Letters - To reach people's hearts institutes should behave as beacons of good practice

I am not surprised many finance directors consider they don’t get value from their fees (Institutes fail to satisfy, page 3, 18 October).

For most in the accountancy profession, membership of one of the accountancy bodies is a compulsory requirement for their job, and therefore the institutes are likely to have a large number of members who continue to remain members because they have to be, and are not members because of services they receive.

Working as FD of a professional body in an industry where membership of a professional body is not compulsory, we can only attract and retain members by the quality of services we provide, and by ensuring we continue to be relevant to, and represent the needs of, our membership.

We cannot arbitrarily increase membership fees or cut services to cover our overheads; rather we aim to reduce costs in order to operate as efficiently as possible while improving the value of membership services.

It therefore must be embarrassing to the ICAEW, which represents those who advise businesses on operating profitably, that it is not holding itself up as a beacon of good practice to its members.

Try moving out of those expensive Central London offices and reviewing the management costs that have resulted in this #2m deficit, and stop taking your membership for granted!

Brian Strange, FD, Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management