Top 75 Firms Survey Briefing February 2016 Accountancy

n top 75 firms survey briefing february 2016 accountancy

We need time to absorb the Chantrey Vellacott] merger effectively, but we have The anticipated achieved an awful lot in changes in audit just six months regulation are Simon Gallagher, managing already creating additional ‘‘partner, Moore Stephens opportunities in the tax world. We are seeing a lot more “conflict” work Simon Michaels, managing ‘‘ partner, BDO

This year’s record financial results show the full impact of the absorption of the former Tenon business 8 Laurence Longe, UK ‘‘managing partner, RSM merger frenzy grips top 75

elivering a 7% boost in fee income been winning business at all levels of the Accountancy’s over the last 12 months, the top market place, but winning at the top with review of the 75 accounting firms in the UK are audits such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Shell, benefiting from a healthy economic Associated British Foods and Reed Elsevier Top 75 UK Dclimate in the UK, despite growing uncertainty (RELX) speaks volumes for our business. firms indicates facing British businesses in the coming year. Success is measured in many ways and 8% At £12.8bn, the UK’s top firms increased fee growth is great, but securing those brands as an acquisitive earnings by more than £800m over last year’s long-term audit clients is better.’ frenzy among survey, with very few firms showing a Profitability at EY has increased as well, decrease in turnover. rising from £412m in 2014 to £437m in 2015, ambitious At the very top of the league table, the Big despite following its competitors’ lead by mid tiers and Four collectively pulled in more than £9.7bn in going on the acquisition trail. In August last fees, outstripping last year’s figure of £9.1bn by year the firm bought Shoreditch-based digital shifts among nearly 7%. But within this group, there were two consultancy Seren, which saw more than 60 the Big Four. major developments. The first was that PwC, the consultants added to the firm’s staff. However, UK’s largest firm, broke through the £3bn barrier an increase in the number of partners over the Philip Smith for the first time after it saw its income rise by year has meant that profit per partner has fallen 9.6% to reach £3.083bn (see box, p13). 3.7% to £700,000. reports Perhaps more revealing was the growth at Compared to its rivals, Deloitte has been EY. Not only did it push past the £2bn mark relatively quiet on the acquisition front, perhaps this year, it succeeded in leapfrogging KPMG because it did not sell off its original consultancy to secure third place in the league table for arm back in the early 2000s. It did, however, the first time in its history. The firm had been acquire Kaisen Consulting, a leadership snapping at its rival’s heels for some time but consulting business based in the UK and US, in when KPMG unveiled a relatively disappointing September 2015, though this would have been 2.6% increase in turnover in its results last too late to count towards the firm’s £2.7bn in December, EY’s new position was confirmed. fees for this year. The firm expects to consolidate this position as new work feeds into its top line. Falling behind ‘Our audit wins over the last year have Recent acquisitions and the process of driven a degree of growth, but they have not integrating them quickly into the firm have fully come online yet,’ says Steve Varley, EY’s been one of the root causes for the slippage chairman and managing partner. ‘We have in KPMG’s performance, now leaving it in

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IT is the longest running thing we need to get right, We are realistic but we anticipated all the that we must systems will be joined up lose market by March this year share [in the FTSE350 Ian Plunkett, joint managing audit market] but we are director, Rickard Luckin pleased that we have held ‘‘ our own in the market Ian Powell, senior ‘‘ partner, PwC

Our audit wins over the last year have driven a degree of growth, but they have not fully come online yet Steve Varley, chairman and 9 ‘‘managing partner, EY merger frenzy grips top 75

fourth position among the top four. Tony Cates, for training up to 400,000 civil servants, which head of international markets and government, will start in the spring and kick in with revenue explains: ‘We have been restructuring and towards the back end of the year.’ investing in the business, as well as making a Cates is confident that KPMG partners will number of acquisitions. see a return on their investment as they accept ‘We have spent more time on getting the that they are in for the long haul. ‘There is a internal organisation right, which has perhaps tension between the short term and long term, distracted us from the market in the short term. which the leadership is balancing,’ he says. ‘We But we expect to see an increasing impact from agreed with the investment plans and accept these acquisitions during the year. For instance, that it will hit profitability, but are confident this we have just won a very significant contract way forward will see a pay back. And we 10

big four Fee income by service line

3,500 £m Audit and assurance Does not include 3,083 * £267m from 2,814 Tax Swiss practice 3,000 2,689 2,621 2,550 Consulting and corporate finance 2,461 2,447 2,500 2,515 * 2,329 2,010 1,814 1,909 1,958 1,868 2,000 1,806 1,703 1,631 1,721 1,500 1,329 1,186

1,000

500 893 634 804

0 909 645 907 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 PwC Deloitte KPMG EY 963 659 999 969 680 1040 1012 704 1098 www.accountancylive.com 1121 763 1199 397 481 957 1073 1033 309 370 722 759 848 804 907 999 1040 1098 459 517 1137 1210 1282 628 511 459 350 392 380 343 381 372 431 455 470 652 534 517 511 534 529 563 562 360 634 645 659 680 704 663 529 926 458 456 469 434 495 403 444 478 507 550 742 563 1001 628 652 663 742 706 893 909 963 969 1012 706 562 1282 708 590 1149 458 350 397 456 392 481 469 380 925 434 343 1073 494 381 1033 526 432 1000 403 360 309 444 372 370 478 431 722 507 455 759 550 470 848 585 517 908 n top 75 firms survey briefing february 2016 accountancy

Income by service line top 75 Audit and accounting total income of top 75 firms 30 % change 7 13 £bn 12.83 19 Note: 2012 to 2014 top 75, 12.01 25 12 2007 to 2011 top 60 11.48 11.03 20 11 10.33 8 9.92 15 10 9.82 9.36 1 10 9 8.80 3 4 14 5 20 12 17 5 6 10 13 16 18 8 2 15 0 7 -5 6 9 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 11 -10

