Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Things to look forward to.....'

It has been quite a bit calmer this week after the frantic round of meetings and conferences since the beginning of December, but then the world of credit management never stands still for long.

I was delighted on Monday to meet with Mark Prisk, the Minister for Business and Enterprise, who is already establishing himself as a champion of the SME cause. It was clear from our discussion that the Minister is keen to continue working with the ICM in promoting the importance of cashflow to a growing business.

There was acknowledgement that even with the good work that has been done before between BIS and the ICM, there is still much to do to change the payment culture in the UK and that the Government had a key role to play in supporting and reinforcing the delivery of specific key messages. It wasn't a case of trying to find new initiatives on which to hang our cashflow 'hat', but rather doing more to promote schemes that already exist such as the Prompt Payment Code. I certainly came away with the impression that Mark Prisk means business, and look forward to working with him and his team closely next year.

Yesterday I spent the morning signing off the final proofs for the next issue of Credit Management magazine, and this is probably one of the best issues yet. We lead with the ongoing bank lending saga and research that contradicts the story from the banking community that they have plenty to lend, but no demand. In terms of consumer credit, the editor also takes a detailed look at what lies ahead for the debt sale and purchase sector in 2011.

So unless anything especially momentous happens next week, this is probably me signing off for 2010. It remains only for us all at the ICM to wish you a Merry Christmas and let us all look forward to a prosperous New Year.

http://www.icm.org.uk/ http://www.icm11.co.uk/

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Disagreements and mixed messages'

As I mentioned last week, the momentum over the Doing Business Together initiative is gathering pace. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has clearly thrown his support behind DBT and the meeting last week in Richmond brought some real heavyweights to the table from the world of business and credit. But there are some issues.

There are, for example, some mixed messages coming out, especially from the politicians. On the one hand, the Government support EU moves to cut red tape for SMEs by reducing their obligations over the detail of financial reporting, while on the other they believe that financial data is essential for granting credit and therefore facilitiating growth.

Businesses need to be educated about the importance of producing, using and sharing information: they need to produce accounts, because in doing so they will be able to manage their businesses better; they need to use the information they have, and so identify how and where they can free up cash in their business; and they need to share that information to access finance or negotiate better terms with their suppliers.

I was also invited this week to the ABFA (Asset Based Finance Association) Conference, sharing the platform with my colleagues from the FSB and FPB among others in an event chaired by Fiona Bruce. The conference created a vigorous debate about late payment legislation. I disagreed entirely with the FSB position: legislation really won't change anything even though we might all wish it would.

Finally, I note an interesting thread on the ICM Bulletin Board this week about alternative approaches to cash collection. It touched on one of my soapbox themes: good credit management adds value across the entire business - creating profitable sales, improving the quality of the organisation at all levels, retaining customers AND maintaining vital cashflow; knowing - and understanding - our customers is a vital element if we are going to be successful and if we're going to make the contribution to our businesses that we can, and should!

http://twitter.com/philipkingicm http://twitter.com/icmorg

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Information leads to finance'

Although you might not believe it, there has been quite a bit going on this week, apart from the weather. Perhaps the biggest news is around the progress of Doing Business Together, an initiative in which the ICM played an important role as part of the steering group that drafted and agreed the Operating Principles prior to their launch at the CBI in October. An event tomorrow will add to the momentum already created http://bit.ly/eTz8lO.

The aim of the Doing Business Together group is to help SMEs manage their own businesses better and obtain the finance and credit they require for a successful trading relationship.

The operating principles (http://www.doingbusinesstogether.org/) are designed to ensure that the relationship between SMEs and their finance and trade credit providers, is one of profitable partnership through a shared commitment to the principles of honesty and transparency. Put simply, they are designed to help get Britain back on its feet.

Trade credit supplies more finance to business than bank loans and overdrafts, and credit professionals are therefore key to the recovery that we all so desperately want and the country needs. In order to make informed decisions, we need information that is timely, relevant and accurate.

