Thanks for all the replies.

I have never used Joomla before and I have to admit I am quite surprised at the negativity being generated here. Is this because I am thinking of converting or would the same url problems occur when building a site from scratch? The only real alternative I can think of, as suggested by bj, is Drupal, which I have had a look at but didn't really get on very well with. I use Wordpress for blogs, but do you have any other suggestions for a CMS (if Joomla is no good from scratch - I really like the user interface on Joomla)?

The reason for transferring to a CMS was to be able to easier add updates and to allow people with non technical knowledge to add content. ronchalice is bob on.

We have had a think about the way forward for the site in question and we have now decided to stick with the current setup (html) and go for a redesign. We will also be paying more attention to the SEO as that needs reviewing and updating.

We will probably still have to use some 301's as the file structure needs attention. This will involve moving files from the root directory to specific folders.