Lobbying from directors and the legal profession ensured that the bill was changed into a consolidating act, avoiding the need for cross-referencing between numerous statutes.

[3][date missing] Whereas a complete overhaul of company law was promised, the Act seems to leave much of the existing structure in place, and to simplify certain aspects only at the margins.

[5] A small portion of the act, including section 43 which transposed the EU Transparency Directive into UK law, came into effect on royal assent in November 2006.

The eighth commencement order, made in November 2008, brought the remainder of the Act into force with effect from October 2009.

Another reason for the staggered implementation is that, despite the act's size, a great many sections provide for subsidiary legislation to be brought in by Secretary of State, which required time to draft.