Credit Management January February 2022

CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
The big
shake-up
The impact of
future Insolvency
regulation
CICMQ is entering a
new chapter in its
history. Page 8
Interview with Sue Chapple
FCICM, the Institute's Chief
Executive. Page 20

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24
COUNTRY FOCUS
Adam Bernstein
20
ENERGY TRANSFER
Sue Chapple, FCICM
12
THE BIG SHAKE UP
David Kerr
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022
www.cicm.com
CONTENTS
10 – VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
Debbie Nolan FCICM is talking Smart.
12 – INSOLVENCY –
THE BIG SHAKE UP
David Kerr FCICM considers the heavy
hand of future regulation.
14 – CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
Heather Greig-Smith analyses
pan-European research on consumer
collections and behaviours.
16 – PERSONS UNKNOWN
Adam Bernstein discusses the
challenges in recovering
cryptocurrency from persons unknown.
20 – ENERGY TRANSFER
Sean Feast FCICM speak to Sue Chapple
FCICM, Chief Executive of the Chartered
Institute of Credit Management.
24 – TALKING BIG
Indonesia is a land of vast opportunity.
36 – NEW YEAR, NEW PRIORITIES
Salary and recruitment trends for the
year ahead.
44 – PERSONAL CHALLENGES
The landscape for SME lending and the
challenge of Personal Guarantees.
CICM GOVERNANCE
14
CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
Heather Greig-Smith
President Stephen Baister FCICM / Chief Executive Sue Chapple FCICM
Executive Board: Chair Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad) / Vice Chair Phil Rice FCICM / Treasurer Glen Bullivant FCICM
Larry Coltman FCICM / Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCICM
Advisory Council: Laurie Beagle FCICM / Glen Bullivant FCICM / Alan Church FCICM(Grad) / Brendan Clarkson FCICM
Larry Coltman FCICM / Niall Cooter FCICM / Bryony Crossland FCICM(Grad) / Peter Gent FCICM(Grad)
Victoria Herd FCICM(Grad) / Philip Holbrough MCICM / Neil Jinks FCICM / Charles Mayhew FCICM / Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad)
/ Allan Poole MCICM / Alice Purdy MCICM(Grad) / Matthew Roberts MCICM / Phil Rice FCICM / Chris Sanders FCICM
Sarah Wilding FCICM / Atul Vadher FCICM(Grad)
View our digital version online at www.cicm.com. Log on to the Members’
area, and click on the tab labelled ‘Credit Management magazine’
Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international CICM
membership, as well as additional subscribers
Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without specific permission. Opinions expressed in this magazine do
not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor reserves the right to
abbreviate letters if necessary. The Institute is registered as a charity. The mark ‘Credit Management’ is a registered
trade mark of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.
Any articles published relating to English law will differ from laws in Scotland and Wales.
Publisher
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham
OAKHAM, LE15 8NB
Telephone: 01780 722900
Email: editorial@cicm.com
Website: www.cicm.com
CMM: www.creditmanagement.org.uk
Managing Editor
Sean Feast FCICM
Deputy Editor
Iona Yadallee
Art Editor
Andrew Morris
Telephone: 01780 722910
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
Editorial Team
Imogen Hart, Rob Howard, Natalie Makin,
Laura Rhodes and Sam Wilson
Advertising
Paul Heitzman
Telephone: 01727 739 196
Email: paul@centuryone.uk
Printers
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UK: £112 per annum
International: £145 per annum
Single copies: £12.50
ISSN 0265-2099
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 3

EDITOR’S COLUMN
If it had been down to me,
I’d have given you all a prize!
Sean Feast FCICM
Managing Editor
IT’S awards season and I spent
one day earlier this month
judging entries for the CICM
British Credit Awards 2022.
And I have to say I was mightily
impressed.
Some organisations take a somewhat
cynical view to awards. I’ve heard them
all: ‘it’s a fix’; ‘you only win if you’re a
sponsor’; ‘you only get shortlisted so they
can flog you a table’. Other organisations,
and I count my own (from a different
life) in that number, take a considerably
more positive approach. We see awards
– credible awards – as an opportunity to
benchmark ourselves against the bestin-class
and see how we shape up.
When you’ve been in business for
more than 30 years, you are constantly
confronted by two opposing forces:
those that love and value your expertise,
knowledge, and grey hair; and those
who think you can’t possibly be ‘current’
anymore and are determined to try
something ‘new’. Winning awards in that
context is therefore hugely gratifying,
supporting the decision-making of your
current clients while cocking a fair
snoop at those who felt the grass might
be greener elsewhere. The opinion of an
independent judging panel that you’ve
still got what it takes gives you one hell
of a buzz.
Judging the BCAs, having been on
both sides of the fence, has been a
genuine privilege. The quality of entries
was seriously impressive. Yes, I know
that many award programmes talk
about quality over quantity, but we had
the luxury of both, a very large number
of very high calibre submissions. The
exchanges amongst the judges on the
panel were as robust as ever (though
always well-mannered) and in only
a handful of cases was there a clear,
outright winner. That meant hours (and
I mean hours) of debate, sharing views
and opinions to ensure we arrived at the
right result. This was especially true of
those categories where we were judging
individuals rather than organisations. So
before you come up to me in March and
berate me should you come second, if it
had been down to me, I’d have given you
all a prize!
By the time you read these lines we
will be only a few short weeks away from
announcing the winners, and after all
of the nonsense of the last two years I
for one can’t wait to dust off the DJ and
throw a few shapes.
See you on the dancefloor.
Judging the BCAs, having been
on both sides of the fence, has
been a genuine privilege. The
quality of entries was seriously
impressive.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 4

CMNEWS
A round-up of news stories from the
world of consumer and commercial credit.
Written by – Sean Feast FCICM
Charity urges HM Treasury to proceed
swiftly with plans to regulate BNPL
BUY Now, Pay Later
(BNPL) products are
being widely used by
people experiencing
financial difficulty, and
people with two BNPL
loans are twice as likely as all adults
to say they are finding it difficult to
keep up with their household bills and
credit repayments.
This is the claim being made by
StepChange Debt Charity as it urges
the Government to accelerate its plan
for regulation to protect consumers
more adequately.
A poll commissioned by the charity
suggests that 10 percent of British
adults report holding one or more
BNPL debt; 30 percent of those with a
BNPL debt have two or more loans and
14 percent three or more. Almost nine
out of 10 (87 percent) of those with a
BNPL debt also have at least one other
type of consumer credit product with
an outstanding balance.
BNPL borrowers tend to be younger,
with an average age of 44 compared
to 51 among those who hold any credit
product. Almost half (49 percent) say
they find it difficult to keep up with
household bills and credit repayments,
rising to 59 percent among those with
two or more BNPL loans.
The charity says that the size and
impact of BNPL in the market is
being driven at least to some degree
by a ‘race for growth’. The value of
customer acquisition may have
affected the willingness of some firms
to knowingly or otherwise engage
in practices that are detrimental to
consumers, such as relatively relaxed
approaches to creditworthiness and
affordability assessments.
Phil Andrew, Chief Executive
at StepChange, says that even
interest-free credit can and does
cause financial difficulty: ‘BNPL is
deliberately marketed and presented
– often to less financially experienced
consumers - as a means of payment
rather than as a form of credit, which
is what it really is. It is marketed not
just for lifestyle spending, but for
essentials such as groceries or school
uniform.
“There is currently very little friction
to prevent consumers building up
significant amounts of cumulative
BNPL debt,” he continues, “so it’s
vital that regulation swiftly brings
this rapidly growing lending market
into line to ensure that consumers
are better protected from the risk of
financial difficulty.”
The charity is not alone in
demanding regulation now and not
later. Sarah Coles, senior personal
finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown,
says that the Government cannot
afford to drag its feet: “While it’s going
through this process, the sector is
mushrooming before our eyes,” she
says.
The growth of the market is
phenomenal, with the value of
transactions more than tripling
in 2020 – to £2.7 billion. Since HM
Treasury launched its consultation
in October, millions of people have
taken out new loans they may not
fully understand or be able to afford.
Citizens Advice said that one in ten
people used BNPL over Christmas
alone. “The spending squeeze risks
even more people turning to this
market to help make ends meet, and
the spread of these services across
everything from fashion to food means
it’s finding its way into every area
of spending. There's a real risk that
building up these debts will erode
people's financial resilience,” Sarah
adds.
Jayadeep Nair, Chief Product and
Marketing Officer at Equifax UK,
believes the soaring popularity of
BNPL services has fundamentally
changed the UK retail landscape by
increasing access to affordable credit
at the point of sale: “Our data suggests
that 28 percent of UK consumers were
actively making repayments on BNPL
loans in October 2021, which is around
2.8 million more people than at the
start of last year.
“With increased use comes
increased scrutiny, and it’s wholly
appropriate for the Treasury and FCA
to now be weighing up the right level
of regulation for what has become an
extremely active and exciting part of
the credit market.
“BNPL providers have a
responsibility to ensure that their
services do not have a negative impact
on the financial wellbeing of the
consumers that use them. For all the
good that BNPL can do for those that
can manage their day-to-day finances,
there are concerns that some users
may be slipping through the cracks.”
The Treasury’s consultation on the
FCA’s regulation of the BNPL sector
included proposals for formal credit
agreements laying out the terms of
deals when people take them out, and
for retailers promoting the services
to ensure people understand the
risks they are taking. It also suggests
section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act
should apply, making BNPL providers
jointly liable for the contract with the
retailer in the same way that credit
card providers are.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 5

NEWS ROUNDUP
Can the UK energy sector
weather the current storm?
AUTHOR – Tim Vine
TRIGGERED by a global
shortage in natural gas, the
energy crisis impacting
the UK has taken its toll
on a number of different
sectors – from transportation to
manufacturing and food production.
Of late, we’ve seen a further four
energy companies cease trading as
the surge in wholesale gas demand
continues. The latest collapse saw a
further 21,000 domestic customers
moved to other suppliers, and
consumers are well aware of the
pending cost to the bill of every home
in the country.
The energy sector and its customers
are feeling the squeeze. More than
16 energy companies have collapsed
since August 2021 and we’re not out
of the woods just yet. The current
situation shows no sign of abating,
with disruption to the natural gas
supply expected to continue.
Whilst the future of the industry is
uncertain, it’s worth reflecting on what
has come before to better understand
how we’ve arrived in this situation,
to learn from mistakes and prevent it
happening again.
Current the state of play?
COP26 put climate change and the
environmental impact of our energy
consumption on a global stage. There’s
a lot of scope for the UK to utilise
green energy, but the fact is around
half of the UK’s electricity is generated
by burning fossil fuel in gas-fired
power plants. With ageing nuclear
power plants and the slowing down
of wind turbines due to some of the
least windy months since 1961, the
UK’s current reliance on fossil fuelbased
electricity has become deeply
entrenched.
From cooking to heating, the
average household relies on gas in
many ways. Paired with the fact that
the UK has one of lowest levels of
gas storage capabilities in Europe
and relies heavily on the continent
for electricity, it’s become the perfect
storm for an energy crisis.
The good with the bad
While the news of the current crisis
is dominating the energy landscape,
recent Dun & Bradstreet data found
that the number of businesses in the
energy sector has increased by 1,200
over the last four years. This was
predominantly driven by the ‘trade of
gas through mains’, though further
areas to see an increase in businesses
were focused on the ‘distribution of
gaseous fuels through mains’ and the
‘production of electricity’.
Following the Government’s
mandate to shelter-in-place in 2020
following the outbreak of Covid-19, it’s
unsurprising to see growth within the
sector across areas that supported the
increase in demand to supply Britain’s
households with energy.
However, despite growth, the
number of business closures within
the energy sector has also continued
to increase; in 2021 closures increased
to 1,449 compared to 1,154 in 2018 and
1,296 in 2019. What’s more, business
liquidations increased in 2020 and
Credit managers obliged to ‘guess’
at bad debt reserves
ALMOST a third (30 percent) of
credit management professionals
are obliged to guess at a figure when
assessing the level of bad debt reserve
they require at Year End, while less
than one in ten (nine percent) are
able to look to any financial model
provided by their auditors.
More than a third (35 percent) opt
for generic, age-based percentages to
arrive at a figure while a quarter (26
percent) look to their experience of
similar debt.
Gary Brown, Founder of the
collections platform Debt Register
which conducted the survey, believes
the findings prove what he has long
thought: that the current process of
providing for bad debts is invariably
guesswork: “Speaking to firms and
accountants, many companies have
no clear picture of how collectable or
otherwise certain debts are, and make
provision simply by taking a best
guess,” he says.
“By passing the five oldest or
longest-standing debts through our
platform, however, there is a very
real chance that those debts will be
settled. This means the actual bad
debt figure being provided for will be
more accurate because there would be
no need to reserve for those invoices
at all.
“Indeed, even if the money is not
collected, then that also helps takes
the guesswork out of the process and
gives the company and the auditor
something more tangible to refer
to than a vague model. Either way,
Debt Register can give companies a
tool that supports a more accurate
financial position.”
Real case scenarios with current
Debt Register clients have already
proven the point and the age of the
debt appears not to be a barrier to its
collectability. One customer uploaded
a debt that was 888 days overdue,
and the debt was settled in 27 hours.
In a more remarkable example, an
uploaded debt that was 1499 days
overdue was paid within 45 minutes.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 6

2021 with 41 and 48 respectively,
compared to 2018 where there were 32
liquidations.
However, prompt payments have
slightly improved in the UK from 32
percent in August 2018 to 38.5 percent
in August 2021. Additional insight
across Europe also demonstrated
positively for credit risk metrics
within the sector, with data showing
that the average payment delays in
days dropped from 14.4 days in the
first quarter to 14.1 days in the second
quarter of the year.
A bright future ahead?
There are no doubt uncertain times
ahead for the sector, but its recent
growth shows the potential for the
industry to weather this moment in
time.
As the UK’s post-Covid economy
continues to recover, there will be
rising calls to tackle the problem of
unaffordable energy before it causes
further damage. So, while we may not
run out of gas, the potential to run out
GOVERNMENT proposals on how
insolvency services should be regulated
in the future have been welcomed by
Colin Haig, President of insolvency and
restructuring trade body R3.
He says the consultation provides
an opportunity to deliver a framework
that is strong and effective, that is fit
for purpose in the longer term, and
is better able to carry the confidence
of the wider public: “A successful
regulatory framework needs to be fair
and proportionate, transparent, effective
at addressing shortcomings, efficient in
reaching decisions, flexible enough to
keep pace with innovation, and, above
all, consistent,” he says.
“But there are still some significant
issues with the proposals as they stand
that will need to be worked through
before any changes can be introduced.
While improvements can and should
be made, there appears to be a lack of
evidence around some of the claims
NEWS ROUNDUP
There’s a lot of scope for the UK to utilise green
energy, but the fact is around half of the UK’s
electricity is generated by burning fossil fuel in
gas-fired power plants.
of affordable energy is a mounting
concern – not just for those working
in the sector, but for the general public
who will inevitably foot the bill.
Many will look to monitor changes
in the business environment of the
energy sector as well as the responses
at an individual country level as
the crisis continues. Forecasts will
undoubtedly play a starring role in
supporting the industry’s anticipated
recovery. And we can also expect a
thorough, ongoing investigation for
years to come – to ensure we prevent a
reoccurrence.
Tim Vine is Head of Credit
Intelligence at Dun & Bradstreet
Future insolvency regulation
still has issues, warns R3
the Government has made around the
current efficacy of the framework.”
Crucially, Colin says, the Government’s
preferred option of a single regulator
operating within the Insolvency Service
raises a major conflict of interest issue:
“We’ve always been clear that we don’t
oppose a single regulator in principle, but
under these proposals, the Government
would set insolvency legislation,
regulate insolvency practitioners and
then effectively compete with those
same insolvency practitioners for work
— while not being subject to the same
regulation itself.
“We hope the Government will set out
in more detail how it would ensure the
genuine independence of this proposed
single regulator, as well as a level playing
field for the public and private sector
parts of the insolvency profession.”
See article by David Kerr FCICM on p12.
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
Do you want to be a
CICM Assessor?
THE Chartered Institute of Credit
Management is looking for Assessors
to mark CICM assignments four times
a year. If you are qualified in Credit
Management, Money & Debt Advice
or similar, and are looking to give
back to the profession, we would
like to speak to you about joining
us. Training will be provided. If you
would like more information and to
apply, visit the CICM vacancies page.
Membership fees
reviewed to invest in
future services
THE CICM has increased the cost of
membership for the first time since
2018. The new pricing structure, which
was effective as of 1 January 2022,
reflects the significant investment
the Institute has made in new
digital platforms and training and
membership packages needed to better
serve its members’ needs. The new
pricing is as follows:
Fellow (FCICM) - £21.42 a month
Member (MCICM) - £17.25 a month
Associate (ACICM) - £14.08 a month
Affiliate - £12.67 a month
Studying Member - £8.25 a month
In writing to members last month,
Sue Chapple FCICM, CICM CEO says
they did not take the decision lightly:
“I hope you will appreciate that they are
necessary to ensure your professional
Institute retains its stature as the
leading professional body of its kind
in the world, and one to which you are
proud to belong.”
New Head of Audit
SHELAGH Doyle has been promoted
to Head of Audit and Compliance for
Court Enforcement Services. Shelagh
joined the business in 2020 to drive
its customer care function with a
wide and varied remit. In her new role
she will fully support existing audit
and compliance initiatives whilst
adding her own ideas to drive a fresh
approach for sustainable improvement.
In a career spanning more than 20
years, Shelagh has worked with
organisations including
Lloyds Banking Group,
Barclaycard, Co-op Bank,
VWFS and the Financial
Ombudsman Service.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 7

NEWS SPECIAL
CHAPTER AND VERSE
CICMQ is entering a new chapter in its history.
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
IN a little over a decade, CICMQ –
the credit management industry’s
accreditation for best practice – has
provided accredited companies
with formal recognition of their
organisation’s commitment to
quality, continuous improvement, and best
practice in all things credit.
It has become the ‘kite-mark’ of
excellence that Philip King FCICM, the
CICM’s former CEO, originally envisaged.
And in February, a new chapter in the
CICMQ story begins with the appointment
of Karen Tuffs FCICM, former Head of
Order-to-Cash at Johnson & Johnson, to
spearhead the future evolution of CICMQ
as the new CICM Head of Accreditation.
It is part of a plan to further integrate the
qualification and accreditation product set
and journey for members and clients.
The history of CICMQ dates back some
12 years, and a presentation given by
Chris Sanders FCICM at ICM08. Chris was
sharing a platform with Joris Kniep, the
Global Head of Credit for Shell International,
and presenting Shell’s two-year credit
management journey and roadmap
for improvement: “At the end of the
presentation, Philip came up to me with an
idea that he had literally written down on
the back of a napkin,” Chris recalls. “He said
that what the industry didn’t have, was an
acknowledged idea of what good looked
like. He asked me what I thought, and
whether I could develop the idea. I said yes!”
HESITANT BEGINNING
This was the genesis of CICMQ (or QICM
as it was originally called), and the first
company to be accredited, perhaps not
surprisingly, was Shell International. It
was a slow and somewhat difficult birth
and struggled to gain immediate traction.
Initially based on an organisation meeting
five key criteria, it was quickly realised that
a sixth criteria was needed against which
a business should be judged: stakeholder
management and roadmap: “You can have
a process, but it doesn’t mean you are good
at following it or that people are aware of it,”
Chris explains.
Fast forward three years to 2011, and a
review and discussions about the future
of QICM ultimately led to Chris being
appointed Head of Accreditation-CICMQ in
February 2012: “To be honest I was surprised
but also extremely honoured to have
been asked to head up the programme,”
Chris Sanders
FCICM
“He said that
what the industry
didn’t have, was
an acknowledged
idea of what good
looked like. He
asked me what
I thought, and
whether I could
develop the idea. I
said yes!”
Chris says. “But I was also excited by the
challenge.”
Chris was ideally placed to take the lead.
Originally from Nottingham but brought up
and educated in northwest London, the sum
total of his initial careers’ advice at school
was to join the gas board: “They seemed
to have plenty of vacancies as a fitter,” he
laughs, “but when they told my father that
he stormed out of the room dragging me
with him!”
Originally starting out in his father’s
menswear business and hating every
minute, he joined Matchbox Toys in the
summer of 1980, working as a customer
services supervisor. A year or so into the
job, he was summoned to see the Financial
Director, David Smith, and asked whether
he had ever considered credit control: “They
had some vacancies and then told me of
the untold riches (potential earnings of
£7000 pa!!) and experience I would gain in
the role.”
FAST PROMOTION
Chris’ time at Matchbox Toys was not
always plain sailing, especially after the
business went into administration in
the summer of 1982. He stayed with the
toy maker, however, being promoted to
credit manager and finally to customer
accounts manager responsible for both
credit, collections and customer services.
He was still only 25 and was responsible
for a team of 35. Headhunted to join Unicol,
a debt collection agency, Chris managed
the company’s litigation team and had his
first taste of consulting. He also posted
his ‘Direct Entry’ application to become a
Member of the ICM.
Joining the then fledgling Mercury
Communications in December 1990,
initially as a ‘credit policy manager’, Chris
became Group credit manager shortly
afterwards: “This was a fascinating
business putting on 20,000 customers a
month, recruiting 10 new credit controllers
a month. I don’t think that customer service
was brilliant at that time, people were just
pleased not to have to wait six months for a
phone from BT!”
Chris stayed with Mercury, Cable &
Wireless for 11 years after roles as Head of
Billing & Collections with a team of more
than 600 and being appointed Director
of Transformation: “After C&W I started
consulting, firstly with an American
telecoms consultancy TMNG, but when
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 8