Rank Firm £m £m % 2015 (2014) 2015 2014 change have to remember that we are investing for 1 (1) PwC 1,121.0 1,012.0  10.8 the next generation of partners of the firm as 1 45 2% change (2) Deloitte 10 708.0 706.0  0.3 well, so we are optimistic about where we are 10 3 (3) EY 585.0 550.0  6.4 positioned, both in the UK and globally.’ 40 4 (4) KPMG 526.0 495.0  6.3 Ironically, changes in the audit market 35 5 (5) Grant Thornton2 142.0 135.2  5.0 have given a boost to what was once best 30 6 (6) BDO 134.0 131.0  2.3 described as a ‘stable’ market. By investing in 25 9 10 pitches and defending existing audit business, 7 (7) Moore5 Stephens UK 90.4 70.4  28.4 20 the firm has won some significant audit 8 (8) RSM 76.0 66.0  15.2 4 6 12 18 contracts recently. 15 9 (9) Mazars 50.1 52.3 -4.3 3 14 20 ‘We have been pleased with the growth and 10101 (10) PKF UKI 38.0 36.9  3.0 2 7 8 16 19 profitability of our audit services, especially 115 (11) Crowe Clark Whitehill 34.0 15 36.217 -6.1 11 10 given some of the big wins we have had this 120 (12) Haines Watts3 33.6 32.4  3.7 year, such as Barclays, Experian and BAT, 4 -513 (13) UHY Hacker Young Group 13 26.9 26.3  2.3 though none of these will have contributed to 14 (15) MHA MacIntyre Hudson 24.6 23.2  6.0 this year’s results. We have been investing in 15 (14) Kingston Smith 23.3 23.3 n 0.0 tenders but at the same time have improved 16 (16) Smith & Williamson 23.2 22.6  2.7 10 profitability,’ adds Cates. 17 (17) Saffery Champness 20.5 19.9  3.2 Sluggish mid-tiers 18 (18) Wilkins Kennedy 19.7 19.3  2.0 These changes in the audit market were 19 - Menzies 15.1 12.2  23.8 designed in part to increase competition and 20 (19) Francis Clark 13.6 13.0  4.6 10 widen the choice of auditors in the top end Total 3,705.0 3,483.2  6.4 of the audit market. But growth in the next Footnotes: see page 17. This chart only features figures where reported tier down has been sluggish. Grant Thornton, placed fifth in the league, saw fee income grow by 1.8% to reach £521m, while BDO grew a 10 similar 2%, to hit the £400m mark. ‘The firm has grown 40% over the last three Michaels says. ‘The anticipated changes in years with 27% as a result of our merger with £12.8bn audit regulation are already creating additional PKF,’ says BDO’s managing partner Simon opportunities in the tax world. We are seeing a Michaels. ‘The balance of growth has been lot more “conflict” work.’ organic. But last year we did expect the growth to slow a bit, though there was a good Firms to watch solid performance overall.’ The UK’s The firms in the mid tier segment that have seen Michaels points to his tax practice as a ‘star top firms earned significant growth over the last year – RSM and performer’, something he expects to become £12.8bn, increasing Moore Stephens – have benefited primarily from even more significant in the coming year as earnings by more than an uplift following recent mergers. RSM, for other changes to auditor independence rules £800m compared to example, emerged from Baker Tilly’s acquisition over non-audit services take effect during the last year’s survey of RSM Tenon, a move that eventually saw year. This should help to offset the decline in Baker Tilly change name and adopt its restructing business which has dented profits. international network’s RSM branding. ‘Our tax business grew 20% last year, Announcing a 26% growth in fee income, faster than any other firm, and it was all accompanied by a 39% growth in profit, RSM’s organic growth, particularly in specialist UK managing partner Laurence Longe said: areas, internationally and domestically,’ ‘This year’s record financial results for the firm

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Income by service line Tax big four pre-tax profit and partners

45 % change 10 3,500 40 2012 3,029 3,101 3,093 35 2013 2,971 3,000 2014 30 2015 25 9 2,500 2,290 5 2,173 2,117 20 1,994 18 2,000 15 4 6 12 3 14 10 1 20 2 7 8 16 19 1,500 2.4% 9.0% -2.6% 8.2% 11.5% -1.9% 4.4% -0.3% 5 15 17 11 0 1,000 Pre-tax pro t £m Partners -5 13

Rank Firm £m £m % 2015 (2014) 2015 2014 change 1 (1) PwC 763.0 704.0  8.4 were no real overlaps,’ Gallagher reports. 2 (2) Deloitte1 590.0 562.0  5.0 But now having bedded down one significant merger, Moore Stephens appears 3 (3) EY 517.0 470.0  10.0 11 to have got the bug. 4 (4) KPMG 432.0 381.0  13.4 ‘We have very ambitious growth plans. 5 (5) BDO 123.0 103.0  19.4 Having demonstrated we can handle a 6 (5) RSM 121.0 107.0  13.1 significant merger, it has raised the appetite,’ 7 (7) Grant Thornton 2 96.0 91.3  5.1 he adds. ‘We need time to absorb the 11 8 (8) Smith & Williamson 40.0 38.2  4.7 [Chantrey Vellacott] merger effectively, but we 9 (9) Mazars 30.0 24.3  23.5 have achieved an awful lot in just six months. 10 (12) Moore Stephens UK 27.5 19.4  41.8 Once this has settled down, we can start to 11 (10) Haines Watts3 24.1 24.1 n 0.0 look for other strategic opportunities. It could 12 (13) SJD Accountancy 21.5 19.0 13.2 be a merger, or it could be through bringing in 11 13 (11) Frank Hirth 6 21.2 21.6 -1.7 new teams.’ 14 (14) PKF UKI 19.7 18.0  9.4 Moore Stephens is set up as a network of independent firms, and it is not just the 15 (15) Saffery Champness 18.0 17.4  3.4 London office that has been on the acquisition 16 (16=) Crowe Clark Whitehill 15.1 14.4  4.9 trail. Scott-Moncrieff, its network member in 11 17 (16=) Buzzacott 14.8 14.4  2.6 Inverness, merged with Callander Colgan in 18 (18) MHA MacIntyre Hudson 13.8 12.1  14.0 May 2015. It is a trend that is being replicated 19 (19) UHY Hacker Young Group4 11.3 10.7  5.6 around the UK, as a number of local firms seek 20 (20) Francis Clark 10.0 9.2  8.7 to build their regional presence, as well as bulk Total 2,909.0 2,661.1  9.3 up in terms of sector and technical expertise. 11 In fact, at least 20 firms in the top 75 have Footnotes: see page 17. This chart only features figures where reported been involved in an acquisition or merger (see mergers and acquisitions table, page 14). One merger, that between Bird Luckin and Rickard Keen in Essex, saw a new firm, Rickard 11 show not only the full impact of the absorption Luckin, join the league table at 67 with a fee of the former Tenon business, but also reflect £9.7bn income of £8.4m. underlying organic growth in multiple revenue Other moves include Berg Kaprow Lewis’ streams following the successful completion of recently announced merger with Cambridge- the strategic restructuring of the firm.’ based Ashcroft Anthony. The move represents Similarly, Moore Stephens produced a 20% BKL’s first foray outside north London in a bid increase in fee income to £164m. This includes The Big to ‘broaden and reinforce’ the services offered income from Chantrey Vellacott DFK, which Four collectively by both firms. merged with Moore Stephens’ London office in earned more than Some mergers have taken place within May 2015. The move saw Chantrey Vellacott’s £9.7bn in fees, national networks. For instance, within the East and West Midlands, and Thames Valley outstripping last year’s MHA network, MacIntyre Hudson came offices join Moore Stephens’ London office figure of £9.1bn by together with Bloomer Heaven in Birmingham under the management of Simon Gallagher. nearly 7% as the former sought to build its national ‘It will broaden our sectors,’ he says. profile, having earlier merged with Kent firm Moore Stephens is well known for its work in Spain Brothers. shipping and financial services while Chantrey The benefits of such mergers include Vellacott has expertise in trade associations, widening the regional and national reach of the not-for-profit sector and property. ‘There the firms, broadening the services that 12

