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.