services, contracts, and communications, will

be required.

Staff training will, of course, also be essential.

This should embody not only an explanation of

all legal, regulatory, and practical changes, but

also an emphasis on the cultural shift which

fundamentally underpins the new duty.

Firms must act swiftly, to set up project teams

tasked with benchmarking their compliance against

the new requirements and effecting a programme

of change to address the gaps identified in

accordance with the tight deadlines prescribed.

Summary

Change is coming and compliance is mandatory.

As with any new set of regulations, the sooner

management understands the new process and

seeks to effect change, the better the outcome.

Jeanette Burgess is a partner at Walker Morris.


CONSUMER CREDIT


❝

The FCA has

clarified that

the consumer

principle will apply

proportionately.

Firms will not

be required to go

beyond what is

reasonably expected

given the nature

of their role, the

product or service

they offer and the

characteristics of

the customer

(in particular, their

financial capability).

❝


CONSUMER CREDIT

LAYER CAKE

Is the FCA’s new Consumer Duty adding

an unnecessary layer of compliance?

AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM

BEING politically rather

than evidentially driven,

the Consumer Duty was

always going to be difficult

to bring to life in a way

that found that crucial

point of balance between consumer and

firm – between necessary regulation and

social policy. Henry Aitchison, Head of

Policy at the Credit Services Association,

believes that on paper at least, the FCA

has achieved a skilful balance: “Whether

it is effective in practice, or suffers from

unintended consequences, remains to be

seen,” he says.

Every business is different, so how

the Consumer Duty influences those

businesses will vary considerably. For

some, it may mean relatively little change.

For others that change might be more

profound. “The challenge that all firms

will be facing is a need to get under the

hood to see what they are already doing,

how they are doing it, the information that

they have and the extent to which those

processes and practices line up with the

Consumer Duty as a whole and the four

outcomes in particular,” Henry continues.

“That is no small task and the timetable

for implementation is ‘challenging’ to put

it mildly.

“But before all that, the biggest challenge

is in trying to work out where your firm

fits in the FCA’s design. Many of the

concepts are straightforward if you are

designing a loan or credit card and then

distributing it. For sectors that don’t have

that ‘linear’ relationship to the transaction

or the consumer, the first challenge is in

working out precisely how the Consumer

Duty touches the business, and what

outcomes are relevant, and only then

starting to work through the expectations

that the Rules and Guidance set out.”

Depth and breadth

Kevin Blake, Lowell’s UK Chief Risk

Officer, believes it will take time for firms

to fully appreciate the depth and breadth

of the requirements of the new Consumer

Duty: “It is a noticeable step up from

current FCA regulations around ‘Treating

Customers Fairly’, and further emphasises

placing customers at the heart of firms’

businesses and their strategic goals,” he

says, “and I expect it will be used by the

regulator as a test for all activities and

processes we undertake.”

In Lowell’s opinion, the proposals are

wide ranging; expecting as they do that

firms will go above and beyond ‘TCF’.

The guidance gives firms sufficient

flexibility to be innovative which should

in turn support competitiveness in

the marketplace. Kevin doesn’t see the

new duty will require any fundamental

changes to the business: “It will be

incumbent upon us, however, as well as

other firms, to show good outcomes for

all customers not just the majority and

evidencing this through management

information will be key here.”

Like Henry, Kevin sees the deadline as

something of a challenge: “Due to the

substantial breadth of the Consumer

Duty, we expect to see some firms

potentially struggle to meet the July 2023

deadline for new and existing products

and whilst we have made good progress

based on recent comparisons, the extent

of the Duty means that the timetable will

continue to be challenging for all,” he

admits. “The need to evidence through

management information, documentation

and governance that the Duty has been

fully implemented will be critical.”

Tight timescales

Debbie Nolan FCICM, Vice President

Collections UK of Arvato Financial

Services, sees less of an issue with the

timeframe: “I don’t think the timescale

for implementation is too tight,” she says.

“I think adding some urgency to it, just

emphasises the importance the FCA is

placing on this initiative and illustrates

their concerns that some areas of the

financial services industry just haven’t

got the earlier messages. For some of

those firms, there may be work to do, but

I think the debt collection sector is well

positioned and can help here.

“I think many firms in the third-party

and outsourced debt collection space that

have thoroughly embraced TCF and more,

may be wondering what it is they are not

already doing and how they are expected

to ‘up their game’ still further in light of

Consumer Duty, but I don’t believe that

means anyone in the Financial Services

sector can rest on their laurels or think

this doesn’t apply to them. “At Arvato,

we’ve taken the opportunity to look closely

at everything we do with a fresh pair of

eyes and redoubling our efforts to expose

any opportunity where a customer could

fall through a gap in our processes and

not receive the high standard of service

we’d expect to give them.

Minimal impact

John Ricketts FCICM, Managing Director

of Ardent Credit Services, also doesn’t

anticipate the new duty as requiring any

fundamental change: “As a regulated DCA

we are already operating a customer centric

model with TCF, Conduct Rules and

Vulnerability frameworks fully operational


CONSUMER CREDIT

❝


“In many respects, and notwithstanding the areas of ambiguity, our markets

are well placed already to apply the Consumer Duty”

– Henry Aitchison, Head of Policy at the Credit Services Association

believes its own approach achieves a better

outcome. Due diligence in the purchase

of portfolios will be largely unchanged,

but the Consumer Duty should in theory

make that slightly easier by requiring

vendors to provide adequate information

– an incremental improvement. Other

aspects will be entirely new, such as

not merely tracking whether a customer

was referred to debt advice but what

the outcome of that referral and that

advice was. How those affect markets or

competition are as yet unclear.”

and a solid Quality Assurance model, so

the practical impact on Ardent will be

minimal,” he explains.

“A number of policy items/governance

documents and objectives mapping tools

are being updated and enhanced together

with more detailed compliance checks

and records of specific ‘validations’

although as a DCA we don’t of course

actually offer any ‘retail’ goods or services.

Our main focus remains ‘clear and not

misleading communications and NOT

exploiting a lack of understanding’.

So how will the new duty affect the

marketplace? Will it increase competition?

Henry thinks it is still too early to tell:

“There will be an element of seeing what

the impact is in client sectors before

forming a view of how that might translate

into influencing debt purchase and

collection markets. In many respects, and

notwithstanding the areas of ambiguity,

our markets are well placed already to

apply the Consumer Duty,” he says.

“Some challenges can be expected to be

largely unchanged, such as different client

demands or managing the tension between

those and situations where the debt collector

Cost implications

Debbie Nolan thinks that one of the

impacts could be the additional cost: “I

don’t want to label this as just another

compliance exercise – it’s not just ‘TCF+’

or an enhanced set of ‘tick-boxes’ to

complete, this is all about how a firm’s

culture and values stack up and how

everyone in that firm believes in treating

customers and helping them deal with

their financial difficulties. But I think for

some firms that have work to do in this

area, there will be a cost to bear.

“One of the FCA’s key goals is to maintain

a competitive marketplace – if the cost of

achieving the standards expected by the

regulator are perceived to be too high,

some products may be withdrawn from

the market and that may not benefit the

consumer. In time, however this initiative

should improve competition as customers

will recognise those suppliers that provide

the very best service to consumers – I’m

sure the FCA is trying to generate a ‘race

to the top’ and that can’t be a bad thing for

the consumer.”

Kevin Blake agrees: “It will certainly

raise standards both in respect of the

way our clients expect us to operate and

in turn we shall enhance the diligence

processes associated with portfolio

purchases. By getting it right, this can

create a competitive advantage in the eyes

of our clients as well as ensuring financial

objectives of our customers are met and

thereby making credit work better for all.

“Anything which raises standards

in the sector does, by its very nature,

increase competition but like many

regulatory changes it is likely to come

at an incremental cost which could

cause challenges in some parts of

our marketplace.”


Serrala CP


Serrala CP


INSOLVENCY

CONFIDENCE TRICK

Confidence and knowledge are critical to future

success, but are often in short supply.

AUTHOR – Jo Kettner

credit

is the vital air of the

system. It has done

more, a thousand

“COMMERCIAL

times more, to enrich

nations, than all the

mines of the world”.

This quote, from US Senator Daniel

Webster in 1834 will, I’m sure, resonate

with most readers: the ability of

businesses to trade with each other on

payment terms which allow time for

value to be created in the economy is one

of the most important foundations for

economic growth.

However, there are certain conditions

that need to be met in order for businesses

to be able to deliver goods or services and

then wait for payment, or to establish a

production process which depends on

receiving reliable supplies. These are

confidence and knowledge: confidence in

the general economic situation, that there

are no unexpected shocks which might

impact the ability of a customer to pay or a

supplier to deliver what has been agreed;

and knowledge that robust, credible

information about the individual business

to which credit is being extended, or

trusted to deliver supplies, is available.

Lacking confidence

I think few people would disagree that

confidence is in short supply as we

approach the end of 2022. The outlook for

the UK economy is unremittingly grim:

self-inflicted wounds heaped on top of

an extraordinary period of global shocks

have led the Bank of England to announce

that it expects the UK to be in recession

for a prolonged period, with inflation

staying at around 10 percent well into the

middle of 2023.

The market reaction to the 23 September

Mini Budget showed what a sudden lack

of confidence can do on a macro scale.

While those dark days may be behind

us, the impact of the undermining of

confidence continues to be felt. We see in

the official statistics that business owners

have been deciding to close operations in

larger numbers than ever before (we are

on trend for insolvencies to be up 25%

compared to 2019, with director-initiated

CVLs accounting for 89 percent of all

company insolvencies between Q1 2021

and Q2 2022, a much higher level than

pre-Covid).

Even businesses which are financially

sound and well-run are (and should be)

starting to take a critical look at their

operations and operate through the prism

of active risk management and caution.

In a recent discussion with a group of

business leaders from SMEs within

a number of sectors, the unanimous

consensus was that taking on any new

borrowing to fund investment should be

put on hold, along with most discretionary

spend, and there should be a hyper focus

on cash – in particular converting workin-progress

and unbilled revenue.

Currency risk

Another key theme which impacts on

confidence in the age of global supply

chains is currency risk. After the Mini

Budget, the pound sunk to historic lows

against the dollar. That matters for the

whole economy, whether or not you

have direct exposure to currency risk.

In its November MPC report, the Bank

of England highlighted that the Brent

crude oil spot price was at $95 a barrel –

20 percent higher than at the start of the

year. They didn’t further explain that,

because of the FX impact that has led to

the price of oil in GBP terms rising from

£58 in January 2022 to £83 in November

2022 – an increase of some 43 percent.

Such price shocks are not confined to

oil – nearly all commodities have seen

similar price volatility and this, coupled

with a declining exchange rate has caused

huge increases in input prices across

the economy. It exposes pre-planned

investment to price risk and will cause

shudders among even the most bullish

believers in investing for growth.

So, if confidence is in short supply –

how about knowledge? This is the area

which, it seems to me, is most worthy of

our attention. There is very little that we

as individual businesses can do to change

the external forces which are causing such

a crisis of confidence. Yet we still need to

run our businesses, to make decisions and

try to leverage this power of commercial

credit which we all know is such a vital

component of emerging from recession.

However, as we all know, extending

credit to the wrong businesses can have

disastrous consequences. Knowledge in

this context is not an end in itself, rather, it

facilitates and supports decision-making.

It is multi-faceted – gained through the

accumulation of evidence, weighed

according to the reliability of the sources

and combined with experience to inform

a decision.

This is not the article to write in

detail about the various shortcomings

of Companies House, the main spine

of company information in the UK. I

echo much-respected anti-corruption

journalist Oliver Bullough’s words that

‘like any law enforcement or investigative

bodies, the people at Companies House

know what they’re up against and they’re

trying their best, but there just aren’t

enough of them’.


INSOLVENCY

AUTHOR – Jo Kettner

❝

So, if confidence is in short supply – how about knowledge? This is the

area which, it seems to me, is most worthy of our attention. There is

very little that we as individual businesses can do to change the external

forces which are causing such a crisis of confidence.

I am sure that this magazine will devote

many column inches in the months ahead

examining the proposed Economic Crime

and Corporate Transparency Bill which

is currently making its way through

Parliament and sets out to close some

of the more shocking loopholes which

have allowed UK-registered entities to

feature in many of the high-profile money

laundering scandals of recent years.

Data unreliability

For our purposes I think it is worth

reiterating that, given the underlying

source data is either unverified

(Companies House, HMRC data) or

incomplete (bank data, payment data) –

and sometimes both (local government

data)! – any decisions taken using this data

have some element of risk associated with

them. I’m afraid there is no perfect source

of knowledge, no guaranteed model or

score that will enable you to go boldly

into the world of credit risk with certainty

that you won’t lose any money. But

there are tools and techniques that can

help you manage your risk and take

evidence-based decisions.

A few tips on how to boost your

knowledge:

1. Investigate alternative sources of

information – from our experience, our

clients tend to use more than one credit

reference agency (CRA) source of data. We

all have different models, and we source

and clean information in different ways

– so being able to see risk from multiple

perspectives helps you come to a more

informed conclusion about a business.

