Credit Management September 2023

CICM ASSESSMENT BOARD
High Standards
How the CICM Assessment Board is raising
standards in the credit industry.
AUTHOR – Roshika Perera
DESPITE operating behind
the front doors of CICM,
the Assessment Board
plays a crucial role
in ensuring that the
Institute maintains its
status as the world’s largest professional
body for the credit management
community.
Following his appointment as Chairman
of the Board in November 2019, Stephen
Allinson FCICM and his fellow Board
members have been on a mission to raise
the professional standards of the industry
and expand the Institute’s global reach.
With nearly 40 years of experience as
a licensed insolvency practitioner and
a solicitor specialising in commercial
litigation, with a focus on debt recovery
and insolvency, Stephen has a deep
understanding of the opportunities and
challenges within the credit industry.
He has also been an active CICM
member since his early career, serving as
Vice Chairman of the southwest branch
for several years, delivering lectures at
legal conferences, and writing study texts
for legal modules.
It’s his extensive experience as a lawyer,
working with credit controllers, paralegals
and other legal professionals, that has
shown him the value that CICM brings to
the industry: “Having been steeped in the
credit and debt world for a long time, I’ve
seen first-hand the positive influence of
CICM as an organisation,” he says.
“I’m determined to expand the Institute’s
influence around the world and improve
the standards of the credit profession.”
Board duties
The Assessment Board serves as the
independent arm of CICM’s educational
services, a requirement for any regulated
chartered institute providing education. It
is the responsibility of the Board to ensure
that CICM is performing its educational
duties to a high standard and complying
with the rigorous regulations of Ofqual,
Qualification Wales and CCEA (Northern
Ireland) which carry out regular checks
and balances. It also falls on the Board to
decide on appeals and deal with any issues
around the assessment or examination
process.
“But that’s just the technical side of what
we do,” explains Steven. “I believe that our
job is much bigger than that. We need to
ensure that CICM is guiding young people
into the profession, preparing them to
excel in their credit careers. We need to
ensure that our education is very much fit
for purpose and at the cutting edge.”
To that end, Stephen and the Board
are focused on expanding the resources
and reach of CICM, having recognised
new ways of impacting the next
generation of credit professionals. “Since
becoming Chairman, the team and I have
implemented a great deal of change,” he
says.
Good Progress
In particular, Stephen prides himself with
the innovative and quick thinking that
the CICM staff showed during the COVID
crisis: “We needed to adapt very quickly
and expand our online examinations,” he
says.
“We had to look at new qualifications
that might be needed and we brought in
further external educators and assessors
“The end goal of
the Assessment
Board and CICM
as a whole is
to develop and
encourage the next
generation of credit
professionals. If
that’s my legacy, I’ll
be very pleased.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / September 2023 / PAGE 52