There was a predicted fall of 0.1% in GDP for Q4, which ended up at 0.3%, following the 0.1% fall in Q3.

Although the economy declined for two straight quarters, and is technically in recession, compared to 2022, actual growth was up by 0.1%.

The main contributors to the drop-off came from the services sector (0.2%), and manufacturing (1%). The most negatively hit was the construction sector with a 1.3% decline.

Across the services sector, accounting revenues fell by 12.4% in December to £3.47bn, in comparison with the same period in 2022 when growth was down by 8.2% to £3.52bn. Over the past 12 months, the accounting sector fell 1.6% in terms of revenue.

Julie Matheson, accounting industry regulatory partner at Kingsley Napley said: ‘We know firm leaders are watching revenues closely and are already aware of the need to monitor costs given reports of jobs cuts in recent weeks.