2. Talk to your customer – what is

happening in their business – how are they

managing risk, what is their institutional

attitude to the current economic climate

and measures to manage risk – how might

this impact your relationship?

3. Try to get Management Accounts – or

if you aren’t able to obtain these, use your

conversations to ask about the outlook for

order books, margins etc. Company Watch

users are able to create experiments to

plug these more up-to-date numbers into

our models to see the impact of current

financials on the underlying health of

the company.

4. Stress-test – if you aren’t able to glean

much information directly, it can be

helpful to think of the wider context

and analyse how a key customer might

be vulnerable: are they particularly

exposed to FX and commodity prices

without the ability to pass these costs

on (margin squeeze); do they have large

amounts of debt which is subject to the

company meeting certain conditions e.g.

a certain level of profitability – if this is

not achieved will they breach lending

covenants and cause the debt to be called

in? Is the company able to survive this kind

of shock? Is the company overly reliant on

one or two key customers or suppliers –

what happens if these relationships end

abruptly? We have built a Forecast View

for our clients which allows them to run

seven pre-set scenarios and then tweak

our assumptions to generate a view of a

company’s financial health in the context

of the current economic environment.

5. Focus – of course I realise that credit

managers tasked with managing a book

of hundreds or thousands of customers

can’t possibly go through each risk in

such detail, so that’s where my next

piece of advice comes in: you have to

spend some time segmenting your risks

into criticality. You may decide that

this is by absolute spend, by segments

that are particularly exposed to margin

squeeze and commodity price volatility,

by profitability or by looking at internal

data on changes in payment and ordering

patterns for example.

6. Ongoing monitoring – once you have

segmented your portfolio make sure you

set up monitoring alerts so you receive

notification if anything significant

changes – this could be Profit Warnings,

Court documents (e.g. unadvertised

winding up petitions, winding up petition

applications, CCJs etc), Director changes,

new secured debt etc. You will still need

to focus your time on the most critical

customers, but monitoring can give you

some vital early warning of potential

businesses in stress.

For the last piece of advice, I’d

make a final plea for cross-functional

collaboration. Talk to other colleagues

in your organisation who manage risk –

particularly in procurement functions

– share your knowledge about managing

financial risks with colleagues who may

be less familiar with thinking about

financial health and business failure.

There is no doubt that we are in

for rough waters ahead, but I expect

businesses whose teams are working

closely together, sharing expertise and

staying focused on the most critical risks

will find themselves best-placed to come

through the storm stronger and able to

capitalise on the opportunities which will

be there on the other side.

Jo Kettner is the outgoing CEO of Company

Watch and a member of the CICM Think Tank.


INSOLVENCY

ALLIED CAUSE

The Government’s anti-fraud efforts could find

a beneficial ally in the insolvency profession.

AUTHOR – Christina Fitzgerald

MORE than 60 percent of

UK businesses have been

affected by fraud over the

last two years, according

to the Office for National

Statistics, while instances of

this crime have risen by more than 40 percent in

the same period.

It’s clear this is a very serious issue, and

one which, despite the work of Government

departments and agencies and other public

sector bodies will likely require support from

the private sector.

The insolvency and restructuring profession

already extensively assists in combatting

economic crime, but we believe a number of

reforms would mean we could do even more to

help the fight against fraud.

The dissolution process

Reforming Companies House’s automatic

strike-off power is something we would like to

see become reality as we believe it would make

investigating insolvent company dissolution

more effective.

Enabling Companies House to place companies

that have failed to file accounts when

due automatically in a compulsory liquidation

procedure would mean investigations into

directors’ conduct could be carried out earlier,

as well as potentially facilitating the earlier

recovery of misappropriated company assets.

Of course, such a move would have resource

implications for the Official Receiver, but these

costs could be covered by making the directors

of the companies that have failed to file their

accounts personally liable for the cost of the

process. Further support could be provided by

the insolvency and restructuring profession – if

required by the Official Receiver.

Company ‘quarantining’

Quarantining companies that would have

been struck off the register for review by the

Insolvency Service, to assess whether or not

they were insolvent, is another option we would

like to see explored. Doing so would allow any

company that was found to be insolvent to then

be placed under the appropriate compulsory

liquidation procedure under the oversight of the

Government’s Official Receiver.

Companies House could increase the

penalties it levies on companies for filing

failures to pay for this, with the resultant funds

being used to cover the costs of the Insolvency

Service investigations into those quarantined

❝

We believe

extending the

definition of ‘de

facto director’ to

include ‘natural

person’ directors of

corporate directors

so they can be

held personally

liable when fraud

occurs would

be a significant

help in the fight

against fraud.

❝

companies. Taking an approach like this one

would help determine whether fraud has

occurred, and would mean it would be more

difficult for directors to either build up debts,

sell company assets, or simply take all the

cash out for themselves ahead of the company

being dissolved.

As mentioned above, if the Official Receiver

required further support with this work, it

could be provided by the insolvency and

restructuring profession.

The restoration process

Disqualifications do not provide much deterrent

for culpable directors – at least in our members’

experience. However, they tell us putting the

company through an insolvency process and

holding the directors to account for the assets

that have been misappropriated provides a

much stronger one.

But part of the challenge with this is the fact

the company has to be restored to the register

if it has been dissolved and automatically

struck-off, which requires an application to

court. The costs and time involved with this

can often deter creditors from pursuing it as a

procedure, which creates a significant barrier to

investigating directors’ conduct, so we believe

the restoration of a company should be an

administrative process.

This could be triggered by a company director

or creditor meeting agreed requirements such

as producing evidence of an unpaid debt or a

commitment to petition for the winding-up of

the restored company.

A change like this might not necessarily reduce

the overall cost of investigating a company, but

it would provide less of a deterrent to creditors

when it comes to deciding on whether or not to

restore one.

A new definition

We believe extending the definition of ‘de facto

director’ to include ‘natural person’ directors

of corporate directors so they can be held

personally liable when fraud occurs would be a

significant help in the fight against fraud.

Because of the way the law is written in the

UK, only one director on a company’s board

needs to be a real or ‘natural’ person. This means

‘corporate directors’ like other companies or

legal entities are permitted to take up the other

board positions if they so wish.

Extending the ‘de facto director’ definition to

include natural person directors of corporate

directors would mean they could be held


INSOLVENCY

AUTHOR – Christina Fitzgerald

❝

I would hope MPs – whether they are Committee Members or not

– will consider introducing some of the recommendations, so the UK

is better placed to tackle fraud, and minimise the number of people

suffering financially and emotionally as a result of that crime.

personally liable when fraud occurs – both

a potentially powerful deterrent and a

route for asset recovery, as well as closing a

legal loophole.

Stronger together

The Government itself has acknowledged

the importance of developing strong publicprivate

and private-private partnerships to

tackle fraud in its Economic Crime Plan

2019-22, and one area where we would

like to see more of this is around the

prosecution of directors who breach the

Insolvency Act and the Companies Act.

More director disqualifications and

prosecutions could take place if greater use

was made of the private sector’s expertise

and capacity to support the Government,

which would, we hope, prevent directors

from committing repeated frauds, improve

the deterrent for fraud, as well as reducing

Government costs.

An additional bonus would be that it

would enable an increased number of

large cases to be undertaken, as well as

allowing more of a focus on wider targets

and potentially increasing the recoveries

for victims.

And if the figures for legal proceedings

against directors who have breached

the two Acts I mentioned above were

made public, this would provide a means

of assessing the effectiveness of this

partnership – as well as a baseline for

reviewing and evolving this approach.

Worthy of consideration?

At the time of writing, the Government’s

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency

Bill is going through its Committee

Stage in the House of Commons.

I would hope MPs – whether they are

Committee Members or not – will consider

introducing some of the recommendations

made above, so the UK is better placed to

tackle fraud, and minimise the number

of people suffering financially and

emotionally as a result of that crime,

whilst increasing the likelihood of clawing

back losses.

Christina Fitzgerald is President of R3, the

insolvency and restructuring trade body.




PAYMENTS

Request Accepted

How can Request to Pay create better

connections with customers.

AUTHOR – Tim Annis

WHICHEVER COVID impact

report you read, be it

from McKinsey, BDO or

a tech giant like Cisco,

it's widely accepted that

the pandemic accelerated

digital transformation across most industries

by several years, if not more. And within

finance, that's certainly been the case for

credit professionals where the opportunity for

transformation was ripe.

Customers are benefiting from this wave of

change with commendable adaptability. QR

codes, for example, have surged in use not

just replacing menus but also for ordering and

payment. Open Banking is also delivering a

way to let customers easily (and more cheaply!)

pay from their bank account. It’s being used by

businesses to improve risk decisioning or to

help customers reduce the chances of paying

the wrong person with confirmation of payee.

The pandemic has also highlighted the value

of good credit management, there were many

stories of credit managers suddenly at the top of

their CEO’s speed dial as the focus on cashflow

become intense. The incredible contribution

that the credit function makes to a business is

not without its challenges, getting a clear view

of the cash position of a business starts with

knowing your customers. The positive impact

credit brings to the customer relationship isn’t

recognised enough. There are a lot of solutions

out there to help in the credit space, however

there is one that I think you won’t be that so

aware of; Request to Pay.

What is Request to Pay (RtP)?

Request to Pay (RtP) is a new payment standard

that is getting attention in many countries

around the world from the UK to Europe, India

to Australia. There are a number of different

flavours but the common underlying principle

is secure, real-time, two-way communications

between two parties, ie a biller and a payer.

This presents a new way to connect with

customers and transform that experience.

Throwing it over the wall

Let’s put this into a real-life example. Take a

utility company. They will send their bills in

one of two ways: paper or PDF. Their customers

will pay in one of four ways; Direct Debit (most

consumers, not many businesses), by phoning

in or going to their website, going to their online

banking or perhaps they will use a cheque.

There are quite a few downsides for both sides.

Sending that bill out is like throwing it over a

❝

RtP is a secure

channel so there

is no ability for

fraudsters to

intercept the

“Request” and if

they could it doesn’t

hold any payment

information that

they can change.

That’s one fraud

vector removed.

❝

wall, you have no idea what happens to it, and

it takes effort to find out. When you do get paid

you will spend a chunk of time trying to work out

who has paid what and even a small percentage

of payments tends to take a disproportionate

amount of time. Then there is the growing risk

of fraud – your emailed bill is intercepted, the

bank details changed and your customer pays

them and not you, which is not a good outcome.

The traditional way is not great for the

customer either. Direct Debit means they

don’t get to pick the collection date, and likely

requires a call to their supplier to have it

changed. It also throws up issues if they don’t

have sufficient funds in their bank account.

The lower income segments of society often

can’t afford the rigidity of direct debit and suffer

from the poverty premium as a result. Manual

solutions on the other hand mean the customer

has to remember to do the task, while being

helpfully chased by their supplier, though they


PAYMENTS

AUTHOR – Tim Annis

❝

The pandemic has also highlighted the value of good credit management,

there were many stories of credit managers suddenly at the top of their CEO’s

speed dial as the focus on cashflow become intense.

RtP gives the customer control, flexibility

and simplicity around how they manage

their finances, which means billing and

payments becomes a positive part of the

customer experience. And who knows,

they might just talk about it too.

Top benefits for billers:

1. Real time insights allow you to see what

a customer is doing with your bill saving

time and the cost of chasing.

2. Straight through reconciliation of all

payments – which means faster cash

allocation, and effort better spent in

other areas.

3. A transformed customer experience –

create a closer connection with your

customer at the most frequent touch

point – billing and payment.

Top benefits for payers:

1. Control: no Direct Debits at awkward

times or bounced, the customer can

decide on the day that works for their

financial situation.

2. Flexibility: they can pay how they want,

when they want, on the go, or at their

desk, without fuss.

3. Simplicity: no phoning up suppliers or

remembering lots of different logins, they

can manage it all from a single place.

should of course “ignore this letter if you

have already paid”. Which you did….a

week ago…

Its a mess, and there is little to

no certainty for either side and no

real control.

Better connections

RtP changes all of this. Rather than

throwing your invoice over the wall you

can now send out a ‘Request’; a digital

invoice that can contain as much data as

needed, direct to your customer, to their

mobile/tablet/laptop. And you will know,

in real time, when they have received it,

opened it, paid it, part paid it, scheduled

it for a specific date, don’t want to pay or

have a question on it. I’ll say that again;

in ‘real time’, so you don’t need to send a

chaser, you have live insights on what is

happening with your invoice.

Payments made are linked to the

specific ‘Request’ that was sent, that

means reconciliation data for even

part payments allows straight through

allocation of all payments across all types.

RtP is a secure channel so there is no

ability for fraudsters to intercept the

“Request” and if they could, it doesn’t hold

any payment information that they can

change. That’s one fraud vector removed.