Credit professionals have a major part to play in encouraging businesses to produce, use and share information that will support their business, keep supply channels open, and aid the provision of finance. Getting management accounts from our customers can no longer be the exception. If we are really going to know our customers as we should, and be able to manage the relationship and risk effectively, access to such critical material must become the rule.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'EU directives, Eire misery, and meaningless forecasting'

Having recently returned from a meeting of FECMA (the Federation of European Credit Management Associations) in Paris, it's interesting, as always, to catch up with my colleagues and share their experiences. There was much animated conversation about the new EU Late Payment Legislation, particularly with French and Spanish delegates who now have real experience of domestic legislation that sets a statutory limit on payment terms of 30 days. I accept this is anecdotal rather than hard scientific evidence, but their views are crystal clear: the legislation hasn't made the slightest difference.

They found that businesses experiencing late payment are still reluctant to take action against their customers for fear of upsetting them and losing future contracts. There's a lack of real knowledge about how the legislation should be applied, and businesses that want to exploit their suppliers will find a way of doing so, legislation or not!

The legislation will still be some time coming; there are nearly two years before the Directive has to be implemented by member states. We need to use that period to explore long and hard how we might further improve payment and business culture across the UK. I have a meeting with Mark Prisk, Minister for Business & Enterprise, next month and this is one of the subjects that I plan to raise. I've already highlighted the failings of the Directive, but let's see if some good can come of it.

Meanwhile I note that the latest Bank of England Inflation Report, published under the guidance of the Monetary Policy Committee, has some almost amusing words in its overview which ends: "...the chances of inflation being either above or below the target by the end of the forecast period are judged to be roughly equal."

I understand the complexities involved in putting such reports together, and the challenges in making accurate forecasts. But am I alone in thinking that experts should at least have a view? This just feels like a classic case of 'hedging your bets' or 'sitting on the fence' to me!

And finally, over to Ireland - metaphorically, not physically! What a sorry story, and a worrying one too for the people who live there, the businesses that trade there, and the businesses that trade with it.

I've been saying consistently to anyone who will listen that businesses in the UK are underestimating the negative impact of our public spending cuts. But I fear the pain we're going to feel is incomparable to the misery that our neighbours now face.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Uncertainty demands quality' -

At the start of the week, Vince Cable and Mark Prisk announced a new 40,000-strong network of business mentors as part of their Global Entrepreneurship Week: http://bit.ly/cSbrsp. The rationale, they said, is that the best people to advise new entrepreneurs and existing businesses are those who have already started and run successful companies.

The ambition is to nurture new talent as well as increasing productivity and growth among existing businesses. It is a laudable ambition, and I am hesitant to pour cold water on what appears to be a compelling proposition. My concern, however, is how they are going to make it work in practice? It is a legitimate concern, but should not stop us as an Institute from engaging with the programme and encouraging our members to add their considerable skills and expertise in cashflow management.

Elsewhere I note that Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the IoD, is predicting that "...after a very abnormal recession it would be foolish to rule out the possibility of a very abnormal recovery as well." http://bit.ly/aLz8Q7. It will be interesting to see if he is proved correct. What it does prove, however, is that there is still plenty of uncertainty ahead of us which makes the contribution of professional credit managers even more important.

This week has been a good one for Cabot Financial, and I was delighted to present their Chief Executive and the management team with the Quality in Credit Management (QiCM) Award. It is significant for many reasons, not least of which being that this is the first award to be given to a business in the debt purchase sector. It's an impressive company with clear focus on its people, on customers and quality. They are to be congratulated on all that they have achieved. http://bit.ly/6uVCxM.

'Storm clouds brewing' - Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM

It has been yet another busy week, starting with the award to Geopost of its QiCM accreditation, an accreditation that the team had to work hard to achieve. In these challenging times, when good credit management is needed more than ever, it is pleasing to see (and present the award to) a team that is so focused, so enthusiastic, so organised and so committed and - as a result - is delivering real value to the organisation.

It has also been a week of much discussion, from the analysis of the ICM Technical Committee into the latest consultations and technical issues that affect credit professionals on a practical and day-to-day basis through to the round table with Bacs, agreeing - and disagreeing - about the issue of late payment and how it can best be addressed.

There was a similarly healthy debate at an event hosted by Hays where I was able to share my passion for all things 'credit management' with about 70 professionals eager to listen, discuss and share about issues that affect their everyday working together to create a single credit 'community'. I know I've said it before but this community is a really important element of what we do.

