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This is the regulatory body who decided early last year that my practice needed to be looked at "as we are concerned about business management". After giving me four days notice with specific instructions as to what documentation I must have available for them - not a problem - they turn up at my office with no proper ID and I am supposed to give them access to my accounts????????? Do I send them packing and then risk riling these people who I frankly do not trust - so bearing this in mind I reluctantly allowed them access to my files. Having been warned that their visit could take up to two weeks - after day 1 it was confirmed to me that there was no issue - after pressing almost with menaces as to why then they had seen fit to accuse me of "Mis Management" it came to light that they were concerned that my turnover had risen quite sharply over the previous two years and actually on reflection maybe if they had telephoned me to discuss what exactly I was involved in then a visit may not have been necessary - nothing to do with management - nothing to do with dodgy dealing in client monies - nothing to do with not informing clients exactly what my costs would be -BUT BECAUSE OF BEING SUCCESSFUL IN A COMMERCIAL WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband who had run his own business for over 25 years outside of the law wanted to know who I could contact to make a formal complaint about the SRA and their shambolic and frankly worrying behaviour towards my business - yes I like to call it a business, not a practice, I am in business to make money, not because I want to call myself a solicitor. I will be retiring in the next 18 months and at that point trust me I will be leading from the front with regards to making the SRA accountable for what can only be described as a complete lack of ability in carrying out the role of a competent regulator. Oh they did find one thing wrong - I had filled in my application for renewal of the practising certificate wrongly - a number had been added too when confirming the amount of qualified staff in my practice - my question to them - well why did you not query this at that time as the fee sent to you was clearly so much lower than if I had that many qualified staff - it then took the SRA over a month to send out a letter confirming no irregularities had been found and no further action was considered necessary - this was after hounding the SRA on a daily basis after hearing nothing for over two weeks following their visit - their excuse - the person responsible for issuing the letter only works part time - is working from home this week - is away on annual leave - does anyone actually work at SRA headquarters. Well clearly someone does as they look at surveys filled in by 100 subscribers who all seem to be incapable of asking the questions either face to face or on the phone - I bet butchers are glad they aren't regulated by the SRA - can you imagine - how much is that brisket - what - you need to weigh it first - I'm sorry but as a consumer I think that is totally unreasonable and I now want to sue you for not making it clear in your window the cost of that particular piece of brisket - I've ranted for too long now - I will see you all in 18 months