The UK’s competition authority has become the latest to announce an investigation into the Big Four auditors, piling fresh pressure on the accounting profession in the wake of the collapses of Carillion and BHS.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation was the result of “growing concerns about statutory audits, in particular following the collapse of construction firm Carillion and the criticism of those charged with reviewing the organisation’s books, as well as recent poor results from reviews of audit quality”.