Finally I note that new figures suggest insolvencies and personal bankruptcies are falling - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11701334?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter on the face of it this is good news, but I'm not changing my long held - and often stated - view that we're still in a lull before a horrible storm. I remain convinced we're going to see a surge in corporate insolvency, for a number of reasons including: the tightening up of the HMRC deferred payment scheme is going to leave businesses having to find cash; as the economy starts to recover, the need for cash is going to increase and, historically, insolvencies have always risen as we've come out of a recession; and lastly that the impact of the public sector cuts (as previously discussed here) is going to be far worse than many realise.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Ignorance is damaging'

I was in illustrious company earlier in the week when I was invited as one of the leading business organisations to the Small Business Summit at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) - http://bit.ly/9mG8bs.

Vince Cable, Mark Prisk, Lord Young, Francis Maude and Grant Shapps were all in attendance and lending their support to an initiative that has three key commitments to small business: to improve access to finance; to make it easier to do business with the public sector; and to allow social tenants to start up their business at home.

It is encouraging that the Government is working hard to support small businesses; they are clearly going to be key to the recovery. But such efforts are only going to work if businesses are aware of the initiatives in the first place, and know where they can go for help.

One of the long-standing criticisms of the EFG (Enterprise Finance Guarantee) Scheme, for example, is that small businesses, banks and business organisations have seldom known enough about the scheme, and its details, with the result that demand has been depressed. Similarly, banks have many products to help small business - not just the ubiquitous overdraft - but these businesses either don't understand them or have never been told what other products may be suitable.

That ignorance extends to understanding the basic principles of cashflow management. Business owners, and especially micro business owners, are too busy making sure their businesses survive to worry about getting - or even looking for - advice, even when that advice is the very stuff they need to stay in business!

There have now been more than 185,000 downloads of the ICM's Managing Cashflow Guides. These numbers are very encouraging, and we are rightfully proud of what we have achieved to date. But we have to balance this success with the fact that there are 4.8 million small and medium businesses in the UK that employ less than 250 people, and when we compare our downloads to the potential target audience, there is still much work to be done.

Government needs to make a concerted and focused effort - including working further with organisations like the ICM - to educate businesses and make them aware of the basics that will sustain them into the future.

http://www.creditmanagement.org.uk/bisguides.htm

http://www.icm.org.uk

http://twitter.com/philipkingicm

Weekly blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - A Real Credit Community

It's fair to say that this week has been one of highs and lows.

On Wednesday I attended a funeral following the untimely death of the husband of one of our Advisory Council members. Since the sad news was shared I've been overwhelmed by the messages of support demonstrating how caring and compassionate this credit community is. Sometimes, indeed, it takes a tragedy to make us realise just how fortunate we are, and it makes me proud to be leading an organisation that is so much more than 'just' a professional body.

Talking of the credit community I attended the inaugural conference of ICTF (Association of International Credit & Trade Finance Professionals) in Brussels. The conference very definitely seemed to deliver on its promise and it was good to meet with my colleagues on the international stage and be introduced to a number of people for the first time. The ICTF has got off to a most promising start and I look forward to working closely with them as they continue to evolve.

Continuing with the 'highs', there was considerable excitement with the 0.8% rise in GDP, a quarterly jump that was twice as fast as forecasters as predicted. I consider myself a realist so don't want to dampen the enthusiasm but perhaps this rise is telling us something? Perhaps it is saying we should take heart, and be encouraged by such positive news. But it might also be saying not to get too excited, since the cuts imposed by the spending review have yet to be felt.

In the circumstances, it's almost impossible to forecast with any degree of accuracy (the only consistency in forecasts is that they're generally proved to be wide of the mark!), so we are in uncharted waters. As such, we should continue applying all the principles we know are right to manage cashflow effectively and sustain our businesses. http://www.icm.org.uk/

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Spot the stars

It has been a busy week that started with the inaugural meeting of the Small Business Economic Forum formed by the new Small Business Minister Mark Prisk. The forum brought together banks and business representatives, among them the Institute of Credit Management, with a remit to 'share their views with Ministers on enterprise issues, in particular economic issues facing small firms'.

What we learned from the first forum is that there is a continuing divide between banks' and business organisations' perceptions as regards to what extent the banks are lending. That, in itself, was not a surprise, but perhaps more of a surprise was the lack of any sign of a solution. In short, it is an issue that is unlikely to go away.

