It is of course not just the boardrooms of the FTSE 100 that stand accused of being ‘captured’ by the Big Four audit firms; it is an accusation that has been thrown at the accountancy profession’s regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

The Kingman review, which will reveal its initial findings before Christmas, was set up to investigate whether or not the FRC was ‘too close’ to the Big Four, as well as considering wider governance and leadership issues.