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!