Not, as you may think, an article about problems related to PP switching (watch this space though), but a brief note to wish one of our own all the best for his retirement.

After eight years with ATEB, 31 January sees Alistair MacDougall hanging up his financial services boots.

Those readers who have been receiving ATEB News for some time now will be familiar with Alistair’s witty, erudite, informative and very much to the point articles. He’s provided detailed and incisive commentary across a wide spectrum of subjects affecting financial services firms, advisers and paraplanners and maintained his finger on the pulse of regulatory developments, keeping readers informed on the issues they should be aware of and recommended actions they should take.

Alistair was also ATEB’s Technical Manager and has always been the go-to guy for all matters technical. He was never shy at providing a forthright opinion, but always did so with a degree of authority and clarity that few in the industry are able to match, but after a long career he’s finally decided to open a new chapter in his life and move on.

We’ll miss his direct and candid approach, his keenness to have the final word, his ability to cut through the c**p and his little rants about his intolerances over poor standards (it’s hard to disagree with them, because he was right), but most of all we’ll miss him. He’s one of the good guys and just a nice person.

So we hope that those of you who have read and enjoyed Alistair’s articles, or who have dealt with him personally over the years, will join us in wishing him a long, happy and healthy retirement. He’s earned it.