A 'Must Have' for HR Personnel - and Credit Managers

Hand writing analysis has always had the potential to be a very useful business tool - particularly for HR personnel - but the cost of hiring a trained analyst is prohibitive. Way beyond the means, in fact, of most companies looking to use it - and certainly out of the reach of any SME.

It is possible, though, for anyone prepared to invest in a book and spend some time mastering the basics of handwriting analysis to learn to DIY - as I found out for myself when someone very kindly gave my wife a book entitled Unlocking the Secrets hidden in Handwriting.

A couple of hours spent with the book in one hand and a pile of old Christmas cards in the other proved to me that hand writing analysis can be a remarkably accurate technique even in the hands of an absolute novice.

So it wasn't too long before it occurred to me that HR personnel might not be the only people who could benefit from a few fruitful and entertaining hours spent with a copy of the pleasant and informative little book that my wife has agreed (albeit not very willingly!) is 'ours' rather than just 'hers'.

Like everyone else who has ever worked in credit, letters, documents - and in particular new account opening forms - are part of my daily working life. Many of them are hand-written. All of them are signed...

Every French Cloud has a Silver Lining - for Britain

If you live for a very long time, Governments and wars come and go, and skirts go up, or down, or disappear altogether, and you tend to believe you've seen everything, and that nothing that anyone can do can come as any kind of a surprise.

I can't say that anything that M. Hollande has done has caused me any great surprise - but he has certainly proved to me that I have not yet seen everything, because I have never before seen any Government alienate so large and so vital a part of its electorate quite so rapidly and so effectively.

Businesses in the UK, and SMEs in particular, certainly have a great deal to complain of, but I think I have to point out that businesses have to be allowed to exist and trade in the first place if they are to have anything to complain about.

There is no Federation of Small Businesses in France. There is no Forum of Private Business either. In fact small business in France has no voice, no help, and no encouragement - and I suspect that Lakshmi Mittal is presently feeling that business in general is not encouraged in France, and that his investment in people might be better appreciated elsewhere. And I don't suppose that he is alone with his thoughts.

We do not have a perfect Government in Britain. We never have had one. We probably never will have one. But we've never had a Government (however awful) that has failed, at bottom, to understand that business is what makes the wheels go round - or has been at all reluctant to grease the wheels.

It wouldn't surprise me were Britain not to benefit from the policies of M. Hollande. Not what he intended, I'm sure - but no bad thing for Britain.

M. Montebourg Has Had Second Thoughts ...

... but the Genie is out of the bottle.

On Monday, Arnaud Montebourg, the French Minister for Industrial Recovery, stated that Arcelor Mittal was no longer welcome in France, and accused the steelmaker of "lying" and "disrespecting" the country.

M. Montebourg has since decided that Arcelor Mittal might be welcome in France after all, and French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici has spent some time today trying to bury a truly colossal blunder under a welter of would-be soothing phrases.

Unfortunately, M. Moscovici's description of the possible nationalisation of Arcelor Mittal's Florange Plant as a 'temporary mechanism' is unlikely to prove very soothing to any profitable (and therefore potentially vulnerable) foreign owned business operating in France.

Unfortunately, too, I feel sure that M. Moscovici's assurances - given in Paris to an audience of US and British investors - that his Government has no intention of returning to 'an older way of thinking' or carrying out massive, general, and permanent nationalisations was received with a large degree of politely unspoken but deeply felt scepticism.

The BBC's correspondent in France has reported that business leaders there have expressed concern that the government's rhetoric is undermining confidence in French industry. They might well. It's one thing to let the Genie out of the bottle, but it's quite another thing to try and put it back.

In the meantime, I do sincerely hope and trust that someone had the good sense to apologise for M. Montebourg's intemperate and unjustifiably personal remarks when Mr. Mittal met with M. Hollande today.

The French, Mittal, and Intangible Assets

Arcelor Mittal announced in October that it planned to close two of the furnaces at its Steel Plant in Florange due to lack of demand in the steel industry. It was a business decision - and I suspect a very difficult decision to make, given that Florange is a traditional steel town and that over 2,000 workers would be affected by any closure - but it was, I believe, a good, reasonable, and well-founded decision given all the circumstances.