Whether the forum will be successful or not, I do not know. We can only do our best to ensure that it is. Certainly Mr Prisk is of the view that the forum should produce actions, not just words, and that is encouraging. It was good to be invited and welcomed by the new Coalition, and a good opportunity to share views across a wide spectrum of organisations. It was encouraging too to see the engagement of the Business Secretary Vince Cable who joined the meeting in the latter stages to lend his support. http://bit.ly/c3umbH

As I write, I have just finished listening to the statement by George Osborne regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). It was a good, if rare, opportunity to listen to a whole speech. It went on for more than an hour and it was hard to get too much detail and that is a pity, for it is in the detail that the devil will be.

Little he said was totally unexpected: 490,000 predicted public sector job losses were in line with predictions, and the impact of people losing jobs, or jobs left vacant, and people entering the market as self-employed will be huge. My worry - and one that I expressed at the Equifax/RBS Exchange Day in London, is that too many start-ups fail to get the basics right. Too many of them are trying to sell the wrong product, or are in the wrong place, or both, and the cuts will produce a large number of people who think they can use their redundancy cheque as a means to fulfill a long-held dream. Sadly, for many, the dream will turn into a nightmare and credit professionals are going to have the challenge of spotting the stars and avoiding the dangers.

For more information about the Institute of Credit Management visit http://www.icm.org.uk/ or follow ICM on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/icmorg.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Plan for survival and late payment

The Sunday Times recently carried a number of articles that caught my eye. First among them was a piece by the Economics Editor David Smith, a name familiar to many of us in the world of credit management. In his economic outlook column, David quoted the former economic adviser at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) who had apparently said: "most firms are in denial about the impact the [public sector] cuts will have on their business".

At the time of writing, the spending review is imminent, but if the forecast cut in gross capital spending by government from £69bn last year to £43bn in 2013-14 is accurate, the impact will be significant. And the impact will not simply be on the public sector and public sector jobs. The private sector is going to feel pain from the cuts just as badly, and we must all, therefore, be planning to sustain our businesses through the undoubtedly difficult times ahead.

The second piece that caught my attention - partly because I was expecting it - was an article by the Small Business Editor Rachel Bridge. The angle was one of late payment, and specifically how larger customers are withholding payment to small suppliers.

The piece used as a case study National Property Solutions in Wakefield, a business owned and managed by ICM Fellow Rob McTiffin. Rob told of how too much of his time was spent trying to get his clients to pay sooner, rather than driving his business forward. It is a familiar story. The Institute itself was well represented in the piece, highlighting in particular our involvement with BIS's Prompt Payment Code http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/ and outlining some of the work we have been doing to help small businesses improve their cashflow.

One feels there will be many more such articles in the months ahead as the full impact of the government's spending review becomes apparent.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - The power of belonging

At the start of the week I hosted and chaired the latest ICM Think Tank. It was our most well attended to date, with some 25 senior representatives from all parts of the credit industry coming together to share their thoughts and views and join in a lively debate around the key issues of the day.

Among the delegates was Mike Chambers, Managing Director of Bacs, and it was most interesting to hear his views around the proposed withdrawal of cheques by 2018. The next two years, it would seem, will tell us a great deal about the preparedness of the banks, businesses and the consumer in migrating to alternative payment methods.

The issue of late payment was also discussed, particularly in light of new EU legislation that I commented on in an earlier blog, but perhaps the main topic of discussion was around the provision of data, and specifically the provision of debtors' payment data as a prerequisite for future adequate and meaningful risk assessment. It is inherent within our business culture, it would appear, to jealously guard what financial data we possess, even if in sharing that data we might all ultimately benefit.

The Think Tank also provided the forum for discussing the preliminary findings of our new Credit Managers' Index (CMI). Although it is still very early days, there are some interesting trends emerging, and work is now underway in preparing for the next survey in December to enable the first comparisions - and therefore the first 'index' - to be drawn.

In what has been a busy week, I was delighted to have been actively engaged in CCR-i which seemed to be the most successful yet. Our commitment as the ICM is to further build CCR-i to become the foremost national event for the credit industry, and it was most encouraging to see so many credit professionals - and ICM Members in particular - taking time out of their busy schedules to attend.

On the day, I chaired the Commercial Credit Strategy stream with various presentations from credit professionals sharing their own 'front-line' experience as opposed to theory. It gave delegates much food for thought in terms of reinforcing their own current practices and/or learning of new techniques to deploy.

