A new study from Xero, the cloud accounting platform, shows that 51% of firms are growing their customer base at a faster, or a similar pace to pre-pandemic levels, but sole practitioners have been under pressure over the period.

Fast-growth firms are feeling particularly bullish. Of the companies in the survey that said their practice is growing faster at present than it did before the pandemic hit, 45% stated they are looking to recruit more staff during the next 12 months.