The reaction of the French Government has been neither businesslike nor reasonable, nor very sensible.

Arcelor Mittal gave the French Government a grace period of 60 days to look for a new owner for the two idled furnaces. The French government has apparently received two offers - but only for the entire Florange site. Mr Mittal, very reasonably, has refused to sell the entire operation, for which he paid £21.8bn when he took over Arcelor in 2006, and which employs a total of 20,000 workers. In response, the French Government is looking to seize and nationalize the whole of the site should Mr Mittal refuse to accede to its demands.

As if that were not more than enough, Arnaud Montebourg, French Minister for Industrial Recovery, told French business daily 'Les Echos' that Arcelor Mittal was no longer welcome in France, and accused the steelmaker of "lying" and "disrespecting" the country. The problem, he said, "isn't the furnaces in Florange, it's Mittal"

According to the BBC, the Mittal family said they were "extremely shocked" by these comments. I don't blame them. I'm extremely shocked myself.

I'm shocked by the inability of the French Government to recognise that a business must cut its losses if it is to remain a viable business and able to continue to employ some, albeit not all, of its workforce.

I'm shocked that any Government anywhere could fail to foresee the effects of its actions on future foreign investment.

I'm shocked that a Government Minister should feel it appropriate to make rude (and possibly defamatory) comments to a newspaper - and never mind what Minister, what Government, and what newspaper.

What shocks me most of all, though, is the fact that in its desire to seize a tangible asset - which may or may not yield the billions of Euros that it hopes to get from it - the French Government has not taken into account the intangible assets they will lose by doing so.

Lakshmi Mittal and his family will always be welcome in Britain whether they decide to invest their money in Britain or not. Hardworking, decent people are 'intangible assets', and money has nothing to do with that.

Hard Times & Employee Fraud

Earlier this year, an analysis of frauds recorded on the UK's Fraud Prevention Service Staff Fraud Database revealed an increase in the level of fraud committed by employees in 2011. This was reported "In Brief" at the time in the Institute of Credit Management Magazine under the title "Shifty Staff".

I have to say that I took exception to the title "Shifty Staff" - and that I found that "In Brief" didn't do the subject justice.

Certainly, "In Brief" stated, quite rightly, that whilst SME's are aware of the danger of customer fraud, they are reluctant to recognise the risk of fraud on the part of staff - people they believe they know well. Sadly, "In Brief" was too brief to take account of the fact that hard times increase the temptation to steal, or give advice as to how to minimise the risk and remove the temptation.

Some time ago, I wrote quite a long article about fraud and how to avoid falling victim to it - and you can find it at top right on the menu of this blog under the title "Look Out For Fraud". It isn't a perfect recipe for avoiding fraud, but it may give you something to think about and some ideas as to how to minimise risk and remove temptation.

In the meantime, please bear in mind that two thirds of all employee fraud is motivated by debt, gambling, or need. "Shifty" is not quite the word to describe people in the grip of those forces.

SMEs are not social workers and have neither the time nor the resources to help staff deal with the problems that might drive them to steal, but information as to how to deal with debt in particular is freely available - and there is no reason why those resources should not be made available in the office. Even if it means posting notices in the lavatories.

The Rule in Clayton & Invoice Allocation

Invoices should never remain outstanding beyond the period specified by the Terms & Conditions that form the basis of the Contract, and everybody knows that.

That invoices do remain outstanding long – sometimes very long – past their due date isn’t as unusual as it should be, and everybody knows that, too.

One other thing that everybody knows: not only do some debtors fail to pay to terms, they also insist upon paying or part paying outstanding invoices intermittently and in defiance of any logical pattern or system – so much so, indeed, that incredulous credit personnel on the receiving end of these intermittent funds are left to wonder whether their client counterparts are playing some hitherto unknown form of Lotto, and pay invoices only as they are hauled out of a bin, randomly and at irregular intervals.

The Rule in Clayton’s Case (Devaynes-v-Noble(1816) 35 ER 781) enables a Creditor, if it so wishes, to legally and justifiably allocate payments received on a ‘first in’, ‘first out’ basis. The debtor should be told that this is being done, and why – and does not have the right to argue the point.

