The comparison
Put the same questions to any firm you're considering. These are our answers.
| What you'll want to know | Ask a Big Four or national firm | Straight Audit |
|---|---|---|
| Who signs your audit report | Which partner, and how many other audits they sign | A partner, after every file has been reviewed by a partner |
| How the audit is planned | Whether you meet the team before fieldwork starts | A planning meeting with you and the audit team before the audit starts |
| The fee | What it covers, and how increases are agreed | A budget and timetable agreed at the start |
| How you hear about problems | When, and in what form | Early warning memos, promptly, during the audit |
| Who owns the firm | Whether it is owned by its partners or by private equity | Anstey Bond LLP is owned by its partners |
| Registration | The firm's audit register reference | ICAEW C002766607, and approved to audit public interest entities since January 2023 |
Sources: Anstey Bond transparency report 2026 · Register of Statutory Auditors
Why growing companies look beyond the biggest firms
The largest firms are built around the largest audits. The Big Four earned 98% of FTSE 350 audit fees and 91% of all public interest entity audit fees in 2024. Next to those clients, a company with £20m or £50m of turnover is a small one.
The big firms have also been reducing their smaller audits. The Big Four audited 49 of the FTSE AIM 100 three years ago and 30 now. Meanwhile audit fee income at firms outside the Big Four rose by 9.7% in 2025, against 1.9% at the Big Four.
Ownership is changing too. Nearly 20 of the UK's top 60 accountancy firms are now backed by private equity, and several have grown quickly by buying smaller practices. If continuity of the people who know your business matters to you, ask who owns the firm and how long the team has been together.
Want to talk it through? Tell us about the company and speak to the audit team. The budget and timetable are agreed before any work starts.
Talk to usWhat you keep
The audit itself follows the same International Standards on Auditing whoever does it, and is signed by a registered auditor. Anstey Bond, who carry out Straight Audit audits, are approved to audit public interest entities, report under UK GAAP and IFRS, and have their audit files reviewed by independent firms: public company files before they are signed, private company files afterwards.
What changes is the way it's run for a company your size: a planning meeting with you before the work starts, a budget and timetable agreed at the outset, early warning of any issue, and close-down meetings with your finance team and directors before anything is signed.
Questions
Is an audit from a smaller firm as good as one from the Big Four?
Every statutory audit is carried out to the same auditing standards and signed by a registered auditor, whatever the size of the firm. Straight Audit audits are carried out by Anstey Bond LLP, which is approved to audit public interest entities and has its files independently reviewed.
Will our bank or investors accept it?
An audit by any registered auditor is a statutory audit. Some lenders and investors keep a list of auditors they accept, so check your facility or shareholder agreement, and tell us about it at the start.
Can you audit a UK company whose overseas parent uses a Big Four firm?
Yes. Many UK subsidiaries are audited locally while the group auditor is a different firm. We report to the group auditor's instructions and timetable, in UK GAAP or IFRS.