Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Giving credit to the beautiful game'

As I write these words, the Chancellor has yet to start his budget statement and - in any event - I wanted to write about something unrelated to credit or business this week. It's rare that I do so and I therefore ask you to indulge me.

I was at White Hart Lane on Saturday evening when Fabrice Muamba suffered a heart attack on the pitch during Tottenham's FA Cup quarter final against Bolton. Those of you who attend football matches will know that emotion and vitriol can run high and sympathy for opposition players when they need treatment on the pitch can be in short supply. These though were not normal circumstances.

It took almost no time for the crowd to appreciate the significance and seriousness of what was happening before their eyes, and 36,000 people were united in willing what were obviously frantic attempts to save the player's life to succeed. The almost spontaneous chanting of Fabrice's name, accompanied by sustained applause, were begging him to respond to the expert attention he was receiving on the pitch, and football was now the last thing on anyone's mind. When the announcement was made that the game had been abandoned, I heard no complaints or dissenting voices and - as has been widely reported - the decision was met with further applause acknowledging that this was the right thing to do.

As the stadium emptied, people talked in hushed tones. At the local station, the staff and network were surprised by the passenger surge arriving almost an hour earlier than expected but nobody moaned at the long wait for the first train, nor at the fact that it was only made up of four rather than the usual post-match eight carriages meaning the majority couldn't get on, and nor that they would have to wait another 15 minutes for the next train to arrive.

The shock of the events they had witnessed minutes earlier had created a surreal reverential atmosphere among people who couldn't believe what they had experienced and were desperately hoping against hope that they wouldn't hear even worse news before they got home.

Of course, we've all been delighted by the ever more encouraging news as this week has unfolded and hope and pray that Muamba's recovery continues and his condition improves. I never want to go through another experience like this but I do feel privileged and proud to have borne witness to such an outpouring of sympathy, respect and unity. Because there is such an appetite for bad news and the reporting of awful behaviour by minorities, it is sometimes refreshing and consoling to get a reminder of the intrinsic goodness of the majority of the population.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'The two 'faces' of Twitter and social media'

During the summer riots, there was much talk of the influence of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites and their role in helping to organise and promote illegal activity. Last week I was reminded at a much more mundane and practical level of the power of Twitter in my working life.

I woke up last Wednesday morning to see a tweet from Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Minister, saying he was going to be speaking at a private members debate on late payment. He included a link to the parliment website and, as I was in the office on Wednesday, I was able to watch much of the debate live. I must confess that I had not realised that such debates took place in Westminster, other than in the main debating chamber itself. This one on late payment had been called by Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, who was clearly passionate - and knowledgeable - about the subject.

The contributions from several MP's we know including Lorely Burt, and others we didn't previously, presented some strong arguments supported by background knowledge that was - in many cases - impressive. What was particularly encouraging was their knowledge of the work being undertaken by the ICM and it was gratifying to receive many mentions.*

Afterwards, I exchanged tweets with Debbie and we are planning to meet to discuss how she and her parlimentary colleagues, along with the ICM, can drive more engagement with the Prompt Payment Code and point SMEs towards the practical advice we can offer through, for example, the Managing Cashflow Guides.

I've also recently had some interesting conversations via twitter with Richard Tyler, Enterprise Editor at the Daily Telegraph, and I'm conscious that - without it - I would have been blissfully unaware of last week's debate and missed a real opportunity to engage with people who can be influential. I know there are downsides to social networking but, for me, the upsides can be pretty impressive too.

*For those interested, our press release following the debate can be found here, the transcript here, and the video recording here.

To follow me and the Institute of Credit Management on Twitter go to http://twitter.com/philipkingicm and http://twitter.com/ICMorg

The Prompt Payment Code

Managing Cashflow Guides

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Debate is good, and so is information!'

My blog last week was about Vince Cable's announcement that he was going to remove the need for small businesses to produce audited accounts. At the same time we heard of the plan to increase the threshold for filing full accounts. Those who know me will know how passionate I get about things like this which - in my view - are hugely potentially damaging to business and the economic recovery. The ICM also issued a press release http://bit.ly/fMjfjP on the same subject and I shared my frustrations in a letter to all the broadsheet newspapers and it was published by the Sunday Times, Independent and Guardian.

I've had a surprisingly large number of responses. Many have supported my arguments and agreed with my position; a few have disagreed, primarily on the grounds that audits aren't worth the money they cost, add little value, and are - to all intents and purposes - meaningless. There may be an element of truth in this but it doesn't detract from the argument that looking at - and monitoring the performance of - their own business more carefully can only be a good thing for business owners, and sharing information in a more transparent way has to contribute to the assessment of risk more accurately and effectively. Wherever you sit, I'm glad to have added to, and fuelled, an important debate.

The ICM's new database and website went live last Thursday and we've suffered from the inevitable infrastructure and technical teething issues. It's been a challenging few days, and there are no doubt further challenging days ahead, but watching events unfold in Japan has put into perspective just how unimportant such matters are when compared to disasters on this scale. Our thoughts are with all those affected both directly and indirectly.