who is
certified by?
... family first
the wood family & co.
Neil, Cathy, Leane & Adam
The Certifiedby story is one of family business spanning 3 generations, and a company culture built around professionalism, accountability and personality.
Long before the internet & social media, Neil Wood had a vision to unite the world of debt collection, so in the 80’s he founded TCM Group, and later GCS Credit, with a footprint of partners in more than 100 countries. Credit Management led to Risk Management, and GCS Risk was later born, to provide verification, investigation and brand protection services to some of the world largest brands.
Having also built the first of its kind “Global Case Management System (GCMS)”, it became clear compliance & technology were disruptive forces for change, and in 2016 Adam published “the digital disruption of the debt collection industry”, foreseeing some of the trends that dominate business today (ai, chatbots, regtech, etc).
In response to evolving regulatory requirements & digital disruption, Adam and Michael Collyer (RIP) developed the “Global Compliance Requirements Program” (GCRP), a compliance framework & assessment tool for our partners (mostly SMEs) to measure themselves against international best practices of governance, risk, compliance, cyber and data management.
As we rolled out this program to our partners and clients it became obvious there was a much greater need for such a program than just our own. Evidently SMEs across all sectors need help to overcome the burden of huge fees & complicated process, and big business need better ways to manage transparent supply chain & vendor risk management.
And so, after many iterations CertifiedBy was born. Finally a fit-for-purpose RegTech for SME’s and Supply Chains, with freemium (free & paid for) online programs for businesses to measure themselves against international best practice standards of governance, risk, compliance, privacy, cyber & data management.
a startup with a soul
celebrating over 100 years of experience in the international credit and risk management industries.
a walk down memory lane
Founded Total Credit Management Services
an australian based national debt collection, field services & investigation firm.
Founded TCM Hong Kong
the origins of what later became TCM Group international, with like minded colleagues in South East Asia.
Founded TCM Group International
expanding the network of like minded colleagues from South East Asia into the UK, US, MENA, Latam and the Baltics & CIS.
Incorporated Global Credit Solutions Pty Ltd
having existed TCM Group, this saw the evolution Neils vision to unite the world of credit & collections.
Launched GCS Risk Management Solutions
australian based international verification, investigation and brand protection services provider to some of the worlds biggest brands.
Built the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
an industry first, self-funded technology platform enabling the transfer and management of cases, data and money in a secure environment.
Co Founded GCS India
a joint venture project with local partners to develop the emerging credit & risk management industries in India.
Co Founded GCS Ukraine
a joint venture project with local partners to develop the emerging credit & risk management industries in Ukraine.
Launched the GCS Credit Community
international credit & collections for the 21st century, with an eye on e-Learning, collaboration & disruption.
Incorporated GCS Risk PL
As part of a restructuring plan developed by external consultants, GCS Credit & Risk operations were split into two companies
Published the "gcrp"
the ‘global compliance requirements program’ was the first of its kind, and the inspiration behind certified by’s GRCQ [Premium] program
Launch Certified By
hosting world conferences
As the head office to partners in 100+ countries, TCM Group and later GCS Credit hosted conferences all over the world. Here’s a list of countries visited since 2000…
2000
TCM Australia hosted global conference in Melbourne, Australia
2007
GCS hosted world conference in Las Vegas, USA
2008
GCS hosted world conference in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
2009
GCS hosted world conference in Prague, Czech Republic
2010
GCS Hosted world conference in Vancouver, Canada
2011
GCS Hosted world conference in Beijing, China
2013
GCS hosted world conference in Chicago, USA
2014
GCS hosted world conference in Dubai, UAE
2016
GCS hosted world conference in Singapore
2017
GCS hosted world conference in Washington DC, USA
2018
GCS hosted world conference in Strasbourg, France
2019
GSC hosted world conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
meet the family
A unique blend of wisdom and youth.
Adam Wood
Adam was the 2nd generation CEO of GCS Credit, an international credit & collections network in more than 100 countries, and now serves as Founder & CEO of Certified By.
Adam went on to lead the creation of the ICCA, an initiative to bring together the leading credit & collections industry associations around the world, to drive international standards. Starting with Privacy & Data Protection.
Leane Maddren
Leane is part of the 2nd generation of GCS Credit , the groundbreaking network of over 100 country members of international credit & collection specialists. She has been with the company for over 30 years in varied capacities. Leane works with her brother Adam in the business started by Neil (Father) and Cathy (Mother) Wood - although it is a very different business from all those years ago.
Neil wood
Neil is the founder & Chairman of GCS Credit, and built an international network of credit and collection specialists in more than 100 countries. Neil served on the board of ACA International, and later consulted on the formation of the ICCA, an initiative to bring together the leading credit & collections industry associations around the world, to drive international standards, starting with Privacy & Data Protection.
meet the brains trust
A extraordinary and diverse world of subject matter experts that have shared their time, knowledge and enthusiasm to shape our objectives & priorities. We are honoured and truly motivated by their support.
cyber & data
legal, policy & GRC
management & trade
money & credit
digital & media
we're here to help.
As you now know, behind all this flashy tech sits real people with family enterprise & small business values. If you’re not sure what’s right for you, or not ready to start a program…