NEWS SPECIAL
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
Chris does have some funny stories too. Once
invited for a guided tour of a meat wholesaling
business, he fast realised this would include a trip
around an abattoir: “I decided it wasn’t for me and
volunteered Sharon Adams FCICM instead!”
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
an opportunity came along to go
independent, I took it. I was lucky as my
boss at TMNG said, ‘If it doesn’t work
out come back and work for us again’
which was great! After six months I
finally cut ties with TMNG in May 2006
telling them I won’t be coming back!”
JOB SATISFACTION
Managing the CICMQ programme
on behalf of the CICM has, is Chris’
opinion, been the best job he could
have had in credit management: “I
have worked with some great CICMQ
Assessors who are all passionate about
credit management, the CICM and the
CICMQ organisations of which there are
now more than 50 with more working
towards the accreditation.”
CICMQ, however, is not just about
accreditation. Perhaps the real value
comes through the network and
sharing best practice with Institute
peers. Even with the challenges of the
last two years, the CICM Best Practice
Network has continued, attracting
large numbers of delegates spread
across more than 100 Zoom sessions,
many eager to listen and learn from
practising credit managers who are
very much in at the deep end. The
interim shift from actual to virtual
assessments was also successfully
achieved, and the value of a workshopled
approach continued. CICMQ Best
Practice Elevenses have also proved
popular, as has a series of ‘lunch and
learns’.
As the outgoing lead, Chris has
many happy memories of the last 10
years: “With CICMQ you get to see every
aspect of human life from retailers to
utilities, breweries to wine merchants.
Karen Tuffs, FCICM
You meet credit teams of more than
100, to a credit team of one, and every
point in-between. You can sense the
quality of the team immediately when
you walk into a room, and that is
almost always the result of a good
manager.
“There are three things that separate
a CICMQ accredited business from the
rest,” Chris continues. “They will have
motivated and engaged people, led by a
good manager; they will manage their
stakeholder engagement well; and they
will have a shared common goal across
the team and the business.”
MEAT WHOLESALING
Chris does have some funny stories too.
Once invited for a guided tour of a meat
wholesaling business, he fast realised
this would include a trip around an
abattoir: “I decided it wasn’t for me and
volunteered Sharon Adams FCICM
instead!” (Sharon, along with Pam
Thomas FCICM are two of the CICMQ’s
stalwart assessors.)
As a new chapter in CICMQ begins,
Chris is justifiably proud of how the
accreditation programme has grown:
“We have helped lay the foundations
of something that has achieved what
Philip King always wanted to achieve;
we now know what good looks like,” he
concludes.
And as for Chris and the future?
“I will never stop working in credit
management, and will continue to
focus on my credit management and
billing consultancy business that I
started in 2005,” he says. “I’d like to
carry on in this industry like Glen
Bullivant has done – but without the
fancy ties.”
A new chapter in the CICMQ story
begins with the appointment of
Karen Tuffs FCICM, former Head
of Order-to-Cash at Johnson &
Johnson, to spearhead the future
evolution of CICMQ as the new CICM
Head of Accreditation.
Myths and Facts
NEW research from Experian suggests
that more than half of Brits are
planning to be more careful with
money in 2022, and that many are
confused as to the impact of certain
financial products on their credit
score. More than three quarters (85
percent) of British consumers believe
the number of credit cards they own
affects their credit score, but this is not
true. More than two thirds (69 percent)
falsely believed making a large
purchase on their credit card can affect
their score.
Service worth merit
THE Meritorious Service Award is
granted as a rare recognition of an
especially meritorious contribution
to the Institute. If you would like to
nominate a member, visit https://www.
cicm.com/cicm-meritorious-award/
Greece is the word
HOIST Finance has entered into an
agreement with Alpha Bank to acquire
a Greek portfolio of non-performing
loans, compromising of unsecured
consumer loans and a minor part
small enterprise loans and secured
loans. The total outstanding balance is
approximately EUR 2.1 billion and the
total investment is EUR 108 million.
This is said to be Hoist Finance’s
second portfolio acquisition in Greece.
The transaction is expected to close
during the first quarter 2022.
By Royal Appointment
AMIR Ali, who sits on both the CICM’s
Think Tank and Technical Committee,
has been recognised with the OBE
in the 2022 New Year’s Honours for
Services to Court Users and the Law.
The recommendation to Her Majesty
The Queen to receive the Honour was
made by the Prime Minister on the
advice of the Independent and Main
Honours Committee. The whole of
the Credit Management
team congratulate Amir, a
regular contributor to the
magazine, for his welldeserved
achievement.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 9

FROM THE CHAIR
Talking Smart
Shifting resolutions from January to
February shows smart thinking.
AUTHOR – Debbie Nolan FCICM(Grad)
Debbie Nolan
AS I closed out the New
Year with a good friend
of mine, we spent some
time bemoaning all of our
favourite things that have
been cancelled during the
last couple of years. We also congratulate
ourselves on our achievements too, and
came to the conclusion that it is not only
good but also healthy to look back and
review the past year, but only to glance
at it, and not stare. Focus on the future –
things that you can influence and where
you can make a positive difference.
In previous articles I’ve shared my love
of planning and list making, and the end of
one year and the start of another is always
a perfect time for that. But somehow, this
year I have struggled to put pen to paper
(yes I even do it manually too!).
January is always a tough month. It
comes immediately after the holiday season
when many of us have indulged more than
usual. Pay day seems so incredibly far away
as the reality of our last-minute generosity
in December starts to hit. It’s also dark and
grey most of the time, and it’s 31 days long!
Nobody minds that in the summer when
it’s blue skies and sunshine, but it seems
never ending when its wet, muddy and
chilly outside. The third week in January
even contains an unofficial day ‘Blue
Monday’ which according to an equation
commissioned by a travel company, is the
most depressing day of the year.
So why on earth do I always make a list
of resolutions in January?
Dry February
I have an ex-colleague who never does Dry
January, but instead has a Dry February.
When I asked him why, he explained:
“There are only 28 days in February and all
of the festive booze and chocolates are gone
by then, so there’s less temptation.” Genius!
Doing it that way, he always achieves what
he set out to do – give his body a bit of a
break and set himself a challenge he has a
better chance of achieving.
In business we are taught to ensure
that our plans and objectives are SMART.
However, like most people, as I started to
plan my New Year with a list of resolutions,
mostly things that I won’t do, or will do
better, I reflected on them and realised
none of them are particularly SMART. Just
a few days in, I am already struggling to
stick to them. I am not alone – last week
the news reported that 25 percent of people
have already given up on their resolutions.
And now I see that this is mostly because
they aren’t ‘realistic’.
So this year, I’ve decided to scrap
making any firm commitments, and reset
my New Year as of 1 February instead.
I’m going to focus on some things that are
SMART, but not everything. I am going
to be kinder to myself, for example, and
not just kind to those around me, and I’ve
decided to incorporate a goal to achieve 10
‘wow’ factors in 2022.
Nothing terribly exciting; but things like
making sure that I sit down, undisturbed,
and read that book I’ve had on my shelf
since Christmas a few years ago. Visit
somewhere in the UK that I haven’t been to
before. That kind of thing.
And I’ve chosen 10 so that it can be one
per month, excluding the party month
of December and the dreary month of
January. And I am going to set one a
month, not create a long list at the start.
I’ve decided: 2022 is going to be a SMART
one for me!
Debbie Nolan is Chair of the CICM
Executive Board.
“There are only 28 days in February and all of the
festive booze and chocolates are gone by then, so
there’s less temptation.” Genius!
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 10

TABLE BOOKING
NOW OPEN
Thursday 24th March, Royal Lancaster London
THE SHORTLIST HAS
BEEN ANNOUNCED
BOOK YOUR TABLE TODAY!
The entries are in... and the shortlist has been announced! To see who made the
shortlist for the 2022 awards, please visit: www.cicmbritishcreditawards.com
Don’t miss this fantastic evening of networking and celebration of all of the incredible
achievements across the credit and collections community.
With a fabulous line up of entertainment, it’s the one event in the
credit calendar not to be missed!
TABLE BOOKINGS
Please contact Orhan Toprakci on:
T: 020 7484 9973 E: Orhan.Toprakci@incisivemedia.com
For more information visit www.cicmbritishcreditawards.com
or scan the QR code below to be directed to our website
PALADIN
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 11

INSOLVENCY
Insolvency –
the big shake-up
IPs feel the heavy hand of Government regulation.
AUTHOR – David Kerr FCICM
IN what will be the biggest change
in over 35 years, the Government’s
Insolvency Service has proposed
a major dismantling of the
current regime, which has seen
a profession-led approach since
licensing of Insolvency Practitioners (IPs)
was first introduced in 1986.
In a consultation paper published in
late December, the Government proposes
to take direct control of IP regulation,
with a new single regulator situated
within the Service – thereby removing the
Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs)
from the picture. Although a seven-year
‘back-stop’ power to set up a new single
regulator has been on the statute books
since 2015, I think it is fair to say this is not
what the profession wanted or expected
from the Service’s review.
Of course, Government will consider
consultation responses, and the deal is far
from done at this stage, but this looks to
be heading in one direction – state control
of the work that IPs undertake, with a new
team in the Service handling complaints
and making all the key decisions on
regulatory sanctions etc. Perhaps
creditors will welcome a new approach by
a regulator viewed as more impartial and
potentially more robust (two of the stated
aims of the change), but is this really a
good move, is it the best option, and is it a
justifiable revision of the current system?
Do the reasons cited for this upheaval
really stack up?
FOR BETTER FOR WORSE
For the Service’s proposal to work, it will
have to demonstrate that it can do the
job better than the RPBs. In particular, it
has ambitions to speed up the complaints
process; and while some aspects of
the process could undoubtedly be
undertaken more quickly, doing so while
observing natural justice, fair process etc,
and minimising the risk of legal challenge
(a tricky balance, as the RPBs know
well) will require significant resourcing
– and training, if the new department
is populated with inexperienced staff.
Another key factor cited by the Service
is the consistency and robustness (it
says that with four RPBs there are ‘likely
{author’s emphasis} to be inconsistencies’)
of disciplinary outcomes, and yet the
Common Sanctions Guidance currently
in force is designed to achieve a level
playing field, and has been the product of
collaboration between the RPBs and the
Service.
And what of routine monitoring of
IPs – a key component of any regulation
system? Well, here the Service seems
relaxed about using the expertise within
the professional bodies, potentially
engaging them under contract to visit
their IPs on behalf of the new regulator.
Significant reform
to the existing
regulatory structure is
necessary to protect
both consumers and
creditors according to
the Service.
So, the prospect is of some ongoing form
of hybrid between full state regulation and
a system run by the professional bodies,
but with the emphasis shifted massively
towards the Government department
which will have full control. The new
regulator will determine the frequency of
inspections, and decide what steps need
to be taken on the back of monitoring
reports – with public sanctions where it
deems appropriate.
In addition, the Service will take control
of the standards setting process, so that
when it wants to introduce a new practice
statement or amendment to the code of
ethics, it can do so – no doubt after some
consultation, but without having to wait
for the RPBs to agree a position as now
through the Joint Insolvency Committee.
The Service will be standards-setter
licensing authority, monitor, complaints
handler and decision-maker. But who will
oversee its work, and to whom will one
complain if dissatisfied with its decisions?
Will the Service have to mark its own
homework!?
And what will it cost? The RPBs have
managed to keep costs down while
undertaking these various regulatory
roles, and at the same time innovate in
some areas such as monitoring methods.
What incentive will there be for the
Service to keep a lid on costs, when it is
the only player in town and can pass its
costs onto IPs? Any increase in regulatory
costs is likely to finds its way into the
system and will likely be felt by creditors
at the end of the day.
A JUSTIFIABLE MOVE?
The decision to tear up the current regime
looks a bit drastic when considered against
the backdrop of the Service’s present role
as overseer of the RPBs; it has the levers
at its disposal now to hold the RPBs to
account. In 2015, it took powers to issue
directives to RPBs and sanction them if
they were deemed to be failing to meet the
statutory regulatory objectives. And yet it
has not used those powers in any public
way; it has published annual reports of the
bodies’ regulatory activities – sometimes
highlighting frustration with aspects
such as the number of long-running
complaints in the RPBs’ systems – but has
not stated any serious dissatisfaction with
the RPBs’ performance to the extent that
would seem to warrant removal of their
recognition as authorising bodies.
If the present regime has failed (‘not
fit for purpose’), then to what degree
might observers consider the Service
itself culpable? It has been a part of the
system – it has sat around the standardssetting
table, and it has monitored the
RPBs’ activities at regular intervals; it has
had the means to address shortcomings in
a scaled way but has now chosen instead
to go for the nuclear option and scrap
the system entirely – a move that surely
suggests it is very dissatisfied with the
present system. That seems at odds with
its public pronouncement hitherto.
The justification in the published
document seems to be based on
respondents’ perceptions of impartiality
and the potential for undue influence,
and a claim that the RPBs are ‘not always
wholly effective’ or fully transparent; and
yet it acknowledges the role of lay (non-
IP – including creditor) participants in
RPB decision-making committees, and
other advances made by the bodies (for
example towards meeting the challenge
of monitoring volume IVAs). It concludes
that the present regime has been
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 12

INSOLVENCY
AUTHOR – David Kerr FCICM
It is a kick in the teeth for the profession
without doubt, and in many quarters will
be unwelcome, but it seems clear that the
Service has become frustrated with progress,
or lack of it, in the present system.
insufficiently effective in keeping pace
with market developments.
One change on which there is some
consensus is a need to regulate firms as
well as individual IPs, but that change
could be made without the need to turn
the whole system on its head. Arguably
the acknowledged shortcomings in this
respect are the product of the statutory
position, rather than a failing on the part
of the RPBs (some of which had argued for
the statutory power to regulate firms).
One small dividend for creditors and
others might be a new compensation
scheme which could be introduced to
deal with situations where things go
wrong, though claims might be capped
at a notional level and might be used
mainly to address consumers’ concerns in
personal cases.
And what of pre-packs, which the
service cites as an example of the
voluntary approach to regulation not
working sufficiently well. But the review
to consider how to address concerns about
Phoenix pre-packs was a Governmentcommissioned
one, on the back of which
new arrangements such as the Pre-Pack
Pool were introduced. Referrals to it
were voluntary, as recommended by its
author, and endorsed by the Service.
Certainly, the number of referrals fell far
short of what had been hoped for, and in
this respect maybe IPs have helped the
Service’s cause as it now cites the need
for its subsequent intervention to make
referrals to an evaluator compulsory
as an example of the failure of the
hitherto consensual approach, but the
initial solution to the perceived pre-pack
problem was not one designed by the
professional bodies. Could the profession
at large/ its practising members have
done more to assuage creditors’/others’
concerns about pre-pack deals? Possibly.
But is it reasonable for the Service to cite
this as a reason for it to take a ‘more active
role’?
Another factor – relevant but skirted
over in the consultation document – is
the issue of inconsistency caused by the
number of regulators. This was of more
concern in 2015 than now, as there were
more RPBs then and the scope for gaps
in the system was greater. Just two bodies
currently account for 90 percent of IPs in
England & Wales, with cooperation on
standards, a joint entry examination, one
common code of ethics, one complaints
portal and a common sanctions guide.
If there are significant differences in
their approaches to complaints and/or
monitoring, why would the Service as
oversight regulator not have addressed
these before now? – if necessary, using
the graduated tools available to it for just
that purpose?
THE RIGHT SOLUTION?
In some ways the proposed solution
is smart in that it takes control of key
regulatory elements while embracing
monitoring expertise within the RPBs.
However, there is no indication of
how complaints might be handled
more efficiently within a Government
department (nor how they might be
dealt with more quickly – something
it could have addressed with the RPBs
previously), nor how it might intend
to be more robust on sanctions (with
bigger fines maybe? – something it could
have addressed with previous proposals
for changes to the common sanctions
guidance), or how more generally the
proposed course of action furthers the
public interest by ripping up 30+ years
of regulatory experience and starting
from near scratch. That move appears
to sit awkwardly within the context of
experience in other jurisdictions, where
Government regulation might be the norm
in a fledgling regime, but where a move
to private ‘self-regulation’ might be seen
as an indication of regulatory maturity as
systems develop and professional bodies
build their capacity to take on these
functions and, crucially, are trusted to
do so.
And this is the knub of it…trust. The
bottom line here is that the Service
clearly believes that there is a lack of
trust in the present UK regime, such that
it feels it must act decisively to restore
public confidence before it is too late.
Whatever voices have been heard the
loudest, the trust factor is perhaps what
really explains this rather drastic and
unexpected move. It is a kick in the teeth
for the profession without doubt, and
in many quarters will be unwelcome,
but it seems clear that the Service has
become frustrated with progress, or lack
of it, in the present system. Some will
believe the change is overdue and that the
profession deserves what’s coming, but
time will tell whether the change if/when
implemented will bring about the desired
improvement and whether creditors and
other stakeholders will feel better about
the new ‘independent’ system in say five
years from now.
Could an alternative package of
measures have worked satisfactorily to
address the perceived shortcomings? A
combination maybe of the new regulation
of firms, with more effective use of the
Service’s current oversight powers to
iron out any inconsistency between RPBs
or failure to respond to a nudge when
improvement is required, and perhaps
also a move towards greater independence
of the RPBs through the stipulation of
a majority of independent directors on
their governing boards – such as under
the Indian Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code
of 2016.
No system is perfect, and IPs expect to
be unloved to a degree, but this jolt seems
harsh on the majority of IPs, who for
the most part are working to the highest
standards in difficult circumstances,
and on the majority of those in the
professional bodies, who for the most part
are working diligently in a challenging
role to maintain professional standards in
the public interest.
David Kerr FCICM is an insolvency
practitioner with extensive regulatory
experience and a member of the CICM
Technical Committee.
David Kerr FCICM
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 13

CONSUMER COLLECTIONS
CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
The pandemic continues to bite consumer finances.
AUTHOR – Heather Greig-Smith
AFTER a turbulent couple
of years, with signs of a
recovery in the second
half of 2021, the Omicron
variant poses a new wave
of challenges. But how do
consumers feel about their finances and
capacity to cope?
The global economic challenges
are significant, but UK consumers are
failing to measure up when it comes to
understanding their finances, according
to the annual survey of 24,000 European
consumers by credit management group
Intrum.
While 58 percent say they want to
ensure they are in a stronger financial
position before another global crisis,
more than a quarter have less visibility of
their short-term borrowing now than they
did before the pandemic started, while 24
percent say they don’t even want to know
how much they owe.
GENERATIONAL DIVIDE
The 2021 European Consumer Payment
Report shows this trend is especially
pronounced amongst younger age
groups, with 45 percent of 22-37-year
olds admitting they have their heads in
the sand over their financial situation. It
reflects a growing generational divide in
the aftermath of the pandemic.
When asked to calculate the impact
of interest rates on savings, for example,
just 36 percent of Gen Z (18-21 year olds)
gave the right answer, compared with 76
percent of Baby Boomers (55+). Similarly,
just 25 percent of Gen Z identified the
correct definition of ‘inflation’, compared
with 81 percent of Baby Boomers.
While it is concerning that higher
proportions of younger age groups have
little control over their personal finances,
they also have less disposable income than
other age groups and the credit they are
granted is limited by their income levels.
This means their outstanding balances
and the scale of their debt problems are
likely to be lower.
Gavin Flynn is Operations Director
for Intrum in the UK and Ireland: “Some
consumers have found themselves in a
difficult financial situation over the past
year and have struggled to pay their bills
on time. We have seen how the pandemic
has deepened existing inequalities,” he
says.
The temptation for individuals to
ignore the problem is huge, adds Intrum’s
UK and Ireland Managing Director Eddie
Nott: “Understandably, many find the
situation overwhelming. As we begin 2022,
we face yet more uncertainty over the
pandemic as well as rising unemployment
and the likelihood that energy prices will
rocket when the current price cap runs
out in April. Things will be very tight for
many consumers.
“As hard as it is, it’s important that
people understand the impact on their
household finances and can seek help if
they need it.”
United Kingdom
European
Consumer
Payment
Report 2021
FINANCIAL EDUCATION
Regardless of age, now is a good time for
consumers to increase their knowledge
of financial management. While 82
percent of UK consumers believe they
received sufficient or excellent financial
education, a third don’t understand how
interest rate changes could affect their
financial position and 50 percent need
help with complex financial matters.
“The COVID-19 crisis is a stark
reminder of the essential role that
financial education plays in helping
consumers manage their money and
withstand curveballs when they arise,”
says Eddie.
And there are likely to be many
curveballs coming our way. Almost half
(48 percent) say their bills are increasing
more quickly than their income and a
quarter have less than 10 percent of their
income left after paying bills.
In the six months leading up to
Intrum’s survey, 30 percent had borrowed
money or reached their credit card limit
in order to pay bills – higher than in 2020,
when 20 percent said the same. Parents
are especially hard hit, with 87 percent
of them saying they have borrowed or
maxed out their credit card to buy things
for their children.
All this adds up to financial stress.
More than a quarter are more likely to
miss a debt payment now than at any
other point they can remember.
On the positive side, the pandemic
does seem to have motivated consumers
to focus on financial security, with 39
percent saying they are putting money
aside to protect their financial wellbeing
and a third saying they have set targets to
better manage their bills and savings.
PARENTAL SUPPORT
According to the report, the pandemic has
also encouraged parents to spend more
time helping their children understand
financial management – 54 percent said
they were more likely to do this now than
before the pandemic.
However, although well-meaning
parents are passing advice to their children,
it may prove to be counterproductive if
the parents themselves have not had a
solid financial education, or do not take
care to explain the nuances of credit and
how it works.
“More than half say they are more likely
than they were to urge their children not
to take on debt. This isn’t necessarily good
advice. Managed correctly, debt supports
entrepreneurial pursuits and forms an
integral part of the business community
and wider economy,” says Eddie.
Unfortunately, it seems certain that
more financial pain is coming in 2022.
Even before the Omicron variant hit, more
than a third of UK consumers said they
expected Covid to have a negative impact
on their finances for another 12 months,
while a fifth expected it to take more than
two years to get back to normal.
This means businesses need to
anticipate and prepare for the impact.
“The pandemic has left some groups of
consumers worse off and some have taken
on additional debt to make ends meet,”
says Ian Davies, Client and Sales Director
for Intrum UK and Ireland.
“Given this, and increasing inflation,
we expect more payment problems in
future. Businesses will need to review
their credit management strategies to
meet the challenges ahead and reduce
credit losses.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 14

