BDO becomes sole mid-tier FTSE 350 auditor
BDO Stoy Hayward is now the only non-Big Four firm auditing any of the UK’s top 350 companies
Research carried out by Accountancy Age’s sister title,
Financial Director, shows that BDO now audits seven companies in the
FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.
But the mid-tier challenge to the Big Four dominance of major audits has
otherwise faded. Brit Insurance dropped Mazars for Ernst & Young; Group 4
Securicor switched from Baker Tilly to KPMG; and iSoft dropped Robson Rhodes,
leaving the FTSE 250 index at the same time.
BDO’s seven audits mean the mid-tier now accounts for just over 2% of the
companies in the survey.
The falling away of the mid-tier comes at a time when regulators are doing
their best to encourage them to compete for more high-profile work, as the
competitiveness of the audit market comes under government scrutiny.
The research leaves out investment trusts, some of which do still have
mid-tier auditors.
BDO made £6.7m in audit fees from its activities, £5.2m of which came from
its lone FTSE 100 client Partygaming. Its other audits are Countrywide, 888
Holdings, Derwent Valley Holdings Restaurant Group, RPS Group and SCI
Entertainment.
Audit fees for FTSE 100 clients are up by 14% on last year, according to the
survey, with FTSE 250 audits up by 5%.