Faced with a problem, the classic government response is to set up a review. Often such reports languish ignored, their authors forgotten. This was not the case for Sir Derek Higgs, whose sudden death was announced on Tuesday. His 2003 review of the role of non-executive directors in UK companies broke ground when it was published and has framed the debate about boardroom duties ever since.

His review came in the wake of the Enron scandal. An inconclusive or complacent outcome would have increased pressure on ministers to bring in tighter regulation, as the US was doing. Executives who complained that Higgs was about box-ticking would have had far more to worry about if his report had led to government legislation.