0 20 40 60 80 100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CONSUMER COLLECTIONS
AUTHOR – Heather Greig-Smith
45 percent of 22-37-year olds admitting
they have their heads in the sand over their
financial situation. It reflects a growing
generational divide in the aftermath of the
pandemic.
Saving for
the future
45%
are dissatisfied with the amount
they are able to save each month. In
2020, 49 per cent stated the same.
The European average for 2021 is
54 per cent.
The Covid-19 crisis has not only had an immediate impact on
household finances; it also has much longer-term implications
for consumers‘ ability to save for the future. According to the
UK Office for National Statistics, the savings rate rocketed to
23.4 per cent in Q2 of 2020. It has since come down to 11.7
per cent in Q2 of 2021 but remains relatively high. Our survey
shows that 81 per cent of UK consumers are able to save each
month, however, 45 per cent are dissatisfied with the amount
they are able to put aside.
UK consumers say their main reasons for saving are for unexpected
expenses (64 per cent), retirement (46 per cent)
and travel (43 per cent).
On average, what percentage of your salary do you save each month?
20%
76%
save money each month
I do not save money
each month
44%
19%
13%
24%
Female
86%
save money each month
Male
45%
23%
18%
14%
European Consumer Payment Report 2021 UK
15
SAVINGS CUSHION
The unequal effect of the pandemic
means that some consumers have been
able to save more money than others –
those whose income remained unchanged
had fewer travel and leisure costs, so are
better off than they were previously.
As a result, the savings rate has risen
significantly, and 81 percent are able to
save something each month. However,
the survey found that almost half of those
are dissatisfied with the amount they are
able to put aside.
Clearly, there is an ongoing divide
between those badly affected by the
pandemic and those whose wealth has
risen. As interest rates rise, the latter will
be better placed to weather the storm.
“Low-income households have been
more likely to experience job instability
and financial hardship, which is reflected
in their savings patterns,” says Intrum’s
Senior Economist Anna Zabrodzka.
“Those who managed to accumulate
savings during the pandemic will find
it easier to absorb higher costs without
facing payment problems.”
SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE
Meanwhile, this year’s survey shows
that consumers are increasingly holding
firms to account on sustainability, with
56 percent of UK respondents saying
they wouldn’t buy from a company they
knew to be responsible for harming the
environment.
Social media is playing an important
role in putting sustainable consumption
at the top of the agenda. Though
39 percent say social media creates
pressure to consume more, these
channels have also increased awareness
around buying sustainable products.
This is especially true for younger age
groups.
Along these lines, waste is also an
issue for many – 61 percent say they are
actively buying less to reduce clutter.
These consumers are after a simpler
life, increasingly fixing or recycling
old items rather than buying new and
eating more leftovers than they used to.
The younger generations and parents
are at the forefront of this push towards
sustainability.
Businesses need to be aware of the
knock-on effects of this. For example, a
third of UK respondents said they would
feel no guilt about paying a company later
than agreed if they thought the company
was unethical. This figure rises to around
half for Gen Z consumers, reflecting the
extent to which this cohort is willing to
take action around green issues.
“Consumers, especially the younger
generation, which is only just starting
to exert its consumer power, are using
their consumption to exert pressure
around climate issues,” says Intrum’s
Sustainability Director Vanessa
Söderberg. “By focusing on sustainability,
businesses of all sizes can balance their
risks, maintain a healthy cash flow and be
better equipped to prosper and grow.”
Eddie agrees: “While it’s true that
consumer intentions don’t always
translate into action, businesses would
be wise to pay attention to this trend
if they are to retain the loyalty of these
customers,” he concludes.
Intrum has published The European
Consumer Payment Report on an annual
basis since 2013. The report is based on
an external survey that is conducted
simultaneously in 24 countries in Europe.
A total of 24,012 consumers participated
in the 2021 edition. This year marks
the ninth edition of the UK version of t
he report. For more information visit:
www.intrum.co.uk
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 15

CYBER FRAUD
PERSONS UNKNOWN
Recovering cryptocurrency following cyber fraud
without throwing good money after bad.
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
FINTECH and cybercrime are in the
ascendancy and the authorities
are fighting to keep up with
the growth of both. Fortunately,
recent decisions in the courts have
demonstrated that the law of England
and Wales can indeed keep up, especially when it
comes to dealing with theft by cybercriminals.
Cyber fraud is indeed on the rise. Computer
Weekly, back in August 2021, found that individuals
and organisations in the UK reported losses of £1.3bn
from fraud and cybercrime between 1 January and
31 July 2021 – a threefold increase on the year – while
reported instances of cybercrime rose seven fold,
from 39,160 to 289,437 cases.
The problem, of course, is that “pursuing criminals
through cyberspace and recovering assets is difficult,”
says Louise Norbury-Robinson, a commercial
dispute resolution and technology specialist at
Walker Morris, “and has been fraught with legal and
practical difficulty and risk.”
For Louise, there are not only the jurisdictional and
geographical uncertainties inherent in combatting
fraud perpetrated over the internet to deal with,
but also questions such as “how victims pursue
defendants whose identity is unknown; how they
collect evidence and/or trace assets which exist only
in digital form and which can be deleted or dissipated
instantly with a click or a swipe; and the up-front
costs which a defrauded victim must meet in order to
seek justice representing a worthwhile investment.”
In other words, does taking legal action in such
cases involve throwing good money after bad?
However, several recent, high-profile cases have
demonstrated that the law is keeping up and that
taking tangible action against fraud in cyberspace is
becoming more widely understood, more effective
and therefore more worthwhile.
TWO INTERESTING CASES
Before offering guidance on preventative steps to
take, Norbury-Robinson highlights two recent cases
that have shown the way forward.
Pointing first to the case of AA v Persons Unknown,
she says that this “pulls together some of the key
legal issues which a victim of cyber fraud can face,
and confirms that UK law offers effective, practical
solutions.”
She continues: “As well as specifically addressing
issues such as the nature and recoverability of crypto
assets, the case draws on the recently developed body
of case law concerning the imposition of injunctions
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 16

CYBER FRAUD
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
on, and the recovery of assets from, unidentified
defendants – persons unknown.”
And of the more recent case of Fetch.ai v
Persons Unknown, says Louise, develops the
law even further: “It demonstrates the UK
courts’ willingness to overcome potential legal,
technical, and procedural hurdles wherever
possible, to ensure that justice can be served for
victims of this largely faceless fraud.”
In delving into the first case, AA v Persons
Unknown, Louise says that the victim
company had received a ransom demand from
unidentified defendants who had hacked and
encrypted the business’ computer system. The
company’s insurer paid the Bitcoin equivalent of
$950,000 so that the system could be decrypted,
and trading could continue. The insurer then
sought to recover the defrauded assets via claims
against persons unknown – the hackers and
unidentified persons controlling the accounts
into which the ransom was paid – and against the
Bitcoin exchange itself.
She says that the court made orders – more on
this below – to enable the claimant insurance
company to discover the identity of the
defendants and to facilitate the preservation,
tracing and potentially, ultimately, the recovery
of the lost cryptocurrency.
Louise says that several legal and practical
points arose from the case: “Firstly, publicity
could have tipped off the unknown defendants
enabling them to dissipate the Bitcoin. It could
also have triggered further attacks, including
revenge or copycat attacks.” She adds that “the
court had been provided with confidential
information to determine the issues. It was
possible that the Bitcoin exchange defendant had
been mixed up unknowingly in the wrongdoing
of the as-yet unidentified defendants.”
It was for these reasons that she says it was
appropriate for this hearing to be held without
notice and in private.
But by the very nature of the crime, it was not
known where the unidentified defendants were
based. The Bitcoin exchange defendant was
based outside of England and Wales and appeared
to have addresses in China and the British Virgin
Islands. However, as Louise explains, “the claims
fell under certain permitted jurisdictional
gateways; and the Bitcoin could have been
dissipated at any moment.” As a result, it made
sense for the court “to make orders for service
out of the jurisdiction and for service by e-mail
at any address relating to the Bitcoin account, by
delivery to any physical address relating to the
account and by filing the claim at court.”
The claimant insurer sought a proprietary
injunction with regard to the Bitcoin. “The court,”
Louise says, “confirmed that crypto assets such
as Bitcoin are property and can be the subject of
proprietary relief. A proprietary injunction was
therefore granted, along with ancillary orders
requiring all respondents to provide information
as to the identity of persons unknown.”
In overview, a proprietary injunction prevents
a person from dealing with assets in which a
claimant has a proprietary interest. Proprietary
injunctions attach to the assets in question,
unlike freezing injunctions which attach to
defendants and respondents personally, and so
give greater security to a claimant. Proprietary
injunctions are also less intrusive against
defendants compared to ‘freezers’ which means
that they may be more readily granted.
“It demonstrates the UK courts’ willingness
to overcome potential legal, technical, and
procedural hurdles wherever possible, to
ensure that justice can be served for victims
of this largely faceless fraud.”
But where a claimant does not have a
proprietary claim, Louise says that they
can pursue a freezing injunction even in
circumstances where the identity of the wrongdoers
is unknown. She adds that “a flurry of
recent case law in this area demonstrates that UK
courts are generally willing to take a sensible and
pragmatic approach to awarding an injunction to
assist a victim of fraud or other harm/tort caused
by persons unknown.”
Louise points out that applications for
injunctions often need to be supported by
specific additional tactical orders, “perhaps
requiring third parties to disclose information,
documents or even identities that would
otherwise be subject to duties of confidentiality.”
As she has seen, these orders can require
institutions – such as banks or other businesses
based outside the jurisdiction – to provide
information in line with an order of the English
court. But as Louise highlights, “jurisdiction for
the English court to make such orders has to be
established on a case-by-case basis. It was one
of the key issues addressed in Fetch.ai v Persons
Unknown, the second case.”
In this instance, she explains that hackers
(the persons unknown, the first defendants
and respondents) gained access to private keys
associated with cryptocurrency accounts held by
the claimant at the Binance currency exchange
(the second and third respondents). “The
hackers,” she says, “removed cryptocurrency
from the accounts and sold it on at a massive
undervalue, apparently to co-conspirators,
causing loss of some $2.6 million to the claimant.
The claimant therefore applied for, and was
granted, a proprietary injunction, a worldwide
freezing order and disclosure orders requiring
third parties to provide information to assist in
tracing the assets.”
In this case, the court confirmed again that
cryptocurrency is recognised as property under
English law. Here Louise comments that “the
judge also decided that the claimant's private
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 17 continues on page 18 >

CYBER FRAUD
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
key constituted confidential information, thereby
enabling the claimant to pursue breach of
confidence as a cause of action.”
But there is another case that is relevant here, one
that Norbury-Robinson says went unreported. In
this, the judge held that cryptocurrency assets are
located where the owner has a place of residence
or business. She says that “as the claimant was
based in the UK, the courts of England and Wales
had jurisdiction to hear this case. However, it was
not known in which jurisdiction the unidentified
hackers were based. The Binance exchange
defendants were, though, based both in the UK
and in the Cayman Islands.”
She says that the court overcame any potential
service difficulties by finding that the claims fell
under various permitted jurisdictional gateways.
It also showed that cryptocurrency cyber fraud
cases “often lead to a finding of exceptional
circumstances to allow service by alternative
means, especially where service under the Hague
Convention for service abroad will take weeks or
months.” As a result, service by alternative means
was allowed in this case.
For reference, jurisdictional gateways enable
English courts to exercise jurisdiction over foreign
defendants in circumstances where the subject
matter of the dispute has a sufficient connection
with England. Good examples include where a
person lives within the jurisdiction; where the
claim relates wholly or principally to property
within the jurisdiction; where the claim relates
to a contract which is made in the jurisdiction,
is governed by English law, or contains a term by
which the parties submit to the jurisdiction of the
English courts.
And to aid the discovery of information, orders
– referred to above – can be sought. Louise details
them both:
The first, a Norwich Pharmacal order – named
after the case which gave rise to this form of
tactical relief – “is a fairly wide disclosure order
which can be made against a person who is not
a party or wrongdoer, but who may be able to
provide information needed to identify a party/
wrongdoer or to facilitate the seeking of redress.
Importantly, Norwich Pharmacal orders cannot
be made outside the jurisdiction.” This was
made against the UK-based Binance exchange
respondent.
The second, a Bankers Trust order, again,
named after the case which gave rise to the relief,
is slightly more limited compared to a Norwich
Pharmacal. On this Louise says that “it can
require banks or financial institutions to disclose
account information. It can therefore still be
highly effective in fraud cases, plus it can be
made outside the jurisdiction.” This type of order
was made against the Cayman-based Binance
exchange respondent in Fetch.ai.
TAKEAWAY ADVICE
Unfortunately, encryption and ransom as
encountered in AA v Persons Unknown is
relatively common. And hacking, as was seen
in Fatech.ai, is often behind the increasingly
prevalent push payment fraud and various other
forms of cybercrime.
But in Norbury-Robinson’s view, UK courts can
offer options for victims of cyber fraud, “making
the UK a leading jurisdiction for the prosecution
and resolution of these types of claims.”
That said, she beleives that there are also steps
that organisations can take to protect themselves
and their customers.
On prevention, organisations “should
understand the risks so that they can help to
protect their own data and communications.”
She views staff training as vital and says that
everyone should be taught to recognise and
react appropriately to the risks and indicators of
cybercrime and fraud.
Next are policies, procedures and reporting
requirements. These should be reviewed and
updated, and training should be repeated,
regularly; cybercrime is a sophisticated and fastmoving
phenomenon.
Similarly, Norbury-Robinson advises regular
online checks to ensure that the firm/brand is
not being impersonated. She also recommends
putting in place a security culture, which
includes “good cyber security governance
being adopted and fostered. And, where
possible, firms should facilitate home and
mobile working for their staff.” She’s found
that this can help with business continuity
in the event of an attack.
Another key part of prevention is to have
people meeting and speaking, rather than
always communicating by e-mail. Norbury-
Robinson says it’s critical that everyone should
“be extremely cautious of giving any sensitive
information electronically. But where electronic
communication is essential, encrypted e-mails
and password protected portals should be used
as they offer a much greater level of data security.”
But if the worst happens, immediate specialist
legal advice in relation to the tracing, freezing and
recovery of funds should be sought. And along
with following any internal incident management
regime, Norbury-Robinson says that the “police
should be notified as should any lender, insurer,
parties to a transaction, clients and any interested
(industry) bodies.”
IN SUMMARY
Cybercrime and fraud are risks that are on the
rise, but so are the knowledge, technological
means and legal expertise required to effectively
respond to and combat them. The best means
of protection for a business and its customers is to
be proactive, and to have expert legal assistance
in the corner just in case anything does go
wrong.
Even so, Norbury-Robinson emphasises that
victims of blackmail and extortion “should not be
put off approaching a court for fear of exposure of
confidential information or other risks.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 18

CYBER FRAUD
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
CRYPTOCURRENCY TERMS
When reading about cryptocurrency several terms will be
used. Below is a guide to the most common.
Address
Cryptocurrency is identified on the blockchain by unique
addresses. Without an address, no coin is stored and the
blockchain can’t verify its existence. Each transaction
causes the value of your wallet to be updated based on your
address.
Altcoins
Altcoins are any crypto coins not named Bitcoin.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a digital ledger containing every transaction
made in a given cryptocurrency. These transactions are
made up of ‘blocks’. Some blockchains are made of a finite
number of blocks; others have no limit. Some blockchains,
like Bitcoin, are completely public where everyone can see
each transaction. Others are private.
Digital Currency
Digital currency is any currency, money, or money-like asset
that is primarily managed, stored, or exchanged on digital
computer systems. Types of digital currencies include
cryptocurrency, virtual currency, and central bank digital
currency.
Fiat currency
Fiat currency is that which is government-backed and
not backed by any commodity like gold. The value of the
currency relies on our collective faith in the government
backing the currency.
Gas
Gas is the fee paid to make a transaction on the blockchain.
Transaction fees are determined by the speed of the
transaction.
Mining
Mining is the process of finding new transactions on a
blockchain.
Private Key
Like a front door key, a private key is the string of
numbers and letters needed to verify transactions when
selling or withdrawing crypto currency.
Public Key
A public key is a string of characters used to purchase
cryptocurrency. If someone wants to receive cryptocurrency
instead of fiat currency, they can list their public key.
Public Ledger
Each blockchain has its own ledger where every
transaction ever made on a blockchain is viewable. Some
cryptocurrencies operating on an anonymous or private
ledger – others are public.
UK courts can offer
options for victims of cyber
fraud, “making the UK a leading
jurisdiction for the prosecution and
resolution of these types of claims.”
Seed
A seed phrase is a series of words generated by your
cryptocurrency wallet that give you access to the crypto
associated with that wallet. Seed is also used to create
private keys for the sending or spending of crypto.
Wallet
A wallet is where your cryptocurrency is stored and contains
seeds, keys, and addresses. It can be online, paper, software
or hardware based. The last is a physical hardware device
with dedicated security; they’re almost unhackable and
need to be present to authenticate a transaction. Paper is a
physical document containing the public and private keys.
The others are electronic and far less secure.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 19

INTERVIEW
ENERGY
TRANSFER
Sean Feast FCICM speaks to Sue Chapple
FCICM about the utilities sector, future plans
for the CICM, and when 10p was enough to
phone home.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 20

“On my first day I was still sitting
at my desk at 18:00 when my boss,
Peter Coke – an early mentor –
asked me why I was still there. It was
because I was waiting for someone
to give me permission to go!”
SUE CHAPPLE FCICM always
wanted to be a teacher. She
distinctly remembers a school
report when she was around
five that read: ‘Sue would do
better concentrating on her
own work rather than supervising the
class’.
Born in Wolverhampton, Sue’s family
moved to Sidmouth when she was three
and she has lived in Devon ever since.
Her father was an accountant and always
on the move, so much so that Sue went
to 12 different schools in as many years:
“Sometimes he’d move mid-way through a
term, and I had to start at a new school still
wearing my previous school’s uniform,”
she remembers.
For anyone who always sees the glass as
half empty, that would have been tough,
but fortunately Sue’s glass has always
been half full: “Yes it was difficult, but it
made me good at making small talk and
fitting in, and generally not being afraid
of people or situations.”
CAREERS’ ADVICE
Lacking any serious careers’ advice,
beyond being told to learn how to type,
Sue left school after CSE’s with one
principal objective: to earn money. “I’d
worked in a local fruit and veg shop and
liked earning money,” she explains.
In Sue’s mind, finding permanent
employment meant one of two things,
either to join a bank, or the Royal Air
Force! In the event she applied to all of the
local banks and was offered a job by five
of them, opting to join the TSB as a junior
clerk. She was 16.
“I remember the sound of the clock
ticking in the huge boardroom and the
permanent smell of polish,” she laughs.
“I also remember a crash in the banking
hall and being told Mrs Littlejohn had
dropped a jar of piccalilli and to get a mop
and bucket. It’s so funny to think of it now.
“On my first day I was still sitting at my
desk at 18:00 when my boss, Peter Coke
– an early mentor – asked me why I was
still there. It was because I was waiting for
someone to give me permission to go!”
It was at the TSB that the serious
business of studying towards her banking
qualification began. It was, in Sue’s words,
a real slog, but the studying paid off and
she was soon rising through the ranks,
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 21 continues on page 22 >

