Are you credit checking your clients?

Back in the summer I wrote about a pre-employment screening tool from CSi.  I thought it was about time I mentioned credit checking clients. 

As if by magic I then got an email from Damian at Creditsafe.  They offer credit checking on a contract basis.  They are certainly a large company (on their website it says "the business information experts most chosen by UK companies"). 

I've had quick demo of the site and the quantity of data you can get on a UK company is immense.  For each company in the database there is a snap shot overview of the company, company information (trading addresses, shareholder details, etc), full accounts, rating and limit (in an easy to understand 'traffic light' system),CCJ's and group structure.  I also liked that when you see the details of the Directors of a company you can click on a name to see what other companies they are involved with (you can also see which companies they have previously been a director of - perhaps to notice a trend of closing companies and then re-opening with a slightly different name). In each "freedom access" package they will also monitor a selection of your existing customer base and notify you of any change (eg, ccj, new annual accounts, etc) within 24 hours of the change which will allow you to act immediately on a situation.

Within the recruitment industry it's very rare to take the fee up front (even retained firms don't get the whole fee up front) so credit checking can be crucial.  Within Creditsafe, Damian and his colleague Mark have created a mini "recruitment taskforce" (my description not theirs) to target the recruitment industry.  Many recruitment firms, especially within the contract/temp area, are very vulnerable to financial problems if clients are bad payers.  Take a look at the list of providers on our site offering financial services to the industry if you want evidence.  Many of these firms offer a comprehensive service of managing the cash flow of your business.  However, if you want to retain full control then credit checking each client is a great idea (although I am aware it won't catch out every bad payer or company about to go down the pan).

If you are interested in the services offered by Creditsafe then contact Damien Sullivan on 029 20 886500. If you mention "ukrecruiter" Damien will give you a couple of free reports and is apparently happy to discuss possible discounts.  The standard cost to use their system is £960 for a 12 month licence giving you an unlimited number of reports. Apparently many competitors charge per report (eg, Dun and Bradstreet charge £40 report) so if you are only going to do two per year you may prefer a pay as you go system.  However, if you are taking on a few clients each month then this sort of system will work better.