It’s one of the most widely-used phrases in my office and it’s not just me, as the old man of the team, who can be heard to mutter it!

This month I suffered an e-intruder, who briefly took over my e-mail account. Fortunately, my IT support team were on the case in minutes and had re-taken control inside half an hour with no obvious loss of personal data or lasting damage. But it was another reminder of just how much we rely on technology and how vulnerable we are to it.

For the half an hour I was without my PC, I had to find something else to do. I looked at my ‘to do’ list and decided that only a couple of items involved me being away from my machine. I had to talk to people! I think they were almost as happy as me that ‘normal service’ was restored so quickly.

At a headline level, technology has been changing the way in which businesses operate for decades now. The simple technology of vehicles that could move goods more quickly than boats and planes, taking them direct to your doorstep rather than a depot or port is often ignored as a major technological advance, but it was definitely an early part of the technology revolution.

Running scared of robots taking our jobs

Mechanising processes previously carried out by human beings quickly followed and those affected had to adapt in order to survive generally. We were all running scared of robots taking our jobs.

More recent advances have been in the name of improving living standards for all of us, but there is still a fall-out from these advances. Online banking has caused widespread closure of local branches and internet shopping has had a similar effect on the High Street. And it shows no signs of abating.

The latest changes have hit businesses in a different way, with HMRC demanding VAT returns via digital software despite businesses, HMRC themselves and notably software providers being badly under-prepared. This will lead to more changes in my accounting practice in due course as Making Tax Digital is rolled out to other taxes. And “I hate technology” will be heard even more often at Andorran Towers!