INTERVIEW
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
becoming the bank’s first ever female bank
manager while still only 25. It was an exciting
time to be at the bank; TSB was one of the first
to embrace new online technologies with
real-time information, virtually inventing
the concept of transient banking and making
it easy to change from one bank to another.
UNANSWERED POST
A pressure to sell insurance and other
branded products changed the dynamic
within TSB, and with its impending merger
with Lloyds, Sue decided to move out of
banking and into the utilities sector, joining
South West Water in Exeter as Head of
Customer Accounts, just after privatisation.
What she found was rather shocking: “I
distinctly recall there being 13,000 items of
unanswered post,” she recalls, “with an army
of staff who’s job was to open the envelopes
and simply add new items in and count the
total every week. I immediately implemented
a revolutionary policy of actually dealing
with the enquiries rather than just counting
them!”
Sue’s tenure at South West Water coincided
with the Woolf Reforms and the then ‘new’
rule that customers could not, in law, be
disconnected from their water supply which
was a human right. “This was my first real
introduction to debt and debtors in all
their guises,” Sue explains, “and I found it
fascinating.”
Sue enjoyed 15 happy years at South
West Water, but when the management of
customers and debt was outsourced to a
third party (the company from whom they
had bought the customer management
system), Sue opted for voluntary redundancy
and joined Severn Trent.
With Phil Wood, another great mentor,
Sue helped establish a non-regulated
business within Severn Trent (known as ST
Utility Services) to work with other firms
in their sector to collect debts. “This was
again another exciting time in my career,
when we were at the forefront of analytics
and customer segmentation and investing
in increasingly sophisticated systems to
improve collections rates and customer
experience.
“The objective was always to grow the
business to the point that it could be sold,
and in the event it was successful, sold very
quickly.”
“EDF was a fabulous
business to work for and
had such a loving and
nurturing approach to
its people, we had some
very clever people in
senior roles and across
many different sectors
– nuclear, energy,
electrical etc – and so it
was always interesting.”
OUTSOURCING SERVICES
Never short of opportunities, Sue decided
to join Convergys, a large outsourcing group
based in Cincinatti that provided whitelabelled
services for many of the best-known
financial services providers. It was her
first exposure to US corporate culture, but
conference calls at 03:00 UK time quickly
lost their novelty value and the role was less
about people and all about technology. As
such she jumped at the chance of joining
EDF as Head of Revenue Management.
“EDF was a fabulous business to work
for and had such a loving and nurturing
approach to its people,” she says. “We had
some very clever people in senior roles and
across many different sectors – nuclear,
energy, electrical etc – and so it was always
interesting.”
It was at this time she ever so nearly, got
to fulfil her earlier ambition to become
a teacher: “We were devising some new
evening classes for the team, but in order to
teach I would first have to qualify, and so I
thought ‘here is my chance’.
“While I completed the 12-month course
(Preparing the Team in the Lifelong Learning
Sector) I quickly realised it wasn’t for me.
Most of it was about administration rather
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 22

INTERVIEW
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
than actual teaching, and so I finally realised
that boat had sailed!”
Ten years with the business went by in a flash
before Sue decided a change would do her good,
and she was approached to join Indesser, a
business that was just being formed to manage
government debt. This was another exciting
adventure, but although Indesser had been
awarded the central contract, it soon discovered
it had to negotiate with every individual
department within government in order to sell
its services.
“Again, I was fortunate enough to meet and
work with some brilliant people, including those
in the Cabinet Office who were responsible for
the decision making and strategic intent of
central Government, but it was also frustrating.
I had been used to a commercial environment
and knew what good looked like; it was very
different in the public sector and although I
was pleased to have had the experience, I knew
it was something I probably wasn’t going to do
long term.”
PROFESSIONAL BODY
It was about this time that Philip King FCICM,
the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of
Credit Management (CICM) began restructuring
the Institute and approached Sue to take on a
Strategic Relationships role. She had been a
member of the CICM (or the ICM as it was pre-
Charter) since working in the water industry and
a former Financial Director and friend, Ken Hill,
had encouraged her to seek out a professional
body to support her career development.
“I absolutely loved it,” she laughs, “partly
because for once everyone always seemed
delighted to see me, and that’s such a joy.”
Two years into her role and Philip dropped
the bombshell that he would be leaving, and
proposed Sue for the interim CEO role: “It was
a Friday evening, and I was on my way to Spain
the next morning,” she remembers. “I was
completely thrown but also knew I had to say
‘yes’!”
The date was 2 March, 2020. Within days, Sue
found herself in charge of an Institute where
the CEO had just left to take on a job as interim
Small Business Commissioner (SBC), with
staff working from home, no-one in the office,
and the start of a global pandemic. It was, in
short, survival mode. Never one to be a rabbit
in the headlights, and later having her interim
appointment confirmed as a permanent role,
Sue immediately set about adapting to a new
working normal.
EXCITING FUTURE
Today, speaking to Sue, The Institute has made
further progress towards a new and exciting
future. The Values have been determined and
the Mission set: “We have to continue to grow
a sustainable membership,” Sue explains, “and
continue to modernise. Where we are known
“We have to
continue to grow
a sustainable
membership,
and continue to
modernise. Where
we are known
we are known
well, but we need
to be known by
more people and
organisations.
we are known well, but we need to be known by
more people and organisations.
“Reviewing what we offer by way of our
training and qualifications will certainly help,
ensuring they always lead and reflect the needs
of today and an ever-changing economy. It’s also
important that we develop our relationships not
only with individuals, but also organisations.”
Sue is also looking forward to the new office
move: “The Water Mill has served us well, but
we need to be in a new space and share in
the design of an office that better meets our
professional, physical and emotional needs.”
Now almost two years into her role, Sue
recognises the tough challenge ahead as the
country emerges from lockdown. But the odd
challenge here and there rarely fazes her. When
she was young, she rode horses, and had two
in particular – Minto and Charlie – with whom
she would occasionally compete: “I would leave
my home at 09:00 in the morning and not come
home till after it was dark,” she smiles. “And all
I had with me was my packed lunch and 10p in
my pocket to call home in an emergency.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 23

COUNTRY FOCUS
Indonesia is a
vast expanse of
opportunity.
Talking big
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
THE modern world is ruled by
numbers, so let’s consider the
meaning of the following four
-270,000,000, 17508, 6000 and 700. An
ostensibly obscure set of numbers,
but each is of direct importance to
one country – Indonesia.
Take the first, it relates to the approximate size
of the Indonesian population – around 3.5 percent
of the people presently on Earth. The second is
roughly the number of islands which form the
archipelago that is Indonesia. The next, 6000, is the
number of inhabited islands in the country. And
the last, 700, refers to the number of languages
spoken by Indonesians.
A VAST COUNTRY
Located north of Australia and south of Malaysia,
Vietnam and the Philippines, Indonesia is a
presidential republic with 34 provinces spread
over vast areas with much wilderness between its
urban areas. Its size is so great that it incorporates
three time zones from GMT +7 to GMT +9.
As for its settling, Portuguese traders arrived
first in 1512, followed by Dutch and British traders.
The Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602
and ruled the area for almost 200 years. But in
1800, when the company went bankrupt, the Dutch
nationalised the company and made it a colony.
The Japanese invasion in March 1942 effectively
ended rule by the Netherlands, and in August
1945, Indonesian leaders declared independence.
However, the Dutch didn’t recognise independence
until 1949 following a conflict that didn’t go well
for them as the former colonial power.
Indonesia is famed for so much. Some might
be drawn to pre-COVID memories of Bali and the
country’s many active volcanoes – including that
which nearly brought down BA Flight 009 south
east of Jakarta (all detailed in All Four Engines
Have Failed by Betty Tootell). Others might know it
for having the world’s largest Muslim population –
some 12 percent of the global population – as well
as some stunning vistas.
Regardless, Indonesia is the world’s 14th largest
country and occupies around 1.9m sq. km. In
comparison, the UK occupies just 242,495 sq. km
and is ranked 78th. There are five main islands –
Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua.
But no matter the reason for its fame, Indonesia
is doing rather well by some accounts. According
to Project Syndicate, an online opinion forum, the
country has produced ‘the world’s most effective
democratically elected leader today’ – President
With good
relations with
both China
and the US,
Indonesia
is seen in a
positive light by
east and west.
Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi. But few seem
aware of this, and he’s only been in office since
2014.
He is said to have set new standards of
governance that should be the envy of other large
democracies and that he ‘has bridged political
divides and reversed the growing momentum of
more extreme parties, partly by being inclusive.’
The forum also says: ‘he has redistributed land
through the formalisation of land ownership,
introduced a new national health-insurance
scheme and cash transfers for the poor, and
increased enrolment in schools.’ The result has
been a decline in inequality.
Yet it appears Jokowi has also been fiscally
prudent, reformed labour laws, and eliminated fuel
subsidies. Public debt is low at less than 40 percent
of GDP (38.5 percent in 2020 according to Statista).
And with a plan for infrastructure development,
if it hadn’t been for COVID Indonesia would have
witnessed an economic boom. With good relations
with both China and the US, Indonesia is seen in a
positive light by east and west.
THE PEOPLE
Officially Bahasa Indonesian is spoken, but so
is Javanese by 70m people, Sundanese by 20m,
Madurese by 9m and Malay by 15m. English is also
widely used and is the lingua franca for business.
With so many languages being spoken it shouldn’t
come as a surprise that it’s ethnically very diverse
and according to Statistics Indonesia, there are 300
plus ethnic groups of which Javanese is the largest
with 42 percent of the population which is followed
by Sundanese (15 percent), Malay (3.5 percent),
Madurese (3 percent), and the Batak (3 percent).
But then there are also the Minangkabau, the
Betawi, the Bugis, the Papuans…and the Chinese,
Indians and Arabs.
In terms of religion, Muslims form the largest
part of society with 87 percent of the population.
Protestants make up six percent, Catholics three
percent, Hindus two percent, and others two
percent.
And as for the age of the populace, Santander’s
data estimates that in July 2021, 23.87 percent
were 14 or under, 16.76 percent were aged 15-24,
42.56 percent were aged 25-54, 8.99 percent aged
55-64 and just 7.82 percent were aged over 65
years. Median age sits at 31.1 years compared to
40.6 years in the UK. Economically speaking, the
average salary in the country is around $862 per
month. The OECD puts the average salary in the
UK at $3,925 per month.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 24

COUNTRY FOCUS
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
Officially
Bahasa
Indonesian is
spoken, but so
is Javanese by
70m people,
Sundanese by
20m, Madurese
by 9m and
Malay by 15m.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 25
KEY SECTORS
The Indonesian economy has grown. Data
from Santander – citing the World Trade
Organisation – notes that imports stood
at $172.9bn in 2015 and $210.5bn in 2019.
Exports for the same years were $171.5bn
and $198.5bn.
Indonesia’s key business sectors have
morphed over time away from agriculture.
Data published by Indonesia Investments
cites data that indicates that in 1965, 51
percent of the economy (GDP) was based
on agriculture while just 13 percent was in
industry and 36 was in services. By 1996,
those figures had changed to 16 percent
agriculture, 42 percent industry and 41
percent services.
But with more detailed data available
to it for 2020, Statista says that agriculture
accounted for 13.7 percent of GDP, servicetype
industries contributed 10.93 percent, and
everything else including manufacturing,
construction, mining, transportation, IT,
defence, waste management generated
around 73.37 percent. That’s quite a change
in 50 plus years.
Specifically, for food and drink, Indonesia
possesses a huge domestic market. It is
considered to be the biggest single part of
the economy. Business Indonesia, says that
production of raw material for the sector
in 2019 accounted for around 13 percent of
Indonesia’s GDP – similar to that found by
Statista above. Meanwhile, food-based
manufacturing accounted for 6.4 percent
of GDP and 29 percent of all manufacturing
output.
Consultancy Bright Indonesia says that
the food processing industry comprises
an estimated 5,700 large and mediumsized
producers that employ 765,000 of the
Indonesian population, and 1.6m micro
and small-scale producers with some 3.75m
employees.
Allied to this is the production of palm
oil where Indonesia is the world's largest
producer of what is an important exportgenerating
industry for the country.
Statista believes that in 2020, production
of this commodity amounted to around
48.3m metric tons – up from 26m in 2012.
However, this level of production is causing
concern amongst environmentalists.
Market-Prospects.com, in a July 2021 report,
picked out Indonesia’s other main industrial
segments – and there are a number - and
all are central to the Ministry of Industry’s
Making Indonesia 4.0 Policy. This policy
provides for a super deduction tax relief
with a rate of up to 300 percent to encourage
investment.
Starting with motor, Indonesia is said to
have produced around 690,000 cars in 2020
and sold close to 532,000. However, data from
Statista offers a lower figure for production
continues on page 26 >

COUNTRY FOCUS
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
at 551,000, placing Indonesia fifth in the region
that puts China first (19.9m vehicles), followed by
Japan (6.9m), South Korea (3.2m) and India
(2.8m).
The Government’s plan is to develop electric
cars using huge reserves in Indonesia of nickel
ore. Statista’s data shows that Indonesian
production of nickel amounted to 760,000
metric tons in 2020. But in 2019, production was
even higher at 853,000 metric tons. Indonesia is
the largest nickel producer in the world.
Next, electronics and information. Mainly
concentrated in West Java and Riau Islands,
there were – according to the Indonesian
Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 – some 266
electronics manufacturers in West Java and 74 in
Riau Islands. Local manufacturing in Indonesia
is a key plank to the 4.0 policy. The same agency
says that electronics and associated output
in 2020 was worth around £13bn. That for
information is even higher at £36.2bn.
On fintech, Asia Intern Program (AIP)
highlights that this sector is growing with
over 300 companies and four unicorns in the
country. Open banking, digital payments and
P2P lending are growing and innovation is being
encouraged.
Textiles and garments are an equally
important export for Indonesia, and they’re
centred on the island of Java. Overall, around 25
percent of Indonesia’s total production is centred
on domestic demand with the remainder for
exports to mainly the US (36 percent), Middle
East (23 percent), EU (13 percent), and China (5
percent) and Asean Briefing valued the sector at
$13.8bn in 2019.
Similarly, there’s a strong shoemaking
industry on Java that produces for international
brands concentrated in Europe and the US.
Revenue in the footwear market is expected to
amount to $3.1bn in 2021 according to Statista.
For both textiles and shoemaking, the
Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board
(BKPM) has stated that the Government wants
to revitalise the sector with newer, more
energy efficient machinery that can improve
productivity.
Another of sector interest is shipbuilding,
and BKPM says that there are around 250
shipyards in Indonesia; however, most can only
build ships under 50,000 deadweights. Further,
local shipbuilding-related industries only
manufacture about 30 percent of the necessary
parts and components. The shipyards are mainly
concentrated in Batam and Java, which are
adjacent to Singapore. It should be of interest
that a Government plan, Sea Toll Programs,
aims to improve connectivity and internal price
disparity among the islands by increasing the
capacity of 24 seaports. BKPM reckons that the
country needs another 1,500 ships in the next
five years.
Petrochemicals is, and has been, a central
part of the economy for some time. The
Indonesian Ministry of Trade notes that oil and
gas used to be a major foreign exchange earner
The
Government’s
plan is to
develop electric
cars using
huge reserves
in Indonesia
of nickel ore.
Statista’s data
shows that
Indonesian
production of
nickel amounted
to 760,000 metric
tons in 2020.
Intiland Tower in
Jakarta City, Indonesia
but rising domestic consumption and stagnant
oil production has now made Indonesia,
remarkably, a net importer of oil. And this is
something that Asian Downstream Insights says
Joko Widodo wants to end by 2024.
It makes sense, then, that national projects
have been launched to boost domestic
production of petrochemicals. These include
the Refinery Development Master Plan and
Pertamina’s $48bn investment. The goal is to
quadruple the country’s production capacity,
beat domestic demand and create new export
revenue. several new plants have secured multibillion-dollar
investments.
It’s relevant that, as BKPM explains on its
website, mineral legislation demands that
commodities such as coal, copper, tin, gold and
nickel are processed in Indonesia before export.
Tourism is gaining ground and is emerging
as a major foreign exchange generator for the
country. If COVID hadn’t struck, BKPM reckoned
that the country would have seen 20m visitors in
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 26

COUNTRY FOCUS
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
Pura Ulun Danu Batur (also known
as "Pura Batur" or "Pura Ulun Danu") is
a Hindu Balinese temple located in the
island of Bali, Indonesia. As one of the
Pura Kahyangan Jagat, Pura Ulun Danu
Batur is one of the most important
temples in Bali which acted as the
maintainer of harmony and stability of
the entire island. Pura Ulun Danu Batur
represents the direction of North and
is dedicated to the god Vishnu and the
local goddess Dewi Danu, goddess of
Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali.
2019 – many of whom may have headed
for any of one of ten main destinations
such as Lake Toda, Cape Coast Kelayang
and the Borobudur Temple.
The final point to note in relation to
industry, is that in a country so widely
spread, many overseas manufacturers
choose to set up factories in industrial
parks because the infrastructure
elsewhere is often underdeveloped.
Indonesia currently has about 100
industrial parks in operation, more than
half of which are in Java. It’s pertinent that
the workforce numbers 134m, is low cost
and ideal for labour-intensive industries.
TAXATION
With not much space left to cover other
related matters, we turn to taxation and the
standard rate of Corporation Tax, which is
22 percent for 2021. This was due fall to 20
percent in 2022, but was cancelled. Public
companies meeting certain conditions
are entitled to a 3 percent reduction, and
small enterprises with a turnover under
IDR 50bn (around £2.6m) are entitled to
a 50 percent reduction. And those with
a turnover under IDR 4.8bn (around
£250,000) pay just 0.5 percent of gross
income.
Employers must cover workers' social
security costs. Employer contributions
are 0.24 to 1.74 percent for work accident
protection; 0.3 percent for death
insurance; 3.7 percent for old age savings;
and two percent (subject to a salary cap)
for the pension plan. There’s also an
employer contribution for the healthcare
scheme of four percent (subject to a salary
cap).
Regional Governments may also levy
taxes on matters such as vehicles, water,
entertainment, hotels, road illumination
and park. VAT attracts a standard rate
of 10 percent, a zero rate on exports and
services, and exempts goods and services
such as livestock, water, vaccines and
books. However, this rate is due to rise to
11 percent in 2022 and 12 percent by 2025.
Lastly, income tax is progressive and
ranges in bands from five percent to 30
percent.
TO FINISH
Indonesia may be on the other side of
the planet to the UK, but it’s heading for
the stratosphere. So much so that a 2017
report from consultancy PwC said that by
2050 Indonesia will be the world’s fourth
largest economy behind - and in this order
– China, India and the US. It’s not clearly a
country to be ignored.
Adam Bernstein is a freelance
business writer.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 27

CICM BRITISH CREDIT AWARDS
Winning Ways
What is it like to win one of the biggest
awards in the credit industry?
AUTHOR – Sam Wilson
Elisabeth Doppelhofer
“You could see
winners of all awards
beaming with pride
and being supported
and championed
by their peers and
their own teams all
evening long. I felt
really happy for him,
and I wanted that
for myself and my
team.”
FOR Elisabeth Doppelhofer, Head
of Credit and Support Services at
the Adecco Group UK & Ireland,
the world’s second-largest Human
Resources provider, the British
Credit Awards is the gold standard
in credit management.
“Being a finalist, or even better, winning
an award, is such an achievement. To be
recognised by an Institute as respected as the
CICM is the biggest compliment anyone in our
industry can achieve.”
And for Elisabeth, her journey started
many years ago thanks to her former boss, and
previous Adecco Group UK & Ireland Head of
Credit, Martin Kirby: “I used to work under a
Head of Credit who I very much looked up to
and around five years ago, I was there when he
won his award for Credit Professional of the
Year. Seeing how much that meant to him was
inspiring.
“You could see winners of all awards
beaming with pride and being supported and
championed by their peers and their own teams
all evening long. I felt really happy for him, and
I wanted that for myself and my team.”
LOGICAL SUCCESSOR
As soon as Martin left the company, the next
logical successor to the role was the longserving
Elisabeth, who threw herself into it
immediately. It wasn’t long before her managers
recognised her hard work and nominated her
for the same award as her predecessor.
After being recognised with a ‘highly
commended’ on her first nomination,
Elisabeth’s supervisors took it upon themselves
to enter her again the following year. This
time, she took home the winner’s prize: “For
me it felt like the pinnacle of my career, to be
recognised externally as Credit Professional of
the Year. It’s quite hard to put it into words how
much that means.
“I’m lucky enough to have a great team
around me so I‘m noticed and celebrated by
them, however, to be recognised by your peers
and judges, and for them to say, ‘this is best
practice and this is our Credit Professional of
the Year’ it just means the world and it’s a huge
confidence boost.”
Elisabeth believes the biggest effect of
the win can be felt within her team and her
department. Her win, which she credits to her
team and their support, has catapulted her
department to Board level recognition within
the business and has given them a big morale
boost.
“The wins we’ve had at the BCAs has given
our team such encouragement over the past
few years and have significantly raised the
standing of our team within the business. The
morning after I won my award, after the Board
and the wider company had been notified, we
had congratulatory emails flying around all
day. In fact, when we won Team of the Year, our
CFO came over to our offices to personally say
‘well done’.”
TEAM RIPPLES
The wins have sent such ripples around the
team, Elisabeth has seen the number of
nominations within her team increase, and
with this year’s entries sat on her desk for
review at the time of our conversation, she was
immensely proud to see her team nominated.
“Our team individually and collectively
are now striving to be nominated at the BCAs
which is so rewarding to see, and Debbie
Matthews, one of the Credit Managers on my
team, won the same award last year, which fills
me with pride.
“The awards themselves are also now
seen as the ‘go-to’ event in the calendar with
our new CFO ensuring they stay within the
budget for the next few years based on the
recommendation of our previous CFO, who
enjoyed them so much!”
With the BCAs returning to an in-person
format this year, the CICM is very much looking
forward to seeing the team out in full force.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 28