From a customer perspective they

now have the ability to see the exact bill

that they have received, who it’s from,

what it’s for; they can use the payment

method of their choice to make the

payment; they can pay it straight away,

part pay it if they need to, schedule it for

a date that suits their financial situation

(within contracted terms of course!), raise

a query or if they don’t recognise it, then

they could choose not to pay it. Ultimately,

These points are just the tip of the

iceberg of how RtP can help to create

better connections with customers. Good

customer experience means a happy

customer, and that makes them much

more likely to pay on time and to come

back. With the challenging economic

environment that we are all operating

in, a focus on the customer has to be

key and making billing and payment

an experience that the customer enjoys

makes sense. If it also helps your bottom

line, provides new value or revenue then

that’s the icing on the cake.

Check out Request to Pay and find out

how you can transform the billing and

payment experience for your teams, your

business and your customers and I’ll

be back in a future edition with some

real-life examples of RtP in action.

Tim Annis is Managing Director of Bluechain.


OPINION

SALE OR RETURN

The future of SME debt sale will depend

on building trust in the system.

AUTHOR – Andrew Birkwood

WHEN the debt sale market

really began in the late

1990s, it was almost wholly

dominated by a small

number of large buyers

acquiring reasonably large

consumer debt portfolios from the retail banks.

Within a decade, the industry had become

firmly established and active, with a number of

well-capitalised buyers competing for business

and a steady stream of creditors willing to sell

their consumer debt at some point in their

credit cycle.

The inexorable rise of debt sale was interrupted

by the credit crisis of 2008/2009. This led to a

market re-adjustment that brought about a

number of significant changes. While there

were fewer buyers, the pricing became more

sensible and sustainable. Regulation via the

Financial Conduct Authority increased and a

‘regulated’ market was created with more

established rules regarding what buyers could

do and how data could be used.

Today, as the market has grown and matured,

the market is now dominated by a handful

of dominant consumer debt buyers that have

significant data assets and have established

scale servicing platforms capable of managing

large volumes of multi-year transactions.

The growth of SME debt sale

But while consumer debt sale is now a firmly

established part of the credit landscape, the

market for SME debt sale has been relatively

silent. While some sales have materialised,

volumes have been limited. Where sales have

occurred, they have tended to be driven by

non-bank lenders. Primary movers include

revenue-based financing houses, asset-based

lending providers, credit card lenders, and

merchant cash advance companies. We’ve seen

the retail banks step into the market and do a

few transactions, but really testing the waters

as opposed to anything more material and

more scalable.

There are signs, however, that the market

is growing and that the size of transactions is

increasing. There is an apparent willingness on

the part of the non-bank lenders to either sell on

a forward flow basis (where they sell a volume of

debt each month), or on a more occasional spot

transaction basis which happens, perhaps, once

a year. In terms of the type of debt those SME

lenders are selling, it covers the whole credit

cycle from very early delinquency through to

aged write offs, and includes debt that is part of

a legal recovery process.

❝

Today, as the market

has grown and

matured, the market

is now dominated by

a handful of dominant

consumer debt buyers

that have significant

data assets and have

established scale

servicing platforms

capable of managing

large volumes of multiyear

transactions.

❝

The reason why SME debt sale hasn’t really

followed the consumer debt sale lifecycle,

or even sat within the consumer debt sale

industry model that we’ve seen, comes down to

a number of likely factors. Firstly, the key driver

for the consumer debt sale model was the retail

banking industry. And where the retail banks

established the market, other consumer credit

institutions – the credit card companies, car

finance companies etc – soon followed. In the

commercial debt sale market, however, we have

not seen the same appetite expressed by the

retail banks.

There are several reasons for this. For

one, there’s much less homogeneity in the

commercial debt world. The debt management

processes tend to be more bespoke. There’s

also much lower volume than for consumer

debt. This presents a challenge to the typical

consumer debt model. And then when you add

the fact that credit data is different, regulation

is different, and the recovery processes are

all different to the consumer debt world, and

materially so, it means that the typical consumer

debt buyer cannot simply switch their model

towards the SME industry to play in that sector.

Choosing a buyer

Notwithstanding the challenges of entering

the commercial debt buying sector, a handful

of notable players are now established, and

portfolios are being acquired. A key question for

the seller is how do they go about selecting their

buying partner?

Generally, a buyer will have to complete

various due diligence questionnaires, provide

policies and procedures, and demonstrate the

track record they have in terms of managing

an SME debt portfolio. They will also need to

evidence that their processes and procedures

are attuned to the SME environment, which, as

I’ve previously mentioned, is not at all standard

and differs quite significantly to the consumer

debt world.

In terms of the transaction lifecycle, the

gestation period for a transaction can be quite

varied depending on the kinds of data and the

type of portfolio that’s being sold. We’ve worked

on some transactions that have been multiyear

from start to finish. Much of that has to

do with the fact that sellers don’t yet have the

confidence to embark on a collaborative debt

sale strategy and need to build that confidence

in the process, and sometimes that takes some

time. Data has become a critical part of building

that trust, working with creditors to ensure

we have the right data that helps us to better


OPINION

AUTHOR – Andrew Birkwood

❝

Even small shifts in contract terms could derail the current

business model and put stress on meeting the interest payments

on the SME lending they have.

understand the historic performance of the

assets we are buying in order to support a

sensible price.

The contractual element of the debt sale

process can also be quite time consuming,

though not in itself a barrier to progress.

When a routine has become established,

there is no reason why a transaction cannot

occur within a couple of months from NDA

through to completion.

Future prospects

In recent months I’ve spoken to a handful of

our business lending clients, mostly in the

non-bank sector, to gauge their impression

of the future environment and how they’re

viewing lending in the current economic

position we find ourselves in.

An interesting message, which probably

isn’t surprising, is that it’s a very benign

environment from a lending standpoint.

And we would echo that from a debt buying

perspective. We’re not seeing significant

increases in failed payment plans or a

slowdown of settlements. It’s the same on

the lending side of things. They’re not, as

yet, seeing significant defaults coming

through to their business.

What they are seeing, however, is

depleted cash reserves in the customers

(business and personal) balance sheets.

Cash reserves are still probably, within the

SMEs, above pre-pandemic levels, but they

are certainly on the way down and being

reduced month on month, which is clearly

a risk factor that’s being considered.

The key measure, being looked at by a

number of the lenders, unsurprisingly, is

the confidence ratings and the confidence

indices. It won’t surprise anybody reading

this article to learn that the SME confidence

levels are plummeting. And as we go from

quarter to quarter this year, they have

started to noticeably fall off a cliff.

Some lenders have reported that they

have been tightening their lending criteria

and have reinforced their scorecards, and

thus they are tightening their belts and not

expecting to lend as much in the next six- to

12-months. Interestingly, other lenders see

this as an opportunity. There are a few nonbank

lenders that have recently secured

financing and see this as an opportunity

to grow their books and are seeing the

next 12 months as a time that they can

double (or even more than double) their

current lending.

Part of that might be that they expect

retail banks to step away and tighten up

their own credit score cards, which will

create something of a void in the more

prime SME type customers who may find

themselves not being backed by the retail

banks, allowing the non-bank players to

potentially move into their space.

Mixed messages

Lenders are seeing greater bias towards

higher balances over the last year, and this

is something we’ve seen in the debt sale

side as well in terms of the purchases we’ve

been making – namely that balances are

starting to creep up. Partly that’s to do with

– as the merchant cash advance companies

report – the post-COVID environment,

where nobody uses cash anymore and

everybody pays with their card, and partly,

it’s to do with inflation. So, it’s very much

a mixed message from the non-bank

lender community.

What is less mixed and more constant is

the message that lenders are taking more

time to communicate with and understand

their customer base, to proactively determine

their financial health, and their outlook

on future trading. This can include

regular catch ups with the customer

base, or a greater use

of Open Banking information

to provide early warnings of

customer distress. Again, at

present, the situation appears

somewhat benign,

but that situation can easily

and rapidly change. Even

small shifts in contract

terms could derail the current

business model and

put stress on meeting the

interest payments on the

SME lending they have.

Adapted from a

presentation given

by Andrew Birkwood

at a webinar in

October 2022 hosted

by Vistra.com.

Andrew Birkwood is

Founder and CEO

of Azzurro Associates


THE BIG CASH SQUEEZE

WILL FORTUNE FAVOUR THE BOLD?

creditorservices@menzies.co.uk

menzies.co.uk/creditor-services

With a new political landscape, rising inflation, a cost-of-living crisis

and increasing pressure from HMRC for payments, many businesses

are preparing for a big cash squeeze in 2023. This could push

demand for credit management services to a new high, so how will

the industry fare and could fortune favour the bold?

At a recent roundtable event in

Cardiff, chaired by the Chartered

Institute of Credit Management

(CICM) and hosted by accountancy

firm, Menzies LLP, experts from

across the industry discussed the

challenges and opportunities that lie

ahead for businesses.

During times of economic hardship,

credit managers have a particularly

challenging, frontline role to play in

helping businesses to protect cash

flow, while mitigating financial risks.

However, a strong focus on cash

management and credit control

can also generate opportunities

to increase revenues and boost

profitability.

CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD, NOT

LEAST SKILLS SHORTAGES

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has

warned that the UK is facing a

‘profound economic crisis’ and while

this isn’t a surprise, many businesses

feel ill-prepared. The fall-out from

Brexit remains a major issue for

many industries, particularly those

trading in Europe, driving up costs

and administration and leaving a

legacy of staff shortages that is

impacting productivity. High takeup

of Government-backed loans

during the COVID-19 pandemic,

has left many businesses struggling

to meet their repayments with

reduced revenues and depleted

cash reserves, all at a time of record

inflation and a war in Ukraine,

which is driving up energy costs to

exorbitant levels that are simply not

sustainable for some businesses.

According to delegates at the

roundtable, the biggest and most

immediate challenge that businesses

are facing is the staffing crisis.

Sue Chapple, chief executive of

the CICM, commented:

Members are reporting significant

staff shortages right across

industry sectors. In particular,

businesses note a lack of

graduates and skilled young

people – some of whom are

choosing to delay the start of

their careers. In sectors such as

construction, food manufacturing

and hospitality, reduced access

to non-UK workers is a major

problem.

While sharing examples of best

practice, Nicola Johnson, head of

credit and cash processing at PHS,

explained that credit management

professionals need to invest more

time encouraging workers to develop

their skills and progress their careers.

She said: “We have six workers

about to start CICM qualifications

at the moment, supported by the

business, and we hope that this will

encourage them to stay and further

their careers.” Other firms reported

that more apprenticeships are being

taken on to grow the skills base.

For recruiters serving the industry,

the lack of candidates for jobs in

areas such as credit assurance and

risk data analysis is inflating wage

expectations, which makes it even

more challenging for businesses

to recruit the people they need.

Jason Pallister, managing director

at DCS Credit Management &

Recruitment, said: “Some businesses

are being priced out of the market

by larger companies that are able

to offer more attractive reward and

remuneration packages. Things are

getting increasingly competitive and

unrealistic wage expectations are a

growing problem.”

Referring to staff shortages in other

sectors, Craig Evans, head of new

business sales at credit ratings

provider, Company Watch, added:

“Staff shortages are so serious in

some industries that businesses

are unable to trade and some are

choosing to wind up now, rather than

wait for the situation to get worse.

This is a growing area of credit risk

that our customers are seeking

information about – particularly

regarding the number of winding up

petition applications.”

While there is no silver bullet to the

staffing crisis, employers are aware

that they need to remain flexible and

understand what workers want. Hans

Meijer, EICC director at Coface,

said: “We are recruiting in London

and Watford at the moment and the

demographic of the candidates for

vacancies at each location is quite

different. Understanding this and

staying flexible to individual worker

preferences when it comes to hybrid

working is helping us to attract

the right people. Greater focus on

training and skills development is

also helping.”


RISING TIDE OF INSOLVENCIES

With inflation rising and ongoing

uncertainty surrounding trading

conditions, the challenges facing

businesses are expected to continue

through 2023. The hike in energy

costs, due next April, could be a

pivotal moment for some businesses.

A survey conducted recently by the

Office for National Statistics (ONS)

found that:

UK businesses reported being at a

‘moderate-to-severe’ risk of insolvency,

with rising energy costs cited as a major

factor.

Smaller firms with fewer than 50

employees were among those most

likely to report being at risk.

Bethan Evans, business recovery

partner at Menzies LLP, said:

Corporate insolvencies in

England and Wales rose to a

record level in Q2 and some

businesses are seeking advice

about entering an insolvency

process now, because they know

that cost and staffing pressures,

as well as market uncertainty,

are not going away. They are

already on the brink and the rise

in the energy price cap next April

could push them over the edge.

For in-house credit management

teams, reading customer behaviour

and spotting red flags is increasingly

important. Some businesses are still

working through customer issues

caused by the pandemic restrictions.

In some cases, contracts have been

successfully re-negotiated or ‘Covid

credits’ issued. However, in other

instances, demands for payment and

legal action for breach of contract

have proved unavoidable. Overall,

there is a willingness to be flexible

but, with more customers favouring

short-term contracts and seeking

greater control over when and how

they make their payments, credit

managers are feeling the strain.

Sue Chapple commented: “It has

never been more important for

businesses to know their customers

and understand the pressures

and risks they are facing. Through

effective communication, credit

management professionals can help

to build a more complete picture.”

