Feb 21 2008
This year’s Credit Show conference has secured the names of some of the most sought-after speakers in the UK today to speak throughout the two-day programme including businessman Gerald Ratner, and a former credit card fraudster, now author, Elliot Castro. The conference will be running alongside the main exhibition, the must-attend event for credit professionals taking place on 14 and 15 May 2008 at London’s Olympia Conference centre, during Credit Awareness Week.

One of the main highlights of the conference programme will most defiantly be Gerald Ratner who will be discussing the topic ‘how credit saved my life.’ Gerald took over the family jewellery chain in the mid 80’s, becoming one of Britain’s best-known businessmen. He transformed it from 130 stores with sales of £13m to a public company with 2,500 stores and sales of over £1.2bn. By 1990 Ratner’s was the world’s largest jewellery retailer with profits in excess of £120m.

Following a high profile gaffe Ratner was forced to sell his business. In 2003 he launched a new venture, geraldonline.com. The specialist diamond retailer sells jewellery, watches and hallmarked gold and silver. The online business is already the largest of its kind in Britain. During his talk Ratner will be explaining how credit checking was critical for his business success commenting openly on past mistakes, which cost him severely.

Speakers for some of the other sessions, which cover the length and breadth of today’s credit industry issues, include:

* Paul Clough, Director, Cambridge Hypnotherapy, talks about NLP in the credit industry and why it will transform the way you work

* Elliot Castro & Neil Forsyth, authors of ‘Other People’s Money: The Rise and Fall of Britain’s Most Audacious Fraudster,’ Elliot Castro (credit criminal) explains how he screwed the system and how businesses can avoid this happening to them. Richard Denny, sales guru speaks on how ‘cash flow is king,’ and how credit professionals can raise their game in their own organisation

Kelly Stanley, spokesperson for the Credit Show, says: “We have attracted an impressive list of independent speakers for our interactive conference, but what will make it really exciting this year is the content that they will be discussing. Yes all the speakers will be debating the key issues the credit industry is facing today, but many of them will be touching on their own real-life experiences, something that I believe will really add value to the conference programme.”

Running alongside the conference for the first time will be free to attend seminars, focusing on six industry sectors, these being:

* Construction
* Central & local government
* Utilities
* Oil and gas
* Publishing
* Telecoms
* IT and logistics

As well as the industry sector sessions, free to attend credit clinics will also be taking place throughout the two days. These will be small sessions dedicated to some of the key issues in the industry, including:

* Credit reports and credit policy – how to use read and understand commercial credit reports. And how to write a credit policy
* Credit Scoring – what is credit scoring and why do lenders use it?
* Litigation – how to tell when a company is going bust. How to manage the litigation process yourself
* Consumer Credit Act Masterclass – an in-depth guide to implementing the new legislation
* Corporate Fraud – how to beat the fraudsters at their own game

Entry to the exhibition, credit clinics and industry sector sessions are free to pre-registered visitors, and places at the conference cost from £150 plus VAT. Seats at the conference are strictly limited, so early booking is strongly advised.

For more information please visit www.creditshow.co.uk