CICM BRITISH CREDIT AWARDS
BACK TO FRONT
What does it mean to win the ‘Giving Back’ Award?
AUTHOR – Sam Wilson
KATHERINE Bailey FCICM is a
‘lifer’. An educator and professional
credit manager, credit
management has been her
passion since she took the first
steps into the industry. And
it’s that passion and commitment that saw her
recognised at The British Credit Awards in 2020
when she received the Giving Back Award.
“Being a Fellow of the CICM, the BCA awards
was the one I wanted to win because it’s the
Institute I’m a member of and they’re the exams
I worked hard to complete. It’s the award I’m
most proud of, and when I eventually get a
mantel piece, it will take pride of place.”
Whilst receiving an award as prestigious
as this, would during any normal period, be
monumental for Katherine and her company,
Valor Hospitality, the pandemic put a tiny pin in
celebrations thanks to nationwide shut down of
the entire hospitality industry.
“I suppose all of the benefits we could have
seen as a company from winning an award
such as this were subsumed by the pandemic
because everything else was far more important
at the time.”
However, the award gave her team the
confidence they needed to get through a difficult
time: “Within the business we celebrated the
award completely, and it gave our team a massive
confidence boost. Particularly because credit in
hospitality is often adjoined to accounts, so it
allowed the team and the credit controllers on
site to see someone in credit being recognised.”
INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP
That inspiration, something Katherine is very
well known for amongst her students, resonated
with her team, so much so that more awards
were soon in the offing. “Funnily enough a
member of my team did win an award, after
I put them forward for the Apprentice of the
Year.”
Now, her team are more driven than ever as
Katherine evidenced through their persistence
to enter the Credit Team of the Year Award:
“Winning has sparked something within the
team as a whole,” she says. “Now they’re all
asking me if we can enter the Credit Team of the
Year Award, rather than me doing all of the flag
waving, which just shows how impactful the
BCAs can be.”
The mentorship that allowed Katherine’s
Apprentices to win a highly recognised award
and prompt them to push for entry into the Team
Award is one of the main reasons Katherine was
put forward for her commendation.
“The win definitely created a new passion
point for the CICM within our business. In
the wake of the pandemic, we’ve seen more
“Winning
has sparked
something within
the team as a
whole, now they’re
all asking me if
we can enter the
Credit Team of the
Year Award, rather
than me doing all
of the flag waving,
which just shows
how impactful the
BCAs can be.”
and more people come through into credit
management and express an interest in learning
and becoming part of the Institute, including
some of our Apprentices.”
After nine years as part of the CICM’s
teaching panel, educating students in a variety
of subject areas including trade, consumer
and export credit management, as well as
business environment and Law, the CICM
appointed her as Chair of the Steering Group for
Apprenticeship Standards.
“I’ve been teaching for the CICM for eight
years and I love giving back to my students and
being there to teach them, not just to pass their
exams but to help them develop their career.”
It’s not just Katherine who sees the benefits.
To this day she has close relationships with
students she mentored many years previously.
“Having ex-students phone me up asking for
advice or even to proofread something means so
much. Seeing them progress beyond the course
I teach and go on to do their Level Five, for
example, makes me feel great and very much
makes me smile!”
Sue Chapple FCICM, Chief Executive of
the CICM said Katherine is an example of a
dedicated mentor and someone who continues
to put her heart and soul into the industry:
“Katherine consistently goes above and beyond,
not just for her students but for her local East
of England branch and the industry as a whole.
She’s an example of someone who has excelled
within her career but also someone who has
demonstrated commitment to learning and
education, a core principle of the CICM.
“We’re extremely lucky to have her within
the Institute and she thoroughly deserves the
recognition she receives.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 29

INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
Monthly round-up of the latest stories
in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.
UK exports doing well
ACCORDING to a new report,
The Export Divided, from
Barclays Corporate Banking
UK, manufacturing exports will
bring in around £176bn to the
domestic economy.
According to the report, overseas trading
has remained resilient despite challenging
economic conditions caused by the
pandemic, Brexit, widespread supply chain
issues and energy shortages.
The Barclays report says that total
exports could even rise to £190bn by 2030 if
manufacturers that are currently planning
to enter the market begin selling their
products overseas.
As to the source of the data, Barclays
ran a survey of 604 senior managers in
manufacturing businesses with 10 or more
employees for a week in mid-October.
The data found that 69 percent were
currently exporting. And of those firms not
yet exporting, there is significant demand
to start doing so, with 63 percent looking to
start selling overseas in 2022.
However, 71 percent of manufacturers
told the survey that the pandemic
continues to have a negative impact on
their businesses. And 43 percent are
diversifying their global supply base
with 40 percent setting up overseas
warehousing space to offset the problems
in their supply chains.
Interestingly, a minority of respondents
were aware of current or emerging
initiatives to encourage international trade,
such as the UK’s bid to join the Trans-
Pacific Partnership (42 percent) and the
recently signed free trade agreements
with Japan (41 percent) and Australia (39
percent).
And only 35 percent were aware of plans
to create eight new freeports in England,
which offer tax breaks for manufacturers
on the import of materials.
So good news mixed with no news?
LOOK TO DIGITAL
HEALTHCARE
A report in MoneyWeek suggests firms should
look to partner up with firms linked to digital
health which is on an upward curve.
While technology has been growing in this
area for a while, the pandemic kicked it into
high gear and according to MoneyWeek: “more
and more venture-capital money is pouring into
innovative health-technology start-ups: 2021 is
on track to be another record year, with around
$51bn already raised for global health-tech startups
so far.” Research from consultants McKinsey
describes digital health as a $350bn industry in
2019 which is growing by at least eight percent
a year.
As to the sector’s key growth areas,
MoneyWeek notes five – telehealth that
facilitates virtual health interactions between
patients and professionals; remote monitoring
where patients are tracked remotely as they go
about their lives rather than in a health centre;
mental health that is seeing demand for mental
healthcare and support is spiking post-pandemic;
records and growing health data that needs
to be managed and available to patients and
health experts alike; and diagnostics that involve
remote diagnosis.
So, if you’re involved in sectors close to these
areas, you really should be capitalising on your
position before someone else does.
UK’S POSSIBLE RE-JOINING OF LUGANO CONVENTION
THE European Parliament Think Tank
has published a briefing – The United
Kingdom's possible re-joining of the
2007 Lugano Convention.
The convention, which regulates
the free movement of court judgments
in civil cases between EU member
states and the three EFTA states
(Switzerland, Norway and Iceland)
but following the UK’s exit from the
EU and the expiry of the transition
period provided for by the Withdrawal
Agreement, the UK was no longer
bound by the convention.
The new briefing discusses the
impact of Brexit on the UK and the
Lugano Convention, the UK’s bid to
re-join the convention, as well as
whether the EU will join the HCCH
2019 Judgments Convention, and
what this might mean if the UK also
joined, among other things.
Common-sense may prevail in the
end.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 30

UK Government publishes report
on digital trade and protectionism
THE Department for International Trade
has published a report, Digital trade
key to unlocking opportunities of the
future, written by the Board of Trade,
outlining the opportunities that digital
trade presents for boosting UK exports,
economic growth and jobs across the
UK. The report encourages the UK to
take further action to tackle digital
protectionism and discrimination on the
global stage.
The report recommends that the
Government focusses its digital trade
policy around five goals: open digital
markets, free and trusted data flows,
consumer and business safeguards, digital
Steel company secures
exports with finance support
A story on GOV.UK details that Paralloy, a
steel company on Teeside, has benefited
from UK Export Finance’s new General
Export Facility.
Paralloy makes patented steel alloy
castings used in high temperature
furnaces and exports 95 percent of what it
makes in the UK to 70 overseas markets.
Its exports had reached record levels
of £50m and the firm required general
working capital to fulfil record demand
for its services. As the story explains, the
Seaweed firm wins Belgian contract
ACCORDING to the Herald of Scotland,
SHORE the Scottish Seaweed Co
recently secured a major export deal to
supply seaweed chips to Belgium. From
November, the company’s Lightly Salted
and Sweet Sriracha flavours have been on
sale in up to 300 Delhaize supermarkets.
Not bad since the UK launch in
2020 of the company’s seaweed chips.
Furthermore, its products have several
industry awards, including a Gold Free
trading systems, and partnerships to
shape global rules, norms, and
standards; concludes accession to
Comprehensive and Progressive
Agreements for Trans-Pacific Partnerships
(CPTPP) and builds a pipeline of modern
digital free trade agreements; pursues
a Digital Economy Agreement with
Singapore; pushes for substantial
progress in ongoing World Trade
Organisation e-commerce negotiations;
and uses its G7 Presidency, and
membership of the G20, Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development,
and WTO, to advocate for an open,
inclusive digital economy.
company secured a £15m funding package
from Santander UK that was supported
by UK Export Finance with an 80 percent
guarantee. The funding will enable
Paralloy to fulfil the most exports in its
90-year history, with shipments to North
America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
The firm has opened two additional sites
and recruited 76 new staff following record
demand for its exports. The firm plans to
hire a further 40 additional staff, including
engineers, welders, and fabricators.
From Food Award and Winner of Best
Snacking Product at the World Food
Innovation Awards as well as a Great Taste
Award.
Keith Paterson, managing director of
SHORE, sees the potential in export: “We
see export as a key part of our strategy,
so we are delighted to announce this
partnership with Delhaize supermarket in
Belgium, something we have been working
on for the last six months.”
UKEF to use 20 percent budget
increase to pursue multi-year growth plan
Spain to get 10bn
euros – and more
SPAIN could become a more appealing
target for exporters now that the
European Commission has given
preliminary approval to the disbursement
of 10bn euros under the EU recovery plan.
The money comes as part of the EU’s
27-nation plan to support the recovery
of the European economy following the
pandemic.
While the 10bn euros is interesting,
a total of 70bn could be headed Spain’s
way, but only if it takes steps towards a
greener, more digital economy.
Venezuela on the turn?
COULD Venezuela be on the road to some
form of recovery? Possibly. The Socialist
party of Venezuelan president, Nicolás
Maduro, won in the local and state
elections recently, albeit from a low turnout
of just 41 percent of eligible citizens voted.
The vote was not seen as open and fair.
That said, the Venezuelan economy
looks like it might have grown by between
five and 10 percent during 2021 – its
first annual growth since 2013. The Wall
Street Journal puts that volte-face down
to the “scrapping of an ossified stateled
economic model in exchange for an
anything-goes version of capitalism”
that Maduro introduced in 2019. As a
result, basic goods no longer have price
controls, imports are tariff-free and
there is “virtually no tax enforcement on
businesses and individuals”.
But despite the improvement, the US
dollar is now reported to be the de facto
national currency and so exporters should
be not only careful with whom they trade
but also, in which currency they get paid.
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
UK Export Finance (UKEF) has
commented on what it seeks to achieve
with the 20 percent funding increase
announced in the Autumn Budget 2021.
The increase, which will be funded by
the premium income UKEF generates
for the taxpayer will be used to pursue
UKEF’s current multi-year growth, enable
it to implement its net zero commitment
and increase support for green projects,
expand its network of International
Export Finance Executives overseas and
improve risk management, underwriting
and cyber security capacity.
UKEF has said that “in 2020-21, the
department provided the highest level
of support for UK businesses in 30 years.
£12.3 billion went to 549 UK businesses,
which is estimated to have supported up
to 107,000 UK jobs.”
GBP/EUR 1.20050 1.17878 Up
GBP/USD 1.37097 1.33518 Up
GBP/CHF 1.25923 1.22764 Up
GBP/AUD 1.89900 1.85127 Up
GBP/CAD 1.72919 1.70080 Down
GBP/JPY 157.265 152.369 Up
This data was taken on 24th January and refers to the
month previous to/leading up to 23rd January 2022.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 31

PAYMENT TRENDS
Patchy Payment
Performance
The latest late payment figures are a mix
of good and not so good.
FORECASTING the world of late
payment remains a challenge,
highlighted by the latest statistics
which show a mixture of both
positives and negatives. The
average Days Beyond Terms (DBT)
across regions in the UK reduced by 1.3 days
but increased by 0.3 days across sectors. In
Ireland, the sector figures reduced by 3.8
days but increased by 2.1 days across regions.
Average DBT across regions in Northern Ireland
reduced by 0.2 days.
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT
More than half of UK sectors are moving in the
right direction, making improvements to their
late payments. A reduction of 4.9 days, taking
its overall DBT to 16 days, means Construction
moves off the bottom of the standings. Further
improvement (-2.2 days) sees the Entertainment
sector maintain its position as the best
performing sector, but the Hospitality sector
remains close behind following a reduction
of 3.6 days to its DBT. Moving at pace in the
wrong direction is the Water & Waste sector,
a sharp increase of 14 days mean it is now the
worst performing sector with an overall DBT
of 26.5 days. Elsewhere, the Energy Supply
(+5.1 days), Financial and Insurance (+3.8 days)
and Mining and Quarrying sectors also saw
unwanted increases.
The outlook in Ireland is also positive on
the whole, with only three of the 20 sectors
seeing increases in late payments. On the up in
some style is the Real Estate sector, reducing
its DBT by 24.9 and taking its overall DBT
to zero days, alongside seven other sectors.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector
also made great strides, reducing its late
payments by 20 days, moving it off the bottom
of the rankings. Taking its place as the worst
performing sector, as in the UK, is the Water
& Waste sector, no change means its overall
DBT remains at 34 days. IT and Comms (+4.7
days) and the Wholesale and retail trade;
repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
(+2.8 days) sectors both saw increases, but the
biggest jumper in the wrong direction is the
Public Administration sector, experiencing an
increase of 24.8 days to its late payments.
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The UK regional standings are positive for
the most part, with nine of the 11 regions
making reductions to late payments. A further
improvement by the South West (-2.1 days),
means it remains the best performing region
with an overall DBT of nine days. East Anglia
remains the worst performing region with an
overall DBT of 18.9 days, but a reduction of 2.9
days to its late payments means it is, at least,
moving in the right direction.
Over in Ireland, the regional standings are a
real mixed bag. Looking at the positives, some
10 regions (Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Leitrim,
Longford, Meath, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford
and Westmeath) are all sitting pretty on an
overall DBT of zero days. At the other end of
the scale, Mayo’s DBT soared by a massive 60
days. There were also hefty increases in late
payments for Offaly (+15.6 days), Wicklow
(+14.1 days) and Kerry (+13.7 days).
In Northern Ireland, only one (Ulster) of the
four regions saw an increase in late payments.
An increase of 1.5 days means its overall
DBT now stands at 16.4 days, making it the
worst performing region in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Connacht (-3.1 days) and Munster
(-0.3 days) made steady reductions, and there
was no change for Leinster, maintaining its
position as Northern Ireland’s leading region
with an overall DBT of zero days.
The world of late payment remains a challenge,
highlighted by the latest statistics which show
a mixture of both positives and negatives.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 32

STATISTICS
Data supplied by the Creditsafe Group
Top Five Prompter Payers
Region Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
South West 9 -2.1
Yorkshire and Humberside 10.9 -3.1
East Midlands 11.4 -2.1
West Midlands 12.7 -0.5
South East 13.2 -1.6
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
Region Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
East Anglia 18.9 -2.9
Northern Ireland 17.3 -3.9
North West 17.1 -0.9
Wales 16.9 3
London 15 -1.1
Top Five Prompter Payers
Sector Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Entertainment 7.1 -2.2
Hospitality 7.9 -3.6
Business from Home 8.8 2.6
Public Administration 9 -2.1
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 11 0.5
Bottom Five Poorest Payers
Sector Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Water & Waste 26.5 14
Energy Supply 22.1 5.1
Other Service 19.9 2.8
Real Estate 16.3 -1.1
Transportation and Storage 16.3 -1.3
Getting better
Dormant -5.7
Construction -4.9
Hospitality -3.6
IT and Comms -2.7
Entertainment -2.2
Public Administration -2.1
Business Admin & Support -1.6
Transportation and Storage -1.3
Real Estate -1.1
International Bodies -0.8
Wholesale and retail trade -0.7
Professional and Scientific -0.6
Health & Social -0.1
Getting worse
Water & Waste 14
Energy Supply 5.1
Financial and Insurance 3.8
Mining and Quarrying 2.9
Other Service 2.8
Business from Home 2.6
SCOTLAND
1.3 DBT
Education 1.8
Manufacturing 0.9
NORTHERN
IRELAND
-3.9 DBT
SOUTH
WEST
-2.1 DBT
WALES
3 DBT
NORTH
WEST
-0.9 DBT
WEST
MIDLANDS
-0.5 DBT
YORKSHIRE &
HUMBERSIDE
-3.1 DBT
EAST
MIDLANDS
-2.1 DBT
LONDON
-1.1 DBT
SOUTH
EAST
-1.6 DBT
EAST
ANGLIA
-2.9
DBT
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 0.5
Region
Getting Better – Getting Worse
-3.9
-3.1
-2.9
-2.1
-2.1
-1.6
-1.1
-0.9
-0.5
3
1.3
Northern Ireland
Yorkshire and Humberside
East Anglia
East Midlands
South West
South East
London
North West
West Midlands
Wales
Scotland
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 33

PAYMENT TRENDS
Getting worse / no change
GALWAY
-3 DBT
CONNACHT
3.7 DBT
LEITRIM
0.5 DBT
CAVAN
0 DBT
ULSTER
16.4 DBT
MONAGHAN
xDBT
Public Administration 24.8
IT and Comms 4.7
Wholesale and retail trade 2.8
Business Admin & Support 0
MUNSTER
4.1 DBT
CLARE
-21.5 DBT
LEINSTER
0 DBT
LONGFORD
0 DBT
CARLOW
0 DBT
KILKENNY
-23.5 DBT WEXFORD
0 DBT
DUBLIN
1.1 DBT
Education 0
Energy Supply 0
Hospitality 0
International Bodies 0
Mining and Quarrying 0
Transportation and Storage 0
Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland
Region Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Cavan 0 0
Clare 0 -21.5
Donegal 0 0
Leitrim 0 -0.5
Longford 0 0
Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland
Region Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Monaghan 91.8 0
Carlow 65 0
Mayo 60 60
Wexford 48.2 0
Kildare 41 8.8
Top Four Prompter Payers – Northen Ireland
Region Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Leinster 0
Connacht 3.7
Munster 4.1
Ulster 16.4
Top Five Prompter Payers – Ireland
Sector Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Entertainment 0 -9
Health & Social 0 -10
Hospitality 0 0
International Bodies 0 0
Other Service 0 -21.5
Bottom Five Poorest Payers – Ireland
Sector Dec 21 Change from Nov 21
Water & Waste 34 0
Business Admin & Support 28 0
Energy Supply 26 0
Public Administration 25.5 24.8
Education 24 0
Water & Waste 0
Business Admin & Support 0
Education 0
Energy Supply 0
Hospitality 0
International Bodies 0
Mining and Quarrying 0
Transportation and Storage 0
Water & Waste 0
Getting better
Real Estate -24.9
Other Service -21.5
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing -20
Entertainment -9
Financial and Insurance -8.4
Construction -6
Manufacturing -5.8
Professional and Scientific -3.7
The outlook in Ireland is also positive
on the whole, with only three of the
20 sectors seeing increases in late
payments. On the up in some style
is the Real Estate sector, alongside
seven other sectors.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 34

EXCELLENCE IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT
EXCELLING
EXCELLENCE
The CICM Centre of Excellence Award
has evolved to a new Standard.
AUTHOR – Sam Wilson
BEING labelled a Centre of
Excellence carries with it a
certain level of gravitas many in
the credit management industry
strive to achieve. For the
handful that have been awarded
such honour in the past 10 years, that gravitas
never really wanes. It’s the sort of award that
sits atop a mantlepiece but never gathers dust.
Time has moved on, however, and after
almost two years of unprecedented change
that has affected almost every department in
every business, the CICM’s Centre of Excellence
Award is to be replaced. And with something
even better.
The idea behind the change is to reflect the
way credit management teams are running
in today’s ‘post pandemic’ world. The new
award, aptly named ‘CICM Excellence in Credit
Management’, now recognises that businesses
are no longer a ‘centre’; they’re remote, mobile
and more diversified than ever before.
What has not changed, however, is the
standard one must attain to achieve such a
prestigious new accolade. Whilst the moniker
may now be different, the gravitas it brings,
and the level of achievement it represents, is as
high as ever.
TOP AWARD
The CICM Excellence in Credit Management
will sit at the very top of the CICM’s awards
table and will recognise organisations that
can demonstrate they meet a very specific and
challenging criteria that is then ratified by the
Institute’s Executive Board.
Chief Executive Sue Chapple FCICM is fully
behind the new initiative: “One of the most
gratifying elements of my role at the CICM is
awarding those who have reached the highest
possible level within their industry,” she says.
“The sense of pride we, as an Institute, have
in these awards is exactly why we wanted to
replace the existing award with something that
better reflects the modern age in which we live,
regardless of whether their offices are physical
or digital.”
To ensure the new award is truly sought
after, the Excellence in Credit Management
will be limited to just five winners annually to
ensure that only the best are recognised. The
awards will be presented on stage at the annual
British Credit Awards with certification lasting
two years from the date the accreditation is
granted.
BOARD APPROVAL
Unlike the rest of the British Credit
Award categories, the Excellence in Credit
Management accreditation award requires full
board agreement and the deadline for entries
to be considered is 31 January, 2022 (and will
continue on this date each year).
The full qualifying criteria can be found on
the CICM’s website. Candidate businesses must
have held a CICMQ accreditation for a minimum
of two years, have CICM memberships for all
key members of the organisation’s team, and
a clear demonstration of a commitment to the
credit community and further development of
the profession.
“Our members, especially those who
are heavily involved with the CICM, pride
themselves on making the Credit Management
industry a better place for those that follow,” Sue
adds. “Therefore, it’s only right that we expect
to see our highest achievers demonstrating
how they continue to make credit management
a better profession in the future.
“This can come in many forms including
learning and mentorship, education and
teaching or even student sponsorship.”
“The sense of pride we, as an Institute, have in these awards
is exactly why we wanted to replace the existing award with
something that better reflects the modern age in which we live,
regardless of whether their offices are physical or digital.”
Excellence
In Credit Management
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com /January & February 2022 / PAGE 35