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partner value income and profit 2015 (2014) HOW the top 75 is compiled Rank Firm Fee income (£m) Pre-tax profit Partners Fee/partner *Information is collected through 2015 2014 (£m) 2015 2014 ratio (£000s) a questionnaire sent out by Accountancy and completed 1 (1) PwC 3,083.0 2,814.0 850.0 793.0 885 854 3,484 3,295 by firms. Wherever possible, 2 (2) Deloitte1 2,714.0 2,550.0 620.0 581.0 895 967 3,032 2,637 we adhere to firms’ description 3 (4) EY 2,010.0 1,868.0 437.0 412.0 696 692 2,888 2,699 of service lines and structure, and rely on the integrity of 4 (3) KPMG 1,958.0 1,909.0 383.0 414.0 617 588 3,173 3,247 the information provided. The 5 (5) Grant Thornton2 521.0 512.0 82.0 81.0 184 191 2,832 2,682 aim is to produce consistent 5,085 information4,913 as far as possible 6 (6) BDO 400.0 392.0 66.8 76.8 227 255 1,762 1,537 4,906 4,913 5,131 5,375 896 736 862 887 and for this reason we have756 not 7 (7) RSM 292.0 232.0 45.0 n/a 125 130 2,336 1,892 756 excluded firms or groups with an unusual structure, although the 8 (8) Smith & Williamson 215.1 199.1 41.1 36.0 238 268 904 743 Number of: question of whether some in the 11 (11) PKF UKI 81.7 76.0 22.9 22.2 128 117 638 650 list are ‘firms’ in the traditional 14 (14) Crowe Clark Whitehill 63.9 61.1 14.8 15.5 73 69 875 886 Male partners sense remains open to debate. 2012 16 (16) Begbies Traynor Group 45.4 44.1 0.7 4.3 56 68 811 673 Female partners 2009 2010 2011 2012 17 (18) MHA MacIntyre Hudson 44.8 41.8 11.3 8.9 83 71 540 589 Other staff 20 (20) Menzies 34.0 32.2 10.3 9.9 38 35 895 920 top 75 57,868 22 (23) Francis Clark 29.9 27.8 10.7 9.5 49 49 610 567 staffing76,553 levels 23 (25) FRP Advisory 29.8 24.6 13.8 10.6 31 31 961 794 27 (27) Frank Hirth 6 22.0 22.5 1.6 2.1 6 8 3,670 2,800 71,677 63,537 75,599 78,606 12 5,361 28 (29) Kreston Reeves 21.9 20.3 6.9 5.4 40 41 547 517 890 29 (30) Price Bailey 21.8 20.3 1.3 1.3 27 24 807 846 35 (37) Bishop Fleming 17.5 16.7 4.9 4.5 27 24 648 679 40 (45) SRLV 14.6 12.3 4.8 4.0 13 13 1,125 954 12 2013 44 (46) Barnes Roffe 13.3 12.3 5.8 5.1 17 17 782 724 45 (42) James Cowper Kreston 13.3 12.8 2.8 0.2 15 13 887 985 46 (48) Hillier Hopkins 13.0 12.3 4.1 3.3 18 19 721 647 47 (49) Moore and Smalley 12.8 11.9 2.7 2.7 18 18 711 661 50 (55) Simmons Gainsford 11.8 10.4 3.2 2.7 17 16 695 650 12 83,039 52 (44) Shipleys 11.3 12.4 3.5 4.1 13 14 869 886 53 (52) Beever and Struthers 11.1 10.4 2.5 2.3 21 21 529 500 5,211 911 56 (57) Dains 10.6 10.0 3.1 2.8 21 19 502 526 57 (60) French Duncan 10.5 9.0 2.2 2.0 18 21 583 429 58 (62) Berg Kaprow Lewis 10.1 8.8 3.1 2.6 14 14 718 629 12 60 (63) Gerald Edelman 9.4 8.7 2.9 2.9 13 12 719 725 9 2014 61 (64) Whittingham Riddell 9.2 8.6 2.3 2.1 14 13 657 662 62 (59) Spofforths9 9.0 9.0 1.6 1.4 16 16 564 563 63 (58) Cowgill Holloway 9.0 9.1 2.4 2.4 13 12 692 758 64 (65) Alliotts 8.8 8.5 2.8 2.6 14 13 629 654 12 65 (61) RGL Forensics 8.7 8.8 3.3 3.0 6 6 1,455 1,470 87,135 66 (68) Critchleys 8.5 8.2 2.4 2.3 11 12 773 650 69 (-) Mitchell Charlesworth 7.7 7.5 1.8 1.9 20 n/a 386 n/a 5,164 987 70 (-) Taylor Cocks Partnership 7.4 6.3 1.4 1.1 8 n/a 920 n/a 71 (69) Jeffreys Henry 6.4 6.1 2.0 2.0 10 10 640 610 12 72 (72) Broomfield and Alexander 5.3 4.7 1.2 1.0 8 7 663 671 73 (-) Creaseys 4.7 4.5 0.6 0.8 8 n/a 593 n/a 2015 74 (-) LB Group 4.4 4.0 1.3 1.0 6 n/a 733 n/a Totals 11,836.6 11,080.1 2,687.7 2,544.2 4,757 4,768 2,488 2,324 Footnotes: see page 17. This chart only features reported P&L

