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.