SALARY AND RECRUITING TRENDS
NEW YEAR,
NEW PRIORITIES
Salary and recruitment trends for the year ahead.
AUTHOR – Natascha Whitehead
LAST year brought plenty
of change to the world of
work including increased
optimism, and plenty for
professionals and employers
to consider over the coming
12 months.
Following research from credit
professionals and employers published
in the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends
2022 guide, here is a glimpse into what we
can expect for 2022 as well as some of the
most significant trends that we witnessed
last year.
HIRING BACK ON THE AGENDA
Optimism amongst finance employers
has improved over the last 12 months,
with two-thirds (66 percent) now
confident about the wider economic
climate over the next two to five years,
compared to only a third (34 percent) in
2020. Credit professionals are much more
optimistic too, with over half (54 percent)
expressing confidence in the wider
economic climate versus just 18 percent
the year prior.
Recruitment was firmly back on the
agenda in 2021 and talent shortages
increased across many areas, including
credit management. Going forward, 60
percent of accountancy and finance
employers plan to hire over the next 12
months, with over two-thirds (67 percent)
anticipating a shortage of suitable
applicants.
Some four fifths (80 percent) of
accountancy and finance employers
encountered skill shortages over the past
year, higher than last year (73 percent).
Employee morale was seen as the biggest
casualty of these skills shortages, with
almost half (48 percent) saying it had
been negatively impacted, a significant
increase on last year (31 percent).
SALARIES ON THE RISE
Pay rises were higher than anticipated in
accountancy and finance in 2021. Almost
two thirds (64 percent) of employers
increased salaries over the past year,
despite the fact that only 55 percent
expected to do so. Pay inflation looks
set to continue, with over three quarters
(76 percent) expecting to increase
their salaries over the coming year,
considerably higher than the UK average
(61 percent).
Overall, salaries across credit
management rose by 1.4 percent on
average, higher than the 0.5 percent seen
in 2020.
ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Encouragingly, over half (57 percent)
of credit professionals feel positive
about their career prospects this year,
compared to just 30 percent the year
prior. However, less than half (48 percent)
of professionals plan to move jobs over
the next 12 months, lower than 60 percent
in 2020.
Although this may seem that
credit professionals are settled with
their employer – close to half (49
percent) believe there is no scope for
career development in their current
organisation. So, employers should be
doing all they can to improve career path
transparency in order to retain talented
individuals.
When thinking about moving
roles, aside from salary, 37 percent of
professionals said work-life balance
is the most important factor, followed
by job security (20 percent). Across all
sectors, including in credit, salary is
becoming slightly less of the deciding
factor in the job search – as 60 percent of
credit professionals would be willing
to accept a lower paid job for a better
work-life balance or a job with more
purpose.
With hybrid working taking over the
working world, it’s no surprise that 70
percent of credit professionals could be
tempted to move jobs if the employer
offered a flexible approach to hybrid
working, rather than set days in or out of
the office.
MISMATCH IN SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT
In data from our guide, finance employers
told us that the soft skills they need most
are communication and interpersonal
skills (61 percent), followed by the
ability to adopt change (57 percent) and
flexibility and adaptability (51 percent).
However, for credit professionals,
the skills they’d most like to improve
are people management (35 percent),
communication and interpersonal skills
(27 percent), critical thinking (26 percent)
and problem solving (26 percent).
To build successful teams, employers
need to be onboard with what skills exist
in their teams already, and what critical
skills are needed to succeed. Positively,
over half (54 percent) of finance
employers would be willing to hire a
professional who does not possess all of
the required skills with the intention of
upskilling them.
Tips and actions for the year ahead
Based on the findings from our guide,
here are three actions I recommend
employers and professionals take in the
year ahead.
1. Salary isn’t everything
While salary and benefits remain
important to credit professionals, our
findings show that people are increasingly
attracted to roles that offer a good
work-life balance, and to organisations
that prioritise their purpose, social
responsibility and ‘doing good’. Staff
volunteer days and opportunities to
support charitable organisations are very
important to prospective candidates,
along with the sustainability strategy of
a potential employer. Remember that
salary isn’t everything – I’d recommend
employers have a clear understanding
of why potential new hires want to work
with you, and what will make them stay.
2. Time for a new job
Hopefully the break between Christmas
and the New Year will have given
professionals time to evaluate if they are
ready for a move in 2022. With 60 percent
of finance employers planning to hire in
the coming months, now is a good time
to know your market worth and look for a
new opportunity if you are ready.
If you’re not ready to take the plunge
but aren’t happy with the progression you
are making in your current role – make
sure to diarise a catch up with your line
manager in the New Year. Take the time
to express your desire to upskill and make
headway on your career path.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 36

SALARY AND RECRUITING TRENDS
AUTHOR – Natascha Whitehead
CREDIT SALARIES UK 2022
Credit
Controller
Senior
Credit Controller
Credit Risk
Analyst
Credit Control
Supervisor
Credit
Manager
Group Credit Manager
/ Head of Credit
Credit
Director
Region
2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022
East Midlands £23,000 £25,000 £26,000 £28,000 £40,000 £40,000 £29,000 £30,000 £40,000 £40,000 £60,000 £60,000 £80,000 £80,000
East of England £25,000 £26,000 £29,000 £30,000 £40,000 £40,000 £38,000 £38,000 £47,000 £48,000 £60,000 £60,000 £70,000 £70,000
London £27,000 £27,000 £32,000 £32,000 £50,000 £50,000 £36,000 £36,000 £55,000 £55,000 £72,000 £72,000 £95,000 £95,000
North East £21,000 £22,000 £25,000 £25,000 £32,000 £32,000 £27,000 £29,000 £39,000 £40,000 £60,000 £60,000 £75,000 £75,000
North West £24,500 £25,000 £27,000 £27,000 £40,000 £45,000 £30,000 £30,000 £45,000 £45,000 £60,000 £60,000 £80,000 £80,000
Northern Ireland £24,000 £25,000 £29,000 £29,000 £33,000 £33,000 £38,000 £38,000 £47,000 £47,000 £55,000 £55,000 £72,000 £72,000
Scotland £23,000 £24,000 £26,000 £28,000 £32,000 £32,000 £30,000 £30,000 £40,000 £40,000 £55,000 £55,000 £65,000 £65,000
South East £27,500 £27,000 £32,000 £32,000 £40,000 £40,000 £35,000 £37,000 £45,000 £48,000 £65,000 £65,000 £85,000 £85,000
South West £25,000 £26,000 £27,000 £30,000 £42,000 £42,000 £30,000 £34,000 £40,000 £45,000 £55,000 £55,000 £70,000 £70,000
Wales £20,000 £22,000 £25,000 £26,000 £30,000 £30,000 £27,000 £28,000 £37,000 £38,000 £52,000 £53,000 £65,000 £65,000
West Midlands £24,000 £26,000 £27,000 £27,000 £37,000 £37,000 £33,000 £34,000 £48,000 £48,000 £62,500 £65,000 £80,000 £80,000
Yorkshire £23,000 £23,000 £25,000 £25,000 £32,000 £32,000 £28,000 £30,000 £40,000 £40,000 £60,000 £60,000 £70,000 £70,000
Average £23,917 £24,833 £27,500 £28,250 £37,091 £37,545 £31,750 £32,833 £43,583 £44,500 £59,708 £60,000 £75,583 £75,583
2021-2022 % increase 3.8% 2.7% 1.1% 3.4% 2.1% 0.1% 0.0%
3. Hire for potential
Some four fifths (80 percent) of accountancy
and finance employers told us they
had encountered skill shortages over the
past year, so hiring for potential is going
to be more important than ever as competition
for talent increases. While 54
percent of employers are willing to hire
professionals who don’t possess all of the
required skills – this number should be
much higher.
So, when considering how you are
going to fill vacancies, why not look at
upskilling existing staff members, or
consider hiring new recruits that may not
tick every single box? Many skills can be
taught and learnt while on the job and
having an open mind to what skills or
experiences are truly essential could be a
game-changer for hiring managers.
Being armed with the latest insights
about the profession and the wider
world of work will help those in credit
put their best foot forward as we tackle
the year ahead – to find out more visit
www.hays.co.uk/salary-guide
Natascha Whitehead is Business
Director of Hays Credit Management
Pay inflation looks set to
continue, with over three
quarters (76 percent)
expecting to increase their
salaries over the coming
year, considerably higher
than the UK average
(61 percent).
Northern Ireland
£47,000
Wales
£38,000
South West England
£45,000
Credit Manager
Regional Salaries 2022
North West
£45,000
West Midlands
£48,000
Scotland
£40,000
South East England
£48,000
North East
£40,000
Yorkshire & Humber
£40,000
East Midlands
£40,000
London
£55,000
East of England
£48,000
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 37

MARKETING & EDUCATION
Virtual Classes
for 2022
Get CICM qualified by attending
Virtual Classes: The best of both worlds.
Home study does not mean you have to study alone. Our ‘gold standard’ distance
learning offer, our Virtual Classes have the greatest success rate of all our packages.
Your study will be supported and led by one of our experienced CICM Tutors via a
series of virtual classes and activities, which are interactive, challenging and fun.
LEVEL
3
LEVEL
5
Business Environment
28th February
Credit Management (Trade, Export and Consumer
28th February
Advanced Telephone Collections
14th March
Business Law
25th March
Process Improvements
14th March
Compliance with legal, regulatory,
ethical, and social requirements
14th March
Book your place today, visit www.cicm.com
or contact a member of our team on 01780 722900
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 38

EDUCATION & MARKETING
These are pre-recorded training sessions that
you can access anywhere and at anytime.
These are live, interactive sessions,
delivered virtually by a qualified trainer.
Upcoming Virtual Workshops
Credit Boot Camp
Coming soon, register your interest today
Collection skills
Coming soon, register your interest today
Effective communication
Coming soon, register your interest today
Collect that cash
Coming soon, register your interest today
Reflect and develop
Coming soon, register your interest today
Advanced collection skills
Coming soon, register your interest today
Best practice skills
to assess credit risk
Coming soon, register your interest today
MEET YOUR TRAINER: Jules Eames FCICM(Grad); PGCE, is a qualified teacher,
trainer and credit manager with experience in credit and debt specialisms across the
O2C spectrum and ancillary businesses, in consumer, B2B and export markets.
Book your place today, visit www.cicm.com
or contact a member of our team on 01780 722900
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 39

INTRODUCING OUR
CORPORATE PARTNERS
For further information and to discuss the opportunities of entering into a
Corporate Partnership with the CICM, please contact corporatepartners@cicm.com
High Court Enforcement Group is the largest
independent and privately owned High Court
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else. This allows us to build and manage our
business in a way that puts our clients first.
Clients trust us to deliver and service is paramount.
We cover all aspects of enforcement –writs of
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T: 08450 999 666
E: clientservices@hcegroup.co.uk
W: hcegroup.co.uk
Satago helps business owners and their
accountants avoid credit risks, manage debtors
and access finance when they need it – all in
one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud
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Understand their customers - with RISK INSIGHTS
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T: 020 8050 3015
E: hello@satago.com
W: www.satago.com
HighRadius provides a cloud-based Integrated
Receivable Platform, powered by machine learning
and AI. Our Technology empowers enterprise
organisations to reduce cycle time in the order-tocash
process and increase working capital availability
by automating receivables and payments processes
across credit, electronic billing and payment
processing, cash application, deductions, and
collections.
T: +44 (0) 203 997 9400
E: infoemea@highradius.com
W: www.highradius.com
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps
businesses pay and get paid. Businesses and banks
rely on Bottomline for domestic and international
payments, effective cash management tools, automated
workflows for payment processing and bill review
and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural
analytics and regulatory compliance. Every day, we
help our customers by making complex business
payments simple, secure and seamless.
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.
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: 0870 081 8250
E: emea-info@bottomline.com
W: www.bottomline.com/uk
T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London
T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff
W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000
E: sales@keyivr.com
W: www.keyivr.com
With 130+ years of experience, Graydon is a leading
provider of business information, analytics, insights
and solutions. Graydon helps its customers to make
fast, accurate decisions, enabling them to minimise
risk and identify fraud as well as optimise opportunities
with their commercial relationships. Graydon
uses 130+ international databases and the information
of 90+ million companies. Graydon has offices in
London, Cardiff, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Since 2016,
Graydon has been part of Atradius, one of the world’s
largest credit insurance companies.
T: +44 (0)208 515 1400
E: customerservices@graydon.co.uk
W: www.graydon.co.uk
Tinubu Square is a trusted source of trade credit
intelligence for credit insurers and for corporate
customers. The company’s B2B Credit Risk
Intelligence solutions include the Tinubu Risk
Management Center, a cloud-based SaaS platform;
the Tinubu Credit Intelligence service and the
Tinubu Risk Analyst advisory service. Over 250
companies rely on Tinubu Square to protect their
greatest assets: customer receivables.
T: +44 (0)207 469 2577 /
E: uksales@tinubu.com
W: www.tinubu.com.
Building on our mature and hugely successful
product and world class support service, we are
re-imagining our risk awareness module in 2019 to
allow for hugely flexible automated worklists and
advanced visibility of areas of risk. Alongside full
integration with all credit scoring agencies (e.g.
Creditsafe), this makes Credica a single port-of-call
for analysis and automation. Impressive results
and ROI are inevitable for our customers that also
have an active input into our product development
and evolution.
T: 01235 856400
E: info@credica.co.uk
W: www.credica.co.uk
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 40

Each of our Corporate Partners is carefully selected for
their commitment to the profession, best practice in the
Credit Industry and the quality of services they provide.
We are delighted to showcase them here.
THEY'RE WAITING TO TALK TO YOU...
Hays Credit Management is a national specialist
division dedicated exclusively to the recruitment of
credit management and receivables professionals,
at all levels, in the public and private sectors. As
the CICM’s only Premium Corporate Partner, we
are best placed to help all clients’ and candidates’
recruitment needs as well providing guidance on
CV writing, career advice, salary bench-marking,
marketing of vacancies, advertising and campaign
led recruitment, competency-based interviewing,
career and recruitment trends.
T: 07834 260029
E: karen.young@hays.com
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
Court Enforcement Services is the market
leading and fastest growing High Court Enforcement
company. Since forming in 2014, we have managed
over 100,000 High Court Writs and recovered more
than £187 million for our clients, all debt fairly
collected. We help lawyers and creditors across all
sectors to recover unpaid CCJ’s sooner rather than
later. We achieve 39 percent early engagement
resulting in market-leading recovery rates. Our
multi-award-winning technology provides real-time
reporting 24/7.
T: +44 (0)1992 663 399
E: wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk
W: courtenforcementservices.co.uk
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work
closely with credit teams to recover commercial
debts as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt
recovery, including:
• Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and
keep costs down • Litigation service • Insolvency
• Post-litigation services including enforcement
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to
relate to your goals, and adept at advising you on the
most effective way of achieving them.
T: 03700 86 3000
E: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk
W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk
Forums International has been running Credit and
Industry Forums since 1991 covering a range of
industry sectors and international trading. Attendance
is for credit professionals of all levels. Our forums
are not just meetings but communities which
aim to prepare our members for the challenges
ahead. Attending for the first time is free for you to
gauge the benefits and meet the members and we
only have pre-approved Partners, so you will never
intentionally be sold to.
T: +44 (0)1246 555055
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk
Data Interconnect provides corporate Credit Control
teams with Accounts Receivable software for bulk
e-invoicing, collections, dispute management and
invoice finance. The modular, cloud-based Corrivo
platform can be configured for any business model.
It integrates with all ERP systems and buyer AP
platforms or tax regimes. Customers can self-serve
on mobile friendly portals, however their invoices are
delivered, and Credit Controllers can easily extract
data for compliance, audit and reporting purposes.
T: +44 (0)1367 245777
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for
organisations seeking efficient cash visibility
and secure financial processes. As an SAP
Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies
worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience
and thousands of successful customer projects,
including solutions for the entire order-to-cash
process, Serrala provides credit managers and
receivables professionals with the solutions they
need to successfully protect their business against
credit risk exposure and bad debt loss.
T: +44 118 207 0450
E: contact@serrala.com
W: www.serrala.com
American Express® is a globally recognised
provider of business payment solutions, providing
flexible capabilities to help companies drive
growth. These solutions support buyers and
suppliers across the supply chain with working
capital and cashflow.
By creating an additional lever to help support
supplier/client relationships American Express is
proud to be an innovator in the business payments
space.
T: +44 (0)1273 696933
W: www.americanexpress.com
Chris Sanders Consulting – we are a different
sort of consulting firm, made up of a network of
independent experienced operational credit and
collections management and invoicing professionals,
with specialisms in cross industry best practice
advisory, assessment, interim management,
leadership, workshops and training to help your
team and organisation reach their full potential in
credit and collections management. We are proud to
be Corporate Partners of the Chartered Institute of
Credit Management and to manage the CICM Best
Practice Accreditation Programme on their behalf.
T: +44(0)7747 761641
E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com
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
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 41

INTRODUCING OUR
CORPORATE
PARTNERS
For further information and to discuss the
opportunities of entering into a Corporate
Partnership with the CICM, please contact
corporatepartners@cicm.com
The Company Watch platform provides risk analysis
and data modelling tools to organisations around
the world that rely on our ability to accurately predict
their exposure to financial risk. Our H-Score®
predicted 92 percent of quoted company insolvencies
and our TextScore® accuracy rate was 93
percent. Our scores are trusted by credit professionals
within banks, corporates, investment houses
and public sector bodies because, unlike other credit
reference agencies, we are transparent and flexible
in our approach.
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300
E: info@companywatch.net
W: www.companywatch.net
VISMA | Onguard is a specialist in credit management
software and market leader in innovative solutions for
order-to-cash. Our integrated platform ensures an optimal
connection of all processes in the order-to-cash
chain. This enhanced visibility with the secure sharing
of critical data ensures optimal connection between
all processes in the order-to-cash chain, resulting
in stronger, longer-lasting customer relationships
through improved and personalised communication.
The VISMA | Onguard platform is used for successful
credit management in more than 70 countries.
T: 020 3868 0947
E: edan.milner@onguard.com
W: www.onguard.com
The Atradius Collections business model is to support
businesses and their recoveries. We are seeing a
deterioration and increase in unpaid invoices placing
pressures on cashflow for those businesses. Brexit is
causing uncertainty and we are seeing a significant
impact on the UK economy with an increase in
insolvencies, now also impacting the continent and
spreading. Our geographical presence is expanding
and with a single IT platform across the globe we can
provide greater efficiencies and effectiveness to our
clients to recover their unpaid invoices.
T: +44 (0)2920 824700
W: www.atradiuscollections.com/uk/
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables
into income, uniquely connecting buyers and
suppliers to allow discounts in exchange for
early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers
access additional liquidity sources by accelerating
payments from buyers when required in just two
clicks, at a rate that works for them. Buyers, often
corporates with global supply chains, benefit from
the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while
strengthening the financial health of supply chains
through ethical business practices.
T: 07799 692193
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com
W: www.c2fo.com
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 42

www.tcmgroup.com
Probably thebest debt collection network worldwide
Certificate of Compliance
This is to certify that TCM Exchange Platform has successfully complied Penetration Testing
conducted by Pentest-Tools SRL. No critical dangers have been found.
CERTIFICATE NUMBER
001/08/2021
DATE OF THE PENETRATION TEST
20th of August 2021
FULL NAME OF CERTIFIED COMPANY
TCM Group International ehf.
DATE OF THE NEXT PENETRATION TEST
20th of August 2022
Head of Professional Services
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Moneyknows no borders—neither do we
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 43

