27 June 2003
	Service sector SERVING TOP COMPANIES

It's tough providing big companies with services these days. Gone are the cosy relationships cemented over the country club lunch table . There's a whole new peanut gallery watching the work of accountants, bankers and lawyers closely. And they are not afraid to make themselves heard. Call them shareholders - or newly belligerent regulators - whose interest has been sharpened by the lost wealth and embarrassment suffered in the bursting of the market bubble. Now they want to be taken seriously. The result? The cost of services is higher than ever. All because both sides of a transaction have had a taste of the whipping waiting for them if they get something wrong, whether out of malice or simple incompetence. Just ask Andersen. Remember - the Big Five firm that audited, ah, advised, ah, consulted . . . Enron.