... 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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I was pleased to be able to confirm my firm’s commitment to continuing to calculate our carbon footprint and to report it publicly and to Business in the Community. I must admit I was slightly disappointed that not everyone present was prepared to make these two commitments which it seems to me are a basic start if you are truly committed to taking action on climate change. I was also pleased to be able to promise that we would continue to work in partnership with suppliers to reduce the level of emissions in the supply chain. We do this now on our office fit outs and moves and I hope we will find a way to extend this to the broader supply chain.

I made new commitments to set an absolute target and take actions which reduce our carbon emissions and I will be working with our people over the next few months to develop a meaningful policy in this area. In addition I committed to seeking ways in which we might encourage employees to reduce their carbon footprint at home and at work. We already have actions to help employees reduce their carbon footprint at work including recycling policies, printing double sided and our payroll scheme to encourage employees to buy (and therefore hopefully use) bikes. This latter initiative not only helps reduce our carbon footprint but also helps maintain fitness. It will be more of a challenge to find ways in which we can encourage employees to reduce their carbon footprint at home but, given the number of people who we employ, if we can make a modest difference in this area it could be quite significant in overall terms.

Not quite your normal "run of the mill" day and certainly very different from the week. It is the variety which makes the job so interesting.

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Readers of today's FT will have seen that we have published independent research carried out by the London School of Economics which shows that the dominance of the Big Four firms has directly led to an increase in audit fees. This is clear evidence to support our long standing contention that the market place is not operating as it should and, alongside other evidence and concerns over undue concentration, will hopefully prompt a change in mindset and behaviour amongst UK plc. It is now clear, as if further evidence was needed, that a further reduction (from a Big 4 to a Big 3) would be a major concern and the best way to mitigate against such an eventuality is to widen the choice in the marketplace now, before it is too late.

So what do I hope might happen as a result of us publishing this research? Well first, and as noted above, I hope it provides further evidence of the need for a change in attitude and approach by UK plc towards the choice of auditors. But I think it also adds weight to the need for perhaps a sharper approach to addressing the issue of competition and choice.

When I first publicly set out my views on this issue some years ago I said there were three things that were needed as a matter of priority. First, we needed research to show the effect of concentration in the marketplace which I hoped would help people recognise the extent of the issue. I hope this research, added to previous reports published by the FRC and others, makes it clear that there is potential distortion in the market and that something needs to be done. Second, I urged the publication of AIU inspection reports to (hopefully) help dispel the myth that only the largest firms are capable of delivering a quality audit. This is due to happen later this year - not as speedily as I had hoped but very welcome. The style and format of these public reports is not yet known but I am sure the FRC is aware of their importance and will ensure they address the need to give a better understanding of audit quality at all the leading firms. Third, I suggested that "Big 4 only" clauses in banking and other agreements should be banned. Progress here has been more modest - and even slower. The FRC has agreed that details of such clauses should now be published in he annual reports of companies and I understand they hope that over time this will lead to such clauses no longer being a regular feature of bank facility agreements. Personally, I think this is too little.

One of the arguments I have heard for not banning such clauses is that they are an outcome of a free market and it would be inappropriate to restrict the free operation of the market. I believe that teh LSE research has dispelled this assumption ion that it shows that the market is distorted and thus we need to be aware of anything that might be a result of that distortion or that might encourage that distortion. I believe that "Big 4 only" clauses fall firmly into that description - and this should be banned. As well as removing a potential market distortion it would also send out a strong message about the need to broaden choice.

Although the research only considered the audit market I believe it is implicit that there will be a similar position in other parts of the market which are highly concentrated and thus equally an issue in respect of non audit work. "Big 4 only" clauses serve to restrict our ability, and that of other firms, to provide non audit services as well regardless of our capabilities.

We have published this research as part of a genuine desire to stimulate discussion and debate - and we look forward to responses from other interested parties.

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.. by today's announcement from Ernst & Young about the creation of a global partnership. Creating closer links between BDO Member Firms was always on my agenda for when I become CEO of BDO International later this year - but by their bold move E&Y have sharpened this challenge. I wish them good luck and hope we can all learn from them.

