Blog

Aug

Companies owe money, but people pay bills

Very few businesses using our debt collection services ever charge, or even threaten to charge, their customers for late payment. Why is this, when their terms and conditions contain details of their late payment penalty charge? Why is this, when the government provides them with a statutory right to compensation via its Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998

Feb

Striving to give you quality and compliance

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Ema Pitzianti, Head of Quality & Compliance Ema is responsible for our compliance, ably supported by compliance officers, Sandy Austin and Audrey Hutchins. The main aim of the team is the maintenance, measurement, and review of our Quality & Compliance Management system, to ensure that we continue to deliver service excellence that is compliant with all regulatory and statutory requirements.

Feb

Don’t you just love a happy ending?

By David Thomas Comments are Off

For the past ten years, Neill and Samantha (Sam) vied for the same business. They competed on Tenders: they knew when they saw each other’s name in the visitor’s book! They won some: they lost some. Could the whole be more than the sum of its parts? We think it could, and that is why Sam Holmes joins our ranks from a competitor to

Feb

Your conversation piece

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Birmingham, Cheltenham, London, and Manchester hosted discussion forums during November and December, where thankfully you came in your numbers: Delegates Institutions Forums Agenda topics were many and varied, but topmost were: Postgraduate loan impacts and solutions. Challenges around collecting accommodation debt. SLC clawbacks and reconciliations. US federal loans. Training and development. Degree apprenticeships. Recurring card payments versus direct debits. Enforcing Judgment

Feb

STA training goes digital

By David Thomas Comments are Off

My day started quietly absorbed in the final draft of the new recruitment and training documents. The ping of a new email arriving in my inbox broke the silence. It was from Jan Baker, our Operations Director, and the subject: Webinar/Digital Training. Innocent enough you might think! I am not the most tech-savvy person (just the other day I discovered

Feb

Put paid to student debt

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Spanning 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday to Friday, the student collections team alternate 8-4 and 12-8 shifts for optimal contact time with students. The dialler complements contact time giving you maximum connect time; alerting collectors only when your student is available for payment negotiation to start. Each call meets regulatory standards, with communication clear, concise and fair and, if

Oct

How Credit Insurance and Debt Collection combine to reduce risk

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Credit professionals know the importance of risk management, done well it enhances business success, done badly it damages cash flow, ultimately leading to business failure. This is why we collaborate with four credit insurance underwriters to protect businesses against bad debt. Policyholders must report possible and probable losses to their underwriter, and take action to recover outstanding sums with our

Oct

A Career in Credit Management

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Written by Nigel Fields, Executive Director of Credit for Twentieth Century Fox International After starting out as a Sales Ledger Clerk and eventually joining Twentieth Century Fox in 2008, I have managed to make a good career in Credit Management, and today I am Executive Director of Credit and the global process owner to the international divisions of Fox International.

Oct

Credit Management in Legal Professional Services – Back To Basics

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Written by Julie Redding, Credit Control Manager for Kennedys Law LLP Get the basics right - how often have we all heard that? Having worked in Credit Management in the legal services environment for more than 30 years, I’ve watched and been part of all sorts of methods, initiatives, and processes for managing and evaluating risk in collections management. There

Oct

Prompt Payment Code

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Written by Philip King, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM). We are now more than three months on from the crazy events of the early summer, and Theresa May and the Conservative Party have still managed to cling on to power. The summer recess, of course, put paid to meaningful progress in the short term as

Dec

Resolving customer payment disputes

By David Thomas Comments are Off

At some point in your business operations, you may find that a customer disputes a payment. This is typically more likely to happen if you make a lot of your sales online. It’s a convenient way for customers to buy, but does mean they don’t see and evaluate the item in person before clicking ‘pay now’. Sites such as eBay,

Dec

How to create the ideal business invoice

By David Thomas Comments are Off

You’re no stranger to an invoice, whether it arrives or goes out by email or post. But what’s the best way to make one? Taking legal action on late payments is harder if your original invoice has errors. Avoid this hassle – and get the payments you’re owed – with a well-made invoice that leaves no room for disagreement. Legal

Dec

Over a million UK SMEs hit by bad debt – yours included?

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Unpaid debts affect close to two million small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK. Bibby Financial Services (BFS) releases a quarterly SME Confidence Tracker. They survey over 1,000 UK SMEs on sales, debt, credit, and investments. In 2016 Q2’s report, nearly a quarter of SMEs were victims of bad debt over the previous 12 months. When Q3 results came

Oct

Outsourcing collections – better than a debt sale

By David Thomas Comments are Off

A discussion point that came out before and also during the Credit Strategy’s Utilities and Telecoms Conference highlighted the importance and benefit of outsourced collections as a priority over a debt sale. Both Ian Parry, Head of Customer Payments at First Utility, and Ben Jones, Managing Director of Operations at Extra Energy were keen to stress this point ahead of the

Jul

A sale is not a sale until you have been paid

By David Thomas Comments are Off

Link below to an interesting short article on the issues facing the creditors of BHS and how tackling credit management in a different way, may have reduced the suffering of so many. It is a fine line that businesses walk in extending credit and wanting to get the big client, but without wishing to diminish the issues these businesses are

Mar

A Decade in Debt

By Colin Thomas Comments are Off

Neill MacKinnon reflects on 10 years spent at STA helping Universities collect their student debts. It’s been a decade of constant change with HE finance staff facing one challenge after another: Neill’s warm-hearted summary shows the enjoyment he’s had supporting the universities and the fine people who work at the coal-face for them. I never thought that when I joined

Blog

Companies owe money, but people pay bills

Striving to give you quality and compliance

Don’t you just love a happy ending?

Your conversation piece

STA training goes digital

Put paid to student debt

How Credit Insurance and Debt Collection combine to reduce risk

A Career in Credit Management

Credit Management in Legal Professional Services – Back To Basics

Prompt Payment Code

Resolving customer payment disputes

How to create the ideal business invoice

Over a million UK SMEs hit by bad debt – yours included?

Outsourcing collections – better than a debt sale

A sale is not a sale until you have been paid

A Decade in Debt

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