MORE FOCUS ON SUPPLY-SIDE

RISKS

Customer risk isn’t the only source

of financial risk requiring senior-level

attention. Companies understand

the importance of underwriting

customer credit risk, but a growing

number are now seeking advice

about how to mitigate supply-side

risks too. “Communication is vital,

as businesses need to understand

where external risks lie and how

to identify them. They also need

accurate data about where risks

might arise in the future, so they are

better informed,” commented Craig

Evans.

Simon Philpin, head of trade credit

at credit assurance provider, Markel,

added: “We have seen increased

demand for credit assurance

linked to suppliers. Unfortunately,

businesses in some sectors have

been experiencing defaults or delays,

which can be highly disruptive and

financially damaging.”

“Fraud is another major risk factor for

businesses across industry sectors.

Sometimes it is linked to the activities

of financiers, such as invoice

discounters, and we are advising

businesses to be particularly cautious

when auditing their suppliers and

customers. Fraud linked to the

misuse of Government-backed loans

is also widespread.”

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE AGILE

Despite the many challenges

that businesses and their credit

management teams are facing on

a day-to-day basis, there will also

be commercial opportunities in the

year ahead. As some businesses

demonstrated during the pandemic,

those that are quick to diversify

to meet new or growing areas

of demand could reap rewards.

According to Bethan Cooke, senior

lawyer at Admiral Money: “While

risk understanding is important,

businesses should also be thinking

about how they might expand

products or service lines in the year

ahead. In particular, digitisation can

deliver better quality data about

customer journeys to support crossselling

or other revenue-generating

initiatives.”

Even in the midst of a ‘profound

economic crisis’, some businesses

will succeed in growing their market

share or expanding into new

markets. Craig Evans added: “In the

2008/09 recession, we worked with

a construction business that took on

more risk and increased its market

share as a result. Now they are back

and looking to do the same thing

again. As long as they can quantify

the risk they are taking on and don’t

over-stretch, it could be another case

of ‘fortune favours the bold’.”

This report is based on

a roundtable event for

employers and credit

management professionals,

chaired by the CICM and

hosted by accountancy firm,

Menzies LLP.

Menzies LLP’s Creditor

Services team offers

complimentary support and

advice to credit managers and

businesses of all sizes, across

industry sectors. Where

possible, the firm’s experts

provide practical solutions for

improving cash management

and operational resilience and

early engagement is key to

improving outcomes.

For further information on

our complimentary creditor

services offering, please get in

touch.

BETHAN EVANS

PARTNER

bevans@menzies.co.uk

+44 (0)29 2044 7512

GIUSEPPE PARLA

DIRECTOR

gparla@menzies.co.uk

+44 (0)20 7465 1919


INTERVIEW

MIEUX VAUT TARD

QUE JAMAIS!

Sean Feast FCICM talks to Pierre Haincourt MCICM

about international collections, the benefits of an

Endives au Jambon, and why late is better than never!

WHEN Pierre Haincourt

was young, he wanted to

be a vet. Work experience

in a veterinary practice,

however, brought him

out in a rash, and a fast

diagnosis that he suffers an allergy to

animal fur.

With a love of cooking, he thought briefly

about becoming a chef: “I knew I didn’t want

to work in a restaurant,” he explains. “But I

had an idea of buying a van, and taking it to

the market like a ‘pop-up’ and cooking up and

serving whatever I fancied cooking that day. I

also envisaged doing a deal with the local wine

merchant to match a wine with the food.”

As it was, Pierre’s career took him in a

completely different direction, although his

early years were far from plain sailing.

French connection

Born in Le Touquet, the charming French

seaside town that Pierre says is habitually

‘invaded by tourists’ (I should point out that I am

one such tourist, as Pierre knows. On every visit

I call him for his culinary recommendations.),

Pierre’s mother owned a high-end fashion shop:

“I am forever respecting of our invaders because

they visited my mother’s shop which helped pay

for my swimming lessons and clubs,” he jokes.

A keen sportsman, Pierre showed particular

promise in volleyball, and as a junior was a future

French hope, but was never quite good enough:

“I went to the national training centre and at the

time was quite tall for my age. Unfortunately,

others became taller.”

First educated locally, Pierre admits to making

a slow start academically: “I was not very good at

much,” he concedes. “My English was OK and I

enjoyed economics. I was also OK at French up

to a point, but never great at seeing a particular

meaning or interpretation in a poem. If the

teacher said it meant one thing, I always seemed

to find the opposite meaning!”

As an asthmatic, Pierre’s early schooling was

followed by time spent at a school in the Pyrenees,

where the fresh air was more conducive to a

healthier lifestyle. His fellow students were

an eclectic mix of locals, asthmatics and those

headed to the mountains to become future ski

instructors: “It built my network from all over

France,” he laughs.

He scraped through his first baccalaureate by

the skin of his teeth, so opted to stay on and retake,

this time with a greater focus on economics

in preference to French language and philosophy.

With a considerably improved result, he left for

Montpellier, where he studied between 1986 –

1988 for a degree in International Trade.

International payments

It was through his studies that he first became

familiar with different methods of payment

and credit – Documentary Credits, Letters of

Credit, Open Account etc. – as well as customs

rules and regulations, and how they varied

across borders. He also became familiar with

Incoterms – the set of international rules which

define the responsibilities of seller and buyer in

an export transaction.

With his new-found qualification, Pierre

chose to remain in Montpellier, partly to be

with his girlfriend at the time, and at first took

a job as an English language teacher in a private

school as well as selling insurance door-to-door.

Despite sending off countless CVs to prospective

employers, no-one seemed interested: “I

recognised that in France, unless you have

experience or have graduated from one of the

top business schools, jobs were difficult to come

by, so I got fed up and went to England!”

In England, Pierre at last struck lucky. His

mother had given him the name of the credit

manager at Burberry’s, and a phone call led to

an interview where he discovered they were

looking for a French-speaking credit controller.

Ten days later he started out of the offices in the

East End, adding a slight cockney accent to his

already accented English: “I was pretty much

given a sales ledger and told ‘off you go’!” he says.

Within three years he had risen to assistant

credit manager: “I wanted to be able to phone

the clients who were paying us late but was told

this was what the sales manager did, so I decided

to look elsewhere,” he explains. “I spotted an

advertisement in the Evening Standard for a job

at Credit Limits Ltd (CLL) in High Barnet, and

so at the start of 1992 extended my career into

debt collection.”

Cross-border agencies

His brief from the founder, Derek Dishman, was to

create and develop a cross-border service within

CLL: “When I arrived, we had one bank customer


INTERVIEW


❝

“I was not very good at much, my English was OK and

I enjoyed economics. I was also OK at French up to a point,

but never great at seeing a particular meaning or interpretation in

a poem. If the teacher said it meant one thing, I always seemed to

find the opposite meaning!” – Pierre Haincourt MCICM



INTERVIEW


❝

“But I had an idea of buying a van, and taking it to the

market like a ‘pop-up’ and cooking up and serving whatever

I fancied cooking that day. I also envisaged doing a deal with

the local wine merchant to match a wine with the food.”

❝


INTERVIEW


that had foreign debtors. So, I set up a network of

overseas agents where I needed coverage. Then

Derek extended my brief and said I had to go out

and find new business, so I took off in my car

and started knocking on the doors of Debt

Collection Agencies (DCAs) in France. It worked

well. Many started using Credit Limits as their

UK agent, and some for their work worldwide.

Over time we built the business such that the

international activities became a meaningful part

of the business.”

After 13 years within the business, Pierre

decided the time had come to move on: “I hope

Derek won’t mind me saying it, but I wanted a

piece of the cake, but our ambitions couldn’t

align at the time. Derek said that the cake was still

only small!”

Approached by STA International, Pierre spent

two and a half years within the business as

Director of Collections until the loss of a major

client obliged him to move on. He joined Steris

Ltd, the European arm of a major US healthcare

business, as European Credit Manager, always

maintaining his contact with Derek to the point

that in March 2009, Derek said ‘actually,

shall we talk?’: “I was delighted.”

Pierre smiles.

They struck a deal. Pierre bought

the international activities of CLL

and Credit Limits international Ltd

(CLI) was born. As well as servicing

CLL’s existing clients, CLI built its

own portfolio, notably working larger

ledgers within the insolvency space:

“Many of the clients I had been dealing with

previously came back to us,” Pierre explains, “and

so we were able to expand the business, take on

new staff and start exhibiting at various local

events to build our profile.”

‘Selling commercial collections is not without

its challenges: “Convincing a credit manager

to employ a DCA can be difficult,” he explains,

“because they somehow see it as a failure if they

need to bring in third-party help. That’s odd when

you consider they don’t have any problems with

outsourcing work to a legal firm.”

Third-party influence

Pierre admits that part of the difficulty is that the

credit manager doesn’t see the approach of a thirdparty

to be any different from the techniques they

have already deployed themselves: “Some of our

clients can’t believe we do anything particularly

remarkable,” he says, “but the fact is we resolve

around 85 percent of the instructions we receive

amicably, and nearly all of it has been worked

before, sometimes for two years or more.”

As well as the age of the debt, location, it seems,

is also not a barrier: “One of the largest debts we

collected recently was in the book publishing

sector from a debtor in Egypt. We collected

£743k of the £1.9m owed, with the balance in

returned unsold stock.”

“With any debt, it becomes quite obvious

quite quickly what is collectable and what isn’t,”

he continues, “and we don’t tend to vary our

commission rates as others do based on the age

of the debt, for example. We have a sliding scale

for where the debtor is based, and the volume and

size of the debt, but it is all on a traditional ‘no win

no fee’ basis.”

Pierre says that some credit managers are also

concerned about their company reputation: “Some

categories of client are surprised and puzzled that

we don’t need to threaten their customers with a

baseball bat to get such good results,” he laughs.

“Clients often become too emotional about debt

and some of our success can be attributed to the

‘third-party effect’.”

Accelerated growth

In the last 10 years, the business has continued

on its positive growth trajectory, and the brand

has become well-known and well-respected in

international collections circles. It has particularly

benefited from becoming UK Shareholder

of the TCM Group, a strong international network

with a solid ethical stance. That’s not to

say there haven’t been challenges along

the way. Complying with General Data

Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example,

has sucked up huge amounts

of time and investment in compliance,

especially given the nature of

their business that takes them into

multiple jurisdictions.

The Pandemic was also a shock:

“COVID-19 meant the business took a hit,”

Pierre says, “and we had to retract, but we were

luckier than most. While we lost some business

in some areas, we also won a large new client

and so our margins grew. Our mission now is to

keep growing and we are actively looking at other

agencies to acquire.”

In April of this year, CLI became a Department

for International Trade (DIT) Export Champion,

one of a small number of British businesses

appointed by the DIT to inspire and support small

businesses ‘to seize opportunities in new markets

around the world’. As well as being recognised by

the DIT, Pierre is also an active supporter of the

Kent branch of the CICM, and was a committee

member for nine years, helping to organise events

in the UK and France to benefit local members.

So, what of the future? Pierre continues to

work hard and is proud that business growth is

accelerating once again, despite the challenges of

COVID and the ongoing recruitment challenges.

At 56, Pierre still has a considerable amount

of passion and drive for future projects in the

industry. “However, I’d like to do more cooking,”

he concludes. “I have a signature dish which is

Endives au Jambon – braised chicory with a thick

slice of ham in a sauce mornay. It is delicious.”

Maybe that pop-up market stall will

yet materialise.


International Trade

Monthly round-up of the latest stories

in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.

TWO POST-BREXIT

DEALS IN TROUBLE

ACCORDING to CityAM, the UK’s trade

deal with India could be derailed over

Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s

‘disrespectful’ migrant comments. She’s

reported to have told the Spectator that

‘the largest group of people who overstay

are Indian migrants’. Understandably,

the Indian Government was less than

impressed with her comments and the

agreement is ‘on the verge of collapse’.

The Times was told that Indian

ministers were ‘shocked and disappointed’

by the comment and that it had set the

relationship a ‘step back… there’s still a lot

of goodwill but if certain individuals are

still embedded in the Government it will

paralyse the talks’.

This could be a problem for those

relying on an Anglo-Indian trade

relationship worth £24bn in 2021.

And when it comes to a UK-US trade

deal, that could be years away.

Despite Boris Johnson, the former

Prime Minister, pushing for a deal, he

had to admit that Washington ‘had a

lot of fish to fry’. And the now former

Prime Minister, Liz Truss, discovered

the same. When en route to the United

Nations General Assembly, she said that

‘there aren't currently any negotiations

taking place with the US and I don't have

an expectation that those are going to

start in the short to medium term.’ Part

of the problem is the possibility of the

undoing of the Northern Ireland Protocol

that followed Brexit which governs trade

rules between the EU, Great Britain and

Northern Ireland.

Instead, Truss noted that her vision

(then) was to look to the East with

India (!), the Gulf Cooperation Council

that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United

Arab Emirates, and to seek accession

to the Comprehensive and Progressive

Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

that includes Australia, Canada and Japan.

BE CAREFUL IN VENEZUELA

VENEZUELA has some 300bn barrels

of oil, yet its Government cannot

resuscitate the economy. It shouldn’t

surprise, then, that Reuters has

reported that Venezuelan business

owners are struggling to access

credit and are seeking loans through

foreign banks, business people and

finance industry.