89,060

Male partners are available inhouse to clients and improving about the numbers, it is about the partners. Female partners career prospects for staff. But such moves can Then you need to look after the clients – quite Other staff also have their pitfalls; less than thorough due often, a firm’s top 25 clients produce 25% of diligence can see deals falling apart after the the fee income and those clients can really put ink has dried. you under the kosh. And then you need to look As Phil Shohet, senior consultant and after the staff. Due diligence should be about practice adviser at Foulger Underwood, says: the people.’ ‘You need to get under the skin of a firm, you The merger trend will continue into 2016, have to have a really good look at the people says Shohet, as succession issues and growth you are buying, or selling to. Often, it is not ambitions drive consolidation in the market.

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PwC the £3bn firm PwC 2015 2014 2015 saw PwC, the UK’s the financial crisis. ‘We got Fee income £3,083m £2,814m largest accountancy firm, ourselves fit and came out Profit £850m £793m break through the £3bn stronger,’ he says. Fees per partner £3.48m £3.29m barrier for the first time and ‘Our strategy was to Partners 885 854 Ian Powell, the firm’s senior invest really early, a strategy partner, is confident he will be that our partners accepted, Staff 18,856 18,000 able to hand over a firm that and as the economy is continuing to grow when improved, our investment must lose market share [in he retires from the leadership has yielded dividends.’ the FTSE 350 audit market],’ figures have been good and in June this year. Along the way, PwC has says Powell, ‘but we are it is on course for similar He puts the success of the acquired consultancy Booz pleased that we have held growth figures in 2016: ‘We firm (last year fee income & Co, now rebranded as our own in the market.’ are anticipating a similar grew by 9.6% while profits Strategy&. But the firm has Looking forward, Powell economic environment rose from £793m to £850m) to also been caught up in the is not complacent but says and are hopeful that it will its commitment to investment audit tendering frenzy. the order book is ‘reasonably continue through into the during the downturn after ‘We are realistic that we strong’. The firm’s half-year second half as well.’

RSM the mid-tier view The new brand identity to £8m, albeit from a small 13 RSM 2015 2014 was the result of the firm’s base. ‘Organic growth in the Fee income £292m £232m decision to join RSM traditional service lines of Profit £45m n/a International, Tenon’s former accounting firms remains a Fees per partner £2.33m £1.89m network, dumping Baker Tilly challenge and diversification International in the process. into new, but aligned services, Partners 125 130 13 Such are the decisions that is critical in attaining our Staff 3,166 3,691 need to be taken when goal of sustainable profitable two firms come together in growth,’ Longe reports. Out went the name that one country, but as Longe However, one number has first appeared in 1988 (though reports in the firm’s latest fallen dramatically – last year Reporting a 26% growth in Baker dates to 1925 and Tilly financial report: ‘The benefit the firm had nearly 3,700 staff. 13 fee income to £292m, RSM to pre-1904), and in came of our change of international This year the figure is down to has consolidated its position the global RSM brand. Out network… has greatly 3,200. According to the firm’s as the seventh largest firm also went Tenon’s employee exceeded our expectations.’ financial accounts, audit and in the UK. The firm, formerly benefits business, which was During all this upheaval, assurance, together with known as Baker Tilly, reported sold to Arthur J Gallagher the firm improved average corporate finance, have borne 13 growth across the board as it for £25m, and Baker Tilly’s profit per partner by 10%, the brunt of this reduction. restructured and rebranded private client financial advice hitting £362,000. The remuneration of the its business following the and investment management Growth in consultancy highest paid director rose acquisition of Tenon, the last business was snapped up services contributed to from £735,000 to £974,000 of the consolidators, in 2013. by Towry. overall turnover, up by 195% over the same period. 13

rickard luckin the small firm view Rickard Luckin 2015 2014 Fee income £8.4m £8.3m Two staunchly independent be swallowed up by a larger 13 Essex firms, Bird Luckin and firm,’ says Plunkett, who Profit n/a n/a Rickard Keen, merged last previously led Bird Luckin. Fees per partner £648,000 n/a year, rebranding as Rickard Neither Worsdale, who Partners 13 11 Luckin on 1 October 2015. previously led Rickard Keen, According to joint managing nor Plunkett were strangers Staff 125 n/a directors Alan Worsdale and to mergers, as both firms had Ian Plunkett neither firm had been the result of previous be joined up by March this been looking for a merger mergers, and so appreciated year,’ Plunkett says. partner, but when they were the importance of spending The new firm is structured the firm faces is recruitment. introduced, they quickly time beforehand to ensure the as a limited company, with ‘We have an excellent team realised the benefits of joining firms would work together. 13 shareholder directors and but still want more staff,’ up rather than competing IT, marketing and business a staff of 125 at three offices says Worsdale. against each other. development systems needed in Basildon, Chelmsford Major accounting and tax ‘A lot of our skillsets are the to be integrated while groups and Southend. This year changes face UK business. same, a lot are different, but were formed to bring together it reported fee income of ‘We have picked up new they complement each other, the audit and tax teams. ‘IT £8.4m. The firm also joined clients who were not aware and by coming together, is the longest running thing association MGI, becoming its of the changes beforehand,’ we will be able to retain our we need to get right, but we largest member in the UK. says Plunkett. ‘Clients just independence rather than anticipate all the systems will One of the biggest issues want to run their businesses.’ 14

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growth mergers and acquisitions

