Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution of a blended learning strategy in a company law course for accounting students and to evaluate its impact on assessment and student self-reflection. Design/methodology/approach -A case study approach is used to describe the development of blended learning technologies within an elevator pitch assessment item in four cohorts over a two-year period. This is complemented by teacher observations, an online survey and student interviews to evaluate the assessment item, the technology used and its impact as a self-reflection and assessment tool. Findings -The case study reveals the benefits of blended learning technologies but also a series of logistical, assessment-related, behavioural and technological issues and how these issues were addressed. The preliminary evidence from the online survey and student interviews suggests that the blended learning technologies have facilitated flexibility in assessment (both from a student and teacher perspective), student self-reflection and fairness in assessment practices. Originality/value -The study identifies the benefits of and likely issues facing educators when considering the deployment of blended learning technologies to teach and assess oral communication skills. The paper contributes to pedagogy by describing the innovative use of video cameras in assessing elevator pitches and extends the literature on video presentations in higher education, in particular, its positive influence on student self-reflection.

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In the 2004 Spending Review, the Chancellor of the Exchequer accepted the recommendations of the Lyons review (see table 1, over) to relocate by 2010 approximately 20 000 public sector posts from London and the South East of England (HM Treasury, 2004a, pages 18^19). The Lyons review concentrated on the civil service and assessed the case for its dispersal in light of the need to improve the delivery and efficiency of public services and to reduce regional inequalities in economic activity (Lyons, 2004). Lyons recommended reshaping the pattern of government because the concentration of national public sector activity in and around London``fails to fully reflect the large cost disparities between London and other parts of the UK and the revealed benefits of dispersal for the efficient delivery of Government business and for regional economies'' (2004, page 3). In this paper we use the interest generated by the Lyons review as a springboard for a historical analysis of public sector relocation in Britain, and of its impact both on the spatial concentration of the civil service in London and the South East and on wider regional disparities. We draw on previous research on civil service location, evidence presented to the Lyons review, and interviews with relocation managers in seven large civil service departments involved in dispersal. (1) Public sector relocation is a key moment providing a useful vantage point from which to observe the operation of the state and its impact on the economy. It is important partly for pragmatic reasons: research material on the public sector is made much more widely available associated with government reviews of the case for relocation. Access to senior decisionmakers is improved, both as part of the review process and in individual relocations themselves. Equally significant, relocation often occurs at a