Speaker Line Up Complete for Coface Country Risk Conference in Manchester on 9th June 2010

April 14, 2010 - PRLog -- Mr Gomez, Head of Economic Strategy at Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy and Dr Djeddour, Head of International Business Programmes at Manchester Business School (MBS), will address more than 250 delegates at the half-day conference on Wednesday 9th June at the Palace Hotel, on Oxford Street.

They join previously announced speakers Philip King, chief executive of the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) and Coface economist Christine Altuzarra.

It is the first time that Coface, a leading provider of country, sector and business climate ratings and a world leader in credit management services, has staged the Conference outside of London.

As Head of Economic Strategy at the Commission for the New Economy, Mr Gomez is responsible for helping translate the results of the Manchester Independent Economic Review into a unitary and coherent strategy for the whole of the Manchester city region.
Prior to joining the Commission, Juan held a variety of senior consulting and advisory posts with the Canadian Government and consulting organisations such as Ombudsman Ontario and Think Tank Toronto specialising in urban regeneration, economic development, environmental protection and governance.

Mr Gomez will speak on ‘The North West Economy: Growth with Confidence?’ His speech will show that the worst effects of the recession have passed and why the North West is set for a modest rate of growth. The presentation will analyse how quick and robust this growth will be and what the risks and opportunities are for businesses trading in the region.

Dr Djeddour will speak on ‘The UK economy – exhaustion of the old model and prospects for a new growth path?’ He will speculate where the British economy may go as it emerges from the deepest recession for 60 years. The presentation will look at what options a post-election Government will have and what this will mean for businesses trading in the UK and overseas.

Dr Djeddour has been a member of staff at MBS since 1987 and has designed and taught courses at MBS and other institutions in the USA, mainland Europe, China, Russia and North Africa. His main subjects are strategy, the SME economy and entrepreneurship, venture capital and private equity, cross-cultural management, international business and the European business environment.

Before joining MBS, Dr Djeddour was head of the Strategy Department of a local authority and has widely consulted on strategic issues, particularly for oil companies and for the European Commission. He holds a degree in Economics and Finance, a French Doctorate in Strategic Planning, and a PhD from the University of Manchester.

Mr King’s address will be entitled ‘Out of Recession: Risk & Response’. As the UK emerges from a long and deep recession, he will explain how companies are beginning to benefit from an improvement in business. He will go on to demonstrate how best practice credit management practices, together with advice, training and other techniques can help mitigate the risks that accompany recovery.

Ms Altuzarra’s presentation ‘Coface Country Risk Assessment’ will focus on those countries where growth has begun to return along with those where economic recovery remains under threat and discuss why. Country and sector rating analysis is one of Coface’s key areas of expertise and enables international trade players to further secure their transactions.

Ms Altuzarra is an analyst in the Economic Studies and Country Risk Department of Coface in Paris, where she is primarily in charge of industrialised countries and sectors.

The Conference will be of benefit to finance directors and credit management professionals, their advisers and those with an interest in country risk.

The Conference will be hosted by Xavier Denecker, the managing director of Coface - UK & Ireland.


Ends

For further information on the Conference and how to attend please contact Heidi Cotsworth at Coface - UK & Ireland on email at heidi_cotsworth@cofaceuk.com
Media: For further information please contact Justin Strong, associate director, SKV Communications, on 0161 838 7770 or e-mail at justin.strong@skvcommunications.co.uk

Notes to editors:

•  Coface is a leading provider of country, sector and business climate ratings, providing country ratings for 165 countries. The country and sector ratings assess the average level of risk of payment default associated with a country’s companies and business sectors

•  Coface also provides a ‘business climate’ rating to assess the overall business environment in a country and the degree and reliability of corporate information and if a country’s legal system provides fair and efficient creditor protection

•  Coface is a world leader in credit management - primarily credit insurance but also business information and ratings, receivables finance (invoice discounting) and receivables management (debt collection)

•  Coface serves businesses that trade either domestically or overseas on credit terms. Its clients range from multi-nationals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

•  Coface - UK & Ireland is part of Coface Group headquartered in Paris and owned by Natixis, a top five investment and corporate bank in France

•  Coface - UK & Ireland has offices in London, Watford, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and Dublin.


About Coface

Coface's mission is to facilitate global business-to-business trade by offering its 130,000 customers four business lines to fully or partly outsource trade relationship management and to finance and protect their receivables: credit insurance, factoring, ratings and business information and receivables management.

Thanks to the worldwide local service delivered by 7,000 staff in 67 countries, over 45% of the world's 500 largest corporate groups are already customers of Coface. Coface is a subsidiary of Natixis whose share capital (Tier 1) was 13.4 billion euros at the end of June 2009.

In the UK and Republic of Ireland Coface has been a leading provider of credit management services (http://www.cofaceuk.com/CofacePortal/UK/en_EN/pages/home/...) since 1993 - it’s objective being to enable businesses to trade securely at home and overseas. Operating from offices in London, Dublin, Watford, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff allows Coface to provide a local service.

The company’s credit insurance offer (http://www.cofaceuk.com/CofacePortal/UK/en_EN/pages/home/...) integrates credit assessment, collection services and cover for unpaid debts. Multinational businesses can protect their worldwide subsidiaries through Coface’s international network. Coface provides working capital and off balance sheet facilities to complement its product line.

The company also provides access to domestic and international business information and a collection network at home and overseas. Coface is also a recognised operator in the London political risk market and a provider of surety bonds and guarantees.

http://www.cofaceuk.com and http://www.coface.ie

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We offer trade credit management solutions from credit insurance to related services such as credit reports, online credit ratings, debt collection, and receivables finance, our holistic approach to credit management gives you greater flexibility.