drop in UK accountancy firms since 2019
That’s 3,745 firms gone in six years, almost 1 in 11. We analysed the ONS business register for every UK region, and the firms that remain now have more local businesses to serve than ever, just as Making Tax Digital sends millions of new clients their way.
Six years without growth 📉
The number of UK accounting and bookkeeping firms climbed steadily through the 2010s, peaked in 2019, and has declined or flatlined every year since.
Enterprises classified SIC 6920 (accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax consultancy). Source: ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis, 2015 to 2025.
London is driving the decline
London alone lost 1,855 firms since 2019. That’s nearly half the national fall, and 1 in 6 of its accountancy firms. Meanwhile the North West and North East actually grew.
Change in SIC 6920 enterprise counts by region, 2019 to 2025. Source: ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis.
Where firms have the most local headroom 🗺️
Compare each region’s accountancy firms with its total business population and a clear ranking emerges. Every figure below counts local potential clients. Businesses can, of course, use accountants anywhere in the UK.
Fewer firms. Millions of newly mandated clients. 📈
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began on 6 April 2026. Over three years, HMRC estimates roughly 2.6 million sole traders and landlords will be required to keep digital records and report quarterly.
That’s a rising tide of demand meeting a shrinking supply of firms. The firms that are visible when those clients start searching will take a disproportionate share.
Thresholds and estimates: HMRC and GOV.UK, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax policy papers.
How was the data sourced?
Firm counts are enterprises classified under SIC 2007 code 6920 (accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy) in the ONS UK Business Counts dataset, extracted via Nomis on 6 July 2026. “All businesses” uses the same dataset with no industry filter, so both sides of every ratio come from the same register on the same snapshot date. Counts are rounded to the nearest 5 by ONS for disclosure control. Comparisons run from the 2019 peak to 2025, a period covered by a consistent ONS methodology. An enterprise is a whole firm, not an individual office, so multi-office practices are counted once.
This analysis was produced by Rapport Digital. If you cite these figures, please link to this page as the source.
The market is consolidating. The demand is arriving. The question is who gets found. 👇
Rapport Digital works exclusively with accountants. In fact, our founder is one. If you want your firm positioned for the MTD wave, let’s talk.
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