A note from the Editor

Another busy month in PQ world

As we went to press we got the news through that the ICAEW has appointed Will Holt as its new MD of education and training. We last bumped into Will when he was Dean of Pearson Business School a few years back. A graduate of PwC, he also worked for Kaplan for three-and-a-half years, so looks like a great choice.

He joins the ICAEW when there seems to be a growing worry about attracting people into the profession. Our front cover stories look at the lack of a work/life balance and poor pay as two of the key drivers here. I loved the fact that the chair of the FRC, Sir Jan du Plessis, tells partners in the Big 4 that if they can pay themselves over £1m each then they can pay their junior staff better!

The magazine has always given a voice to ‘alternative views’, although we often don’t see them as such. It seems difficult to argue against Richard Murphy’s calls to nationalise the water industry (p22), or the NAO’s report of the ‘out of control’ MTD project (p34).

The ACCA Study Hub has now landed too, as have the first two sustainability standards.

Finally, we want to say a big goodbye to fellow accountancy journalist John Stokdyk, who recently passed away.

Graham

Hambly, Editor and Publisher, PQ magazine