You can use Tools | Templates and Add-ins to attach a different template.
With the box "Automatically update document styles" checked (once only, then
uncheck it), styles of the same name will be updated. But styles are the
*only* thing that will be updated; you will not get the section-level
formatting of the document (margins, headers/footers, columns, watermarks,
etc.). To get all the formatting of your template, create a new document
based on it, press the Spacebar to dirty it, and use Insert | File to insert
the old document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Mike Seddon" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the feedback.

Now for a slightly different twist.

Is there a way that I can open an existing document which has been
built using one template BUT open it in my version of Word with my
template and force it into the style of my template.

I don;t believe there is.

Thanks

Mike