In essence, local banks are now

offering few loans to the private

sector because of the Venezuelan

Government’s attempt to lower

inflation by increasing the supply of

foreign cash, limiting the expansion of

credit, reducing public spending and

raising taxes.

The matter isn’t helped by

Venezuelan law which mandates that

local banks must retain 73 percent

of their deposits in the central bank,

which leaves little to lend out.

Reuters notes that several firms

seeking credit elsewhere are in the

agricultural sector and need the funds

to purchase wheat, fertilizers and

other goods from abroad. Other sectors

affected involve the export of food

and drink.

Be careful that your customers in

Venezuela can pay their bills after

they’ve paid any overseas lenders.

AFTER two years of port congestions

and container shortages, it appears that

the global disruption of shipping is now

easing. And it’s partly due to falling

Chinese exports as the global economy

is slowing down.

According to a CNBC report, container

freight rates, which rose to record

prices during the pandemic, have been

on a sharp downward curve for a while

now. The report noted that retailers and

bulk buyers have been ordering less

and at the same time, port congestion

Shipping is on the up

has eased with faster container

turnaround times.

In fact, the Drewry composite World

Container Index — a benchmark for

container prices — is $ 3,483.19 per

40-foot container. That’s 65 percent

lower than an October 2021 peak. While

that may be good news, the current low

is still 245 percent higher than prepandemic

rates of $1,420.

According to Drewry, freight rates on

major routes have also fallen. Costs for

routes like Shanghai-Rotterdam and

Shanghai-New York have fallen by up

to 13 percent. And Container xChange, a

container trading and leasing platform,

said ‘the European market is finding

itself flooded with 40-foot high cube

containers. As a result, the region is

experiencing a fall in the prices of these

boxes.’ It added that ‘containers are

stacking up at a lot of import-led ports.

Shippers are giving containers away

just because they are being stuck there.’

So, some good news in a world full

of doom.


Exporters hit hard by falling trade

ACCORDING to a survey from the British

Chambers of Commerce (BCC), more small

and mid-sized exporters are reporting

falling overseas sales than are seeing

an increase.

The BCCs quarterly poll of 2,200

companies reported a drop in export growth

in the three months to mid-September, with

the percentage of companies reporting

growing sales dropping from 35 percent to

22 percent of the total. In contrast,

28 percent saw export orders

fall, while 50 percent reported

no change. It also found

that 39 percent of exporters

expected their profitability to

decline, compared with

34 percent expecting

an improvement.

The BCC said that

small firms 'are much

more exposed to the

combination of supply

chain disruption,

THE UK Government wants to drag trade

documentation into the 21st century by

giving digital documents the same legal

status as their paper-based equivalents.

The Government says laws dating back

to the 19th century demand that many

documents must be on paper and that by

going digital firms could save more than

£1bn over 10 years.

The proposals for change are in the

Electronic Trade Documents Bill which

was introduced to Parliament in October

and welcomed by Logistics UK as a

‘positive step’ since Brexit brought in a

‘significant increase in paperwork’.

Paperless trade plans

INVOLVED IN PETS?

SELL TO CHINA

ACCORDING to state owned Sixth Tone,

the pet industry is booming in China as

are pet detectives.

A recent report in the online

publication said that the value of the

domestic pet sector grew 18 percent

year on year to reach £25bn last year.

With nearly 100m households now

having a pet, ownership has grown 44

percent since 2014. And this has opened

up a huge market for pet detectives

who become heroes to happy owners

and often have a huge following on

social media.

The key point is that not only do

pet owners spend a small fortune on

their charges, but that pet detectives

buy in and deploy cat traps, nightvision

devices, monitors, alarms with

wireless transmission functions and

other devices.

In other words, there’s a huge

market in China for any exporter in the

pet sector.

soaring prices, and the impact of Brexit

red tape and compliance costs, than

larger companies.'

The survey was conducted before the

recent fall in the value of sterling against

the dollar.

As if to drive the point home, the monthly

S&P Global/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing

Managers’ Index, published at the end of

September found that new export orders

fell in September and at their fastest

since May 2020. The index cited lower

demand from the US, China and

the EU.

It said that ‘manufacturers

faced weak global market

conditions, rising uncertainty,

high transportation costs,

reducing competitiveness

and longer lead times

leading to cancelled

orders.’ Of course, the

drop in sterling didn’t

help matters.

It’s hoped that the change will cut

processing times from days to seconds

in areas such as bills of exchange, ship's

delivery orders, warehouse receipts, and

marine insurance policies.

However, while the Government’s plans

have been welcomed, it’s been pointed

out that there needs to be a reciprocating

paperless system in any country being

traded with for the changes to work.

Beyond that are still problems with

systems such as the Customs Declaration

Service. It should be said that the

legislation will allow firms to go electronic

but won’t mandate change.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

– AT LEAST IN ITALY

THE role of the mafia in Italian life

is well known, but it appears that –

as Bloomberg has reported – Italy’s

economic and social crisis is increasing

its vulnerability to organised crime.

In May, former Prime Minister Mario

Draghi warned that organised crime

had ‘insinuated itself into the boards of

companies’ and was working its way into

the economic fabric of Italy. It’s reckoned

that now criminal groups control around

nine percent of the economy.

Of concern to Draghi was the €260bn

of EU recovery funds, which he felt gave

the gangs a “fat new target”. Now, there

is worry that the mafia are acquiring

businesses at risk of default, as the

economic crisis takes hold. It doesn’t

help that SMEs make up 80 percent of

the economy and there’s been a real

growth of the organised crime groups

whose identities are concealed by a shell

company – who acquire small stakes in a

firm and gain effective control.

FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR

BUSINESSES IN ENGLAND

THE Internationalisation Fund is part of

a package of support available to SMEs

through the Department for International

Trade (DIT), which provides co-investment

of between £1,000 and £9,000 to help

them overcome tangible barriers to

internationalise their business and enter

new markets.

The fund is supported by the European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and

provides £38m split across four regional

projects – The Northern Powerhouse

Internationalisation Fund, Midlands

Internationalisation Fund, South

Internationalisation Fund and London

Internationalisation Fund.

While the London fund is now closed –

as at the end of September – there’s still

funding for other regions.

To secure a grant, firms need to fund

a proportion of their costs themselves

which varies according to where the

business is based and is either 40 or 50

percent of the total cost.

The fund can be used to support areas

including market research, IP advice,

translation services, international social

media/SEO, trade fairs, independent

market visits, consultancy and other

international commercial services.

Those interested should navigate to

great.gov.uk.

❝

To secure a grant, firms need

to fund a proportion of their

costs themselves which varies

according to where the business

is based and is either 40 or 50

percent of the total cost.

CURRENCY UK

EXCHANGE RATES VISIT CURRENCYUK.CO.UK

OR CALL 020 7738 0777

Currency UK is authorised and regulated

by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

HIGH LOW TREND

GBP/EUR 1.16769 1.13206 Down

GBP/USD 1.20063 1.11076 Up

GBP/CHF 1.15715 1.10508 Down

GBP/AUD 1.81800 1.74588 Down

GBP/CAD 1.58954 1.51817 Up

GBP/JPY 172.075 163.395 Down

This data was taken on 16 November and refers to the

month previous to/leading up to 15 November 2022.


EGYP


COUNTRY FOCUS

Rich in resources,

the Egyptian economy

is a gold-mine for

exporters.

The land that

time didn't forget

AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein

COUNTRY FOCUS


IT’S no surprise that many

associate Egypt with pharaonic

dynasties and biblical tales. And

for the most part they’d be right

in light of the pyramids, various

lost and found temples, the Nile,

Cleopatra, mummies and Tutankhamun.

While Egypt has a history that goes back

8,000 years to the dawn of creation, its

modern history and resources, including

the prized Suez Canal, has made it into

one of Africa’s biggest economies.

Egypt might not be the centre of

attention right now, but the value of

its economy and physical position

should place it high up on the agenda of

any exporter.

Modern history

Officially called the Arab Republic of

Egypt, it sits at the north eastern corner

of Africa and the south western corner

of Asia. With the Mediterranean to the

north, Gaza and Israel to the northeast,

Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south

and Libya to the west, it’s well placed for

businesses wanting to access the region.

Modern day Egypt can be dated back

to 1922 and independence from Britain.

A monarchy from that date until 1952, a

revolution led primarily by Gamal Abdel

Nasser saw the creation of a new republic.

In 1958, Egypt merged with Syria to form

the United Arab Republic but that entity

dissolved three years later in 1961 when

Syria seceded.

In recent times Egypt has seen a

mixture of leaders including – in order –

the reformer Sadat, the dictator Mubarak,

and currently, the authoritarian el-Sisi.

As the CIA World Factbook summarises,

despite Egypt’s mixed record for attracting

foreign investment over the past two

decades, poor living conditions and

limited job opportunities contributed to

public discontent: “These socioeconomic

pressures were a major factor leading to

the January 2011 revolution that ousted

Mubarak. The uncertain political, security,

and policy environment since 2011 has

restricted economic growth and failed

to alleviate persistent unemployment,

especially among the young.”

The land

With 1,001,450 sq.km, Egypt is the world

30th largest country by area. It has a

very dry desert-like climate and the vast

majority of the population live either

along the Nile or in the Nile Delta – 98

percent live on just 3 percent of the land.

The UN Population Fund recorded

a 2022 population estimate of 106.2m

people and a growth rate of 1.8 percent

TBrave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com /December 2022 / PAGE 37

between 2020 and 2025. The same source

reckons that 34 percent were aged 14 or

under, 61 percent between 15 to 64 years

of age, and 5 percent were 65 years or

older. Egypt is the most populous country

in the Middle East.

Finding reliable city population figures

is difficult, but sticking a stake in the sand,

the 2010 census indicated that Cairo had

some 12.3m people, Alexandria had 5.04m,

Giza 4.02m, Shubra El Kheima 3.07m

and Port Said 1.6m. Beyond that

were another 20 cities with between

1.34m and 164,830 people. In contrast,

Worldpopulationreview.com suggested

that Cairo had only 7.73m people,

Alexandria 3.81m, Giza 2.44m, and Port

Said just 538,378 people.

Clearly, these numbers should be

treated as indicative only. But regardless,

it’s easy to see why a plan was mooted in

2015 to move the capital and its functions

to the New Administrative Capital – with a

name still to be given. Part of an initiative

called Egypt Vision 2030, it’s being built

some 45km east of Cairo – halfway to

the Suez Canal – and seeks to reduce the

congestion in present-day Cairo.

In more detail, Egypt Vision 2030 was

launched in 2016 and set eight national

goals that are in tune with the United

Nations Sustainable Development Goals

and the Sustainable Development Strategy

for Africa 2063. In essence, Egypt Vision

2030 seeks to improve the economy,

quality of life, regional peace and security,

equality and its international presence.

Beyond the new capital, various

projects featured in Egypt Vision 2030

include Hayah Karima, which aims to

provide decent housing, quality medical

and educational services infrastructure to

deprived rural villages and remote areas in

Egypt, and an integrated plan to develop

the country's military manufacturing

capability for the country’s armed forces.

The economy

The economy was formerly highly

centralised under Nasser, but later

fully opened up under Presidents Sadat

and Mubarak.

The Fanack Foundation states that

Egypt’s economy relies on seven industries

that comprise more than 80 percent of

industrial organisations. Textile, food

and beverage, and furniture industries

are the three largest, followed by mining

and chemicals.

The Egyptian economy is considered to

be relatively diverse. Notably, even during

the height of the pandemic, it maintained

positive economic growth of 3.3 percent

in 2021.


COUNTRY FOCUS


❝

Egypt’s tourism

sector is an

important part

of the economy.

But it’s also

subject to

political events

and security

issues. The

2011 revolution

and subsequent

events, for

example, led to

a 34.7 percent

drop in tourist

numbers and

a 47.9 percent

decrease in

revenue in

2014/2015.

❝

Textiles

Manufacturer Midani says that Egypt produces

about 360,000 Feddan (175 sq. m) of pure cotton,

with total exports valued at $400m – most of

which is sent to Turkey and the EU countries.

The sector’s success is said to be based on billions

of dollars being spent on irrigation, highways,

electrical networks, and some 15 marine ports.

With low electricity costs – Midani says it pays

around a quarter of what Chinese manufacturers

pay – and inexpensive labour, production costs

are competitive. It also helps that Egyptian

Investment Law No. 72 from 2017 brought in

incentives, assurances, and other advantages

to attract more investors to the textile sector.

The June 2019 issue of Khoyout News

detailed how the Egyptian Government

sought to modernise the sector with

the replacement of machinery

in state owned cotton weaving,

ginning and spinning factories

to optimise production. The

publication noted that the

sector employs around a

quarter of the population and

that the Government wants

state owned firms to return

EGP 3bn (£135.6m) by

2022. Similarly, it reported

that the Government’s

strategy aims to increase

production capacity

with annual targets for

production of 188,000

tons of yarn, 198m of

fabric, and 50m pieces

of garments.

