Guest blog by Tracy Carter, Executive Assistant to Philip King, Institute of Credit Management

I was happy to accept the invitation to be a guest blogger until I realised that my blog would be following Nigel Fields’, a member of the Institute of Credit Management whose blog included the line “I have the best job in the world in ‘the movie business’ at Twentieth Century Fox”!  How do I follow that?  Well, I also feel that I’m lucky in my role; I work as part of a vibrant, enthusiastic and driven senior management team, for an Institute whose staff and members are completely committed to the work of the Institute and the credit management profession.

 

In addition to my varied executive assistant role, I’m also responsible for driving the Institute’s social media strategy.  I am truly passionate about social media, and particularly the benefits of social media as a communication tool for the ICM; our LinkedIn Group (ICM Credit Community) and Twitter account (@ICMorg) are good examples of how we can share what we’re doing, enter into discussions, and listen to credit management professionals.

 

Over recent months I’ve had the opportunity to speak, share ideas and offer advice to organisations, ICM branches, ICM members, and other professional bodies who are driving social media – the common feeling I’ve encountered is nervousness.  My advice is to ignore the nerves – start as an observer – sign up to LinkedIn and Twitter and watch for a while - you’ll soon discover a new world that you may even want to converse with.

 

Social networking is here to stay, and just like the arrival of email, it’s a communication tool that everyone can utilise – it’s happening with or without you! 

  

If you’d like to read Philip King’s weekly blog and other guest blogs click here or visit our Twitter page http://twitter.com/ICMorg.  You can also follow me on Twitter @TracyCarter.

Guest Blog by Nigel Fields, Director of International Credit at Twentieth Century Fox - 'Who the hell is Nigel Fields'

I thought, as this is my first ever Blog, that I should first start by letting you know; Who the hell is Nigel Fields?

 

OK, here I go, I think I am incredibly lucky!  In fact I feel life has been really kind to me, from being with my fantastic wife, Jackie since age of 13, (hey, I was not married then) rolling on to 32 years later with our two great kids Harry and Sally, who kindly make sure I never have any money to worry about and can continue to train and practice for myself the art of ‘Debt Management’.  I have met so many fantastic friends along the way.  And today I am working with, what I consider, to be one of the greatest businesses of all, ‘The MOVIE Business’ and in particular Twentieth Century Fox where I sit in Soho Square, London which is also probably the coolest, friendliest place in London.

 

I have been at Fox for 13 years now, and have established my role at Fox as Credit Director working with all countries outside of the USA and Canada.  Here’s a summary of what I get up to.

 

- Oversee Fox’s international risk management providing clarity of Fox’s objectives for risk and financial control to territories.

 

- Identify and monitor “at risk” customers within territories.

 

- Make recommendation for the mitigation of any risk gaps using best available and most cost effective solutions e.g. Credit Insurance, PUT options etc. and provide recommendations for doubtful debt provisions as required.

 

- Provide consolidated reporting of international Accounts Receivable.

 

- Assist Subsidiaries with debt recovery strategies.

 

- Best Practice reviews, improvements & enhancements.

 

- Provide the business with technical expertise in all areas of credit management and make best practice recommendations to territories for a structured credit management framework to improve cash flow where possible.

 

- Responsible for Credit vendor management.

 

 - Privileged to be a Member of the Institute of Credit Management and sit on the ICM Editorial Panel and Think Tank.

 

- Having to attend Premiere’s, meeting film stars and personalities, attending Awards e.g. Bafta’s, travelling the world and watching loads of films.  This makes it all so very hard.  It is a great business and I never ever get bored.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Pre-holiday blues!'

Holidays from work – what a strange phenomenon!

We spend days or weeks planning to ensure things are taken care of while we're away; we work harder to make sure everything is as up-to-date as it can be; we look further ahead so that we're ready for events occurring soon after we return; then we head off to relax, even if a ‘holiday’ is just time at home to ‘chill’.

Then we return to an overflowing inbox and spend days or weeks working extra long days to catch up on those emails, meeting with colleagues to bring ourselves up-to-speed on what's happened while we've been way, sorting out things that might need attention, and complaining that it would have been easier if we'd never gone away! How many times have you heard someone say they'll need a holiday to recover from the effort involved in catching up from the last one!?