Sharing with credit professionals from across the industry, and a range of sectors, with different perspectives gave those present a real sense of the power of belonging to - and engaging with - the wider community through organisations like the ICM http://www.icm.org.uk.

5th Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Musings from China

I am currently attending, and presenting at, the 7th China International Credit & Risk Management Conference in Nanjing, and it is interesting to note how the topics of debate have shifted since my last visit 12 months ago. There is much more discussion, for example, around the move to open account payment terms rather than letters of credit for international trade, and the move towards alternative sources of finance such as factoring - a conversation that mirrors our own experiences back in the UK.

It is noticeable, also, that there is increased availability of credit ratings within China on Chinese companies, and a clear desire for skills to support selling into the West rather than skills and knowledge simply for use in the domestic market.

We know that there is a rapidly expanding middle class in China, and this is placing increased demand on the trade and availability of expensive consumer goods. What is interesting, however, is that there are no personal insolvency rules or procedures in China, leading me to think about the OFT's recent warning to 129 debt management firms in the UK: http://oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2010/101-10

The report makes salutary reading and the paid advice sector evidently needs to do considerably more to clean up its act. We have ourselves spoken to the Debt Resolution Forum which is working hard to drive improvement. I sit on its Complaints Committee and there have been very few complaints. It is important that bad practice is highlighted, so remedial action can be taken.

Some ICM Members are asking me why the firms shouldn't be publicly named and shamed. The reason is simple: they can't, under part 9 of Enterprise Act 2002. That does not mean that we will never know their identity, however. If they fail to improve, and the OFT decided to take formal licensing action, then their names will be published for all to see.

4th Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM: EU - support or overkill?

The European Union agreed new rules last week to update the existing EU Late Payments Directive. The agreement now needs to be approved by the full Parliament and is likely to be put to a plenary vote at the October session in Strasbourg.

Four key points were settled in the negotiations. The first placed a 60-day cap for public authorities; only in exceptional circumstances can the payment period be longer than 30 days and never beyond 60. The second fixed the statutory interest rate for late payment as the reference rate plus 8% and fixed a sum of 40 Euros as compentation for recovery costs.

For public entities providing healthcare, it was agreed that Member States may choose a deadline of up to 60 days, and finally that the verification period for ascertaining that the goods or services comply with the contract terms is set at 30 days.

I have no argument with making things as simple as possible and I have always said that arbitrary imposition of extended payment terms on small suppliers by large organisations in unacceptable and unethical, particularly when retrospectively applied. But whilst the EU may be pleased with its negotiations, I find a number of questions appearing in my head. For example:

• What happens when I have some obsolete stock to clear and giving very extended terms would have persuaded a customer to take that stock and sell it over time?

• What happens when I'm negotiating particular contract details and either I or the other party has some specific requirements where longer - or shorter - payment terms might have been one of the areas on which flexibility would help deliver a solution?

• What happens when an invoice is disputed and remains unpaid either justly or as a means to avoid payment?

• Will businesses that fail to meet invoicing requirements - or delay invoicing - be any better off?

As always the devil will be in the detail but I've watched with interest the introduction in France of the Modernisation Law in the last year and - anecdotally at least - I don't get the sense that there has been a huge positive impact. Credit Managers I speak to seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time trying to manage through the bureaucracy and confusion about what terms apply when and to whom.

I'd be the first to agree that the current situation is poor but I need to be convinced that this will be the panacea that's being suggested by Barbara Weiler and others. Good credit management practice can resolve many of the issues that arise and I fear we might end up with overkill that - with the best of intentions - stifles free enterprise.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/052-82070-256-09-38-909-20100913IPR82069-13-09-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm

3rd Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Pointless Bank Activity

In the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, the Telegraph Business Club Editor James Hurley reported on a move by some of the major banks to have the creditworthiness of their business customers independently profiled in an attempt to defuse the row over small businesses' access to finance.

Now I'm generally supportive of banks. I don't want them to lend money to businesses that aren't creditworthy (that is, after all, how we got into this mess in the first place), and I understand the obvious dilemma of being under pressure to repair balance sheets AND lend to small businesses.

