Average fees per partner in this year's survey have reached £839,000, a substantial increase of 13% from last year's figure of £743,000. The total number of partners in the top 60 has risen slightly this year from 4,847 to 4,914 - ending a downward trend and perhaps indicating a renewed confidence in the future of the profession.
Female partners are still rare. On average, just over 10% of the 4,914 partners in the top 60 firms are female, an increase of 0.25% on last year's survey. Among the Big Four firms, this percentage rises to 12%, with Ernst & Young showing the highest average at 16.8% female partners and PricewaterhouseCoopers the lowest at 8.6%. KPMG and Deloitte & Touche have 12% and 13% respectively.
This does not, of course, necessarily suggest a trend of institutional sexism in the profession, but the career path of an average partner appears nevertheless to be better suited to men than to women.
MEN ONLYThese top 60 firms are those which do not have any female partners:
DTE
Price Bailey
Hazlewoods
MGI Wenham Major
Barnes Roffe
Forrester Boyd
Simmons Gainsford
Critchleys
Vantis (eight directors all male)
ACCOUNTANCY TOP 60 - PERSONNEL PROFILE| Position | (prior year in brackets) | Firm | Fee income £m | Partners | Female partners | Fee/partner ratio £000s | Prof staff |
| 1 | (1) | PricewaterhouseCoopers | 1,780 | 755 | 65 | 2,358 | 14,095 |
| 2 | (2) | Deloitte & Touche1 | 1,550 | 624 | 81 | 2,484 | 9,900 |
| 3 | (3) | KPMG | 1,281 | 560 | 67 | 2,287 | 8,936 |
| 4 | (4) | Ernst & Young | 945 | 392 | 66 | 2,411 | 7,294 |
| 5 | (5) | Grant Thornton2 | 284.1 | 245 | 23 | 1,159 | 3,097 |
| 6 | (6) | BDO Stoy Hayward3 | 275 | 225 | 16 | 1,222 | 2,600 |
| 7 | (7) | Baker Tilly | 183.9 | 141 | 7 | 1,304 | 2,125 |
| 8 | (8) | Smith & Williamson Ltd4 | 136.9 | 169 | 26 | 810 | 1,046 |
| 9 | (9) | PKF | 116.8 | 91 | 5 | 1,283 | 1,529 |
| 10 | (10) | Tenon Group plc5 | 100 | 141 | 12 | 709 | 1,391 |
| 11 | (11) | RSM Robson Rhodes | 94.5 | 83 | 17 | 1,031 | 874 |
| 12 | (12) | Moore Stephens 89.5 | 167 | 9 | 536 | 1,188 | |
| 13 | (14) | Vantis plc6 | 70.5 | 8 | 0 | n/a | 1,030 |
| 14 | (13) | Mazars | 64.9 | 90 | 10 | 721 | 833 |
| 15 | (15) | Haines Watts | 59.1 | 90 | 6 | 657 | 803 |
| 16 | (16) | Bentley Jennison | 57.9 | 64 | 4 | 905 | 950 |
| 17 | (19) | Saffery Champness | 39.5 | 56 | 11 | 705 | 391 |
| 18 | (18) | Horwath Clark Whitehill | 37.6 | 63 | 7 | 597 | 349 |
| 19 | (21) | UHY Hacker Young | 36 | 76 | 3 | 474 | 517 |
| 20 | (20) | Kingston Smith | 31.1 | 45 | 6 | 691 | 328 |
| 21 | (23) | Menzies | 27 | 40 | 2 | 674 | 278 |
| 22 | Begbies Traynor plc | 24.7 | 53 | 4 | 466 | 297 | |