Agriculture

The country’s most important

agricultural exports are citrus,

potatoes, onions, strawberries,

pomegranates, sweet potatoes, beans,

fodder penguins, guava, peppers, mangoes,

garlic, grapes and melons – according to the

Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

Overall, Fanack states that Egypt exported some

5.4m tonnes of farm products in 2019 of which

1.77m tonnes were citrus fruits, 687,842 tonnes

were potatoes, and 602,016 tonnes were onions.

However, exports are a subset of production and

in 2020, Statista stated that sugar cane was the

largest crop at over 14.9m tonnes, followed by

sugar beet at 13.04m tonnes, wheat at 9m tonnes,

maize at 7.5m tonnes, tomatoes at 6.73m tonnes

and then potatoes at 5.21m tonnes.

In terms of livestock, the Egyptian Ministry of

Agriculture estimated the size of Egypt’s livestock

in early 2021 to be some 6.5m animals comprising

3.8m cows, including 200,000 imported cows, and

1.3m buffalo, and 2.7m sheep, goats, and camels.

2020 World Bank Data reckoned that the value

of agriculture to the Egyptian economy was

$41.78bn or 11.51 percent of GDP. The bank also

noted that 20.62 percent of the total labour force

was employed in agriculture.

Furniture

According to the WoodShow 2020, the Egyptian

furniture sector is the third largest industrial

sector in terms of establishments and employment

in the country and accounts for 13 percent of all

industrial employment.

Damietta city is the centre of furniture

manufacturing where 70 percent of its population

is involved in the furniture industry directly

or indirectly; the show says that the city has an

estimated 35,000 furniture production facilities

and workshops.

In November 2021, Egypt Today reported that

the Egyptian Furniture Export Council’s data

showed that the sector's exports during the first

nine months of 2021 increased by 13 percent to

$184m over the same period in 2020. Key

export markets are Saudi Arabia, the

UAE, Iraq, Oman and the US.

Mining

Egypt is mineral rich and has

reserves of gold, copper, silver,

zinc, platinum and a number

of other precious and base

metals. Located beneath

Egypt’s Eastern Desert and

the Sinai Peninsula, there’s

an estimated 6.7m ounces

of gold, 48m tons of

tantalite, and 50m tons

of coal. Egypt clearly has

great potential.

But while Egypt is

rich in resources, the

country formerly lacked

a solid mining policy. But

recent policies and laws

since 2014 have countered

that position; international

tenders for exploring and

extracting gold in locations in the

Eastern Desert and Sinai were offered

and won by firms that included UK, Spanish,

Egyptian and Australian bidders. More rounds of

licences have been offered.

And in 2020, new mining regulations introduced

a rent, royalty and tax system to further exploit

the country’s mineral resources. The Government

is targeting $1bn in investments in the mining

sector by 2030.

Overall, Statista reckons that mining in Egypt

in 2021 was worth EGP 102.12bn (£4.61bn) in GDP.

Chemicals

Chemicals is one of the largest industrial sectors

in Egypt and includes seven main subsectors:

plastics, rubber, paper, detergents, paints,

miscellaneous, chemicals, fertilizers and glass.

Crowe’s Dr A. M. Hegazy & Co reckons that

the petrochemicals sector represents about 12

percent of Egypt’s total industrial production

and is worth more than $7bn annually; various

onlookers believe that the country could become

one of the region’s leading players, especially

with the implementation of the National Plan for


COUNTRY FOCUS


Petrochemicals (2002-2022).

To illustrate this, the Chemical and

Fertilisers Export Council released a

report in August 2022 which stated that

Egypt’s chemical exports witnessed a 35

percent increase in the first half of 2022,

rising to $4.33bn, compared to the same

period in 2021 of $3.21bn.

Tourism

With such a storied history and a warm

– hot – climate, Egypt’s tourism sector is

an important part of the economy. But

it’s also subject to political events and

security issues. The 2011 revolution and

subsequent events, for example, led to a

34.7 percent drop in tourist numbers and

a 47.9 per cent decrease in revenue in

2014/2015. Terrorism in the Sinai and the

bombing of a cathedral caused massive

losses along with, in places, a nearly 90

percent layoff rate among 700,000 workers

in 2016 and 2017.

However, tourism did grow again with,

in 2018, around 11.6m visitors. But then

came the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years

on it is expected that tourism will have

rebounded.

According to the Central Agency

for Public Mobilization and Statistics,

Europeans accounted for 64.3 percent

of the total number of tourists in 2019,

and Arab tourists accounted for 24.3

percent, Americans 4.2 percent and other

nationalities 7.2 percent.

Statista reckons that in 2019, the

number of rooms in hotels and similar

establishments amounted to 202,430

units; however, the number of rooms

peaked in 2010 at close to 226,000 units.

Hotelmanagement.net noted that, in 2018,

there were 300 chain hotels and resorts

across major cities, including Sharm El-

Sheikh and Hurghada.

Taxation

Corporate income tax

In Egypt, companies are generally liable

for corporate income tax (CIT) at a flat

rate of 22.5 percent; excluding the Suez

Canal Authority, the Egyptian Petroleum

Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt,

which are liable for CIT at 40 percent.

Firms in oil and gas are liable for CIT at

40.55 percent.

CIT is imposed on companies resident

in Egypt on all profits realised in Egypt

and abroad. For companies that are nonresident

in Egypt, CIT is applied to profits

realised by permanent establishments in

the country.

Personal income tax

In general, this tax is withheld at source

from payments to Egyptians and foreign

Petra is a famous archaeological site in

Jordan's southwestern desert. Dating to

around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the

Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow

canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs

and temples carved into pink sandstone

cliffs, earning its nickname, the "Rose

City." Perhaps its most famous structure

is 45m-high Al Khazneh, a temple with an

ornate, Greek-style facade, and known as

The Treasury.

nationals working in Egypt. It is imposed

on the total net income of the resident

individuals for income earned in Egypt as

well as the income earned outside Egypt

for residents where their activities are

centred in Egypt.

Income of non-resident individuals for

their income earned in Egypt is also liable

to tax.

There are seven income tax brackets

that apply to marginal income. They start

at zero for income up to EGP 15,000 to 2.5

percent (EGP 15,000 to 30,000), 10 percent

(EGP 30,000 to 45,000), 15 percent (EGP

45,000 to 60,000), 20 percent (EGP 60,000

to 200,000), 22.5 percent (EGP 200,000 to

400,000) and a maximum of 25 percent on

income over EGP 400,000.

VAT

The standard rate of VAT is 14 percent

and is levied on all taxable goods and

services unless exempted. Machinery

and equipment used for production

purposes is in contrast subject to a five

percent rate of VAT (although buses and

passenger cars are subject to different tax

rates). Exported goods and services are

subject to zero percent VAT. The threshold

for VAT registration is EGP 500,000 of

annual turnover.

Notably, there is a reverse charging

mechanism that applies to transactions

involving non-residents providing services

to resident entities subject to VAT in Egypt.

The recommendation is that non-residents

appoint a representative or an agent to deal

with obligations including registration,

payment of the tax, the additional tax and

any other due taxes.

Summary

Egypt may not be a first world country.

But it’s not backward either. While there is

a strong, if not authoritarian Government

at the helm, it is relatively stable and

filled with plenty of opportunity. In an

age where resources are everything, UK

exporters should really consider Egypt

as a destination if they have not already

done so.

Adam Berstein is a freelance writer.


HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

In Search of Choice

Freedom of choice in enforcement is vital

for court users in 2023 and beyond.

AUTHOR – Alan J. Smith

LET’S make 2023 the year where

freedom of choice becomes a

reality. Since 2015, the HCEOA

has been listening to court users

and gathering their opinions

on how their judgments are

enforced. Our 2022 survey shows a consistency

of opinion over the last seven years amongst

court users. They are crying out for change.

We believe 2023 is the year the Government

needs to make this happen.

This autumn, almost 400 landlords,

solicitors, debt collection agencies, in-house

legal recoveries teams and claimants in person

took the time to voice their concerns in our

‘Supporting Court Users’ survey over the current

state of the County Court system. The results

show that many businesses and individuals

are continuing to just write-off money that

is owed to them rather than dealing with a

process which doesn’t meet their needs. That

is an unacceptable drain on the success of

the UK.

THE LATEST RESULTS SHOW:

• 97 percent of court users would like

the freedom to choose between a HCEO

and County Court Bailiff to enforce their

unregulated judgments under £600

• 93 percent of court users support a

further change allowing HCEOs to collect

debts arising from Consumer Credit Act

regulated agreements

• 96 percent of court users are still

concerned about County Court delays

• just four percent of court users feel the

current system meets their needs

With creditors facing increasing costs,

improved approaches to managing caseloads

with more effectively managed systems will

help to reduce costs to them and the taxpayer,

but without jeopardising the needs of the

judgment debtors.

We are asking Government to take timely

action on behalf of court users who are calling

for more choice over how their debts are

recovered, by making two small changes to

the High Court and County Court Jurisdiction

Order 1991 which would allow High Court

Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) to enforce

judgments and recover unregulated debts

under £600 and regulated debts.

This will mean a more effective, responsive,

and flexible service to judgment debtors

and creditors alike with improvements in

communications, payment arrangement

handling and reporting, which will all lead to

improved collections within shorter timescales.

Not only would these small changes give

thousands of individuals and businesses

who are owed money a greater chance of

reclaiming their debts, but they would also

help the economy to prevent today’s creditors

from falling into debt through no fault of their

own by giving individuals and businesses

the freedom to choose how their judgments

are enforced.

We believe this will provide relief to the

County Courts by helping to clear the huge

backlog of cases and freeing up resources to

give customers who want to continue using

the County Court service every option to do so,

with no cost to the taxpayer.

In fact, 45 percent of court users who took

part in our survey said they would be likely to

issue more judgments than they do currently

if they were given the option to use a HCEO.

For the past year we have been engaging

constructively with the Government to ask for

these changes. Government has listened, and

we’ve answered Ministers’ questions about

the details of the plan. We believe it is now

the time for action as our survey shows court

users can’t afford further delays.

We’ve proposed that the fees that HCEOs

charge for collecting debts under £600 should

match the non-High Court fee scale for debts

of the same amount – they would be 100

percent in line with the current system.

HCEOs have vital skills that can help the

businesses and individuals who choose to use

them if given the option. Including:

• recovery through first-time compliance and

early payment

• a flexible and sympathetic approach

to enforcement

• proven capacity to deliver a

nationwide service

• experienced and highly trained teams

• full transparency and real time reporting

• the latest advances in technology.

The High Court enforcement profession is

ready, willing, and able to support this change.

We are urging Government to take action now

and support the thousands of court users who

would benefit.

You can read our full ‘Supporting Court Users

– A Right to Freedom of Choice’ report on our

website at: www.hceoa.org.uk/campaigns/

supporting-court-users.

Alan J. Smith is Chair of the High Court Enforcement

Officers Association (HCEOA).


SHEFFIELD & DISTRICT BRANCH

STUDENT PRIZE

Celebrating excellence in

qualifications in January 2023

The CICM Sheffield & District

Branch has funded an annual prize

to be awarded to a student of the

branch who achieves the highest

score in any mandatory unit of the

Level 3 Diploma.

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)


OPINION

DEAD FUNNY

Do you know your ‘bear market’ from your

‘dead cat bounce’?

AUTHOR – Michael Hewson

IT'S not surprising that people find financial

markets terminology baffling. As market

professionals we have to get used to new

acronyms on a regular basis, and that's before

you take into account the ones that are in regular

use. If you're looking to hone your interest in

financial markets, it's a huge benefit if you

can understand the language that gets

used on a regular basis.

So what are the 15 most baffling stockmarket

terms, according to Google, and

what do they mean?

With 103,000 monthly searches, ‘ETF’ is

the most baffling stock-market term in the

world. So, if you’re keen to find out what an

ETF actually is, you’re in luck.

ETF – ETF stands for exchange-traded fund,

which is essentially a fund that trades on exchanges,

generally tracking a specific index. While stocks are

just one instrument, an ETF consists of diversified

investments such as stocks, commodities, bonds, and

other securities, which are known as holdings. ETFs are

often less volatile than individual stocks, meaning your

investment shouldn’t swing in value as much, however,

there is still a risk in loss of value.

IPO – In second place with 95,000 searches comes

another abbreviation: IPO. IPO stands for initial public

offering. This is when a private company becomes

public by selling its shares on a stock exchange.

Companies often issue an IPO to raise capital to fund

growth initiatives, raise their public profile, or to pay

off debts.

Broker – With 46,000 searches, people are also asking

what the word ‘broker’ means. In layman’s terms, a

broker is an individual or firm that acts as a middleman

between an investor and a securities exchange. They

facilitate trades between individuals or companies and

may provide investors with research, investment plans,

and market intelligence.

Arbitrage – Another term that’s baffling internet users

is ‘arbitrage’. The Cambridge dictionary defines this as

‘the method on the stock exchange of buying something

in one place and selling it in another place at the same

time, in order to make a profit from the difference in

price in the two places.’

