Big Four Auditors Squeeze Out Small Firms in UK Market Review

The UK’s accounting watchdog is trying to encourage more small firms to audit big companies’ financial reporting, as a new report showed the market continues to be dominated by the biggest firms.

The Financial Reporting Council published Thursday its annual review of competition in the audit market. It showed that in 2022, 98% of FTSE 350 audit fees went to the Big Four firms—Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC, also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The council says this dominance results in limited choices for businesses and ongoing concerns about resilience. As part of much delayed audit ...