The zero growth figures followed on from a chink of light with 0.4% growth in March.

The drop in accountancy revenue is not uncommon at this time of the year and was lower than previous years. The total revenue for the accountancy sector dropped to £3.78bn overall in April.

Julie Matheson, partner at Kingsley Napley said: ‘The accounting industry has managed to robustly weather economic and market headwinds. With the increased uncertainty of the UK general election, the coming months may see further focus on cost discipline as firms batten down the hatches.’

The overall services sector output actually grew by 0.2% in April; however, it was held back by falls in manufacturing (-0.9%) and construction (-1.4%) sectors.