From Eurosleep to Eurocreep?

Whilst the UK sleeps on its membership of the Euro until "the economic conditions are right", stores such as Harrods, M & S and Dixons are already accepting the currency. This gives rise to the charge of "Eurocreep", the colloquial term for the infiltration of the Euro into countries, who, like us, haven't joined. In the B2B area, nearly half of all SME's are trading with Europe so they will face "Eurocreep" in their credit and collections departments. One UK exporter has sent us c1m Euros of debt to collect already this year!

The Euro will signal increased competition, it will influence marketing and pricing and it will mean price transparency so businesses will have to embrace it if they want to trade successfully in Europe.

It is entirely possible that UK exporters, who have recently invoiced customers in sterling, will receive payment in euros. Thus, willingly or otherwise, "Eurocreep" is a reality for businesses trading in the Euro zone. Furthermore, this new currency looks likely to have a significant impact on the credit industry, as debtors add Euro to their repertoire of payment "stalling" tactics.

The Euro Checklist

1. Converting sterling to euros is costly and time consuming. It is advisable to open a Euro bank account to overcome this. It is also possible to be taxed in euros, avoiding the need to convert to sterling.
2. IT programmes will need upgrading. New software packages have been developed to deal with conversion rules.
3. Communicate with your customers and establish where they stand on the Euro.
4. Pre-empt your customers' lack of preparedness on the Euro.
5. If you trade heavily with the Euro zones it is advisable to update your systems to become fully Euro compliant.

For more information on how the Euro will affect you, and advice on how to deal with it, visit

www.euro.gov.uk

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