News reaches Obiter of a Midlands tug-of-war as the SRA competes with the NHS – for call centre staff.

Chief executive Antony Townsend says the SRA contact centre’s decline in performance is partly due to ‘staff attrition’. The problem stems from the SRA’s move to Birmingham, leaving staff who had settled in Redditch (the contact centre’s former home) with an arduous commute.

Cannily, the NHS stepped into the breach by opening a contact centre in Redditch. According to Townsend, ‘this is obviously an attractive option’ for SRA staff wanting to save some petrol money.

The solution is obvious: shared services. ‘Press one for practising certificate renewal; press two for COLPs nominations; press three if your arthritis is playing you up.’ And so on.

No doubt the cheque for our consultancy fee is in the post.