One of the biggest red flags in this year’s Key Facts report from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the rapid decline in the number of registered statutory audit firms in the UK, with a 25% decline since 2020 to only 3,760 firms. Just five years ago there were 5,007 audit firms.

Revenue is also not growing at the levels seen post pandemic. Growth at the Big Four was an average 1.2% in 2024, down from 11.1% in 2023, while the whole market is under pressure from the shortage of trained, qualified staff, threats to jobs from artificial intelligence and consolidation of the market.