There was an interesting piece on growth and UK accountancy market trends in Accountancy Age on 13 January looking at the trends within top 100 accountancy practices (http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/analysis/2322595/full-top50-50-analysis-mixed-bag-of-success?utm_term=&utm_content=headline_title&utm_campaign=AA.Best_Practice_RL.EU.A.U&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=AA.DCM.Editors_Updates)
The main points were:
- There were 12 new entrants into the market – in some ways this is encouraging as it shows that there are great opportunities (and profits) but in other ways it is a warning that the competition is ramping up even further.
- In the top 50 firms, income increased from £10.3bn in 2012 to £10.95bn in 2013 – a not very impressive 6% growth. But there were exceptions:
Winners
- Zolfo Copper (insolvency) posted 54% growth
- New entrant ClearSky Accounting (with Optionis aiming at freelancers and contractors) grew 42.7% with help from acquisitions
- Bishop Fleming posted 23% growth (through acquisitions)
- Francis Clark showed growth of 21% (including corporate finance growth)
Losers
- RSM Tenon – acquired by Baker Tilly – saw a 12% decline
- Begbies Traynor (insolvency) saw a 4.6% fall
- One of the biggest reasons for the growth of the big four (combined income of £8.35bn – 75% of the top 50) is attributed to consultancy rather than traditional audit and taxation services. Growth here was 35%