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... last night.

55 Baker Street was previously the Headquarters of Marks & Spencer and has been totally redeveloped into a striking new design by architects Make, headed by Ken Shuttleworth, who was responsible for the design of the Swiss Re building, more commonly known as the Gherkin. Despite its radically improved appearance, 50% of the existing built fabric has been retained. In addition to the cost savings represented by retaining and refurbishing the existing building, the scheme has been designed to minimise environmental impact and optimise energy efficiency and has achieved a BREEAM rating of “Excellent”. A system of chilled beams offers a controlled environment within office areas, combining exceptional levels of energy efficiency and low running costs. The result is a refurbished building which has achieved higher energy efficiency levels than a new build.

It's also a great place to work and a fabulous venue for a reception.

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... having been one of the last few people to move out of our old office. It was an emotional moment - I have spent most of my working life there and remember when we moved in over 23 years ago. However, sitting here in our new offices it is apparent how far the firm has moved.

We are still in Baker Street - we've moved from No 8 to No 55 - and are now opposite the building where I started work at this firm almost 30 years ago (54 Baker Street). But whilst we have moved only modest distances in terms of our working environment we have made an immeasurable move. And of course today there are issues that we didn't even think about when we last moved.

Our new building is the redevelopment of what was the Head Office of Marks & Spencer. Ever conscious of the environment and the costs that can be saved, 50% of the existing built fabric has been retained despite the radical transformation of the building. The building has achieved a BREEAM rating of "Excellent" and has higher energy efficiency levels than a new build.

It looks great; it feels great to work in; and I am sure, alongside all the other property moves and improvements we have made on a national basis over the past few years, it will prove to be suitable for our next phase of growth and development.

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... or is it better to be provocative and prompt deabte and discussion? This is a perennial challenge for accounting firms as the annual budget ritual becomes more predictable and the opportunity to deliver real value added advice becomes more difficult.

Unsurprisingly, given our commitment to promote debate and seek to provide insight and not merely comment, my firm's tax partners have decided to adopt the latter approach with some strident views from our tax spokesman, Stephen Herring. I can do no better than set out some of his comments:

"Since his appointment in June and, more specifically, the adverse reaction from British business to his proposals for capital gains tax reform and the taxation of non-domiciles, the Chancellor has, perhaps unsurprisingly, opted to avoid a third strike with its perhaps inevitable consequences. For example, he has deferred the "so called" income shifting rules which sought to prevent certain small businesses using dividends to divide income between spouses and thereby obtain an additional basic rate tax-band. Pursuing these measures would have resulted in a further bare-knuckled fight for the Chancellor with, this time, the small business lobbying organisations.

"It is interesting to note that the Chancellor appears to favour tax simplification but has already departed from this principle so far as "green taxation" is concerned with additional complex provisions for tax allowances on company cars. This demonstrates the dilemma faced by Chancellors wishing to simplify taxation but having to forgo this where other Government initiatives are considered to be more pressing.

And finally..."I am disappointed that he did not take the opportunity of introducing additional taxation incentives and reliefs where these would not have been too costly in terms of overall government tax revenues. Examples include the disappointing increase in ISA investment limits by only £200, the failure to increase inheritance tax limits to account for house price inflation in recent years and a derisory increase of £400 in the capital gains tax exemption. These are examples of fiscal drag where the Chancellor should really look to RPI indexation as a minimum benchmark which he should normally be able to exceed. Perhaps most disappointingly, the UK will remain behind the curve in its reductions of the headline rate of corporation tax. Although this reduces to 28 per cent on the 1st April 08, many other leading developed countries such as the Netherlands and Germany already have lower corporation tax rates and some EU members such as Ireland, Poland and the Czech republic have substantially lower headline rates. The Chancellor should have announced a stepped reduction over 3 years to 25 per cent to keep the UK tax system competitive internationally."

You can agree or you can disagree with Stephen but hopefully his comments will help stimulate deabte and discussion with our clients and others.

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