COMMERCIAL LENDING
PERSONAL
CHALLENGES
Personal Guarantees are a hidden risk
to small business lending.
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
LENDERS to the small business
community have ongoing concerns
about Personal Guarantees (PGs).
On the one hand, they believe that
some small business owners do not
fully comprehend their individual
responsibilities as a borrower if a loan they
have guaranteed should default. On the other,
they suspect that individuals are using the same
guarantee to secure additional credit even after
a previous loan from a different lender has
defaulted. The problem is, they have no way of
actually knowing.
Some Personal Guarantors defaulted by
accident, unclear of their true responsibilities;
some by design, in a deliberate attempt to
defraud. While some individuals undoubtedly
need protecting from themselves, based on
the surprise they appear to experience when
they are approached to fulfil the obligations of
their guarantee, the greater concern is lack of
transparency across the risk spectrum.
Many of the concerns regarding PGs,
expressed at a small business lending Forum
at the end of last year, echoed those of Andrew
Birkwood, Founder of commercial debt buyer
Azzurro Associates. Whereas the lenders suspect
foul play, Andrew has hard evidence of cases
where PGs back credit facilities from multiple
creditors, where successive credit is guaranteed
in a differing company from the company that
had previously defaulted. It’s a phenomenon
known as ‘PG Stacking’.
TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING
Greater transparency and reporting of Personal
Guarantees, perhaps by establishing a dedicated
PG Credit Bureau, is critical to supporting future
lending and could be the answer. But it would
need careful protocols and controls.
“Transparency is essential, and significant
progress is being made to allow commercial
creditors to report business debts against a
Personal Guarantor’s personal credit file once
the debt has become ‘non-performing’ and the
corporate borrower is unable to service the
debt,” Andrew explains. “Once the PG assumes
the liability for the debt, the debt can be reported
against the personal credit file of the guarantor.”
Andrew is also a keen advocate of creating a
credit bureau specifically for PGs: “If all creditors
reported in this way, the total contingent liability
assumed by a PG could be seen, and assessed
“Transparency
is essential,
and significant
progress is being
made to allow
commercial
creditors to report
business debts
against a Personal
Guarantor’s
personal credit
file once the debt
has become ‘nonperforming’
and
the corporate
borrower is unable
to service the debt.”
as part of the underwriting process,” Andrew
continues. “But individuals would of course
need to be protected, and certain protocols
established, such as creditors reflecting the
potential credit reporting on PGs personal credit
files in their Terms and Conditions and giving
the Guarantor 30-days’ notice of the intended
reporting, as it will undoubtedly have a serious
impact on their personal credit file.”
Comparisons can be drawn between the
UK and other parts of the world where small
business commercial loans require a PG as a
matter of course such that the business owner
has ‘skin in the game’. While there appears
little appetite for a similar obligation in the UK,
it is noted that PGs helped to keep the cost of
borrowing at acceptable levels, and greater
certainty of risk is also crucial if levels of
funding are to be maintained.
Government support has enabled some
guarantors to offload their guarantees, and to
some extent this has meant the industry has
been shielded from what might have happened
had COVID not struck. The hiatus, however,
may only be temporary.
MAINSTREAM ALTERNATIVE
Alternative finance is fundamentally there to
support businesses outside of the mainstream
lending community, and as such Personal
Guarantees are a common tool to mitigate risk.
It should be said that multiple PGs are not,
in themselves, a bad thing. Some guarantors are
very capable of taking on more debt and APRs
can be misleading. A PG who secures a £10,000
loan to buy £10,000 of product that is then sold
for £15,000 two weeks later may be considered
a shrewd businessman. To that end, PGs can
be used legitimately to support multiple credit
lines over the short term. Not all examples,
however, are genuine, and fraud a very real
risk, even in an era of Open Banking which is
widely acknowledged as being a potential game
changer for the lending community.
Some commentators, however, see PGs only
from the borrower’s perspective, especially if
that loan should default. While Government
and the policymakers are keen for the PG not to
lose their homes over a loan that turns sour, it is
important to note that since it is a commercial
loan and not a personal loan, the borrower will
not have the same protections afforded under
the consumer credit act (CCA).
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 44

COMMERCIAL LENDING
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
That may, of course, change over time, and
for the smaller businesses, the direction of
travel is likely to result in greater protections
being offered. But for the moment all bets
are off; while it is perhaps too soon to tell
what sort of line the courts will take, early
indications are that they are not interpreting
such cases with a CCA mindset, regardless of
what the policyholders may wish.
Whether that position changes in the
event of a large volume of cases, as we might
see when the CBIL/BBIL issue comes home
to roost, will be interesting to watch. Seen
through a PR lens, it is difficult to imagine a
Government that allows potentially hundreds
of individuals to lose their homes, regardless
of any guarantees given. The media outcry
would be deafening.
HAVING IT BOTH WAYS
Some in the commercial collections and
litigation space express concern that a PG is
surprised to have to honour their guarantee
should the need arise (and assuming every
step has been taken first to service the debt
from the business as part of an accepted
‘sequencing’ of actions). But as one of the
Forum declared: “The borrowers and the
policymakers can’t have it both ways. A PG
allows us to keep the cost of borrowing down
and take on the risk. Remove the PG, and
the cost of borrowing would be prohibitively
high.”
Price is of course directly linked to the
certainty of risk. The greater the certainty, the
lower the risk, the better the price. Agreeing
to be the guarantor of a loan, however, comes
with responsibilities. As the panelist added:
“Businesses can’t have all of the benefits of
low-cost borrowing without taking on some
of the risk themselves, and the risk might not
be limited to their companies.”
Interestingly, while many believe that
price is the biggest differentiator in the
market for competitive lending products,
speed of delivery is in fact considered more
important. Businesses that need money often
need it there and then and are prepared to pay
a slightly higher price for faster access to the
cash.
PROXIMITY AND KNOWLEDGE
Another trend to emerge from the Forum
was the importance borrowers attach to
location and proximity. Research conducted
by one of the panelists suggests that exactly
half of all businesses would consider leaving
their current bank if a rival bank had a local
relationship manager on their doorstep.
“Access to the human touch is still important,”
the panelist said.
“Small businesses want to be known,
they want to be understood, and they want
their lender to understand the industry they
operate in. It is not simply transactional; it is
also about what added value and insight the
lender can bring to the relationship.”
While the alternative banking sector
appears to be booming, some of those at the
Forum believe that looks may be deceptive.
One suggested a reason for the ‘record’
number of ‘new’ banking customers being
reported by some of the more recently arrived
challenger banks: “What we are seeing,” he
said, “is a shift to a new era where businesses
are retaining their core bank but opening
secondary accounts based on the need for a
specific ‘product’.
“They are not ‘switching’ their bank
account as such,” he added, “but are simply
being temporarily expedient.”
Another interesting fact to emerge
from the Forum was the widespread use of
personal credit cards to
fund business borrowing.
This is despite the fact that
a company cannot build
business credit by using
a personal card, neither
does it necessarily afford
the same protections if an
owner does not keep their
personal and business
purchases separate.
Personal credit cards
are in fact the most
dominant form of business
finance by volume; some
1.5 million business
owners use their own personal credit lines to
buy stock e.g at the cash and carry – running
up bills in excess of £10,000. While these
tend to be the much smaller businesses (the
so-called ‘micro businesses’), those with a
turnover of less that £100,000, it is likely to
create a new challenge for lenders, regulators
and policymakers alike.
“When the lines between personal and
commercial debt become so blurred, it is
even more important that those responsible
for extending credit or creating debt
management solutions adhere to the highest
regulatory standards in treating customers
fairly,” Andrew Birkwood concludes.
“Regulators and policymakers are in for
a challenging time as the fall-out from the
COVID pandemic unfolds, and it is important
that decisions taken now, are not those that
they come to regret later down the line.”
The Forum was organised by Azzurro
Associates and attended by Chief Executives
and Chief Risk Officers from business banks,
business loan and MCA providers, and
business credit card lenders.
“The borrowers and the
policymakers can’t have it
both ways. A PG allows us to
keep the cost of borrowing
down and take on the risk.
Remove the PG, and the
cost of borrowing would be
prohibitively high.”
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 45

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Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 46

CICM MEMBER
EXCLUSIVE
Your CICM lapel badge
demonstrates your commitment to
professionalism and best practice
TAKE PRIDE IN
WEARING YOUR BADGE
If you haven’t received your badge
contact: cicmmembership@cicm.com
THE CICM 2022 ELECTIONS ARE COMING SOON
The Chartered Institute
of Credit Management
Elections
2022
Could you be a member of the
CICM Advisory Council?
There is still time
to register your
interest by visiting:
www.mi-nomination.com/cicm
Ask any question about the process by contacting
the CICM Governance team at elections@cicm.com
Brave | Curious | Resilient
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 47

Apprentice profile
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
LAURA Dalton has been working at United
Utilities since September 2015 and secured
a permanent contract in February 2016.
Two years later she secured a customer
service advisor advanced role within
the collections team, prior to which she
had worked in billing, and supported the company’s
Priority Services and Network team with leak forms
before it went mostly digital.
“I was quick to learn that the income team are a
friendly bunch and the company banter of moving over
to the ‘dark side’ quickly became a distant memory,”
she jokes. “I’d say we are more of a family, and I was
welcomed within my new role with open arms!”
Laura’s day-to-day role within collections is varied:
“I answer customer phone calls, speak to customers on
web chat and respond to inbound customer contacts
(emails/ letters),” she explains. “I enjoy my job and
when the opportunity came about to better myself and
broaden my knowledge I thought ‘why not’?
Starting the CICM apprenticeship four months ago,
Laura initially thought there wasn’t much she could
learn that she didn’t already know: “I actually believed
I knew quite a bit about my current job but this belief
was short-lived when I started the course.
“This course has enlightened me in to the more
‘nitty gritty’ part of cash collection and credit
management which is not so widely discussed. This
includes legislation, why we follow it, preparing for
legal proceedings, and the correct order in which
this should be done. It offers more of an insight into
the collections cycle we experience in our day-to-day
roles.”
To date, Laura has received much positive feedback
from her tutors and support network on tasks and
homework, and some of her work is even being
included in a new E-learning module for the company’s
affordability team.
“I am planning to use the next two years putting
all the things I am learning – and what I have learned
so far - into practice. In doing so I hope to improve
my current performance and eventually be able to
progress or move around different teams within the
income department.
“I think anyone planning to do the CICM
apprenticeship should give it a whirl,” she concludes.
“My main worries were that I wouldn’t retain any new
information or would get stressed out about upcoming
exam preparation, but the support I’ve had personally
has been tremendous. As much as I’d like to discuss
this further, I best get my skates on, I’ve got some
revision to do!”
Latest in a new series
of how CICM-led
Apprenticeships are
supporting professional
development.
Laura Dalton
United Utilities
Customer service advisor
“This course has enlightened me in to the
more ‘nitty gritty’ part of cash collection
and credit management which is not so
widely discussed. This includes legislation,
why we follow it, preparing for legal
proceedings, and the correct order in
which this should be done. It offers more
of an insight into the collections cycle we
experience in our day-to-day roles.”
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
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 48

Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 49

Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 50

HR MATTERS
PARANOID DELUSIONS
The problem with delusional beliefs affecting work
performance, and the difference between ‘standby time’
and working time.
AUTHOR – Gareth Edwards
THE Court of Appeal
recently confirmed that an
employee who experienced
two episodes of paranoid
delusions was not disabled,
as the episodes did not have
a long-term substantial adverse effect on
their ability to perform normal day to day
activities.
In Sullivan v Bury Street Capital Ltd,
the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT)
decision in this case, where a claimant who
suffered two episodes of delusional beliefs
in 2013 and 2017, held that they were not
considered disabled in law, because there
was no long-term substantial adverse
effect on his ability to carry out normal
day-to-day activities.
The claimant was a senior sales executive,
employed by the respondent since 2009.
His employers identified concerns with
his timekeeping and attitude from the
start of his employment. In May 2013, he
began experiencing paranoid delusions
that he was being tracked and monitored
by a Russian gang. The delusions affected
his work, in particular his timekeeping
and attendance. The claimant's condition
improved and by September 2013, he could
manage his condition without letting it
affect his work.
Despite the improvement in the
claimant's condition, his employer
continued to have concerns about his
timekeeping and attitude. These concerns
were raised regularly with the claimant at
reviews between July 2014 and September
2017. In September 2017 the claimant was
dismissed on the grounds of capability.
The claimant alleged his dismissal was
discriminatory on the grounds of disability.
A person will be disabled for the
purposes of the Equality Act 2010 if they
have a physical or mental impairment,
and the impairment has a substantial and
long-term adverse effect on their ability to
carry out normal day-to-day activities. An
impairment is considered 'long-term' if it
has lasted for at least 12 months or is likely
to last for at least 12 months.
The Court of Appeal confirmed the
Employment Tribunal was entitled to find
that the claimant was not disabled in law.
His delusional beliefs persisted for periods
only and he could work normally during
times of normality. The claimant was
therefore unable to demonstrate a longterm
impairment.
This case turns on a very specific set of
circumstances but is a useful reminder
of the strategic value of considering the
definition of a disability at the earliest
stages of a process.
A recent European Court of Justice (ECJ)
case has determined that ‘standby time’,
during which a firefighter could do
other work but could be recalled to his
fire duties within ten minutes, did not
constitute working time.
In MG v Dublin City Council, the
claimant was required to be on standby
24 hours a day, seven days a week
(except for annual leave). He could work
elsewhere (in his case as a taxi driver)
but was required to return to the station
within 10 minutes when recalled. He was
not required to remain in a particular
place when on standby. He was required
to participate in at least 75 percent of
the fire brigade’s interventions, but if he
failed to return to the station within the
allotted time, the only consequence was
that he would not be paid.
The claimant argued this requirement
breached the rules on daily and weekly
rest, and maximum weekly working
time, under the Working Time Directive
(WTD), and that it also interfered with
his private life. However, the ECJ
determined that the requirements
imposed on the claimant did not
significantly affect his ability to manage
his own time whilst on standby, and for
Some like it hot
this reason the time was held not to be
working time.
This decision demonstrates the fact
that context is everything when it
comes to determining whether time is
working or rest time for the purposes
of the WTD. In this case, the deciding
factors were the claimant's freedom to
carry out another professional activity
during the standby time, the fact that
he was not obliged to participate in
emergency callouts, and the fact he was
not required to remain at a designated
place during standby time.
Whilst the focus of this case was on
the WTD, it is also worth noting the
potential link to National Minimum
Wage issues. Time spent on call or on
standby outside normal working hours
is subject to special rules under the
National Minimum Wage Regulations.
In the UK, this decision will not be
binding in domestic courts. However,
courts and tribunals may still have
regard to ECJ case law where it is relevant
to the issue they are considering.
Gareth Edwards is a partner in
the employment team at VWV
www.gedwards@vwv.co.uk
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 51

HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Freedom of Choice
Looking ahead and setting out the High Court Enforcement
Officers Association priorities for the coming year.
AUTHOR – Alan J. Smith
THE last 12 months have been
challenging for everyone,
including members of the
enforcement profession. I’d like
to acknowledge the outstanding
professionalism and resilience
demonstrated by all our members – and
indeed the wider enforcement community –
during another challenging ‘COVID’ year.
As 2022 gets down to serious business,
we’re seeing the pace of change and reform
(at least for the enforcement world) move
quickly as well. In the past few months, the
HCEOA has supported a whole range of new
developments, including:
– the introduction of Breathing Space
to enable debt advisors and local authorities
to freeze interest, fees, and enforcement for
up to 60 days for vulnerable debtors.
– the launch of the Enforcement
Conduct Authority – a new oversight body codesigned
by the debt relief sector, the Centre
for Social Justice, and the enforcement
profession, to provide independent, fair,
and formal supervision of enforcement.
We’re looking forward to being a part of that
conversation as it continues in 2022.
– a resolution to the long-standing
VAT on high court fees debate – with new
guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice,
providing widely welcomed clarity for the
enforcement community, creditors, and
debtors alike.
The High Court Enforcement Officers
Association is looking to continue that
momentum in our work throughout 2022,
whilst of course ensuring that we support our
members and their businesses in conducting
safe and responsible enforcement.
Throughout 2022 we and our members will
focus on:
• Helping creditors – the people and
businesses who are owed money – by
enforcing their judgments and recovering
unpaid debts.
• Informing debtors – the people who owe
money – by ensuring that anyone who
owes money is treated fairly, ethically, and
proportionately.
• Supporting Government – by
recommending changes and implementing
improvements to the legal framework
around High Court enforcement to help
it modernise and to improve clarity and
transparency wherever possible.
To deliver that, we have three key priorities
for the year ahead, which have been
developed with input and support from our
members.
Campaigning for greater Freedom of Choice
for court users – we’ll be talking to ministers
and civil servants to ramp up the HCEOA’s
‘Freedom of Choice’ campaign – persuading
Government to change the regulations and
allow HCEOs to enforce judgments under
£600.
We’ve had some hugely positive responses
to the campaign work so far, and we’re
absolutely committed to making it easier for
court users to recover debts they are owed
by enabling them to avoid the county court
backlog and use the high court enforcement
as an alternative solution. Some 99 percent
of court users back the plan and just five
percent think the current system is effective.
It’s worth remembering that Government
could solve this problem today. A small
change to the High Court and County Court
Jurisdiction Order 1991 would allow High
Court Enforcement Officers to enforce
judgments and give creditors the freedom
to choose another option to recover debts of
under £600.
High Court Enforcement Fee Scale Review
– we are engaging with the MoJ to persuade
it to undertake a long overdue review of the
High Court enforcement fee scale (which
hasn’t even been reviewed never mind
changed since 2014!) to bring it at least close
to something like in line with other court fees
that were reviewed and increased in 2021.
Encouraging a more diverse and
representative enforcement profession –
if we’re totally honest, we have some way to
go in many of areas. But we’re moving in the
right direction. The HCEOA is starting work
on a long-term initiative to encourage a more
diverse profession and reflect that increasing
diversity in terms of representation on our
Board and throughout the membership.
If you want to be part of it, your support
would be welcomed as we head in to 2022
with a positive step. After the past two years,
surely things can only get better.
Alan J. Smith FCICM is Chairman of the
High Court Enforcement Officers Association
(HCEOA).
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 52

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Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 53

TAKE CONTROL OF
YOUR CREDIT CAREER
PRICING & BILLING MANAGER
Ipswich, £50,000-£60,000
A rare opportunity has arisen at a leading UK utilities provider
for an experienced and commercially astute Pricing & Billing
Manager. You will be primarily responsible for the management
of all regulated business regarding invoice production and
administration, tariff management and pricing structure. You will
supervise a Billing & Settlements Analyst and work with them to
ensure the completion of regular billing runs, monitor the billing
system performance and identify areas for operational efficiency
improvement. Ref: 4129972
Contact William Plom on 01603 760141
or email william.plom@hays.com
CREDIT RISK ANALYST (12 MONTH FTC)
South Norfolk, £25,000-£35,000
A leading electronics distributor with a vast international
presence has partnered with Hays exclusively to recruit an
exceptional Credit Risk Analyst for a maternity cover contract.
The role will be focused on engagement with key customers
by utilising a range of data and resources to assess credit
worthiness. You will work with internal and external stakeholders
to support successful commercial operations and ensure
business growth opportunities. Ref: 4138868
Contact William Plom on 01603 760141
or email william.plom@hays.com
ASSISTANT CREDIT MANAGER
Weybridge, up to £38,000
An exciting opportunity for a progressive credit professional
to joining a leading FMCG organisation on a permanent
basis. Reporting to a CICM qualified manager, you will
take responsibility for the day to day running of the credit
department including training, coaching and ledger reviews.
You will also be involved in process improvement, project
work and reporting. This is a fantastic opportunity for a
candidate with proven leadership skills, who has experience
of dealing with major retails. Ref: 4139548
Contact Natascha Whitehead on 07770 786433
or email natascha.whitehead@hays.com
CREDIT CONTROLLER
Manchester, permanent hybrid working, £25,000
This role gives you the opportunity to work for a forward
thinking, rapidly growing business boasting brand new modern
offices. You will focus on what Credit Controllers do best,
proactively contacting customers and a separate AR team will
take care of the rest. To be considered, previous credit control
experience and the ability to prioritise workload effectively is a
must. If you are looking to work for a business that offers scope
to progress upwards or branch out into other areas this role is
worth finding out more about. Ref: 4121117
Contact Adam Crossland on 01612 367272
or email adam.crossland@hays.com
hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 54

TRAIN FOR THE
YEAR AHEAD
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To find out more visit
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GLOBAL PROCESS OWNER
Gloucester or remote,
competitive salary + bonus + benefits
A rare opportunity has arisen for a skilled candidate to join
a growing business in a high profile, newly created position.
The Global Process Owner (Order-to-Cash) is responsible for
driving global process standardisation, transactional efficiency,
organisational capability, process performance, and a prioritised
roadmap of all global Order to Cash processes. You will have
considerable experience in a complex, global organisation,
executing process transformation initiatives and driving change
across a global organisation. Ref: 4081960
Contact Andrew Piercy on 01242 226 227
or email andrew.piercy@hays.com
This is just a small selection of the many opportunities
we have available for credit professionals. To find out more
visit us online or contact Natascha Whitehead, Hays Credit
Management UK Lead on 07770 786433.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 55

Do you know someone who would
benefit from CICM membership?
Or have you considered applying to
upgrade your membership?
See our website www.cicm.com/membership-types
for more details, or call us on 01780 722903
Studying Member
NEW AND UPGRADED MEMBERS
Jonny Saint
Carol Ryan
Tania Monteiro
Joshua Wilkinson
Demar Jackson
Ahtsham Anwer Malik
Adnan Anwar Malik
Amelia R C Roberts
James Allen
Rob Butcher
Claudia Yeo
Grant Flint
Giuseppina Coda
Natalia Mazanova
Hayley Woolley
Konur Fevzi
Karolina Palacz
Darren Wooldridge
Bridgette Jali
Candice Padayachee
Yolande Purdon
Deepak Ram
Nicola Churchill
Associate
Udeshika Rathanayake
Safina Omari
Congratulations to our current members who have upgraded their membership
Upgraded member
Martin Stafford ACICM
Caroline Burrell MCICM
Donna Parker MCICM
Faraz Ashraf FCICM
Mohamad Bawab FCICM
Indraka Liyanage FCICM
Julian Donnelly FCICM
Andrea Baker FCICM
AWARDING BODY
Congratulations to the following, who successfully achieved Diplomas
Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections (ACICM)
Danielle Barrow
Louise Bent
Lasanthi Deshapriya
Lisa Dutton
Lauren Heap
Laura Hodgson
Stacey Thomason
Laura Webb
George Woodall
Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections (ACICM)
Lucy Aldis
Kayleigh Bagnall
Randy Bainbridge
Hayley Chapman
Luke Edwards
Anita Foxall
Carrie Harvey
Nicole Magg
Shelley Nelson
Quays Nouristani
Alison Ramsey
Carly Smith
Eniko Szabo
Level 3 Diploma in Money & Debt Advice (ACICM)
Andrew Bass
Level 5 Diploma in Credit & Collections Management MCICM (Grad)
Jonathan Ferguson
WE WANT YOUR BRANCH NEWS!
Get in touch with the CICM by emailing branches@cicm.com with your branch news and event reports.
Please only send up to 400 words and any images need to be high resolution to be printable, so 1MB plus.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 56

Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 57

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Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 58

IN November last year the CICM
East Of England Branch held a
webinar with Paul Bohill as the
guest speaker. Paul Bohill, who
is a former police officer and
TV personality best known for
his role in Can’t pay? We’ll take it away!,
gave fascinating insight into his time as an
enforcement officer as well as discussing
company restructuring and turnarounds –
an area that he has not returned to.
Branch Committee member Andy
Moylan FCICM of EFCIS moderated the
webinar, asking many of the questions
submitted in advance.
According to Paul, the skills required
as an enforcement officer include
emotional intelligence, physical as well as
social awareness, and the ability to listen,
BRANCH NEWS
Day in the Life of a
High Court Enforcement officer
East of England Branch
whilst not being aggressive, and looking
at a problem from all sides. Paul talked
through some of his more interesting
experiences, which include seizing a
racing car worth £1m for a £40k debt!
Like many others, Paul expects to
see a huge increase in insolvencies,
triggered by problems in obtaining
loans. He explained how to spot the
warning signs for vulnerable companies
and also personal debtors before the
courts are involved, as well as touching
on how to get the best from legal action
when it is the only option left to recover
your debt.
Paul believes the court system to be
stacked in favour of the debtor so he warns
against legal action and recommends only
using it as a last resort. He also highlighted
the significant backlog in court cases
at the moment – currently to August
2022.
Paul talked through his new role,
and first love, company restructuring,
saying that the biggest constraint for new
companies at present was the reluctance
of mainstream banks to open accounts for
them.
Overall, this was a highly informative
and engaging discussion which offered
useful insights into enforcement and
company restructuring, and a must watch
for anyone who has an interest in either
subject.
If you missed this session, its available
on the CICM YouTube channel.
Author: Richard Brown FCICM – CICM
East of England Branch Vice Chairman
NetWalking at Wentworth Woodhouse
CICM Sheffield and District Branch
ON a drizzly Sunday morning last October,
Sheffield and District Branch members
and guests met at Wentworth Woodhouse
– one of Yorkshire’s best kept secrets. We
were joined by our guide, David, who gave
us a brief introduction to the house before
we moved out into the hidden gardens
at the rear, just in time for the sunshine
to make an appearance. David guided us
around the many varied areas and told us
all about the Punch Bowl, South Terrace,
Ionic Temple and Camellia House to name
but a few features. I even managed to get a
friendly robin to perch on my finger!
There could have been no better venue
to network with fellow credit professionals
and chat about our experiences of the last
18 months and the road ahead, than in
the gardens of Wentworth Woodhouse,
which have certainly survived their own
turbulent times when open cast mining
came right up to the doorstep of the house.
Congratulations and a bottle of red
went to Michelle Goodman for collecting
the most contacts during the NetWalking.
Many thanks to all attending members
and guests for making the morning a great
success.
Author: Paula Uttley MCICMGrad –
CICM Sheffield & District Branch Chair
The CICM Branch Annual General Meeting season is now upon us,
and all branches are required to hold their AGMs by 31 March 2022.
Please visit the Branch Network page of the CICM website for more information –
www.cicm.com/branches/ or contact governance@cicm.com
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 59

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
COLLECTIONS
COLLECTIONS LEGAL
CONSULTANCY
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.
Guildways
T: +44 3333 409000
E: info@guildways.com
W: www.guildways.com
Guildways is a UK & International debt collection specialist with over
25 years experience. Guildways prides itself on operating to the
highest ethical standards and professional service levels. We are
experienced in collecting B2B and B2C debts. Our service includes:
• A complete No collection, No Fee commission based service
• 10% plus VAT commission for UK debts
• Commission from 22% plus VAT for International debts
• 24/7 online access to your cases through our CaseManager portal
• Direct online account-to-account payments, to speed up
collections and minimise costs
If you are unable to locate your customer, we also offer a no trace, no
fee, trace and collect service.
For more information, visit: www.guildways.com
COLLECTIONS (INTERNATIONAL)
BlaserMills Law
London – High Wycombe – Amersham – Silverstone
T: 01494 478660
E: jar@blasermills.co.uk
W: www.blasermills.co.uk
Blaser Mills Law’s commercial recoveries team is internationally
recognised, regularly advising large corporations, multinationals
and SMEs on pre-legal collections, debt recovery, commercial
litigation, dispute resolution and insolvency. Our legal services
are both cost-effective and highly efficient; Our lawyers are also
CICM qualified and ranked in the industry leading law firm rankings
publications, Legal 500 and Chambers UK.
Keebles
Capitol House, Russell Street, Leeds LS1 5SP
T: 0113 399 3482
E: charise.marsden@keebles.com
W: www.keebles.com
Keebles debt recovery team was named “Legal Team of the Year”
at the 2019 CICM British Credit Awards.
According to our clients “Keebles stand head and shoulders
above others in the industry. A team that understands their client’s
business and know exactly how to speedily maximise recovery.
Professional, can do attitude runs through the team which is not
seen in many other practices.”
We offer a service with no hidden costs, giving you certainty and
peace of mind.
• ‘No recovery, no fee’ for pre-legal work.
• Fixed fees for issuing court proceedings and pursuing claims to
judgment and enforcement.
• Success rate in excess of 80%.
• 24 hour turnaround on instructions.
• Real-time online access to your cases to review progress.
Chris Sanders Consulting
T: +44(0)7747 761641
E: enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com
W: www.chrissandersconsulting.com
Chris Sanders Consulting – we are a different sort of consulting
firm, made up of a network of independent experienced
operational credit & collections management and invoicing
professionals, with specialisms in cross industry best practice
advisory, assessment, interim management, leadership,
workshops and training to help your team and organisation reach
their full potential in credit and collections management. We are
proud to be Corporate Partners of the Chartered Institute of Credit
Management and to manage the CICM Best Practice Accreditation
Programme on their behalf. For more information please contact:
enquiries@chrissandersconsulting.com
CREDIT INFORMATION
CoCredo
Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Bucks, HP16 0BD
T: 01494 790600
E: customerservice@cocredo.com
W: www.cocredo.co.uk
Celebrating its 20th year in business, CoCredo has extensive
experience in providing online company credit reports and
related business information within the UK and overseas. In 2014
and 2019 we were honoured to be awarded Credit Information
Provider of the Year at the British Credit Awards and have been
finalists every other year. Our company data is continually updated
throughout the day and ensures customers have the most current
information available. We aggregate data from a range of leading
providers across over 235 territories and offer a range of services
including the industry first Dual Report, Monitoring, XML Integration
and DNA Portfolio Management.
We pride ourselves in offering award-winning customer service and
support to protect your business.
Atradius Collections Ltd
3 Harbour Drive,
Capital Waterside, Cardiff, CF10 4WZ
Phone: +44 (0)29 20824397
Mobile: +44 (0)7767 865821
E-mail:yvette.gray@atradius.com
Website: atradiuscollections.com
Atradius Collections Ltd is an established specialist in business
to business collections. As the collections division of the Atradius
Crédito y Caución, we have a strong position sharing history,
knowledge and reputation.
Annually handling more than 110,000 cases and recovering over
a billion EUROs in collections at any one time, we deliver when
it comes to collecting outstanding debts. With over 90 years’
experience, we have an in-depth understanding of the importance
of maintaining customer relationships whilst efficiently and
effectively collecting monies owed.
The individual nature of our clients’ customer relationships is
reflected in the customer focus we provide, structuring our service
to meet your specific needs. We work closely with clients to
provide them with a collection strategy that echoes their business
character, trading patterns and budget.
For further information contact Yvette Gray Country Director, UK
and Ireland.
Lovetts Solicitors
Lovetts, Bramley House, The Guildway,
Old Portsmouth Road,
Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1LR
T: 01483 347001
E: info@lovetts.co.uk
W: www.lovetts.co.uk
With more than 25yrs experience in UK & international business
debt collection and recovery, Lovetts Solicitors collects £40m+
every year on behalf of our clients. Services include:
• Letters Before Action (LBA) from £1.50 + VAT (successful in 86%
of cases)
• Advice and dispute resolution
• Legal proceedings and enforcement
• 24/7 access to your cases via our in-house software solution,
CaseManager
Don’t just take our word for it, here’s some recent customer
feedback: “All our service expectations have been exceeded.
The online system is particularly useful and extremely easy to
use. Lovetts has a recognisable brand that generates successful
results.”
Company Watch
Centurion House, 37 Jewry Street,
LONDON. EC3N 2ER
T: +44 (0)20 7043 3300
E: info@companywatch.net
W: www.companywatch.net
Organisations around the world rely on Company Watch’s
industry-leading financial analytics to drive their credit risk
processes. Our financial risk modelling and ability to map medium
to long-term risk as well as short-term credit risk set us apart
from other credit reference agencies.
Quality and rigour run through everything we do, from our unique
method of assessing corporate financial health via our H-Score®,
to developing analytics on our customers’ in-house data.
With the H-Score® predicting almost 90 percent of corporate
insolvencies in advance, it is the risk management tool of choice,
providing actionable intelligence in an uncertain world.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 60

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION OPTIONS
AND PRICING CONTACT
paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196
CREDIT INFORMATION
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
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.
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.
Data Interconnect Ltd
45-50 Shrivenham Hundred Business Park,
Majors Road, Watchfield. Swindon, SN6 8TZ
T: +44 (0)1367 245777
E: sales@datainterconnect.co.uk
W: www.datainterconnect.com
We are dedicated to helping finance teams take the cost,
complexity and compliance issues out of Accounts Receivable
processes. Corrivo is our reliable, easy-to-use SaaS platform
for the continuous improvement of AR metrics and KPIs in a
user-friendly interface. Credit Controllers can manage more
accounts with better results and customers can self-serve on
mobile-responsive portals where they can query, pay, download
and view invoices and related documentation e.g. Proofs of
Delivery Corrivo is the only AR platform with integrated invoice
finance options for both buyer and supplier that flexes credit
terms without degrading DSO. Call for a demo.
ESKER
Sam Townsend Head of Marketing
Northern Europe Esker Ltd.
T: +44 (0)1332 548176 M: +44 (0)791 2772 302
W: www.esker.co.uk LinkedIn: Esker – Northern Europe
Twitter: @EskerNEurope blog.esker.co.uk
Esker’s Accounts Receivable (AR) solution removes the all-toocommon
obstacles preventing today’s businesses from collecting
receivables in a timely manner. From credit management to cash
allocation, Esker automates each step of the order-to-cash cycle.
Esker’s automated AR system helps companies modernise
without replacing their core billing and collections processes. By
simply automating what should be automated, customers get the
post-sale experience they deserve and your team gets the tools
they need.
SERRALA
Serrala UK Ltd, 125 Wharfdale Road
Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham
Berkshire RG41 5RB
E: r.hammons@serrala.com W: www.serrala.com
T +44 118 207 0450 M +44 7788 564722
Serrala optimizes the Universe of Payments for organisations
seeking efficient cash visibility and secure financial processes.
As an SAP Partner, Serrala supports over 3,500 companies
worldwide. With more than 30 years of experience and
thousands of successful customer projects, including solutions
for the entire order-to-cash process, Serrala provides credit
managers and receivables professionals with the solutions they
need to successfully protect their business against credit risk
exposure and bad debt loss.
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.
DATA AND ANALYTICS
C2FO
C2FO Ltd
105 Victoria Steet
SW1E 6QT
T: 07799 692193
E: anna.donadelli@c2fo.com
W: www.c2fo.com
C2FO turns receivables into cashflow and payables into income,
uniquely connecting buyers and suppliers to allow discounts
in exchange for early payment of approved invoices. Suppliers
access additional liquidity sources by accelerating payments
from buyers when required in just two clicks, at a rate that works
for them. Buyers, often corporates with global supply chains,
benefit from the C2FO solution by improving gross margin while
strengthening the financial health of supply chains through
ethical business practices.
ENFORCEMENT
Court Enforcement Services
Wayne Whitford – Director
M: +44 (0)7834 748 183 T : +44 (0)1992 663 399
E : wayne@courtenforcementservices.co.uk
W: www.courtenforcementservices.co.uk
Court Enforcement Services is the market leading and fastest
growing High Court Enforcement company. Since forming in 2014,
we have managed over 100,000 High Court Writs and recovered
more than £187 million for our clients, all debt fairly collected. We
help lawyers and creditors across all sectors to recover unpaid
CCJ’s sooner rather than later. We achieve 39% early engagement
resulting in market-leading recovery rates. Our multi-awardwinning
technology provides real-time reporting 24/7. We work in
close partnership to expertly resolve matters with a fast, fair and
personable approach. We work hard to achieve the best results
and protect your reputation.
Credica Ltd
Building 168, Maxell Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Oxon. OX11 0QT
T: 01235 856400E: info@credica.co.uk W: www.credica.co.uk
Our highly configurable and extremely cost effective Collections
and Query Management System has been designed with 3 goals
in mind:
•To improve your cashflow • To reduce your cost to collect
• To provide meaningful analysis of your business
Evolving over 15 years and driven by the input of 1000s of
Credit Professionals across the UK and Europe, our system is
successfully providing significant and measurable benefits for our
diverse portfolio of clients.
We would love to hear from you if you feel you would benefit from
our ‘no nonsense’ and human approach to computer software.
Satago
48 Warwick Street, London, W1B 5AW
T: +44(0)020 8050 3015
E: hello@satago.com
W: www.satago.com
Satago helps business owners and their accountants avoid credit
risks, manage debtors and access finance when they need it – all
in one platform. Satago integrates with 300+ cloud accounting
apps with just a few clicks, helping businesses:
• Understand their customers - with RISK INSIGHTS
• Get paid on time - with automated CREDIT CONTROL
• Access funding - with flexible SINGLE INVOICE FINANCE
Visit satago.com and start your free trial today.
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 61

Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION
OPTIONS AND PRICING CONTACT
paul@centuryone.uk 01727 739 196
ENFORCEMENT
INSOLVENCY
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
High Court Enforcement Group Limited
Client Services, Helix, 1st Floor
Edmund Street, Liverpool
L3 9NY
T: 08450 999 666
E: clientservices@hcegroup.co.uk
W: hcegroup.co.uk
Putting creditors first
We are the largest independent High Court enforcement company,
with more authorised officers than anyone else. We are privately
owned, which allows us to manage our business in a way that
puts our clients first. Clients trust us to deliver and service is
paramount. We cover all aspects of enforcement – writs of control,
possessions, process serving and landlord issues – and are
committed to meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations.
FINANCIAL PR
Menzies
T: +44 (0)2073 875 868 - London
T: +44 (0)2920 495 444 - Cardiff
W: menzies.co.uk/creditor-services
Our Creditor Services team can advise on the best way for you
to protect your position when one of your debtors enters, or
is approaching, insolvency proceedings. Our services include
assisting with retention of title claims, providing representation
at creditor meetings, forensic investigations, raising finance,
financial restructuring and removing the administrative burden
– this includes completing and lodging claim forms, monitoring
dividend prospects and analysing all Insolvency Reports and
correspondence.
For more information on how the Menzies Creditor
Services team can assist please contact Giuseppe Parla,
Qualified Insolvency Practitioner, at gparla@menzies.co.uk
or call +44 20 7465 1919.
LEGAL
Key IVR
T: +44 (0) 1302 513 000
E: sales@keyivr.com
W: www.keyivr.com
Key IVR are proud to have joined the Chartered Institute of
Credit Management’s Corporate partnership scheme. The
CICM is a recognised and trusted professional entity within
credit management and a perfect partner for Key IVR. We are
delighted to be providing our services to the CICM to assist with
their membership collection activities. Key IVR provides a suite
of products to assist companies across the globe with credit
management. Our service is based around giving the end-user
the means to make a payment when and how they choose. Using
automated collection methods, such as a secure telephone
payment line (IVR), web and SMS allows companies to free up
valuable staff time away from typical debt collection.
RECRUITMENT
Gravity Global
Floor 6/7, Gravity Global, 69 Wilson St, London, EC2A 2BB
T: +44(0)207 330 8888. E: sfeast@gravityglobal.com
W: www.gravityglobal.com
Gravity is an award winning full service PR and advertising
business that is regularly benchmarked as being one of the
best in its field. It has a particular expertise in the credit sector,
building long-term relationships with some of the industry’s bestknown
brands working on often challenging briefs. As the partner
agency for the Credit Services Association (CSA) for the past 22
years, and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management since
2006, it understands the key issues affecting the credit industry
and what works and what doesn’t in supporting its clients in the
media and beyond.
FORUMS
FORUMS INTERNATIONAL
T: +44 (0)1246 555055
E: info@forumsinternational.co.uk
W: www.forumsinternational.co.uk
Forums International Ltd have been running Credit and Industry
Forums since 1991. We cover a range of industry sectors and
International trading, attendance is for Credit Professionals of all
levels. Our forums are not just meetings but communities which
aim to prepare our members for the challenges ahead. Attending
for the first time is free for you to gauge the benefits and meet the
members and we only have pre-approved Partners, so you will
never intentionally be sold to.
FOR ADVERTISING
INFORMATION OPTIONS
AND PRICING CONTACT
paul@centuryone.uk
01727 739 196
Shoosmiths
Email: paula.swain@shoosmiths.co.uk
Tel: 03700 86 3000 W: www.shoosmiths.co.uk
Shoosmiths’ highly experienced team will work closely with credit
teams to recover commercial debts as quickly and cost effectively
as possible. We have an in depth knowledge of all areas of debt
recovery, including:
•Pre-litigation services to effect early recovery and keep costs down
•Litigation service
•Post-litigation services including enforcement
•Insolvency
As a client of Shoosmiths, you will find us quick to relate to your goals,
and adept at advising you on the most effective way of achieving
them.
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
American Express
76 Buckingham Palace Road,
London. SW1W 9TQ
T: +44 (0)1273 696933
W: www.americanexpress.com
American Express is working in partnership with the CICM and is a
globally recognised provider of payment solutions to businesses.
Specialising in providing flexible collection capabilities to drive a
number of company objectives including:
• Accelerate cashflow • Improved DSO • Reduce risk
• Offer extended terms to customers
•Provide an additional line of bank independent credit to drive
growth • Create competitive advantage with your customers
As experts in the field of payments and with a global reach,
American Express is working with credit managers to drive growth
within businesses of all sectors. By creating an additional lever
to help support supplier/client relationships American Express is
proud to be an innovator in the business payments space.
Bottomline Technologies
115 Chatham Street, Reading
Berks RG1 7JX | UK
T: 0870 081 8250 E: emea-info@bottomline.com
W: www.bottomline.com/uk
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps businesses
pay and get paid. Businesses and banks rely on Bottomline for
domestic and international payments, effective cash management
tools, automated workflows for payment processing and bill
review and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural analytics
and regulatory compliance. Businesses around the world depend
on Bottomline solutions to help them pay and get paid, including
some of the world’s largest systemic banks, private and publicly
traded companies and Insurers. Every day, we help our customers
by making complex business payments simple, secure and
seamless.
Hays Credit Management
107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN
T: 07834 260029
E: karen.young@hays.com
W: www.hays.co.uk/creditcontrol
Hays Credit Management is working in partnership with the CICM
and specialise in placing experts into credit control jobs and
credit management jobs. Hays understands the demands of this
challenging environment and the skills required to thrive within
it. Whatever your needs, we have temporary, permanent and
contract based opportunities to find your ideal role. Our candidate
registration process is unrivalled, including face-to-face screening
interviews and a credit control skills test developed exclusively for
Hays by the CICM. We offer CICM members a priority service and
can provide advice across a wide spectrum of job search and
recruitment issues.
PORTFOLIO
CREDIT CONTROL
Portfolio Credit Control
1 Finsbury Square, London. EC2A 1AE
T: 0207 650 3199
E: recruitment@portfoliocreditcontrol.com
W: www.portfoliocreditcontrol.com
Portfolio Credit Control, a 5* Trustpilot rated agency, solely
specialises in the recruitment of Permanent, Temporary & Contract
Credit Control, Accounts Receivable and Collections staff
including remote workers. Part of The Portfolio Group, an awardwinning
Recruiter, we speak to Credit Controllers every day and
understand their skills meaning we are perfectly placed to provide
your business with talented Credit Control professionals. Offering
a highly tailored approach to recruitment, we use a hybrid of faceto-face
and remote briefings, interviews and feedback options.
We provide both candidates & clients with a commitment to deliver
that will exceed your expectations every single time.
Cr£ditWho?
CICM Directory of Services
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 62

View our digital version online at www.cicm.com
Log on to the Members’ area, and click on the tab labelled
‘Credit Management magazine’
Just another great reason to be a member
Credit Management is distributed to the entire UK and international
CICM membership, as well as additional subscribers
Brave | Curious | Resilient
www.cicm.com | +44 (0)1780 722900 | editorial@cicm.com
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 63

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