Clayton’s Case was good law in 1816, and it is good law now – and as many Companies follow it (whether they know of its existence or not) and allocate payments received to debts in the order in which debts are incurred, the fact that invoices are not paid in the correct sequence wouldn’t seem to matter very much, but where there are a great many pro forma invoices, this apparently simple method of allocation can create such an impenetrable maze of possibilities that neither debtor nor creditor can be sure of what is, or is not, outstanding.

This does not means that moneys cannot be allocated on a ‘first in’, ‘first out’ basis, but it does mean that, sometimes, it shouldn’t be.

Allocating moneys received to the invoices that it is intended to pay, or part pay, enables the creditor to state with certainty that a debtor has paid this, this, that, and part of that on such a date, and that this, this, that, and part of that therefore remains unpaid, and is due and owing as of today.

Keeping things on track in this way is not the neatest or the easiest way to go – and everybody know that – but it keeps the record straight, avoids the possibility of future confusion and disagreement, and will save a lot of time and trouble in the end.

No one wants to spend an entire weekend – to say nothing of most of the preceding Friday and a good chunk of the following Monday – sorting out a problem account if the origins of the problem are lost in the mists of time.

I know that.

The Case of The Phantom Franc

I have always been intrigued by ghosts. They seem to conform to certain rules - follow particular patterns of behaviour according to type - but they are so capricious that one can never be sure of seeing enough of them to take proper note of their behaviour, or be sure that they are conforming to any rule at all.

All of which makes The Case of the Phantom Franc so very interesting.

The Franc is, of course, certainly dead - we all know that, because many of us attended the funeral - but I have to say that I never encountered such a persistent and reliably visible apparition. It lingers in a thin column on my Bank Statements, whispers the price of a single leek in the Supermarket, lurks gloomily at the foots of bills from the garage. It appears,in fact, a lot less capriciously than it should, and far more often than one would expect, for the ghost that it is supposed to be.

Perhaps it isn't a ghost.

Borro-ing - Don't do it!

In busy times - and these are! - I have little time to write, and a lot of the things that I would usually read as a matter of course either don't get read at all or are just pushed into a pile that I try to get to sooner or later. But I always read Business Credit News the minute I get it - which is how I came to find out about borro Ltd.

Borro are on-line pawnbrokers - and I don't know why I'm so surprised that no one has come up with that idea before - and the Company offers SMEs ( and other customers) short term loans of up to £1,000.000 secured against high value assets - art, antiques, diamond jewellery, yachts, prestige cars and, of course, gold. For obvious reasons, there are no credit checks. After all, if someone has your high value asset sitting in a warehouse somewhere they really don't need to spend the time and money checking your creditworthiness, do they?

Rates include all costs associated with couriers, valuation, storage and insurance - as well they might. The monthly interest on loans up to £19,999 is set at 4.99%. The APR equivalent is 68.8%.

In a Press Release published by Business Credit News today, the CEO of Borro stated that "UK businesses remain caught in a credit drought as yesterday's Bank of England statistics show that lending to companies went down 3.5% compared to a year ago", and added that "small business owners have had to turn to personal funds to boost their businesses".

That is undoubtedly true. SME's are still having a problem getting the financing and support they deserve, Project Merlin hasn't been the magical answer that we had all hoped for, and small business owners are still having to dig deep, cut down on staff, and use personal funds to keep their heads above water. However, and whilst I have no doubt that Borro is a reputable Company, and I have nothing against pawnbroking in general, I think I have to remind you that the traditional sign of a pawnbroker was three golden balls.

At the sort of rates Borro are offering two of them are yours...

Round & Round We Go

Some days ago now, I received an e-mail from Stephen Cowan, who is a Managing Partner at Yuill & Kyle, debt recovery lawyers based in Scotland. It relayed a press release dated 6th Feb 2012 from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The e-mail was headed 'Government and Business Press for Prompt Payment - and I knew exactly what the Press Release was going to say before I read it.

Once again, Government and industry is calling on businesses and public organisations to pay suppliers on time and for small firms to pursue those who put them at risk by delaying - and once again the same organisations and the same people are supporting this cause:

The Forum of Private Business, a not-for-profit organisation that offers advice and help to SMEs in the UK - much of which is free on-line via articles. Membership of the FPB has never been an expensive proposition, and the Forum is now offering an introductory membership to provide SMEs with a basic business support package free of charge.

