West-based accountancy firm Bishop Fleming, which has an office in Bath, has achieved another year of expansion with fee income up by more than 3% to almost £17m.
The increase follows two years in which Accountancy Age magazine ranked Bishop Fleming as Britain’s fastest-growing accountants.
As a result of its latest performance, the firm has moved up two places in the table of the UK’s biggest accountancy firms to 38th.
Bishop Fleming managing partner Matthew Lee, pictured, said the growth added to the changing accounting landscape that was eroding the dominance of the ‘big four’ firms of KPMG, PWC, EY and Deloitte. 
He said: “We are now seeing signs that the ‘quadopoly’ of the ‘big four’ firms’ grip on every major appointment, whether in the public sector or the FTSE 100, is finally beginning to crumble. That process is vital for getting better services and costs for those clients – and for tax-payers and share-holders.
“Just as we help every client to build and deliver a business plan for growth, our own plan is gathering momentum. These are challenging times for accountants, and for their clients. We have a clear strategy of championing owner-managed businesses – from the smallest to the biggest – and providing the full spectrum of services from tax expertise to funding advice.
“We all take pride in what we deliver – from successful grant applications to successful tax plans, without succumbing to the siren call of commission payments to sell questionable tax-avoidance schemes.”
During the year Bishop Fleming, which also has offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Truro, and Worcester, appointed four new partners, became Britain’s second-largest supplier of accounting services to academy schools and won the LexisNexis national award for the best tax practice in a regional firm. Despite its expansion, it exceeded its target to reduce gas, electricity, paper, and car-mileage by 5% a year.
It was also named as one of the top six social media accountancy firms with nearly 3,000 followers on Twitter, 2,000 on LinkedIn and 5,000 unique visitors a month to its website.
All the firm’s 26 partners and 280 staff members attended a recent conference at Somerset County Cricket Club in Taunton to hear the latest results and its plans for the future.
Bishop Fleming moved into Bath two-and-a-half years ago after acquiring the former operations of rival Target in the city.
