Both these events gave council members and officers first hand access to the Oxygen early payment specialists, who could help them to understand the scope for councils to implement the Oxygen solution.

Council members attending the LGA conference showed particular interest in the way an Oxygen early payment programme could support the council’s supply base, particularly local business rate paying firms, while simultaneously increasing the efficiency and effectiveness with which councils operate.

In contrast, Finance officers attending the CIPFA conference focussed far more on the benefits to councils from the creation of a new income stream in the form of early payment rebates, together with reducing their financial risk in the form of late payment, with the associated interest and fees- and the adverse disclosure that this will mean from February 2017.

The LGA is the biggest event in the local government calendar and regularly attracts over 1,200 delegates from the Public Sector. Oxygen have attended for the past four years and we have always found the event very beneficial, giving the team an opportunity to meet up with many of our clients as well as to showcase the excellent results we’re seeing from councils’ Oxygen programmes nationwide.

Lewis Mitchell commented “We found the LGA to be a fantastic event to network with existing and prospective customers and introduce councils to the wealth of benefits Oxygen can provide. We’re pleased to see an increase in our brand recognition, with senior council officers and members approaching us to find out more about our success with current clients. On the Wednesday evening we held a reception at the Eden bar in Bournemouth, with upwards of 50 delegates joining us to discuss accelerating payments to suppliers, while enjoying the Euro 2016 semi-final match.”

The annual CIPFA conference at the Manchester Central Convention Centre was another key event in our calendar, with over 800 public finance and accountancy professionals in attendance from across all public services. The conference provides delegates with a chance to gain in-depth insight and analysis, explore challenges and suggest solutions to the most pressing issues facing us all in the post-Brexit world.

Oxygen took a stand in the main Exhibition Hall and it gave the team the chance to meet with a large number of Local Authority Finance Directors and their teams during the two days.

Simon Whittle commented “CIPFA is one of our key partners and we’ve attended many of their events. The annual conference is on a bigger scale and it was very worthwhile for us to have a strong presence. We will certainly continue to attend future conferences as it provides us with the opportunity to meet with key contacts at existing and prospect Local Authorities from across the UK.”