Read 28 October 2026
Accountancy consolidators
Azets, Xeinadin, AAB, Gravita, Sumer Group and Cooper Parry announce the practices they buy, on their own pages or their deal advisers', and we read 13 of those announcements. A buyer of a firm with an audit arm also meets the Companies Act test: a majority of the voting rights held by qualified persons. Tell Joseph Ellul what you want to buy and he replies himself.
Source: Companies Act 2006, Schedule 10 Part 2
10 to 50 %
the range the published figures span
Figures from 3 sources' own pages, read . Every price, with its source
Tell us what you want to buy
Three steps
- Tell us the kind of practice, the area, the price range and whether you would buy the shares or the client book. Two minutes, no account.
- Joseph Ellul reads the brief himself. Nothing is passed to a consolidator, a broker, a panel or a marketing list.
- You get a reply about what a search for that brief involves. Ask questions, carry on, or do nothing.
This is a free information site run by Joseph Ellul. When you send a brief, he reads it and replies to you himself; it is not passed to any consolidator, broker or accountancy firm, and you pay nothing to ask. The site carries no advertising, no sponsored placement and no affiliate links, and no group listed here has paid to be listed. Every rule and announcement is read from the named page on the date shown. Nothing here is legal, tax, regulatory or investment advice; check the source before you rely on a row.
Audit firm control rules
Last updated
Every rule below is a sentence read from the legislation's or ICAEW's own page on the date shown. The figure is the rule's own number; nothing here is our estimate or advice.
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 3 of the 6 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 3 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 22 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the majority-control test (a majority of voting rights held by qualified persons, Sch 10 para 7), ICAEW's clarified definitions of majority and voting rights (effective 1 Oct 2024, compliance by 1 Apr 2025) and the independence consequences of PE ownership; each with its clause and date
| Rule | What it says | Read | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controller of a corporate member: share of the votes | 15% | 2026-10-28 | Companies Act 2006, Schedule 10 Part 2 (requirements for recognition of a supervisory body) |
| Majority stake, and higher thresholds some firms set | 50% | 2026-10-28 | ICAEW: what private equity might mean for a firm's audit status |
| Non-accountant holding that needs ICAEW approval | 10% | 2026-10-28 | ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure |
| ICAEW application, from a complete file | 12 weeks | 2026-10-28 | ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure |
- Under Schedule 10 to the Companies Act 2006, a controller of a body corporate is a person entitled to exercise 15% or more of the votes at its general meetings. (Companies Act 2006, Schedule 10 Part 2)
- ICAEW says a majority stake is more than 50%, and some audit firms set higher thresholds, as much as 75% or even 100%. (ICAEW: what private equity might mean for a firm's audit status)
- ICAEW asks firms to allow 8 to 12 weeks for an application once it holds all the information. (ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure)
Cite this page
“Audit firm control rules”, Accountancy Consolidators, https://accountancyconsolidators.co.uk/ (updated 2026-10-29). Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 3 of the 6 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 3 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 22 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the majority-control test (a majority of voting rights held by qualified persons, Sch 10 para 7), ICAEW's clarified definitions of majority and voting rights (effective 1 Oct 2024, compliance by 1 Apr 2025) and the independence consequences of PE ownership; each with its clause and date
Worth knowing
The longer answers, with sources.
Questions, answered directly
Who are the accountancy consolidators in the UK?
Among the groups whose own announcements we read on 28 October 2026 are Azets, Xeinadin, AAB, Gravita, Sumer Group and Cooper Parry. Each deal is linked to the page that announced it. (Who is buying: every announcement read)
Can private equity own an accountancy firm that does audits?
Only within the audit rules: the audit firm must be majority-controlled by qualified persons, and ICAEW says a majority stake is more than 50%, with some firms setting 75% or even 100%. Private equity usually holds the wider group. (ICAEW: what private equity might mean for a firm's audit status)
Does a non-accountant investor need ICAEW approval?
Yes, where they hold a material interest. ICAEW says that includes a person holding at least 10% of the shares in a body. (ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure)
How long does an ICAEW change of structure take?
ICAEW asks firms to allow 8 to 12 weeks from when it has all the required information and the case reaches its case manager team. (ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure)
Who answers a brief sent from this page?
Joseph Ellul reads it and replies himself. It is not passed to a consolidator, a broker or any firm, and nothing here is legal, tax, regulatory or investment advice. (Audit firm control rules: every row, with its source)
Sources
This site's own dataset, every figure quoted from its source and dated:
- The Audit Firm Control Rules carries 3 published figures read from 3 sources' own pages, from 10 to 50 percent, read 28 October 2026.
- Companies Act 2006, Schedule 10 Part 2
- ICAEW: what private equity might mean for a firm's audit status
- ICAEW: eligibility when changing your firm structure
- ICAEW (RSB): private equity investment in audit firms
- ICAEW: audit eligibility changes, key definitions
- FRC: Ethical Standard for auditors
- Azets: acquires Milne Craig
- Azets: acquires Gorilla Accounting
- Xeinadin: acquires three accountancy firms
- Xeinadin: acquires a central Manchester practice
- AAB: deal with Kreston Reeves
- AAB: closes deal with Kreston Reeves
- Gravita: Critchleys joins Gravita
- Gravita: Davis Grant joins Gravita
- Buzzacott: Haines Watts Western acquired by Gravita
- BHP: joins Sumer Group
- HW Fisher: the Sumer merger
- NI Chamber: accountancy firm to join Sumer Group
- Gateley: Cooper Parry acquires Haines Watts Thames
- IK Partners: majority stake in Dains
- Houlihan Lokey: Cooper Parry, Waterland, Lee Equity
- Arrowpoint: Kreston Reeves acquired by AAB