Jeremy Newman, the head of BDO Stoy Hayward, the fifth-biggest audit network’s UK member firm, and newly named chief executive of BDO International, believes the Big Four accounting firms face the biggest threat yet to their dominance of the audit market.
Newman will step into his new role in October 2008 when his term as UK head ends. He will replace Frans Samyn.
Newman told the Financial Times there was at present ‘a massive market opportunity’ to change people's perceptions and attitudes about non-Big Four auditors and make the necessary investments. ‘We can become a credible challenger,’ he said.
Newman maintains there are invisible barriers to entry in the market for top-level company audits. Recent UK research by BDO Stoy Hayward showed nearly half of investors would be concerned if a company switched to a non-Big Four auditor and a third would review their investment decisions. But of those with concerns, a quarter were unable to say why and a third could only cite lack of reputation.
'A lot of these perceptions are based on assumptions that have been there a long time,' said Mr Newman. 'We’ve managed to displace those in the UK and the US, but not consistently around the world. We have the international capability, but that message needs to be got out globally.'
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