Guest blog by Charles Mayhew FICM, Director of Moreton Smith Limited –‘Brass Bands and Bacon Rolls’

I was delighted to be asked to be a guest blogger by Philip some months ago, and was wondering what I could write.

How the late payment act is working? Perhaps some interesting stories about collecting debts in the Middle East and so on? So while I was reflecting on a topic, I started remembering all the fascinating people I have met in our Industry, and of course being involved in International collections, many different nationalities.

I was recently made a Fellow of the ICM and a very proud one also. So therefore, having been the recipient of what should be perceived as an Oscar, I am hoping to thank a few people and share some stories of my 20 years in Credit - so far! It’s not over by any means.

It all started in 1994 just after I returned from living and working in Abu Dhabi with my wife and two (then) young children. I was interviewed by a distinguished American Gentleman, Stanley Tulchin of STA Associates who introduced me to the collections industry. His favourite saying was “Volume without yield is an unnecessary expense”. Wise advice from a wise man. Stanley was a great supporter of the American Collectors Association and also the NACM in the USA and insisted that we became heavily involved with the equivalent UK organisation which of course we did. I was lucky enough to travel to Chicago for the NACM conference, the same as the Annual ICM at Gaydon but much larger.

I compared notes on the ICM with Ted Brown, who was spotted in window of the Hotel opposite me in a John Cleese type moment. We couldn’t believe the massive brass band marching through the exhibition halls, the amount of people in attendance, and the lavish stands that many companies had invested in. I also attended the New Orleans NACM conference a few years later, and that was an experience. Then coming back to the UK I remember well the Liverpool and Merseyside conference and Lynne Mills enticing us all to arrive promptly with the lure of Bacon Rolls, which were delicious. It was 1998 before I became an MICM and I actually remember saying to my older brother, himself a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, that I eventually had letters after my name.

My Mum was also impressed! I joined Richard Moreton and Mark Smith in 2003 and was grateful for my time at STA but the bright lights of London beckoned, and the opportunity to become a shareholder in a growing business. Again my previous colleagues at STA were household names, who I gained invaluable experience from. Colin Thomas and Kevin Terrel, all with great sayings such as “companies owe money but people pay bills” (I don’t think that’s copyrighted though).

Philip King, Brenda Linger, Stuart Hopewell, Larry Coltman were all encouraging me along with Richard Seadon especially to apply for my fellowship. 

I am delighted that I did, it has made me even more passionate about the industry we work in, and what it has always allowed me to do is to reflect on how many good people have had an influence on my career so far. Over the years and travelling around to see many credit managers as I do, people are always quick to give an opinion on the ICM. Another saying is you only get out what you put in.

I will continue to support our professional body, and perhaps even more importantly the people who are in our industry. Socialising with them is also a healthy part of it, we call it networking. Have a great summer.

Charles Mayhew FICM

 

Next week Philip King’s guest blogger will be Sue Chapple, Head of Revenue Management of EDF Energy Plc.

 

 

Weekly blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Firing the imagination'

I talked last week about the flurry of consultations being launched by government ahead of the summer holidays and, guess what, there have been even more since I wrote those words.  It feels like I have spent every waking hour of the last ten days ploughing through page after page of government documents and preparing questionnaires and summaries to share with our members so they can comment and offer their views.

The latest to hit my inbox was HMRC's consultation document: 'Sharing and publishing data for public benefit', a set of proposals that "form a significant development in HMRC's Open Data Strategy".  Judged by the title, you wouldn't imagine this has much to excite credit professionals but ­ as is so often the case ­ there are nuggets hidden away that are very interesting.  Indeed, I would go far as to say that this one has genuinely excited my imagination. Why is that?

In amongst the detail, the paper suggests the possibilities of releasing of basic non-financial VAT registration data as public data, and sharing more detailed VAT registration data on a more restricted and controlled basis for specific purposes, such as credit referencing.  It also considers whether VAT registration data could provide a foundation for private sector business registers.  It is this last point that lights my fire! I'm old enough to remember the Business Names Register (I think it was called) which allowed a supplier to identify a business.  It ceased to exist years ago and no doubt someone reading this will remember better than me the background as to why, and when.  Since its demise, the ability to identify a business that trades as a sole trader or partnership has been incredibly difficult, and the proportion of businesses on which the credit reference agencies are able to report is incredibly low because of the dearth of data available to them.  I know the VAT threshold is currently £79,000 so the smallest businesses wouldn't be picked up but it would still be a huge step forward.  According to HMRC, around 800,000 VAT registered businesses are not incorporated so making basic information available to credit reference agencies would at least enable a business's existence, location, legal status, and trade classification to be verified.

Of course we'd prefer to have financial information as well but let's keep our feet on the ground; that's not going to happen any time soon.  In the meantime, please let me know what you think (the ICM In-Brief newsletter published on 14 August will have a link to the document but it can also be found here so we can make HM Government aware of our views.

I'm off to Scotland for my summer break shortly and I'm grateful to Charles Mayhew, Sue Chapple, and Sue Kettle who've agreed to do me the honour of writing guest blogs while I'm away.  If you too are heading for some time of relaxation in the coming weeks then make the most of them.  This is the only time in the year when I genuinely turn off emails (despite what I may tell Mrs K at other times!).  I'll look forward to returning refreshed and re-charged.