Finding a successor is a delicate business

Too early to tell you probably believe, and you’d mostly be right. But
Anstee’s departure (though not immediate – he’s still in place until a successor
is found) could well provide an opportunity for various factions in the ICAEW to
stake their claim for the future of the institute.

That’s probably why he hasn’t stepped down with immediate effect – a power
vacuum at Moorgate Place could prove a moment in which things go horribly awry
for those left behind who still believe in Anstee’s crusade.

But even with Anstee still occupying the CEO’s chair, it would be naïve for
anyone to believe he could make a rush attempt at securing the much fought over
merger. How could a membership believe in a man who’s halfway out the door
already?

We must wait for a new CEO to lead the troops on that one – if there is to be
a new CEO. Some have called for the good ol’ days of a secretary general – but a
backward step like that would be throwing credibility out the window.

A CEO it must be. The question is whether a new man – or woman (no, it could
happen) – could pick up and run with Anstee’s agenda? That will depend as much
on the president, currently Ian Morris, as anything else.

A new CEO will need the whole-hearted backing of the institute’s figurehead.

But it will also depend on external factors, ie how the other institutes read
the appointment. Alan Blewitt, CEO at the ACCA, has colourfully warned that an
Anstee clone could spell the demise of the CCAB. It seems then that the
appointment is not just about the institute – it could be about the future of
the profession in the UK.