News Story - Virtual European M&A Banking Series 2021

Craig Buick, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cabot Credit Management interviewed for PwC's Virtual European M&A Banking Series 2021

In his interview, Craig talks about being appointed CEO, the factors affecting recovery around the globe, the predicted impact of the pandemic and the opportunities for growth, as he looks forward to Cabot’s future. He focuses on how Cabot have worked hard to ensure the wellbeing of their employees, their Consumers and the company through their decision making. He also talks about staying true to what has made Cabot successful for Consumers and Clients over many years.
Craig begins this interview by talking us through his appointment as CEO just ahead of the global pandemic. He touches on the challenges it presented and how his leadership team very quickly stepped up to help him navigate through this unknown territory. He talks about how some of the business swiftly moved to working from home, whilst others had to adapt to a new environment in the office.
“My role as custodian is to lead this business through the crisis. I've been proud of the way that the team has stepped up and led their teams through this crisis.”

Whilst Craig appreciates that shareholders need to make a return on their investment, he stresses the importance Cabot places on ensuring its customers are looked after and put on a path to financial recovery. He speaks of the companies’ values and approach.
“(The value) We Care is core to who we are and what we do … the feedback we’ve got from the customers’ that we’ve spoken to is, ‘I’m so glad I picked up the phone just to talk to you, I feel like a weight is off my shoulder’ … part of what we are here for is to help individuals who are going through financial hardship navigate these periods. It’s what we’ve been doing for 50 years.”

Craig describes how the business provides a full spectrum of credit management services and can therefore help clients earlier in the credit cycle. He was keen to stress Cabot are not just a debt purchaser and that the breadth of offerings and depth of relationships with clients is helping keep the business healthy.
“We provide services, not only to our consumers, but to our clients as well. It comes down to the strength of those relationships and being good at what you do.”

Craig goes on to talk about how Governments in each European country are driving how businesses can recover from the pandemic. He talks about the positives of being owned by a US company and how historically, the US has bounced back quicker from financial crises. It appears to be no different this time, with the US showing a strong bounce back already.
“Even if the UK is still going through that recovery piece and the markets being suppressed through the furlough support, the US is ploughing on ahead. So that actually provides a really nice balance to the group having a US and UK focus together.”

Craig talks about how Cabot are seeking to grow. He says they will continue to grow the return on any capital invested by being better at what they do, creating smarter operational efficiencies, leveraging data and at the same time bringing down the cost of capital. He said naturally people think of growth in assets and growth in revenue. This will come when the time is right. The growth will initially come from the markets Cabot are in right now. He goes on to talk about how important it is for the business to be focused on ensuring it is best positioned to capture the opportunity as we come out of this pandemic. He speaks of the importance of risk adjusted returns and low volatility.
“I like relatively low volatility, consistent, reliable, strong returns in the markets I am in.”