Amid economic uncertainty, the dark cloud of accounting scandals and calls to reform the audit market, the UK’s largest accounting firms continue to grow, boosting income and staff numbers.

Fee income has risen to a record £16.8bn, marking an increase of 7% on the previous year’s survey total of £15.75bn, according to exclusive research for Accountancy Daily’s Top 75 Firms Survey 2020.

At the same time, profits have continued to improve. Of those firms that publicly declare their profit figures, the total has now hit £2.92bn [2018: £2.69bn], a 5% increase.

Staff numbers have also continued to rise as more firms invest in recruiting people for a changing professional environment. Last year, there were some 95,400 people employed in the Top 75 accounting firms. That figure now stands at more than 101,000, an increase of 6%.