The Institute of Credit Management which publishes various useful guides and runs the Prompt Payment Code, which promotes best practice between organisations and their suppliers. Businesses and organisations that sign up to the Code commit to paying their suppliers within clearly defined terms, and also commit to ensuring there is a proper process for dealing with any issues that may arise.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) which has recently published a new guide on prompt payment.

I have known of these organisations and many of the people who work with them and promote them for many years. I appreciate and admire both the organisations and the people, and I would advise any SME to take what is on offer from any one or all them, because what is on offer is well worth having - particularly as some of it is going to cost nothing. What troubles me about this new initiative is that it is the mixture as before which, like all the previous mixtures, fails to address the real problem.

The real problem is fear. Fear of being delisted by a powerful customer for failing to agree to its terms. Fear of the result of using existing legislation to make a complaint about a powerful customers' failure to pay according to terms. That fear is based in self-interest and a desire to survive, and I fear that no amount of education, no inducement, nor any legislation will ever succeed in overriding it.

Very, Very Bright Young Things

If anyone was expecting 2012 to be an instant improvement on 2011, they are wiser now: at the moment it seems we shall be lucky to get the mixture as before, rather than - as seems likely! - something rather worse. Or, at least, that would seem to be the case if you read the news, and forget that cheerful and upbeat is not nearly as newsworthy as death and disaster.

At the moment we are all hearing and reading a lot about rising levels of unemployment all over Europe, and the possibility of a 'lost generation' of young people who have little or no prospect of getting a job; no one seems to be interested in talking about young people who have decided that they would rather be found than lost.

End a grim month on a cheerful note! Take a look at some young people who are definitely not interested in getting lost by visiting Sharing the Making.

'Sharing the Making' would be an interesting and impressive concept at any time; in the present climate, the courage and confidence and expertise of all the 'makers' showcased on the site is an extraordinary tribute to them all.

It's also an excellent indication that SME's can thrive and prosper in Britain whatever the climate. But you won't be reading anything of the kind in your newspaper tomorrow morning...

Isolation is Not Such a Bad Thing

I regret to say that I really don't care what happens to the Euro. It was always a currency without a country; it was always unpopular with ordinary Europeans, who saw it - quite rightly in my view - as a threat to their national identity, and it was always designed to create a 'federal' state out of countries so disparate in nature and temperament as to make such a design an impractical and unattainable dream.

Neither do I regret that David Cameron's actions have 'isolated' the UK - if, indeed, they have done so in the long or the short term. Britain has been 'isolated' on many occasions, and she can stand being isolated again - particularly if, in her isolation, she can avoid losing her sovereignty or falling victim to the fell hand of Standard & Poor's. Better to go into isolation than to get into bed with Typhoid Mary.

I do, though, very much regret the very real anger and antagonism that ordinary people in northern Europe have begun to express against other, much poorer, southern Eurozone countries, whose debts they now feel that they will be obliged to pay. That is an understandable attitude - but it is not a healthy one, and it is not one I would want to see expressed in the same way in the UK.

Isolation is really not such a bad thing...

Black Country Reinvestment Society Gives Loans to Local SMEs

I think we have all known for a very long time that big banks do not like SMEs, and that Project Merlin was unlikely to change what is effectively a well-entrenched sector-based discriminatory attitude.

In Wolverhampton, the Black Country Reinvestment Society has come up with a solution for local SMEs.

The Society was founded in 2002, and funded by entrepreneurs and companies located in the Black Country. Its funds have now been added to by Local Authorities who want to promote development in the area, and its small business fund now amounts to £5 million.

The Society will make loans of £10,000 to £50,000 for a number of business purposes to SMEs located in the Black Country, Staffordshire and environs which might otherwise be unable to find funding. Repayment terms are one to five years, and businesses seeking funding can apply on line.

Investors in the Society, by the way, can claim tax relief on monies put into the Society.

It's encouraging and pleasing to know that there are people who want to put something back into their community and are prepared to help small local businesses survive and thrive. What a pity it is that this attitude and model is not more widespread.