Of course, life goes on perfectly well without us. The economic travails of the country continue, and a couple of weeks passes in no time. We know holidays are a good thing to refresh and recharge the batteries so that we can bring the best to our roles through the rest of the year. I know I've seen some colleagues return from a holiday recently and been pleased by the positive effect their break has so obviously had as they settle back into routine. I'm currently going through the pre-holiday stress and will no doubt go through the post-holiday catching up trauma in a couple of weeks, despite those well intended resolutions while I'm away to get a better work-life balance and create more 'me time'.

This is the one time in the year when I genuinely turn off email, Twitter, LinkedIn and voicemail and switch off from the routine, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to it. For the first time in 28 years, I'm going abroad for a holiday with my wife unaccompanied by any of our children – just the two of us. I fear Mary might just need another holiday to recover from two weeks away with me!

While I'm away, I'm delighted to introduce two guest blog-writers. Next week, Nigel Fields Credit Director at Twentieth Century Fox and a Fellow of the ICM will be sharing some thoughts, and the week after it will be the turn of my very patient, loyal, and long-suffering Executive Assistant, Tracy Carter. I'll look forward to returning in a couple of weeks if I'm not too busy catching up on all those emails, meeting with colleagues to bring myself up to speed on what's been happening while I've been away, and needing a holiday to recover from all the catching up from the one I haven't even started yet!

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Seeing is believing'

After years of planning and anticipation, the finale of the Olympics Games is fast approaching. The predicted transport disasters have failed to materialise, the Team GB medal haul has been better than many expected, and generally people have little to say other than praise for an event that has done the UK proud and for plans brilliantly executed.

On a personal basis, I remain gutted that I was unable to obtain any tickets and attend an event in person, an emotion that has been heightened by the fact that I was in London for several days and sharing the tube with people who had been, or were going to, events. Nevertheless, there was a palpable feel-good factor in the capital and it was great to see people's joy and excitement. And the army of volunteers visible all over London seemed to me to be doing a fantastic job whenever I saw them interacting with visitors.

What is perhaps more interesting is the contrast between predictions and reality. There have been many stories in the press over the last day or two to highlight the point: hotels speak of block-bookings made for officials being released too late to allow for replacement guests to be found; the gridlock on the roads never really materialised; shops expecting a bonanza were disappointed as they found that Olympics visitors were doing no more than commuting from hotel to the Olympic Park and back. Other attractions found that the usual influx of visitors had stayed away so numbers were down, and huge numbers of staff worked from home so normal business was reduced.

So, why did people get caught out? Did LOCOG over-state the potential problems to ensure that the risk of them occurring was minimised, or did the media hype things so much that there was an over-reaction? Or, perhaps, the publicity had the desired effect and allowed the Games to be pulled off successfully and without the disasters that we'd all, if we're honest, probably expected to happen!

The lesson in this is that, although businesses need to listen to advice and take account of what they hear and are told, they also need to plan for themselves and apply basic rules of common sense in their planning. None of the situations outlined above can be that surprising when considered in the light of experience over the last few days. I know hindsight is wonderful but, if we always believe what we hear, we're likely to get caught out. By the same token, we should perhaps stop believing that there is no hope for an economic recovery and maybe, just maybe, we could turn the tide for our own organisations by applying our own positive spin to some of the things we hear.

Weekly blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Confidence or availability'

The Government Funding for Lending programme has been launched this week. Under the scheme, the Bank of England will lend money at below-market rates to banks who, in return, will have to increase their lending to businesses and households; progress will be monitored and, if they fail to deliver, the interest rate will increase. There have been some interesting comments and opinions expressed including those who say it's just another in a long line of schemes such as the National Loan Guarantee Scheme that this one will, over time, replace to encourage the banks to lend more.

The initiative is creative and good but I have to say I'm with Jonathan Portes, Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, who said on yesterday's Radio 4 Today Programme that making more money available at competitive interest rates is not going to fundamentally address the underlying lack of confidence in the economy. He observed that the scheme will allow businesses who want to borrow to do so more cheaply but it won't encourage the banks to lend more since they will still carry the credit risk. In other words, it will reduce the price of lending rather than increase the volume. What is needed is a boost in confidence to encourage businesses to invest and households to spend more.

Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, countered that the availability of loans at a lower cost will encourage the bringing forward of projects and spending, and encourage investment that would otherwise not have happened, or at least not happened yet.

We'll see over the coming months but I don't sense any increase in confidence in the many businesses and business owners I speak to. I don't know the answer I'm afraid but it's the level of confidence we need to stimulate; when that happens, the demand problem will take care of itself.

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