Firm Got together with… Anderson Anderson John F Daly Ass In Jul 2014, AA&B purchased a separate legal entity called John F Daly Associates Ltd & Brown which specialises in joint venture auditing for the oil and gas sector Barber Harrison & Clough & Co Yorkshire’s BHP merged with Cleckheaton-based Clough & Co, creating a regional Platt practice with six offices, over 270 people and revenues approaching £18m Begbies Traynor Eddisons, Broadbents, P&A, Listed corporate restructuring firm BTG acquired Eddisons in Dec 2014, Broadbents Group TBS&V Business Recovery Services (Mar 2015) and the P&A Partnership Ltd (Sep 2015). After its year end, BTG announced the acquisition of TBS&V, a property services consultancy Berg Kaprow Leiws Ashcroft Anthony BKL’s first move outside north London saw it merge with Cambridge-based Ashcroft Anthony, which has a strong presence in digital media, technology and corporate finance Carter Backer Everett East London’s CBW merged with locally based Everett Group, a 12-strong firm of Winter accountants and tax advisers Cowgill Holloway Jacobs Financial Group Bolton-based Cowgill Holloway expanded its wealth management arm, Regency House Wealth Management, which acquired Ilkley-based Jacobs Financial Group for £1m Deloitte1 Kaisen Consulting In Sep 2015, Deloitte acquired leadership consultancy, Kaisen Consulting, as part of the firm’s move to build a global leadership practice Duncan & Toplis7 Marsh & Moss D&T acquired Loughborough’s Marsh & Moss, creating the firm’s second office in Leicestershire, bringing the firm’s total number of offices in the region to 11 14 EY Seren, Integrc In June 2015 EY acquired Integrc, a provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) services to companies that run SAP, with consultants based in the UK, Netherlands, India and the UAE. In August 2015, EY acquired Seren, a 60-strong digital consultancy based in London’s Silicon Roundabout. Seren is a UK-based agency specialising in ‘international digital design and innovation of customer service and experience’ KPMG Crimson Wing, Nunwood, KPMG acquired a number of consultancies over the period, investing a total of £49m, Boxwood, High Point Rendel, including £27m for Microsoft Dynamics consultancy Crimson Wing and mid-market HR delivery practice of Towers management consultancy Boxwood Watson, Flareware Systems Larking Gowen Hubbard Lloyd Larking Gowen expanded further in East Anglia through a merger with Colchester- based medical accountancy specialists Hubbard Lloyd Menzies Harris Lipman Last year ranked 73, this year North London firm Harris Lipman merged with top 20 firm Menzies to create a £40m firm with its Cardiff insolvency operation as part of the deal MHA MacIntyre Spain Brothers, MHA Bloomer In addition to merging with fellow MHA firm Bloomer Heaven in Birmingham, the firm Hudson Heaven merged with Kent firm Spain Brothers Mitchell Kemp & Co In Jul 2015, Mitchell Charlesworth strengthened its Liverpool office with its merger with Charlesworth Kemp & Co, which had been based in the city for 50 years Moore & Smalley Hollows Davies Crane In Apr 2014, Moore and Smalley acquired Southport accountancy firm Hollows Davies Crane, extending its geographic reach to cover South Lancashire and Merseyside. Davies and Crane could trace its history back to 1874 Moore Stephens Chantrey Vellacott DFK In Apr 2015 Moore Stephens announced its merger with Chantrey Vellacott, consolidating its position in the top 10 firms. The deal saw the Chantrey Vellacott team move into the London office of Moore Stephens which is itself a network of independent firms PwC Kusiri, Ellis Financial Systems In Sep 2015 PwC acquired software company Ellis Financial Systems Ltd to help financial services firms meet new tax information reporting requirements. In Oct 2015, PwC’s deals and forensics practice acquired the assets of Kusiri, a technology start‑up which provides a forensic data search platform used to discover fraud and for compliance screening Rickard Luckin10 Bird Luckin, Rickard Keen The merger of Bird Luckin and Rickard Keen saw the new Essex-based firm enter this year’s top 75 for the first time Rothmans Cox Manning At the beginning of last year, Hampshire’s Rothmans acquired Petersfield-based Cox Manning, a firm founded 24 years ago by Louise Manning Scott-Moncrieff Callander Colgan In May 2015, Scott-Moncrief merged with Inverness-based Callander Colgan, giving the firm an increased presence in the Highlands. Scott-Moncrief is a member firm of Moore Stephens Simmons Gainsford Newman Peters In Apr 2015 Simmons Gainsford merged with Newman Peters, a long-established three-partner firm based in central London Taylor Cocks Bicknell Sanders In Apr 2014 Taylor Cocks announced its merger with Farnham accountancy practice Partnership Bicknell Sanders Thomas Westcott Butterworth Jones In Oct 2015 Thomas Westcott joined forces with Butterworth Jones to create a combined business with 24 partners and 190 staff across 18 offices in Devon and Somerset Wilkins Kennedy McPherson, FBR In Oct 2015 top 20 firm Wilkins Kennedy mergered with FBR Accounting in its Solent region, having merged with McPerson’s in Guildford in Nov 2014

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top 75 firms Survey: uk accountancy firms league table 2015 (2014)

