Jeremy Newman's term of office as Managing Partner of BDO Stoy Hayward LLP came to an end on 4 July 2008 and his blog is now inactive. Jeremy will become CEO of BDO International on 1 October 2008 and will resume his blog from that date on the BDO International website (www.bdointernational.com). If you want to contact Jeremy about any item on his blog you can send him an email to jeremy.newman@bdo.co.uk

..my last entry on my blog as Managing Partner. I stand down today and take this opportunity to thank readers of this blog for their encouragement and support.

I have no final "words of wisdom" (if indeed there have been any such words) but just a sincere thanks to all our clients, referrers of business, competitors and colleagues in other firms and indeed everyone else (including regulators and those in Government)- and above all my partners and all our staff (current and past)- for letting me have the privilege to lead this firm for the last seven years. We have come a long way thanks to your support and encouragement.

I know that the firm will continue to prosper and wish every success to my successor, Simon Michaels, and his Leadership Team.

I will resume my blog in October when I become CEO of BDO International and hope you will all join me there. In the meantime have a great summer - and thank you.

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.. "Landmark move by accounts watchdog" with the publication by the FRC of guidance on the use of Liability Limitation Agreements ("LLA").

Whilst not perfect (but then what is?) the guidance together with a supporting Press Release from the Institutional Shareholders Committee give a clear signal that the only acceptable form of LLA is one based on "proportionality". As regular readers will know this is the outcome we have been seeking ever since it became likely a few years ago that legislation would be introduced permitting LLAs.

I firmly believe that "proportionality" is the only acceptable form of LLA for audit engagements and have always believed that absolute caps would provide yet further advantage to the largest firms. I very much hope that everyone in the profession - as well as other market participants - will now focus on ensuring that all LLAs are based on "proportionality".

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.. where I have been (Kuala Lumpur - not the hotel room!) for the past 2 1/2 days having spent the previous 1 1/2 days in Hong Kong meeting our Chinese member firms. I am in KL for a meeting of the BDO International Policy Board - and have also had the opportunity to spent time with our Malaysian member firm.

It has been a fascinating - and very productive - trip albeit not yet over as I am being interviewed tomorrow by the local business press on the recent LSE research on the effects of concentration in the audit market given there are similar concerns in Malaysia to those in the UK.

The trip has given me yet further evidence of the ambition and quality of the BDO network. Not every firm is yet as strong as it needs to be but they are investing in high quality people and creating an exceptional level of client service so I have little doubt that they will all respond to the challenges of the market and that they will further serve to enhance the overall reputation of BDO International.

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We recently won the audit of an international group in one of our key industry sectors – Real Estate.

A key factor which brought about this win came when we had the opportunity to show our true colours. We responded rapidly to help the FD with a technical issues at a time of need, this demonstrated how our stated commitment to excellent client service works in real life.

We also spent time developing wider relationships, to really get to know the client. This enabled us to allay some initial concerns held by the Audit Committee and the Board, about the potential difficulties associated with changing auditors and some associated worries about changing from a Big 4 audit firm to ourselves. Focusing on their questions, we told them about the scale of our international network, our sensible and transparent approach to fees and the quality of the service they can consistently expect to receive.

We were thrilled to win this new assignment and the opportunity to continue of a strong relationship.

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... has been the level of internal engagement.

I know that the campaign is focussed on the external market but it is important for there to be internal engagement and, to date, there have been over 2,500 "hits" on our internal microsite with almost 600 people voting for their favourite advert. Not bad when you consider we employ some 3,000 people.

I hope that the external impact has been as effective.

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The last few weeks has seen a flurry of activity.

On the positive side our PR team and advisers won a global award for their work on this debate; a clear signal that it is recognised as a serious and mature debate and one that has created impact - and is hopefully creating change (even if only modestly).

We also saw the first response from a Big Four firm to the LSE research - aside the various "sound bites" in the few days after its initial publication. I must say that I found this response disappointing as it didn't actually address the issues raised by the LSE research and whilst very briefly criticising their methodology didn't say why. Indeed, it sought to suggest that there wasn't even a problem.

I guess you could say this was positive as by not having a serious response by implication it suggested that the LSE methodology is robust and by failing to address the real issues perhaps accepted that there is no substantive response - thus accepting that the research does prove there is distortion in the UK audit market - and that the only response is to pretend there isn't an issue. I was disappointed, however, as we commissioned and published the LSE research to prompt a serious debate - not to trade sound bites and personal comments.

So this is a plea to all those with an interest in this issue to join the discussion and engage on a serious basis.

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... with the worldwide exclusive premiere of three short films focussing on Tax Investigations.

I believe that the opening of a Second Life island puts us at the forefront of the latest technological social trends and that it will give us many business opportunities in areas such as cutting our carbon footprint with on-line meetings, presentations and events for staff, clients and alumni; enhancing our recruitment options and opening a new platform to engage with a broad international audience.

In a "first" for us Second Life, YouTube and viral marketing are all being used in the launch of the tax investigations films.

This is the culmination of many months hard work building our island and I have been looking forward to its launch for some time. I am particularly grateful to my firm's Head of On-line, Iain Simpson, for persuading me (I didn't need much persuading - promise!) that it will be a worthwhile adventure.

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