The firm, which is ranked at 17 in the Accountancy league table, reported revenue of £49.7m, compared with £50.1m in 2016. Adjusted profit before tax was £4.9m compared to £4.5m previously, while profit before tax was £600,000, down from £900,000 the year before.

Begbies Traynor said profits had been broadly maintained despite the lowest level of corporate insolvencies since 2004, while operating margins had increased to 20.3%, up from 19.8% in 2016.  Ric Traynor, executive chairman of Begbies Traynor Group, said: ‘We have had a year of further progress in developing the group and broadening its service offerings, with earnings in line with expectations.

‘The results reflect a solid performance in business recovery together with the benefit of our diversification into property services, which now contributes approximately 30% of the group's revenue and profit, and is an important focus of our growth strategy.

‘We remain the leading UK corporate appointment taker by volume and are well-positioned to take advantage of the cyclicality of this market.

‘Looking forward, we anticipate a growth in earnings in the new financial year as the board continues to look for further opportunities to develop and enhance the business, both organically and through selective acquisitions.’

In June 2016, Begbies Traynor acquired Pugh & Co, which the company says is now the UK's largest regional firm of commercial property auctioneers by number of lots. It has also expanded its valuation team in terms of additional expertise and geographical coverage since acquiring Taylors in November 2015.

Begbies Traynor has announced that Mark Stupples, who has spent his entire career in property services, is to join the board as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Stupples joined JP Sturge (which became King Sturge) as a graduate trainee in 1984 and was appointed to the UK management board in 2000.  He served as UK managing partner from 2008 until 2011, when he negotiated the sale of the business to JLL (the leading, global professional services and investment management firm specialising in real estate).

Following the acquisition, Stupples was appointed as JLL's UK chief operating officer and completed a number of UK acquisitions before leaving the business in December 2016.

Traynor said: ‘I am delighted that Mark is joining the board; he brings significant property services experience as a result of his senior roles in major firms. We believe this will be invaluable as we seek to grow our property services division by organic investment and acquisition.’