F F ee/partner ee/partnerratio ratio A nnual accounts A uditor tenure F F F ee income ee income% changeee income2015 £000s2014 £000s 2 2014 £m P Y 015 £m artners A ear end Rank Firm Status uditor 2015 (2014) 1 (1) PwC 3,083.0 2,814.0  9.6 3,484 3,295 885 LLP Yes CCW 30/06/15 2003 2 (2) Deloitte1 2,714.0 2,550.0  6.4 3,032 2,637 895 LLP Yes BDO 31/05/15 2014 3 (4) EY 2,010.0 1,868.0  7.6 2,888 2,699 696 LLP Yes BDO 03/07/15 1998 4 (3) KPMG 1,958.0 1,909.0  2.6 3,173 3,247 617 LLP Yes Grant Thornton 30/09/15 2008 5 (5) Grant Thornton2 521.0 512.0  1.8 2,832 2,682 184 LLP Yes Mazars 30/06/15 2013 6 (6) BDO 400.0 392.0  2.0 1,762 1,537 227 LLP Yes PwC 03/07/15 2013 7 (7) RSM 292.0 232.0  25.9 2,336 1,892 125 LLP/Ltd Yes Kingston Smith 31/03/15 2007 8 (8) Smith & Williamson 215.1 199.1  8.0 904 743 238 Ltd Yes PwC 30/04/15 2014 9 (9) Moore Stephens UK 164.4 136.9  20.1 852 907 193 N n/a n/a 31/12/15 n/a 10 (10) Mazars 149.7 130.9  14.4 1,069 1,016 140 LLP Yes CCW 31/08/15 n/a 11 (11) PKF UKI 81.7 76.0  7.4 638 650 128 LLP No n/a 31/05/15 n/a 12 (12) Saffery Champness 70.5 64.9  8.7 1,007 998 70 No No No 31/03/15 n/a 13 (13) Haines Watts 3 65.3 62.9  3.8 605 593 108 note No No 31/03/15 n/a 14 (14) Crowe Clark Whitehill 63.9 61.1  4.6 875 886 73 LLP Yes Grant Thornton 31/03/15 2004 15 (15) UHY Hacker Young Group4 52.6 50.0  5.2 649 610 81 note note Various 30/04/15 note 15 16 (16) Begbies Traynor Group 45.4 44.1  2.9 811 673 56 PLC Yes Deloitte 30/04/15 2008 17 (18) MHA MacIntyre Hudson 44.8 41.8  7.2 540 589 83 LLP Yes Hillier Hopkins 31/03/15 2005 18 (17) Kingston Smith 43.2 42.2  2.4 720 703 60 LLP Yes Price Bailey 30/04/15 2006 19 (19) Wilkins Kennedy 37.8 33.6  12.5 556 515 68 LLP Yes Harmer Slater 30/04/15 2012 20 (20) Menzies 34.0 32.2  5.6 895 920 38 LLP Yes Princecroft Willis 30/06/15 2008 21 (22) Buzzacott 32.6 30.2  7.8 1,035 977 31.5 LLP Yes Hillier Hopkins 30/09/15 2007 22 (23) Francis Clark 29.9 27.8  7.6 610 567 49 LLP Yes Price Bailey 31/03/15 2011 23 (25) FRP Advisory 29.8 24.6  21.1 961 794 31 LLP Yes BDO 30/04/15 2010 24 (24) TaxAssist Accountants 5 29.7 27.2  9.2 150 143 198 No note Price Bailey 31/12/15 2007 25 (26) HW Fisher 25.2 24.5  2.9 869 793 29 No No n/a 30/04/15 n/a 26 (36) Anderson Anderson & Brown 22.5 17.6  28.3 1,501 1,308 15 LLP Yes Thomson Cooper 31/03/15 2014 27 (27) Frank Hirth6 22.0 22.5 -2.0 3,670 2,800 6 PLC Yes Manningtons 30/06/15 2004 28 (29) Kreston Reeves 21.9 20.3  7.7 547 517 40 LLP Yes Clive Owen 31/05/15 2008 29 (30) Price Bailey 21.8 20.3  7.4 807 846 27 LLP Yes Crowe Clark Whitehill 31/03/15 2004 30 (32) SJD Accountancy 21.5 19.0  13.2 5,375 4,750 4 Ltd Yes Grant Thornton 31/10/15 2014 31 (28) Armstrong Watson 21.4 21.5 -0.5 669 694 32 P No n/a 31/03/15 n/a 32 (31) haysmacintyre 21.3 19.7  8.1 789 730 27 No No n/a 31/03/15 n/a 33 (33) Hazlewoods 19.4 18.7  3.7 1,021 1,050 19 LLP Yes Princecroft Willis 30/04/15 n/a 34 (34) Duncan & Toplis 7 18.9 18.4  2.7 652 736 29 Ltd No Clive Owen 31/03/15 2015 35 (37) Bishop Fleming 17.5 16.7  4.8 648 679 27 LLP Yes Clive Owen 31/05/15 2015 36 (35) Streets8 17.4 17.1  1.8 725 855 24 note No n/a 30/06/15 n/a 37 (43) Barber Harrison & Platt 17.2 12.4  39.2 718 729 24 P No n/a 31/12/14 n/a 38 (38) Lovewell Blake 16.2 15.7  3.2 623 628 26 LLP Yes Crowe Clark Whitehill 30/09/15 2011 39 (39) Larking Gowen 15.3 14.0  9.3 695 737 22 P No No 31/03/15 n/a 40 (45) SRLV 14.6 12.3  18.7 1,125 954 13 No No No 30/06/15 n/a 41 (41) Mercer & Hole 13.9 13.4  4.1 872 788 16 P No n/a 30/09/15 n/a 42 (40) Lubbock Fine 13.9 13.5  3.0 1,069 964 13 P No 30/11/15 n/a 43 (47) Forrester Boyd 13.4 12.3  8.9 1,031 946 13 No No n/a 31/03/15 n/a 44 (46) Barnes Roffe 13.3 12.3  8.1 782 724 17 LLP Yes Haines Watts 30/06/15 2009 45 (42) James Cowper Kreston 13.3 12.8  3.9 887 985 15 LLP Yes Monahans 30/04/15 2011 46 (48) Hillier Hopkins 13.0 12.3  5.5 721 647 18 LLP No Price Bailey 31/03/15 2008 47 (49) Moore and Smalley 12.8 11.9  7.6 711 661 18 LLP Yes Hayes & Co 31/03/15 2007 48 (56) Carter Backer Winter 12.2 10.2 19.6 678 638 18 LLP Yes Rickard Luckin 31/03/15 2010 49 (50) Silver Levene 12.0 11.0 9.1 706 653 17 LLP Yes Pritchard Fellows 31/05/15 n/a 50 (55) Simmons Gainsford 11.8 10.4 14.1 695 650 17 LLP Yes Sopher & Co 31/03/15 2005 51 (51) Scott-Moncrieff 11.4 11.0 3.2 631 688 18 P No n/a 30/04/15 n/a 52 (44) Shipleys 11.3 12.4 -8.9 869 886 13 LLP Yes SRG 30/04/15 2008 53 (52) Beever and Struthers 11.1 10.4 6.7 529 500 21 No No n/a 30/09/15 n/a 54 (54) Rothmans 10.9 10.5 3.8 545 525 20 LLP Yes Mazars 31/03/15 2009 55 (66) Thomas Westcott 10.6 8.3 28.6 506 519 21 P No n/a 30/04/15 n/a 56 (57) Dains 10.6 10.0 5.3 502 526 21 LLP Yes Price Bailey 31/03/15 2007 16

www.accountancylive.com n top 75 firms survey briefing february 2016 accountancy

top 75 firms Survey: uk accountancy firms league table 2015 (2014) cont.

