Yearly Archives: 2021

Is it just me, or is the end of 2021 starting to feel all very familiar to the end of 2020?… you know the one where many of us had Christmas and the holidays cancelled at the last minute… anyone … Continue reading →

The festive season sometimes feels a bit like a fast train rushing through a station. All is quiet. Then in the distance, you make out some lights, moving slowly, but surely in your direction… but it is a long way … Continue reading →

This week, outside of eating my first mince pie, I seem to have been preoccupied with higher energy bills and consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas and how big a debt repayment hangover will be in the new year. … Continue reading →

The big event of last week was the Credit Strategy Collections and Vulnerability summit featuring the U&T conference.  It was an interesting event, discussion, and once again an opportunity to meet people in person. As previously discussed, meeting people, in … Continue reading →

This year I have forbidden myself from buying any mince pies until December. Those sweet, pastry-encrusted, treats are a particular weakness and one that retailers seem to attempt to tempt me with earlier each year – but far so good, … Continue reading →

A bit of a shorter post this week, due to what appears to be more busyness seemingly squeezing the time out of the week. Is anyone else noticing this btw? I mean lockdown was tough… but with hindsight, it did … Continue reading →

This week was the Credit and Collections Technology Think Tank and awards, live in Manchester. It was the first event I have been to in what will be now over 2 years. A great event, with of course some interesting … Continue reading →

This week has been half term in the UK. As is the way of things these days I have been dipping into my laptop all week, despite that is, being on holiday. It seems any week, these days, can turn … Continue reading →

This week marked my first trip, on a train, into central London in what will be nearly 20 months. Old habits are clearly hard to break, and of course, I ended up in Pret-A-Manger munching on a toasted sandwich with … Continue reading →

Time is becoming a problem again, it seems. Not really time itself, more the lack of it. And, it was not just me noticing this, this week other people were reporting the same observation too. Things are getting busy. It … Continue reading →

I was feeling a little under the weather much of this week. Normally this would not be a concern, I would just soldier on, keep going. In the current environment, with COVID cases rising again locally, everything seemed different. So … Continue reading →

Lockdown has changed us in many ways, apparently some we don’t even realize. A new example recently came up during the weekly supermarket shop. Converting to online Online delivery has really taken off over the last few years. Stuck at … Continue reading →

Petrol crisis, gas crisis… carbon dioxide, chicken, tomato sauce, milkshakes, beer… the headlines have been rich the last few weeks with stories about labour shortages and supply chain issues. Outside there shortages themselves, the headlines also reveal a couple of … Continue reading →

Crikey, so many people I spoke with this week were either changing jobs or new people who were leaving and struggling to recruit for open positions. And, this was not just in the UK but across other markets, it seemed. … Continue reading →

This week I came across a video for the book, “The 4 hour workweek“. Now, may I be the first to suggest this is not suggesting that working 4 hours a week is on the cards, or even possible for … Continue reading →

This week, being the end of summer, was the last hurrah for the holidays and the experience that comes with it. Sitting in holiday motorway traffic discovering the ‘wonder’ that is techno rap Re-discovering the joy of putting up, taking … Continue reading →

With all the craziness going on in the world this year, from COVID, food supply chain stress, climate change and forest fires, the turmoil in Afghanistan only seemed to add to the general sense of anxiety many of us have … Continue reading →

Two companies, somehow, seemed intrinsically linked this last week for some reason. Tesco Bank and Monzo. Tesco Bank was in the headlines, announcing they would be closing all current accounts, news quickly following on the heels of the sale of … Continue reading →

This week many of us across the nation have been on tenterhooks. The big question being, will we receive a ping and have to go into isolation, due to a COVID-related contact and right before we go on holiday. With … Continue reading →

When everything is busy it is all too easy to let less exciting areas of admin slip a little. Expenses, accounting, even catching up on events and getting time for future planning can be tricky. It has been a bit … Continue reading →

Why do I wake up at 5:30 every morning?… We’ve all seen those articles on LinkedIn: Richard Branson does it, Tim Cook does it and Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson certainly does it. Now, I’m not knocking getting up early and … Continue reading →

We were discussing global collections trends on a call this week with a panel of people from around the world. Digital, digital journeys seem to be a common theme everywhere, as was a focus on customer-centric treatment. It is fascinating … Continue reading →

With G7 leaders gathering and the start of the Euro football competition last weekend, we had some echoes of normality once again… only to be dashed at the start of the week with another 4 week extension to lockdown restrictions. … Continue reading →