ADR – ADR is another frequently questioned

abbreviation, according to our data. However, ADRs

are simply American depositary receipts for foreign

companies that are listed on US stock exchanges. An

ADR is a form of equity security, offering US investors

the opportunity to gain investment exposure to non-


OPINION

AUTHOR – Michael Hewson

❝

Bear Market – Another term that’s proving to be popular is ‘bear market’ which is

defined by a prolonged drop in asset prices. Typically, a bear market happens when a

broad market index falls by 20 percent or more from its most recent high.

US stocks without the complex task of

dealing with foreign stock markets. Many

large companies based outside of the US

list their shares on US exchanges through

the use of ADRs.

Bear Market – Another term that’s

proving to be popular is ‘bear market’

which is defined by a prolonged drop

in asset prices. Typically, a bear market

happens when a broad

market index falls by 20

percent or more from its

most recent high. It’s

believed that the term

originates with pioneer

bearskin traders. As

the traders hoped

to buy the fur from

trappers at a lower price

than what they'd sold it for,

‘bears’ became associated

with a declining market.

Bull Market – On the other hand, bull

market is the opposing term to bear

market. Bull market refers to a period of

time when the price of an asset or security

rises continuously by 20 percent after two

declines of 20 percent each.

To The Moon – Often used by stocks

and cryptocurrency traders, the phrase ‘to

the moon’ essentially means the price of

an asset is continuously growing.

Dividend Yield – The dividend yield

is a financial ratio that tells you the

percentage of a company’s share price

that it pays out in dividends each year.

Some investors, such as those who

are retired, rely on dividends for their

income, meaning the dividend yield of

their portfolio could have a meaningful

effect on their personal finances.

Dead Cat Bounce – With 3,200 monthly

searches, it’s no wonder so many people

are asking what ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ means.

The saying refers to a temporary recovery

in share prices after a substantial fall,

caused by speculators buying in order to

cover their positions. Derived from the

famous Wall Street phrase ‘even a dead

cat will bounce if it falls from a great

height’, dead cat bounce is now applied to

any case where there’s a brief resurgence

following a severe decline. You may also

hear this referred to as a Sucker Rally.

Tanking – When you hear the phrase

‘tanking’ or ‘in the tank’, this typically

means that a stock has encountered a

poor quarterly performance, leading to

a price decline shortly after. If someone

says their assets are ‘tanking’, it means

they aren’t doing great right now.

Averaging down – There is a

common strategy called 'averaging

down' which investors use when their

investment decisions go against them.

‘Averaging down’ involves buying more

shares after they fall in price, lowering

the average cost of all the shares held, in

the effort to add value to their portfolio.

Whales – While whales are usually

found in the ocean, when it comes to

stocks, the term ‘whale’ is a nickname

given to investors who have the potential

to manipulate the market. A whale

can be an individual or company

with enough money or power to

influence the price of a stock. These

individuals usually make huge

investments, with their actions

causing a huge ‘splash’.

Day Trading – Day trading is a

strategy which involves buying

and selling shares of stocks within

the same day with the intent of

profiting from price movements.

For example, a day trader may

open a new position of a stock at

9am, then close that same position

at 2pm. These traders rarely hold

positions overnight.

Margin Account – A margin

account involves borrowing funds

from your broker-dealer to purchase

securities, using the account as

collateral. You will also be required

to pay a periodic interest rate to

the broker. A margin account can

increase your purchasing power

however it can also expose you to

greater losses.

Michael Hewson is Chief Market Analyst at

CMC Markets – cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/


CICM TRAINING

Training courses that offer high-quality approaches

to credit-related topics and practical skills

Now, more than ever, the Credit Management and Collections industry is

seeing drastic changes and impacts that affect the day-to-day roles of Credit

and Collections teams.

CICM Training offers high-quality approaches to credit-related topics.

Granting you the practical skills and necessary tools to use in your workplace

and the ever-changing industry. A highly qualified trainer, with an array of

credit management experience, will grant you the knowledge, improved

results, and greater confidence you need for your teams to succeed in the

Credit Management profession.

Get trained with your

professional body and the only

Chartered organisation that delivers

Credit Management training


On-Demand | Online | Face-to-Face

METHODS OF DELIVERY

CICM Training courses can be delivered through a variety of

options, ensuring a range of opportunities for your teams to

be trained on the most up-to-date methods in the industry.

CICM On-Demand

Training

CICM Online

Training

CICM Face-to-Face

Training

On-Demand training can be viewed anytime, anywhere with our

downloadable training videos.

Online training will be for those who find it easy to learn from the space

of their home or office.

Face-to-face training It’s been a long time coming but now you can mingle

and learn together in the same room as your colleagues and peers.

TRAINING COURSES

CICM have a collection of training courses to meet the needs of your Credit and

Collections’ teams. Take a look at the courses below and start training towards the

CICM Professional Standard.

Advanced Skills in Collections • Best Practice Approach to Collections

Best Practice Skills to Assess Credit Risk • Collect that Cash • Credit Bootcamp Effective

Communication in the Credit Role • Emergency Guide to Credit

Harness your leadership Style • Know Your Customer • Managing Insolvency

Reflect and Develop • Set Targets that Work

For more details, visit our website, scan the barcode

or contact us at info@cicm.com


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

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

Quadient AR by 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 20 8502 8476

E: marketing@yaypay.com

W: www.quadient.com/en/ar-automation

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

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.

T: +44(0)7747 761641

E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com

W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com

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

FIS GETPAID solution is a fully integrated, webbased

order-to cash (O2C) solution that helps

companies improve operational efficiencies, lower

DSO, and increase cash flow. The solution suite

includes strategic risk-based collections, artificial

intelligence, process automation, credit risk

management, deduction and dispute resolution and

cash application. FIS is a global leader in financial

services technology, providing software, services

and outsourcing of the technology that empowers

the financial world.

T: +447730500085

E: getinfo@fisglobal.com.

W: www.fisglobal.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 367 092

E: a.whitehurst@courtenforcementservices.co.uk

W: www.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

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

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


Apprentice profile

LUCY Perry started United Utilities in

September 2021 as an Apprentice Credit

Controller within the Income Department.

Since then, her confidence has grown

significantly through the communication

between colleagues and with customers.

“Not only have I developed in my role but the wide

range of interpersonal skills I have developed since

starting here have been transferable in my personal life

too,” she confides. “I never considered all that is involved

with collecting money and debt until starting my

apprenticeship, but with the support from my colleagues

and knowledge from the CICM course, I feel I have learnt

so much already in the short time I’ve been here.”

Unfamiliar journey

Credit control was not something Lucy was familiar with

until starting at United Utilities. She candidly admits that

she saw the apprenticeship as an opportunity to learn

something new and develop her skills having already

come from a customer service role.

“Although this felt completely new to me as I had never

come across the CICM, having the chance to learn while

working on the job works really well as it gives me the

chance to transfer my knowledge and skills first-hand

into my everyday role. It has been clear this has worked

well for me through the positive customer feedback I

have received since starting my role which has given me

the confidence to go even further with everything that

I do.”

Lucy is now coming towards the end of her

Apprenticeship: “It seems to have flown by,” she laughs.

This means crunch time as I am currently going through

end point assessment which has been more challenging

than I expected.

“I am grateful for the well-presented lessons and

detailed tasks we have been set in the past as these have

really helped. I now know why we were told to write

everything down! With the delivery and content of the

apprenticeship I feel I have learnt things that will allow

me to progress in my career here.

“As I am now starting to see the finish line,” she

concludes, “I feel really proud to see how far I have come

and how much I have learnt in a short amount of time.

The opportunities here at United Utilities are neverending

and I am excited to see what comes next.”

Latest in CM's series

of how CICM-led

Apprenticeships are

supporting professional

development.

Lucy Perry

Apprentice Credit Controller

“I never considered all that is involved with

collecting money and debt until starting my

apprenticeship but with the support from

my colleagues and knowledge from the

CICM course, I feel I have learnt so much

already in the short time I’ve been here.”

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


Know when you’re going to get paid

before you get paid

help your customers get control over how and when they schedule their payments

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Speak to Bluechain today to learn

how Request to Pay can can help

you get ahead of the game

Arrange a demo with us by

scanning the QR code or go

to www.bluechain.com or call us on 01273-805212

PAYMENT TRENDS

Regional Recovery?

The latest late payment figures show

signs of local improvement

AUTHOR – Rob Howard

LAST month saw late payments rising across the board,

perhaps unsurprising given the current climate. And while

the latest figures are not all sunshine and rainbows, there

are some signs of encouragement, particularly at a local

level, with regions across the UK and Ireland making

some progress.

The average Days Beyond Terms (DBT) across regions in the UK

decreased by 1.0 day, while the sector figure saw no change. In Ireland,

the regional figure decreased by 6.6 days and rose by 4.3 days across

sectors. Average DBT across the four provinces of Ireland reduced by

3.6 days.

Sector spotlight

The UK sector figures show 10 sectors improving and 12 sectors moving

further in the wrong direction. Of those on the slide, the International

Bodies sector saw the biggest increase to late payments, with a hefty

hike of 17.5 days taking its overall DBT to 37.2 days, meaning it is now

the worst performing sector.

Elsewhere, the Energy Supply (+7.2 days), Mining and Quarrying

(+6.0) and Financial and Insurance sectors (+4.1 days) are all getting

worse. Of those on the up, the Business from Home sector saw the

biggest improvement and becomes the best performing sector with an

overall DBT of 8.8 following a reduction of 10.8 days.

Things are split over in Ireland, with seven sectors getting better,

seven sectors getting worse, and the remaining six sectors staying as

they were. Looking at the positives, the Hospitality sector made the

biggest strides in the right direction, reducing DBT by 67.0 days, while

the Business Admin & Support (-28.2 days) and Construction (-10.4 days)

sectors also made important reductions.

At the other end of the scale, of those getting worse, the Real Estate

sector saw the biggest hit, with a hefty increase of 83.5 days taking its

overall DBT to 120.0 days. The Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor

vehicles and motorcycles (+51.3 days), Health & Social (+31.3 days) and

Transportation and Storage (+23.6) sectors also saw large increases to

late payments.

Regional spotlight

The UK regional figures make for more positive reading, with eight of

the 11 regions making reductions to late payments. East Anglia saw

the biggest improvement, reducing its DBT by 4.9 days, with London

(-4.6 days) and the South West (-3.6 days) not too far behind. Despite

no change, Yorkshire and Humberside remains the best performing UK

region with an overall DBT of 13.3 days. Increases for Northern Ireland

(+6.3 days) and Scotland (+1.6 days) mean they move to the bottom of

the standings.

In Ireland, less than a third (11) of the 26 regions are moving in the right

direction, but the average DBT figure across the country has dropped by

6.6 days due mainly to the scale of reductions. The county of Longford

saw the biggest improvement, reducing its DBT by an impressive 50.0

days. Meath (-46.9), Kildare (-38.0 days) and Louth also made sizeable

cuts to late payments. Equally deserving of a mention are Sligo (-23.0

days), Tipperary (-14.8 days), Leitrim (-11.0 days) and Laois (-5.0 days),

whose reductions mean they all now have an overall DBT of zero days.

Across the four Irish provinces, Ulster (+20.7) and Connacht (+2.7

days) saw increases, while Leinster (-31.5 days) and Munster (-5.7 days)

made important reductions. Munster improvement means it is now the

best performing province with an overall DBT of 5.7 days.


Fill your vacancy or find your next career

move at www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

WE NEED YOU!

Contribute to our Portfolio Credit Control

Salary Survey 2022/23 today.

RECRUITING

FROM YOUR

OFFICE...

...OR

REMOTELY

Portfolio Credit Control specialise

in solely recruiting for permanent,

temporary & contract Credit

professionals at all levels of the market.

Our expert market knowledge & industry

experience is trusted by businesses

across the UK for all their Credit Control

hiring needs including Credit Managers,

Credit Controllers, Sales Ledger &

Accounts Receivable professionals;

just to name a few…

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

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THE PENINSULA, VICTORIA PLACE, MANCHESTER M4 4FB

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recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com

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Rated as Excellent

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LOOKING FOR

YOUR NEXT

CAREER MOVE?

HEAD OF CREDIT

Brentwood, Essex, £45k-£60k

Working for a diverse and multi-faceted FTSE100 business,

you will be responsible for overseeing end-to-end credit

operations for the UK finance team. You will support the FC in

leading a high-performing credit team based across their site

in Essex and the remote team in India. You will be tasked with

improving collection rates across the team and you will work

in close conjunction with a dedicated transformation team to

continuously develop processes. Ref: 4179945

Contact Will Plom on 01603 760141

or william.plom@hays.com

CREDIT CONTROLLER

Chertsey, up to £30k

This position is being recruited on a 12-month fixed term

contract basis. A skilled credit controller is required to join

a busy team, working for a leading construction business.

