Seven year itch for SRA’s Townsend

Antony Townsend, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to step down after seven years in the post.

Townsend, who has headed the SRA since its inception, will leave later this year. A successor has not yet been appointed.

“The pace of change has been relentless, the challenges have been formidable,” he said.

“The SRA now has a firm basis upon which to develop and mature its new approach to regulation.”

Charles Plant, chairman of the SRA board, says Townsend has “inherited a regulatory organisation and regime in serious need of reform.

“Much has been achieved by the SRA under Antony’s leadership over the past seven years. The SRA’s transformation process must continue with particular emphasis on operational delivery now that the new regulatory framework is substantially in place.

“The next stage in the SRA’s development will be equally demanding over a further protracted period of time, and Antony and I have agreed that now is an appropriate time to effect a change.”

Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff says: “He can take credit for many developments at the SRA and never wavered from his robust commitment to establishing it as a public interest regulator.”