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Local challenge to 'big name' auditors
The recession is causing businesses in Yorkshire to reassess their relationship with the so-called ‘Big Four’ international accountancy brand names that have traditionally dominated the market, with small and medium-sized accountants often offering a more personal service at a lower price.
Susan Sedgwick, managing partner at Bradford-based Watson Buckle, said the last year or so had seen an increasing number of larger companies putting their audit work – the annual ‘signing off’ of a company’s accounts – out to tender, where previously they may have renewed the contract with their existing provider automatically.
She said this presented a big new opportunity for local accountants, who were being given the chance to go for work which they may previously have thought was beyond them.
The picture in Yorkshire is repeated nationally, with experts predicting a long-term shift in the audit market, with the ‘big four’ as a whole reporting slower growth in audit business over recent years than the rest of the market.
Susan said: “On a lot of occasions, businesses have stayed with the ‘Big Four’ accountants for two reasons – prestige, because they believe it looks good to have been audited by one of the big names, and inertia, because they have done it for years and they haven’t thought to look elsewhere.
“But with money being tight at the moment, managers and owners are starting to ask themselves if a big-name audit is a luxury they can do without, while others are realising they actually get a more personal service with a firm like us. We really get to know our clients and their businesses, whereas the big multinationals may send along the bosses to impress clients at the initial meeting, but then assign different trainees to do the actual work.”
She added that Watson Buckle were particularly well placed to offer a complete service to such companies through their membership of MGI – a worldwide association of independent auditing, accounting and consulting firms.
For more information, contact Watson Buckle on 01274 516700 or visit www.watsonbuckle.co.uk