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Anonymous at 10.47, I think that all of the changes since 1999 have been a complete disaster in terms of eroding a profession that prized integrity, independence and the interests of clients above profits.

Unfortunately, a combination of: a weak, ineffectual professional body, regulatory types seeking change for the sake of change in an attempt to create well paid quango type jobs, the public wanting to pay little or nothing for a first class personal service with a right to complain and obtain compensation if they were unhappy with the service and a succession of populist governments eager to be seen to be giving more power to their constituent consumers, have allowed the abolition of scale fees, the CPR, HIPs, legal executives, licensed conveyancers, ABSs, even unqualified, uninsured and unregulated legal services companies that now write wills, do estate planning and administer estates.

It is a complete mess but the public have got what they asked for in the race to the bottom in terms of cost.

Funny thing, there does not appear to be much negative change for the accountants or even any government or public appetite to change their profession or regulation, despite some monumental failures by the big four!