| 23 | (22) | Chantrey Vellacott DFK | 23.5 | 47 | 3 | 500 | 244 |
| 24 | (24) | MacIntyre Hudson7 | 22.9 | 42 | 5 | 545 | 325 |
| 25 | (25) | Johnston Carmichael | 18 | 35 | 1 | 515 | 354 |
| 26 | (25) | Wilkins Kennedy | 15.7 | 29 | 2 | 541 | 183 |
| 27 | (27) | Armstrong Watson | 15.5 | 34 | 7 | 457 | 318 |
| 28 | (34) | CLB Littlejohn Frazer | 15.4 | 27 | 3 | 570 | 162 |
| 29 | (36) | DTE | 15.2 | 11 | 0 | 1,382 | 190 |
| 30 | (28) | Cooper Parry | 14.5 | 20 | 1 | 725 | 226 |
| 31 | (28) | Buzzacott | 13.9 | 17 | 1 | 819 | 152 |
| 32 | (33) | Lovewell Blake | 13 | 23 | 1 | 565 | 217 |
| 33 | (30) | haysmacintyre | 12.9 | 20 | 1 | 646 | 130 |
| 34 | (32) | Francis Clark | 12.7 | 26 | 2 | 487 | 217 |
| 35 | (31) | Rothman Pantall & Co | 12.2 | 28 | 3 | 436 | 171 |
| 36 | (34) | MRI Moores Rowland | 12.1 | 10 | 1 | 1,210 | 60 |
| =37 | (37) | Price Bailey | 11.7 | 21 | 0 | 557 | 114 |
| =37 | (40) | Scott-Moncrieff | 11.7 | 21 | 1 | 557 | 181 |
| 39 | (39) | Duncan & Toplis | 11.6 | 26 | 1 | 445 | 260 |
| 40 | (43) | Hazlewoods | 11.4 | 15 | 0 | 760 | 137 |
| 41 | (44) | Larking Gowen | 11 | 21 | 1 | 523 | 223 |
| =42 | (41) | Reeves & Neylan | 10.6 | 22 | 2 | 482 | 171 |
| =42 | (46) | Haslers | 10.6 | 14 | 1 | 754 | 98 |
| 44 | MGI Wenham Major Ltd8 | 9.9 | 4 | 0 | 2,475 | 57 | |
| 45 | (48) | Streets | 9.8 | 12 | 2 | 817 | 55 |
| 46 | (45) | AGN Shipleys | 9.7 | 13 | 2 | 746 | 92 |
| =47 | (48) | Berg Kaprow Lewis | 9.6 | 13 | 1 | 738 | 110 |
| =47 | (42) | Mercer & Hole | 9.6 | 16 | 3 | 600 | 123 |
| 49 | (51) | Bishop Fleming | 9.4 | 17 | 3 | 553 | 169 |
| 50 | (60) | Unity Business Services | 9.2 | 13 | 1 | 708 | 95 |
| 51 | (47) | Barnes Roffe | 9 | 14 | 0 | 643 | 91 |
| 52 | (50) | Morley and Scott | 8.7 | 18 | 1 | 483 | 106 |
| 53 | (53) | James Cowper | 8.5 | 17 | 3 | 500 | 115 |
| 54 | (54) | Hillier Hopkins | 8.2 | 16 | 2 | 511 | 99 |
| 55 | (58) | Forrester Boyd MRI | 7.8 | 15 | 0 | 520 | 145 |
| 56 | (55) | Simmons Gainsford | 7.7 | 12 | 0 | 642 | 70 |
| 57 | (52) | Pridie Brewster | 7.6 | 14 | 1 | 543 | 95 |
| =58 | (56) | Critchleys | 7.1 | 13 | 0 | 546 | 120 |
| =58 | (58) | Arram Berlyn Gardner | 7.1 | 7 | 2 | 1,014 | 67 |
| 60 | Beever and Struthers | 6.7 | 13 | 3 | 513 | 98 | |
| Totals | 7,726.6 | 4,914 | 509 | 65,691 |
1. Fee income includes estimate
2. Fee income includes estimate. Partners include 79 salaried partners
3. Fee income includes estimate
4. Partners are directors
5. Partners are directors
6. Currently in closed period - fee income and profit estimated by brokers. Partners are directors
7. Partners are 'principals'
8. Partners known as 'salaried responsible individuals'
Staff numbers exclude partners.