This though is disingenuous. Historically, the ICM has always fought against the raising of thresholds for modified accounts. But we all know that most small businesses file modified, abbreviated, or unaudited accounts as it is. Indeed some of them fail to file any form of accounts at all, so the outcome of this exercise is inevitable. The businesses banks won't lend to have poor credit ratings so their decisions can be easily justified!

What would be far more beneficial is if the banks spent time and energy in helping to educate and encourage small businesses to provide management accounts more readily so that more genuine, better informed decisions can be made. Transparency will, of course, be essential, and honesty on both sides would be welcome.

As I told the Daily Telegraph, I'd rather the banks were campaigning for provision of information rather than embarking on what to me seems a pointless and futile exercise.

If you'd like to read the full article click: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/8000675/Report-on-bank-small-business-lending-decisions-a-pointless-exercise.html

2nd weekly blog of Philip King, CEO of the ICM - skills and risk

A few days ago, Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent of The Guardian wrote that British manufacturing is at risk of 'collapse'. The reasons she cited included a worsening skills shortage that will leave thousands of hi-tech jobs unfilled over the next five years. More recently, a leading academic also stated that it is not just in the high-tech industries that skills are missing. He warned that all areas of business need the right, relevant skills to be successful, and this includes skills in credit management.

It is comforting to know, I hope, that there are organisations out there - the ICM foremost among them - who take such warnings seriously. The successful and ongoing development of our qualifications, and our work with employers, practitioners, and industry is aimed at ensuring the industry becomes more professional, and that the right skills are available to help Britain through the recovery.

The property and environmental services giant Connaught has collapsed into administration, putting thousands of jobs at risk. In June, the company warned that public spending cuts, designed to reduce the government's budget deficit, would impact 31 projects, reducing its revenues by £80m this year. This hit, it said, "would push the company into the red." Public sector cuts are going to hit businesses across all sectors, and many of those will be our customers.

In another annoucement that links closely with this theme, I note that the "time to pay" scheme has now reached its peak as HMRC appears to be rejecting an increasingly large number of applications to take part in the initiative. "Time to pay" allows businesses to defer tax payments during the recession. Syscap, an independent finance provider, says that in the last few weeks, a good many businesses have been in contact to secure loans to meet tax obligations either becuase HMRC has rejected their application to the scheme or because they have taken a business off the scheme. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise, but credit professionals are going to see their customers under greater cashflow pressure as a result, and the number of insolvencies is likely to rise as I've been predicting for several months now. Knowing our customers - and their customers in turn - is going to be more important than ever in the months ahead. Close monitoring of risk will enable creditors to take action to avoid or at least minimise potential bad debts.

1st Weekly Blog from Philip King, CEO of the ICM

There were two announcements in the last few days that especially caught my attention. The first was by the Forum for Private Business (FPB) who had submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request asking police forces how quickly they processed payments in the 2009/10 financial year.

It revealed companies in some parts of the country had to wait more than two months for payment from their local force. Companies doing business with the police in other areas, however, were paid in a matter of days.

Now there is nothing new or surprising in this. Across all industries and sectors, there are differences in practice and experience and I bet even those paying promptly end up paying some suppliers quicker than others.

The reason those suppliers get paid more quickly than others is similarly no secret. It comes down to having good credit management practices. Getting the basics right, such as ensuring the invoice details are correct and building personal relationships between departments is key to getting paid on time. Some practice is ingrained and part of the business culture, but other skills can be taught, and this is our role.

The second piece of news I read was in the Independent. It announced that one in 10 northerners 'will be jobless in the next 5 years'. A leading economics think-tank predicted that unemployment is set to breach the psychologically important 10 percent level over the next five years - but only in the north of the country.

Unemployment is bound to grow and - while it may be worse in the North - it's going to affect all areas, particularly as the public sector cuts bite. One impact will be the emergence of more sole traders who see redundancy as an opportunity to leave the world of PAYE and strike out on their own with their redundancy cheque firmly in hand. As suppliers, we should be prepared to give them good advice that will help their business survive the first critical 12 months. We could do worse than point them to the Managing Cashflow Guides at www.creditmanagement.org.uk

Meanwhile closer to home, the ICM exam results came out last weekend. As with the 'A' level students, some learners will be delighted with their performance and others devastated and disappointed. Studying while maintaining a career is never easy and they deserve our congratulations for their commitment (whatever the result) and our support. They are the credit professionals of tomorrow and will help raise the standards of what we do.