Visible Commercial Clout

I have many times over the last couple of years pointed out that large companies can afford to dictate their own terms and that some of them do, and that attempts by suppliers to resist or override those terms tends to result in those suppliers being 'delisted' or otherwise penalised.

Over the last month or so, I have twice seen large company commercial clout in action - and it was a graphic illustration of the possible (and in one case very likely!) 'knock-on' effect of trying to impose terms on a very powerful customer.

E. LeClerc is a huge company that owns supermarkets and hypermarkets all over France. They are hugely popular, and sell practically everything - including, in some locations, holidays - so I was surprised, when I went shopping at our local branch of LeClerc recently, to find so very few of the major brands of butter on offer. Or at least, I was surprised until I saw the notice on the cooler cabinet that explained that some brands - unnamed - were not available because they did not comply with LeClerc's pricing policy.

I am very fond of nice butter, but in France most butter is very nice; I was quite happy to buy one of the brands on offer rather than the brand I would normally buy - and so, I suspect, were hundreds of thousands of other people all over France, a percentage of whom will stick with the new brand rather than going back to the old one.

The butter suppliers' dispute with LeClerc over pricing may well be resolved in due course - just as Intermarché recently resolved its dispute over the price of bread with the Harrys Group - but loss of 'brand loyalty' means that damage to suppliers will amount to far more than a short-term financial hiccup.

EU Late Payment Rules to be Fast Tracked

On the 20th of October last year, the European Union voted in favour of a new Directive intended to combat late payment in commercial transactions within the Union. This Directive will replace the existing Directive (2000/35/EC).

The Government recently stated its intention of "fast tracking" this Directive into UK law a year early - a reliable and welcome indication that the coalition is taking the persistent (and all too prevalent) problem of late payment and its impact on SMEs and the economy as a whole very seriously. The question remains, though, whether the new legislation will succeed in ensuring that suppliers are paid on time for the goods and services they provide - which is exactly what the existing Directive (2000/35/EC) was intended - and has failed - to achieve.

Recent research among UK accountants revealed that late payment remains an issue for 63% of accountants' clients. Very significantly, almost 46% of those clients had seen large customers forcibly extend payment terms.

Philip King, the CEO of the Institute of Credit Management, has emphasised in the past that it is important not to over-simplify the late payment issue as one of big business being bad, and smaller businesses being 'the downtrodden masses' because late payment is a problem across the board, and I thoroughly agree with him.

I cannot agree, however, that any amount of 'better professional credit management advice' is going to address the most worrying aspect of the late payment problem - the climate of fear that effectively undermines any attempt to solve the problem by whatever means.

The new legislation allows suppliers to complain of treatment that is effectively illegal, but (like the original legislation) provides no protection for whistle-blowers. Commercially savvy suppliers will certainly continue to suffer in silence rather than pursue a course that would result in their being 'delisted' by large and powerful customers.

Large companies can afford to dictate their own terms; some of them do, and attempts by small suppliers to resist or override those terms tends to result in those suppliers being 'delisted'. Commercially savvy suppliers will therefore continue to suffer in silence and accept any terms that are imposed upon them rather than face the risk of being 'delisted'.

The late payment problem has been around for a very long time. This is not the first attempt to legislate it out of existence, and I fear it won't be the last. What's really required is a shift in the moral climate. Could be a long time coming.

Mr. Maude: I Don't Know Whether to Say Wake Up or Dream On

Back from a long, peaceful and news-less holiday, I'm playing catch up - and reading the sort of news that makes me wish I could have stayed forever in a Times-less and internet-free space.

According to the July 20th issue of Business Credit Management Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has warned 'prime contractors'- by which he means large and powerful corporate entities - that Government Departments will "name and shame" those that are failing to pay small businesses promptly.

Mr. Maude has also apparently promised - and I am quoting from Business Credit Management's article here in case you think I am still on holiday, asleep and dreaming - that "Small companies will be able to anonymously identify sluggish payers, with the results published on the Cabinet Office website."

Mr. Peter Ewen, the Managing Director of Venture Finance and Chairman of the International Factors Group apparently thought Mr. Maude's proposition an excellent idea. I am happy to say that Mr. Philip King, the Chief Executive of the Institute of Credit Management, did not. His reasons are set out very cogently here and very glad I was to read them, since they proved to me that at least one person is in touch with reality.