Managing your own ledger of accounts, you will be responsible

for minimising risk and maximising cash flow. Your duties will

include proactive collections, query resolution and accurately

maintaining customer records. Strong Excel skills will also be

required for reporting purposes. Ref: 4264444

Contact Natascha Whitehead on 07770 786433

or natascha.whitehead@hays.com

COLLECTIONS EXECUTIVE

Watford, £26.5k + bonuses + annual share scheme

A leading energy supplier are looking for self-motivated

credit controllers/collectors. You will join a fast paced and

target-driven team maintaining a portfolio of SME customers

via telephone, email and meetings. You will be confident

when talking to clients over the phone and be comfortable

driving relationships with stakeholders. You will also prepare

weekly debt meetings and assist with reconciling complex

customer accounts. Ref: 3056767

Contact Anastazja Czorna on 0333 010 7025

or anastazja.czorna@hays.com

INTERIM HEAD OF CREDIT

Salford, competitive day rate

This is a 3-6 month interim, contract role. We are looking for a

skilled credit professional to assist a rapidly growing property

business, following a system implementation. The successful

candidate will have a proven track record of process mapping,

strategic improvements and initiating best practice. You will

have the opportunity to implement your own ideas and have

a direct impact on improving the OTC cycle. Ref: 4310938

Contact Adam Crossland on 0161 236 7272

or adam.crossland@hays.com

hays.co.uk/creditcontrol

© Copyright Hays plc 2022. The HAYS word, the H devices, HAYS Brave WORKING | Curious FOR YOUR | Resilient TOMORROW / www.cicm.com and Powering / the December world of 2022 work and / PAGE associated 50 logos and artwork are trademarks of Hays plc.

The H devices are original designs protected by registration in many countries. All rights are reserved. CM-1130635765

BILLING ASSISTANT/LEGAL BILLER

London (remote working), £25k-£30k DOE

An exciting full-time opportunity has just opened up

within the finance department at this fast-growing law firm.

Some of the key duties will include processing invoices in

an efficient and timely manner, processing credit notes as

required, dealing with specific bill requirements and processing

accordingly. This is a great opportunity in a well-established

company to propel your career in finance. Ref: 4312710

Contact Megan MacDonald on 020 3465 0020

or megan.macdonald@hays.com

CREDIT MANAGER

Andover, £40k-£45k + bonus

Managing a small credit control team, you will be responsible for

maximising cash collection, and minimising risk to the business.

You will ensure that the customer experience is positive, with you

and your team delivering excellent levels of customer service

at all times. Working in multiple currencies, your customer

base is based globally, therefore developing solid internal and

external relationships is key for this role. Reporting (DSO & cash

flow), departmental budget control, people management and

continuous process/policy improvement will also be required.

Ref: 4310893

Contact Natascha Whitehead on 07770 786433

or 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 our website or contact Natascha Whitehead,

Credit Management UK Lead at Hays on 07770 786433.


TOWARDS the end of summer Thames

Valley decided to host a social event

on a Saturday – first time in well over

a decade that we had run an event at a

weekend. A good handful of us met up

in the morning and had a stroll around

the Roman city walls and Amphitheatre in Silchester.

For those that know Colin Hingston and his sense

of humour you will not be surprised with his quip

of ‘I remember when it was all fields’ and the fact

he brought along an ancient Roman map to ‘help’ us

walk around!

The walk ended with a quick drive to a nearby pub –

that was closed, so we drove to another – also closed.

Third time lucky? Nope – still too early for it to open

so we gave up on the planned pub lunch. Despite this

slight disappointment we all agreed that the weekend

social event went well and we would definitely plan

another in 2023.

We made up for the closed pub disappointment

by hosting our next social event a few weeks later at

Marlow brewery’s open night – somewhere we have

been to previously. Was interesting to hear how they

managed through the COVID period and to see the

improvements to the site that they had made over the

years. The committe is looking to visit a gin distillery

(possibly Silent Pool in Albury, Guildford) or a vineyard

in 2023 – keep an eye out for the emails/event postings.

Author – Gary Baker FCICM (Grad)

BRANCH NEWS

Local Tipples

Thames Valley branch

CM

CREDIT MANAGEMENT

THE CICM'S HIGHLY ACCLAIMED MAGAZINE

Credit Management, the magazine of the Chartered Institute of Credit

Management (CICM), is the leading publication in its field. The magazine

includes full coverage of consumer and trade credit, export and company

news, as well as in-depth features, profiles and opinions. To receive the free

magazine you must be a member of the CICM or subscribe.

SPECIAL

FEATURES

IN DEPTH

INTERVIEWS

ASK THE

EXPERTS

GLOBAL

NEWS

LEGAL

MATTERS

INTERNATIONAL

TRADE

CURRENCY

EXCHANGE

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MATTERS

MOBILE DIGITAL

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EDUCATIONAL

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THE LEADING JOURNAL FOR CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS

TO SUBSCRIBE CONTACT: T: 01780 722903


STUART LITTLER

NEW HEAD OF ACCOUNTS

“

Having worked in an accounting practice for over 25 years,

qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2000 and a Director of the

company since 2010, I developed and headed up the legal services

department within the practice that dealt with the accounting

and compliance needs of our solicitors’ portfolio. I worked solely

with solicitor practices, supporting their accounting requirements,

business and profit development as well as regulatory compliance.

My finance and regulatory background has enabled me to

guide firms in developing sound financial controls and

compliance with the solicitors regulatory body, which is

crucial for any solicitors practice in the ever changing

environment in which they operate.

- Stuart Littler FCA

www.thomashiggins.com

Cr£ditWho?

CICM Directory of Services

COLLECTIONS

COLLECTIONS LEGAL

CREDIT DATA AND ANALYTICS

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

For over 20 years, CoCredo, as one of the UK's leading Credit

Report companies, has helped protect thousands of customers

from bad debt. Our data is compiled and constantly updated from a

variety of prominent UK and international suppliers, encompassing

230 countries, so that our clients can access the latest available

information in an easy-to-read report. We offer tailored products

and service solutions, from market-leading Dual Reports and

integrated XML solutions, monitoring and delivering flexible 'data

on the go' package options that reduce costs and boost cash flow.

Our clients feel valued that we are a part of their customer journey

and we have consistently been finalists and winners of numerous

Small Business and Credit Awards since 2014.

We provide award-winning customer service which is reflected in

our client retention rate of 99%.

Global Credit Recoveries

GCR 20-22 Wenlock Road,

London N1 7GU

Charles Mayhew FCICM or Joshua Mayhew ACICM

T: +44 (0) 203 368 8630

E: INFO@GLOBALCREDITRECOVERIES.COM

W: WWW.GLOBALCREDITRECOVERIES.COM

Shortlisted as DCA of the Year, by the CICM, for the British Credit

Awards, Global Credit Recoveries Ltd are specialists in Arbitration

and Debt Collection globally.

We specialise in the UK, Europe, The Middle East and the U.S.A,

working as an extension of many CICM members companies for

over 28 years.

Speak with us today in our London or Dubai offices, to see how

we can assist you.

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

debtors offices, throughout EMEA, within 72 hours.

Recovering funds globally, on a No-Recovery, No-Fee basis.

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

Cr£ditWho?


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.”

CONSULTANCY

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.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

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.


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS

AND PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196



ENFORCEMENT

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.

FOR

ADVERTISING

INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND

PRICING CONTACT

paul@centuryone.uk

01727 739 196

Cr£ditWho?


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.

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.

ENFORCEMENT

Court Enforcement Services

Adele Whitehurst – Client Relationship Manager

M: +44 (0)7525 119 711 T: +44 (0)1992 367 092

E : a.whitehurst@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.

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.


Cr£ditWho?


FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT


INSOLVENCY

PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

RECRUITMENT

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.

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.

Quadient AR by YayPay

T: +44 20 8502 8476

E: r.harash@quadient.com

W: www.quadient.com/en-gb/ar-automation

Quadient AR by YayPay 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.

Hays Credit Management

107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN

T: 07834 260029

E: karen.young@hays.com

W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol

Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CICM

and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and

credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this

challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within

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

contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate

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

interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively for

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

can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and

recruitment issues.

PORTFOLIO

CREDIT CONTROL

Portfolio Credit Control

1 Finsbury Square, London. EC2A 1AE

T: 0207 650 3199

E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com

W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com

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

specialises in the recruitment of Permanent, Temporary & Contract

Credit Control, Accounts Receivable and Collections staff

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

Recruiter, we speak to Credit Controllers every day and

understand their skills meaning we are perfectly placed to provide

your business with talented Credit Control professionals. Offering

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

and remote briefings, interviews and feedback options.

We provide both candidates & clients with a commitment to deliver

that will exceed your expectations every single time.

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.

Cr£ditWho?


FIS GETPAID

25 Canada Square

London, GB E14 5LQ

T: +447730500085

E: getinfo@fisglobal.com.

W: www.fisglobal.com

The award-winning FIS GETPAID solution is a fully integrated,

web-based order-to cash (O2C) solution that helps companies

improve operational efficiencies, lower DSO, and increase cash

flow. GETPAID provides process automation, artificial intelligence,

and workflow across the O2C cycle, with detailed analysis and

reporting for accurate cash forecasting. FIS is a global leader in

financial services technology that empowers the financial world.

For more information visit https://www.fisglobal.com/en/cashflowand-capital/credit-and-collections

or email getinfo@fisglobal.com.

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT



HR MATTERS

Changing Tack

Post-Brexit changes to employment law, new

guidance on staff suspensions, and confirmation that

support of a football club is not a protected belief.

AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards

AN employment tribunal

held that support for

a football club is not a

protected philosophical

belief under the Equality

Act 2010.

In the case of McClung v Doosan Babcock

Ltd and others ETS/4110538/2019, the

claimant, Mr McClung, is a staunch

and lifelong supporter of Glasgow

Rangers Football Club. He describes his

support of the club as a way of life and

as important to him as attending church

would be to a Christian.

McClung worked as subcontractor for

Doosan Babcock, and claimed a manager

there denied him further work because

she was a Celtic fan. He brought claims

for unfair dismissal and discrimination.

There were a number of issues to

determine in relation to McClung's

claims, including his employment

status. The case concerns the question of

whether McClung's support of Rangers

qualified as a protected belief under

section 10 of the Act.

The tribunal held that his belief,

whilst strong and genuinely held, was

not a protected belief under the Act. It

considered the five Grainger criteria for

determining whether a belief qualifies

for protection under the Act, namely

that the belief must be genuinely held;

it must be a belief and not an opinion or

viewpoint based on the present state of

information available; it must be a belief

as to a weighty and substantial aspect

of human life and behaviour; it must

attain a certain level of cogency,

seriousness, cohesion and importance;

it must be worthy of respect in a

democratic society, not be incompatible

with human dignity and not conflict

with the fundamental rights of others.

The tribunal accepted that the belief

was genuinely held. However, the

remaining criteria were not met. Further,

an explanatory note to the Act stated that

support for a football club would not be

a protected belief. There is a difference

between a belief, which is the acceptance

of something a person believes to be true,

and support, which is being interested

in and concerned for the success

of something.

In addition, the tribunal held that

supporting a football team was not

equivalent to a belief in something

weighty and substantial; support for

Rangers does not invoke the same

respect in a democratic society as issues

such as ethical veganism.

This case distinguishes between the

concept of support and the concept

of belief.

Acas issues new guidance on suspensions

ACAS has published employer guidance on

how to manage staff suspensions during formal

disciplinary and grievance investigations.

The new guidance, Suspension during an

investigation at work, covers a number of key

issues, including deciding whether to suspend

an employee, how they should be suspended,

how to support their mental well-being, and

dealing with pay and holiday during the

suspension period.

The guidance reflects the fact that suspension

should not be an automatic response to

concerns or allegations being raised. However,

in some circumstances suspension might be

appropriate, for example, in order to preserve

the integrity of an investigation, and where there

are no viable alternatives to suspension which

would achieve the same result. The guidance

sets out ways employers can approach the topic

of suspension fairly and sensitively, so that it

can be properly seen as a temporary and neutral

act, and so that the individual's wellbeing can be

properly protected.

The guidance acknowledges that in some

situations it might be appropriate to take legal

advice before suspending an employee, for

example, if there is any question over pay or

the fairness of the suspension. It is also good

practice to put everything in writing, so the

terms of suspension are clear from the outset.

Suspension should be no longer than necessary

and the decision to suspend should be kept

under review.

Shake-up of employment rights expected

THE Government has introduced the

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform)

Bill 2022-2023 to the House of Commons.

The bill could prompt a significant shakeup

of established employment rights.

Broadly speaking, the bill is intended to

confer more power on the Government to

operate free of the constraints of retained

EU law that derives from the European

❝

The guidance sets

out ways employers

can approach the

topic of suspension

fairly and sensitively,

so that it can be

properly seen as

a temporary and

neutral act.

❝

Union, which was retained within UK

domestic law following Brexit. Under the

Bill, EU-derived subordinate legislation

and retained EU legislation will be

revoked across the UK at the end of 2023.

Much of UK employment law derives

from EU law, including TUPE and the

Working Time Regulations (which contain

holiday rights and set out the parameters

of the working week). The Government is

yet to comment on what specific pieces

of legislation it might seek to remove or

retain if the Bill is passed.

Gareth Edwards is a partner in the

employment team at VWV.


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Credit Management December 2022

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