BDO Stoy Hayward managing partner Jeremy Newman has welcomed the Grant Thornton/RSM Robson Rhodes merger, as the deal will help challenge the dominance of the Big Four in the audit market.

Newman said that the deal showed the firms' willingness to join BDO in 'challenging the unhealthy dominance of the audit market by the Big Four'.

He also suggested that BDO already had the mass to challenge the Big Four, and was not actively seeking a large-scale acquisition.

'We have invested heavily in recent years in ensuring we have high quality, motivated people, and whilst we are always interested to explore potential mergers, it is not necessary for us to do so to enable us to compete effectively,' Newman added.

Further reading:

Merger: waiting for the blue chip rush

Grant Thornton and Robson Rhodes to merge

Robson Rhodes: the merger that solves a problem