We all know that, in Mr. Ewen's words "many SMEs are buckling under financial pressure caused by rising supplier costs and late payment from large, corporate customers", and we have all known that for a very long time. We all know, too - as apparently Mr. Maude does not - that laws, initiatives and Codes notwithstanding, no small supplier will under any circumstances shop a powerful customer to anyone at all for any reason at all, because anonymity is a doubtful proposition, and the consequences of whinging and whistle-blowing have been made all too clear to them, all too often.

I have said many times that I do not know the answer to this problem, and I regret to say that I am beginning to believe that there isn't one. Nice try, Mr. Maude, but no cigar.

HM Revenue & Customs is Creating a Graveyard

The Government needs money, and - as governments always have - it is looking to find it by raising or collecting taxes. Consequently, H.M. Revenue and Customs is taking an increasingly hard line all round in an effort to collect tax that it believes is owed - and actually, truth to tell, probably is owed.

The most visible result of the 'hard line' taken by HRMC is the increase in the number of Winding-up Petitions it has issued in the second quarter of this year.

HRMC was always a very good customer of the Court Service when it came to issuing Winding-up Petitions - as anyone can testify who has ever stood (as I certainly have!) in the issuing queue behind them - and in a very good economic climate that might not have been a very good thing, but it was at least an acceptable thing. At the moment, however, HMRC seems to be intent on excelling itself in this and every other area, and I wonder whether, given the present economic climate, that might not be a very bad thing indeed. I certainly find it a doubtful proposition.

Would it not be more sensible to allow companies facing 'critical' financial problems more time to pay? Would it not be more sensible to demand less tax from those companies for the time being so as to allow them to trade their way out of their problems and keep their employees, rather than sending potentially viable and vibrant businesses to the graveyard and creating further employment? Would it not be more sensible, in fact, to have a more flexible tax system?

According to Begbies Traynor's Red Flag Alert Report worst-hit sectors are travel and tourism, hotels, and general retailers. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I believe that the UK has been living on those particular golden eggs for years now.

So tell me, where's the percentage in winding up the Geese?

HMRC - Intelligence Gathering Must Not be Allowed to Become Rat Hunting

HMRC recently offered a partial amnesty to businesses working in the plumbing trade. It seems to have been a profitable exercise, because HMRC now says that it will be 'inviting' other groups of tradespeople to come forward and declare unpaid tax.

Specifically, sometime between now and next year, HMRC is going to begin to take a closer look at e-marketplaces and people who provide private tuition and coaching.

Targets will be people who use e-marketplaces (like, for example e-bay) to buy or sell goods as a trade or business and fail to pay tax on the proceeds, and professionals who are in a position to earn money by providing tuition and coaching (either as a main or secondary income) in cash and on, as it were, 'the black'.

HMRC's Director of Risk and Intelligence said that HMRC wanted 'the views and experience of people and organisations outside his department to play a fuller part in the campaigns we design for customers', and hoped that it would be possible to maximise the 'exchange of information'.

He added that HMRC would use the information it gathered to pursue people who chose 'not to use the opportunities provided for them to put their affairs in order on the best possible terms'.

I have no objection to HMRC looking for the money it is owed in taxes. It has a right to do so, and it is right to do so.

I do, though, find it very objectionable indeed that a spokesman for a UK Government Department feels that it is right to invite people (however obliquely) to snitch on their service providers, friends and neighbours. Sadly, there are people who will see that invitation purely and simply as an opportunity to make life difficult for other people, and it is therefore to be hoped that HMRC staff will be able to sort the wheat from the chaff when those nasty little calls start to come in - as I have no doubt they will.

As a timely reminder to anyone who needs it: many an unpleasant regime has been built upon and perpetuated by encouraging (or, indeed, forcing!) its citizens to snitch on each other. Theirs is not an example we should wish to follow.

Geoff - http://www.metlissbarfield.com

Beware of EU Regulation Cookie Cutters

Cookies are little pieces of code that many websites automatically install on site visitors’ computers in order to recognise and remember site visitor log-in details, browsing history, and ordering information, and allow users to navigate their site pages efficiently.They are also used by analytics software that monitors website usage, and third party advertising - like Google’s Ad Sense, for example.