F F ee/partner ee/partnerratio ratio A nnual accounts A uditor tenure F F F ee income ee income% changeee income2015 £000s2014 £000s 2 2014 £m P Y 015 £m artners A ear end Rank Firm Status uditor 2015 (2014) 57 (60) French Duncan 10.5 9.0 16.7 583 429 18 LLP Yes Parkhill Mackie 30/04/15 2001 58 (62) Berg Kaprow Lewis 10.1 8.8 14.9 718 629 14 LLP Yes Leslie Woolfson 31/03/15 2004 59 (53) Henderson Loggie 10.0 10.5 -4.8 455 500 22 P No n/a 30/11/15 n/a 60 (63) Gerald Edelman 9.4 8.7 7.3 719 725 13 No No n/a 31/03/15 n/a 61 (64) Whittingham Riddell 9 9.2 8.6 7.0 657 662 14 LLP Yes Garratts 31/03/15 2004 62 (59) Spofforths9 9.0 9.0 0.2 564 563 16 LLP Yes Price Bailey 31/12/14 2011 63 (58) Cowgill Holloway 9.0 9.1 -1.1 692 758 13 LLP Yes Champion 31/05/15 2007 64 (65) Alliotts 8.8 8.5 3.5 629 654 14 P No No 30/06/15 n/a 65 (61) RGL Forensics 8.7 8.8 -1.0 1,455 1,470 6 LLP Yes CBHC 31/03/15 2011 66 (68) Critchleys 8.5 8.2 3.7 773 650 11 LLP Yes Mercer Lewin 31/05/15 2011 67 (-) Rickard Luckin10 8.4 8.3 1.1 648 n/a 13 Ltd n/a n/a 30/09/15 n/a 68 (67) Brebners 8.2 7.9 3.8 432 416 19 P No n/a 05/04/15 n/a 69 (-) Mitchell Charlesworth 7.7 7.5 3.2 386 n/a 20 LLP Yes Lewis Evans 30/04/15 2015 70 (-) Taylor Cocks Partnership 7.4 6.3 17.8 920 n/a 8 Ltd Yes No 01/12/15 n/a 71 (69) Jeffreys Henry 6.4 6.1 4.9 640 610 10 LLP No No 30/04/15 n/a 16 72 (72) Broomfield and Alexander 5.3 4.7 12.8 663 671 8 No Yes No 31/03/15 n/a 73 (-) Creaseys 4.7 4.5 4.7 593 n/a 8 Ltd Yes Woolford & Co 31/05/15 2015 74 (-) LB Group 4.4 4.0 10.0 733 n/a 6 Ltd Yes Cook & Partners 31/08/15 n/a 75 (-) Wellden Turnbull 3.2 3.1 3.2 1,067 n/a 3 Ltd No n/a 30/06/15 n/a Total 12,826.9 11,977.4 7.1 2,085 1,981 6,151

top 75 firms Talent: partners and staff levels 2015 (2014)

Total staff ratioF £000s F £m ee/partner ee income P partners F artners emale O Rank Firm ffices 2015 (2014) 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 1 (1) PwC 885 854 3,484 3,295 150 145 18,856 18,000 3,083.0 2,814.0 31 2 (2) Deloitte1 895 967 3,032 2,637 162 138 13,353 13,491 2,714.0 2,550.0 28 3 (4) EY 696 692 2,888 2,699 135 118 14,000 14,924 2,010.0 1,868.0 21 4 (3) KPMG 617 588 3,173 3,247 85 80 11652 11,341 1,958.0 1,909.0 22 5 (5) Grant Thornton3 184 191 2,832 2,682 27 25 4,277 4,047 521.0 512.0 26 6 (6) BDO 227 255 1,762 1,537 26 23 3,469 3,349 400.0 392.0 18 7 (7) RSM 125 130 2,336 1,892 n/a n/a 3,166 3,691 292.0 232.0 33 8 (8) Smith & Williamson 238 268 904 743 45 54 1,301 1,195 215.1 199.1 12 9 (9) Moore Stephens UK 193 151 852 907 32 34 1,802 1,414 164.4 136.9 37 10 (10) Mazars 140 128 1,069 1,016 19 18 1,602 1,157 149.7 130.9 - 11 (11) PKF UKI 128 117 638 650 17 18 956 912 81.7 76.0 19 12 (12) Saffery Champness 70 65 1,007 998 16 14 553 521 70.5 64.9 10 13 (13) Haines Watts 3 108 106 605 593 10 10 807 737 65.3 62.9 51 14 (14) Crowe Clark Whitehill 73 69 875 886 15 12 648 589 63.9 61.1 9 15 (15) UHY Hacker Young Group4 81 82 649 610 13 12 685 634 52.6 50.0 24 16 (16) Begbies Traynor Group 56 68 811 673 9 10 349 371 45.4 44.1 44 17 (18) MHA MacIntyre Hudson 83 71 540 589 9 9 560 500 44.8 41.8 14 18 (17) Kingston Smith 60 60 720 703 14 14 394 395 43.2 42.2 7 19 (19) Wilkins Kennedy 68 68 556 515 11 11 479 498 37.8 33.6 14 20 (20) Menzies 38 35 895 920 4 3 320 307 34.0 32.2 6 21 (22) Buzzacott 31.5 31 1,035 977 7 7 285 265 32.6 30.2 1 22 (23) Francis Clark 49 49 610 567 6 6 427 390 29.9 27.8 7 23 (25) FRP Advisory 31 31 961 794 0 0 188 184 29.8 24.6 12 24 (24) TaxAssist Accountants 5 198 190 150 143 44 35 745 637 29.7 27.2 247 25 (26) HW Fisher 29 29 869 793 1 1 263 196 25.2 24.5 2 26 (36) Anderson Anderson & Brown 15 13 1,501 1,308 3 3 230 213 22.5 17.6 1 27 (27) Frank Hirth6 6 8 3,670 2,800 3 3 202 196 22.0 22.5 1