Human communication can sometimes be a strange and subtle thing. I was reminded of this, this week, in an online exchange where there was a misunderstanding, and things should I say, got a little testy. I am not sure what … Continue reading →

This week with much of the talk, and data, pointing to a potential third wave of cases many of us have been thinking about what happens next. Certainly, we are all fed up with lockdowns and being stuck at home, … Continue reading →

Staring into the long weekend at the end of a long week we are all hoping the weather improves. The start of this year has been a long haul and judging by the volume of traffic on the road, everyone … Continue reading →

This week was the week I had my first in-person meeting. It was a prospect that generated both excited anticipation and a feeling of slight nervousness. It had been 15months after all. The day arrived and a few things were … Continue reading →

In all likelihood, I will be out on the road next week. This will be the first time in over a year workwise, and I am really looking forward to it. It should be different and a refreshing change, I … Continue reading →

There were a couple of interesting developments this week all set against a continued gradual improvement and stabilization of the pandemic in Europe. There was a change, returning to the office, it is now starting to seem real. Conversations are … Continue reading →

In my interactions this week everyone pretty much mentioned being busy, really busy. It does seem economic and activity levels seem to be trying to make up for lost time, with average debt down, and indeed the banks seeing fewer … Continue reading →

This week I had the pleasure of chairing a couple of events, namely the Lending Technology Think Tank with Credit Connect and a webinar on Breathing Space with Aryza. Lending Technology Think Tank. From the discussion, there was undoubtedly a … Continue reading →

Increasingly there are discussions taking place not just about when to return to working in an office environment, but how. Which meetings, how to structure these for a blended remote/office environment, how exactly is all this going to work? It … Continue reading →

With 2 back-to-back bank holidays in the UK, normally at this time of year, many of us would be off to sunnier climes, on vacation. Last year, of course, was different, we were in full lockdown and at this moment … Continue reading →

This week we have finally, and officially, been allowed out again. With warmer weather in the UK, lower COVID case numbers we seem to have grasped the opportunity and been out in droves. Certainly, the traffic on the road increased … Continue reading →

From on ro-ar.com This week seemed a week of reflection. Attending a few of webinars it seems a few of us were in the same mode too. The spurt of activity post-Christmas seems to have waned, investment-ready, but the button … Continue reading →

From on ro-ar.com What is up in the second charge mortgage and car finance market? New figures from the FLA this week show new business fell by 40% YOY in January and t was a similar situation in the consumer … Continue reading →

From on ro-ar.com An odd week this week. It seemed like there was not a lot going on however news-wise, in Collections and Recoveries that is! Maybe this was just more of a function of attention being elsewhere, rather than … Continue reading →

There was quite a bit in the news this week, what with the budget in the UK and the imminent start of relaxation of restrictions in the UK. Most of us here are hoping that this is the last lockdown … Continue reading →

The big development this week was the release, from the FCA, of finalised guidance for treatment around vulnerable customers. Much of this reflects some of the best practices we already see within financial services and other leading industries, and indeed … Continue reading →

Things seemed to slow this week. Maybe it was because it was half term at school or maybe we are just more in a rhythm. Mind you in the wider world there were still a few stories that caught the … Continue reading →

With the move of much of our lives online, digital interaction has now become almost everyday. Development and configuration does take time however and this week I seem to have mainly spent setting up some digital infrastructure behind the scenes … Continue reading →

With lockdown, many of us have transformed how we work, shop and use services from companies. As a result, and also through necessity, there has been widescale digital implementation and adoption. New habits have been created for employees and customers … Continue reading →

With all the talk of vaccines, delivery and contracts this week much of the news from the financial services industry again seemed lost in the mix. It was still there, but for the moment COVID the vaccine scandal has dominated … Continue reading →

This week, the general stupor from the holidays seemed to lift and we all found ourselves standing in bright sunshine, staring at each other. It dawned, maybe, just how high the mountain of work for 2021 is. A sense of … Continue reading →

It has been quite the first week of the year. Back to work after the holidays A new lockdown, with a spiraling pandemic Brexit/End of the transition period, with a loss of trade freedoms with the EU starting to bite … Continue reading →

The week between Christmas and New Year is always difficult. Most of us are huddled at home, in hiding and pretending the world has stopped for a week. For some, this year, with COVID levels continuing to rise, has of … Continue reading →