Whether or not any given site user accepts cookie installation from any given website is up to the user, because whilst most modern browsers support cookies, they also allow users to disable or otherwise deal with them. Common options are:

To enable or disable cookies completely, so that they are always accepted, or always blocked.

To allow the user to see the cookies that are active with respect to a given page by typing javascript: alert (document.cookie) in the browser URL field.

To use a browser that incorporates a 'cookie manager' which allows the user to see and selectively delete cookies currently stored in the browser. (Internet Explorer, incidentally, only allows third-party cookies that are accompanied by (Compact Policy) field by default).

To use a browser that allows a full wipe of private data including all the cookies (most browsers do).

To purchase an add-on tool to manage cookies.

Nevertheless – thanks to a recent update to the EU’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations - it is now technically illegal for UK websites to install cookies on a user’s computer without first seeking the user’s conscious consent despite the fact that users are capable of protecting their own privacy should they so wish. The fine for non-compliance can be anything up to £500,000.

The legislation came into force on May 26 last and – surprise, surprise – no one is quite sure how it is going to work in practice.

The Information Commissioners Office, which is the body that will police the Regulations, has said that if it receives a complaint, it will give the website owner ‘up to one year’ to comply with the legislation, but obviously if your website uses cookies, you will need to get in touch with your website designer or developer and work out a method of obtaining the required consent from users as quickly as you can. It may be possible in the future to rely on the user’s browser settings to indicate consent – the Government is discussing the legislation with browser manufacturers – but it isn’t possible to do that now, and may not become possible in the usefully short term.

Geoff - http://www.metlissbarfield.com

Reporting Internet Porn

The trouble with having the sort of internet presence that nearly everyone seems to feel is essential for SMEs these days is that spam forms part of the 'high profile' package.

Most of the time it's fairly harmless stuff - lots of pharmaceutical aids to a short and happy life, a fake designer watch or two and the odd offer of a life-changing degree from a non-existent university make up my normal daily spam sandwich - that isn't worth reporting to any one of the many places that it can be reported to. Sometimes, though, spam arrives that is so fundamentally unpleasant that it needs to reported to the proper authority as soon as possible.

On Tuesday last, and for the first time ever, I received an e-mail advertising internet pornography. One of the items on offer - and it was only one item on a very lengthy list - was 'underage sex', for which, of course, read 'child abuse'. I've had five similar messages since so 'Metliss Barfield' is obviously on somebody's list somewhere.

I reported the original e-mail immediately to the Internet Watch Foundation by filling in their on-line form, and received a swift acknowledgement full of good advice as to what to do should you receive something like this - or even, alas, other things that seemed to be me to be even worse.

Reporting this e-mail took seconds. If you receive one like it, please take a few seconds to make a report. I realise that it is easier to dump the e-mail in the trash and try to forget about it, but that isn't going to make the internet (or in fact the real world) a safer place for children or other vulnerable individuals.

Geoff - http://www.metlissbarfield.com

Sign up to Get Britain Trading

Get Britain Trading is a new campaign which aims to raise awareness of the contribution that SMEs make to the UK economy and improve the conditions under which all SMEs are forced to operate. It calls for changes to be made that would allow SMEs to prosper - and, of course, to grow, and employ and/or train people - and therefore it's obviously something that's worth supporting.

In order to make sure that the campaign has the maximum impact and achieves the desired results, the Forum of Private Business, which has launched the campaign, needs as many SMEs as possible to support the campaign and its aims by going to Get Britain Trading , and signing up to the 'Get Britain Trading' pledge.

Signing up takes seconds - actually, signing up, downloading the logo you can see on the left of this blog, and putting it into place took me, an admitted IT idiot, less than a minute.

Anyone who puts in an e-mail address - and I did - will get a free guide giving practical and expert advice on common small business issues like bank lending, late payment and cost reduction. You may feel that you know at least one of those issues so well that the last thing you need is a free guided tour around something you never want to see again in this or any other life, but the fact is that we all need the changes that the campaign could bring about, and so you owe it to yourself and everyone else to take the time to take the pledge.

Do it now here .