www.accountancylive.com accountancy february 2016 briefing top 75 firms survey n

Total staff ratioF £000s F £m ee/partner ee income P partners F artners emale O Rank Firm ffices 2015 (2014) 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 28 (29) Kreston Reeves 40 41 547 517 6 6 268 257 21.9 20.3 4 29 (30) Price Bailey 27 24 807 846 4 3 300 264 21.8 20.3 6 30 (32) SJD Accountancy 4 4 5,375 4,750 0 1 220 180 21.5 19.0 9 31 (28) Armstrong Watson 32 31 669 694 3 3 370 383 21.4 21.5 15 32 (31) haysmacintyre 27 27 789 730 7 7 191 170 21.3 19.7 1 33 (33) Hazlewoods 19 18 1,021 1,050 3 2 238 227 19.4 18.7 6 34 (34) Duncan & Toplis7 29 25 652 736 2 1 338 334 18.9 18.4 11 35 (37) Bishop Fleming 27 24 648 679 5 2 242 239 17.5 16.7 7 36 (35) Streets8 24 20 725 855 3 2 159 124 17.4 17.1 11 37 (43) Barber Harrison & Platt 24 17 718 729 5 4 286 232 17.2 12.4 5 38 (38) Lovewell Blake 26 25 623 628 1 2 228 228 16.2 15.7 6 39 (39) Larking Gowen 22 19 695 737 2 2 272 252 15.3 14.0 9 40 (45) SRLV 13 13 1,125 954 0 0 140 120 14.6 12.3 1 41 (41) Mercer & Hole 16 17 872 788 6 6 140 134 13.9 13.4 3 42 (40) Lubbock Fine 13 14 1,069 964 1 1 103 87 13.9 13.5 1 43 (47) Forrester Boyd 13 13 1,031 946 0 0 228 203 13.4 12.3 5 44 (46) Barnes Roffe 17 17 782 724 2 2 116 110 13.3 12.3 3 45 (42) James Cowper Kreston 15 13 887 985 4 3 175 153 13.3 12.8 6 17 46 (48) Hillier Hopkins 18 19 721 647 1 1 124 126 13.0 12.3 4 47 (49) Moore and Smalley 18 18 711 661 6 6 273 216 12.8 11.9 6 48 (56) Carter Backer Winter 18 16 678 638 0 0 107 101 12.2 10.2 1 49 (50) Silver Levene 17 17 706 653 1 1 98 98 12.0 11.0 1 50 (55) Simmons Gainsford 17 16 695 650 1 1 108 113 11.8 10.4 2 51 (51) Scott-Moncrieff 18 16 631 688 5 4 166 156 11.4 11.0 2 52 (44) Shipleys 13 14 869 886 2 1 79 82 11.3 12.4 2 53 (52) Beever and Struthers 21 21 529 500 4 5 179 164 11.1 10.4 3 54 (54) Rothmans 20 20 545 525 2 2 170 145 10.9 10.5 11 55 (66) Thomas Westcott 21 16 506 519 4 2 185 150 10.6 8.3 18 56 (57) Dains 21 19 502 526 4 4 146 141 10.6 10.0 6 57 (60) French Duncan 18 21 583 429 6 5 182 180 10.5 9.0 5 58 (62) Berg Kaprow Lewis 14 14 718 629 2 2 97 90 10.1 8.8 1 59 (53) Henderson Loggie 22 21 455 500 6 7 170 172 10.0 10.5 4 60 (63) Gerald Edelman 13 12 719 725 0 0 93 87 9.4 8.7 3 61 (64) Whittingham Riddell 9 14 13 657 662 n/a n/a n/a n/a 9.2 8.6 - 62 (59) Spofforths9 16 16 564 563 4 4 173 183 9.0 9.0 4 63 (58) Cowgill Holloway 13 12 692 758 2 1 130 111 9.0 9.1 3 64 (65) Alliotts 14 13 629 654 1 1 76 73 8.8 8.5 2 65 (61) RGL Forensics 6 6 1,455 1,470 1 1 55 54 8.7 8.8 2 66 (68) Critchleys 11 12 773 650 0 n/a 95 98 8.5 8.2 1 67 (-) Rickard Luckin10 13 n/a 648 n/a 4 n/a 125 n/a 8.4 8.3 3 68 (67) Brebners 19 19 432 416 4 3 85 81 8.2 7.9 2 69 (-) Mitchell Charlesworth 20 n/a 386 n/a 3 n/a 145 n/a 7.7 7.5 5 70 (-) The Taylor Cocks Partnership 8 n/a 920 n/a 1 n/a 122 n/a 7.4 6.3 9 71 (69) Jeffreys Henry 10 10 640 610 1 1 53 50 6.4 6.1 1 72 (72) Broomfield and Alexander 8 7 663 671 2 1 92 86 5.3 4.7 3 73 (-) Creaseys 8 n/a 593 n/a 3 n/a 63 n/a 4.7 4.5 1 74 (-) LB Group 6 n/a 733 n/a 0 n/a 50 n/a 4.4 4.0 4 75 (-) Wellden Turnbull 3 n/a 1,067 n/a 0 n/a 36 n/a 3.2 3.1 2 Total 6,151 6,046 2,085 1,981 987 903 89,060 86,608 12,826.9 11,977.4 917

Notes 1 Includes £267m from Swiss practice publish these accounts 8 The firm is a mixture of general commercial 2 Consultancy includes all non-Corporate 5 Each TaxAssist Accountants franchisee partnerships, LLPs and other incorporated Finance advisory revenue (e.g. Forensic operates as a sole trader, as part of a entities and Investigation services, Recovery & partnership or via a Limited Company. 9 Information taken from financial report and Reorganisation, etc). TaxAssist Direct Ltd (franchisor) publishes accounts, financial statements 3 Mixture of LLPs, partnerships & limited annual accounts. It does not publish annual 10 Rickard Luckin Ltd is the result of a merger companies accounts for its franchise network. between Bird Luckin Ltd and Rickard Keen 4 UHY is a group of independent firms with 6 Unlisted PLC Ltd, on 1 Oct 2015 a shared brand. Firms produce accounts 7 Incorporated in 2014. First accounts to be LLP, limited liability partnership; P, partnership; individually, some are LLPs and therefore published in 2016 F, franchise: N, network