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The sudden and dramatic collapse of Carillion has thrown into stark relief the whole system of outsourcing public contracts to a few large companies. Even before Carillion’s collapse, though, many experts were nervous that planning for crucial reform of the court system appears to be largely in the hands of these same giant contractors. Digitising the Courts The court system in England and Wales has never been so ove

Tax evasion and avoidance are big news these days, and most of us associate them with the multinational corporations and super-rich celebrities we read about in the news. But HMRC recently revealed who the biggest culprits are — SMEs. SME Tax Evasion HMRC estimates that they’re owed a total of £5.2bn in evaded tax payments, and of course those are only the debts they know about. Tax evasion, unlike tax avoidance, is

The Oxford English Dictionary defines responsibility as “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something”, and action as “The fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim, or to act or do something official or concerted to achieve an aim or deal with a problem”. The question is, how can we take responsibility for our acti

Court proceedings to recover money you’re owed are not only slow but also expensive. The fee — from £455 to ££10,000, depending on the size of the debt — has to be paid upfront, which can be difficult if the debt has left you short. And this doesn’t mean the process goes any quicker. First you have to obtain a court judgement that you’re entitled to the money. Then, if the debtor still doesn’t pay up, you have to pur

  It seems like every week new data surfaces about the struggle U.K. small businesses endure when trying to get paid from their larger corporate customers. Small suppliers across the globe are struggling with cash flow as businesses turn to extending payment terms to extend their own capital. In the U.K., regulators have taken note of the issue and have gradually made efforts to ease the financial pain for SMEs.

The Ministry of Justice has issued new regulations governing the process for recovering debts. The Pre-action Protocol (PAP) will come into force on 1st October 2017, and it’s vital for anyone involved in debt recovery to be familiar with it by then. What is the Pre-action Protocol? The stated aims of the PAP include to “encourage early engagement and communication between the parties… enable the parties to resolve t

You’d think that getting paid for work or sales would be at the top of the priority list for any company. It seems, though, that many SMEs are only too willing to write off any debt that presents difficulties. SMEs and Bad Debt Although they don’t get media coverage like the giants, SMEs are the lifeblood of UK business. Government research last year showed that more than 99% of the country’s businesses are SMEs, 1.3

Many companies seem to regard credit management as a necessary evil. You obviously have to make sure you get the payments you’re owed, but this could be seen to have the potential for damaging good relations with your customers. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Far from causing damage, strong, confident credit management can actually improve relationships. Nurturing Customers No doubt you put a lot o

Obviously I feel strongly that an independent debt collection agency, such as SJ Collections, makes a valuable contribution to the collections sector — I wouldn’t be running this business if I weren’t convinced of that. On the other hand, I don’t consider I’m automatically the answer to everyone’s prayer. So what is important about an agency? Clients Who Don’t Need an Agency Some companies find it more convenient to

The coal face in business today is where the sales team carves out deals with customers and the finance department shovels up the money afterwards. But when payment doesn’t swiftly follow the sale, a company can be starved of the vital oxygen of commerce – cash. Credit managers are sometimes called the ‘sales avoidance department’. But productivity improves when sales people and accountants work together, say the Cra