Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Whistling in the wind'

If you've read the latest (May) edition of the ICM's Credit Management magazine, you'll have seen mention of a survey finding that 42% of SME respondents had never heard of any of the current Government or bank-led initiatives to support small businesses. The recent news about funding through the Business Bank and the increase in length and breadth of the Funding for Lending Scheme is great news but only if businesses are aware of the help that might be available.

 

I was pleased that, of all the schemes, awareness was highest for Start-Up Loans. Regular readers of my blog will know that I'm privileged to sit on the board of Start-Up Loans and I know how much work has gone into raising public awareness, not least by James Caan (the Chair) who has used his personal profile and networks to such great advantage.

 

There have been numerous other initiatives supporting small business in recent times such as the National Loan Guarantee and Enterprise Finance Guarantee Schemes as well as the 17 introduced by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) Task Force in 2010. But none of these serve any purpose unless businesses, banks and others are aware of their existence.

 

One of the BBA initiatives was the creation of an independent appeals process for when loan applications were declined. Russel Griggs, who chairs this, has done good work and his reports show the effectiveness of the idea but I've seen recent examples demonstrating clearly that awareness is woefully inadequate.

 

I heard in the last few days from a business that had thrown in the towel after its current bank had withdrawn facilities despite a 37 year positive relationship, loan applications to other banks had been declined, and engagement with the Financial Ombudsman Service, MPs and numerous others had failed to have any impact. What astounds me is that at no point in this whole process was the business pointed towards the very appeals process that might have helped, or at least allowed it to understand the various banks' position.

 

Surely some of the parties involved would have heard of the appeals process and could have signposted to it? Not long ago I was at a presentation by a senior regional manager from one of the major banks and he was totally ignorant of it, so perhaps not!

 

In this age when we can communicate in so many different ways, and when instant communication is the norm, I find it sad and strange that getting important messages communicated and understood is so difficult. I guess it's incumbent on all of us to ensure we are well informed and up to date with what's going on in the business world and that we play our part in passing important messages on to those who might benefit from them.

 

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Supporting the Business in You'

A campaign was launched by David Cameron in Leeds on Monday. 'Business in You' is a partnership between private enterprise and Government to highlight support for start-ups and growing businesses and encourage entrepreneurial spirit in 2012. It will run throughout the year and I'm delighted to say the ICM is actively engaged as one of the initial supporting organisations.

The campaign aims to highlight the fact that many people are sitting on an idea that could become a business, and many businesses have the potential to grow whether that's by launching new products, entering new markets, exporting for the first time or more widely, or by accepting the challenge and going for growth despite the negative malaise that surrounds us. The campaign website can be viewed at: http://businessinyou.bis.gov.uk/

I was at a meeting at BIS with many other of the supporting organisations on Tuesday and there are some really inspiring case studies being shared, and some innovative support solutions being offered by organisations as diverse as the Forum of Private Business, CBI, Institute of Directors, British Bankers' Association, ACCA, ICAEW, Intuit, Microsoft, Paypal, and Mitie to name but a few. Interestingly this is less about a government campaign with private sector support, and more about a collaboration that brings together the best from both the public and private sectors. And encouragingly, this isn't a government short-term soundbite-style gimmick but a long-term activity lasting for the whole year with links into many events and propositions. So how does the Institute of Credit management fit into this?

One of the challenges for all businesses, and particularly for start-ups and growing organisations, is making sure they have enough cash to sustain the business and its requirements. Managing cash-flow is vital, and the over 275,000 downloads of the ICM's Managing Cashflow Guides are testament to how relevant the subject is, and what an appetite there is to gain the necessary skills to manage it better. I hope the 'Business in You' campaign succeeds in encouraging more entrepreneurs to create a start-up, and more businesses to successfully expand but if it also helps businesses to manage their finances better and therefore survive longer, then it will have delivered something really worthwhile. I am proud that the ICM is among its supporters.