“Grow or Die”: 3 Unspoken Truths About Growth Strategy for UK Accounting Firms

At an exclusive London breakfast led by Adam Klein, Introhive’s Head of Industry for Accounting & Advisory and a former growth leader at two top 100 US accounting firms, senior leaders from UK accounting firms compared notes on what an accounting firm growth strategy looks like today. M&A came up, of course, but the real discussion centred on accounting firm culture, behaviour, and the everyday habits and mindsets that decide whether growth is shared across the firm or left to a few.

The stakes felt immediate. Rainmakers are retiring, succession is uncertain, teams are stretched thin, and change still meets resistance. Leaders also recognised that these challenges are unfolding amid a broader talent shift across the accounting industry. 

Those succession pressures are starting to collide with new realities – shifting client expectations, greater pressure on business development for accountants, and the need to strengthen client relationships in accounting firms to sustain growth.

The conversation surfaced shared challenges and real-world examples of firms beginning to pursue growth as a shared responsibility. Here are three insights that stood out.

Insight #1: the biggest barriers to growth are internal

When partners and firm leaders talk about growth, the conversation often drifts toward external forces such as the economy, regulation, or technology shifts. But when Adam led the group in digging deeper, it became clear that the toughest challenges aren’t in the market, but inside the firm.

The challenge: a reluctant mindset

The most pervasive barrier is behavioural: the fear of change, internal misalignment, and a lack of shared direction are holding firms back more than any market force.

For many firms, growth is still treated as either optional or episodic. It shows up in partner meetings and strategy decks, but isn’t always understood across the wider firm. Younger staff, in particular, don’t always see how growth connects to their roles or why it matters to the firm’s long-term health. Meanwhile, rising costs and slower decision-making make it even harder to turn good intentions into progress.

The result? Inaction. Everyone knows growth matters, but mixed messages and uncertainty make it difficult to move forward decisively. When people don’t share ownership or a clear story of where the firm’s headed, the whole business risks standing still just when it needs to move.

In that sense, market competition isn’t the biggest threat; cultural inertia is.

The strategy: weaving growth into the firm’s DNA

The discussion highlighted that growth can’t sit in a silo. The firms that experience the greatest growth are the ones building the skills and habits that underpin effective business development for accountants at every level. It’s not just about the partners who bring in work; it’s equally about the people who deliver it, nurture client relationships, and spot new opportunities day to day.

That shift means redefining success, not just by technical output, but by how each person contributes to a stronger, more connected accounting firm growth strategy. In practice, this involves encouraging curiosity about clients’ businesses, rewarding collaboration across teams, and helping younger staff understand how growth drives opportunity for both the firm and their own careers. Building that awareness early not only supports revenue goals, it also strengthens succession planning in accounting firms and helps preserve the culture that clients trust.

Insight #2: deep, “sticky” relationships outperform superficial ones

Leaders agreed that sustainable growth depends less on adding new logos and more on building “sticky,” trusted client relationships in accounting that stand the test of time.

The challenge: service lines remain in silos

Despite years of focus on cross-selling and collaboration, service lines in many firms still tend to operate in silos. The result is an inevitable “me” versus “we” mindset that stops firms from truly understanding the whole client and delivering value across their full relationship. Opportunities are missed, not because the expertise isn’t there, but because firms still struggle to share knowledge about clients across service lines. 

Without a full view of the client, firms risk being reactive rather than proactive, waiting for instructions instead of anticipating needs. As a former CGO, Adam noted that this can happen almost by habit when people just talk to the same client contacts or focus too narrowly on one part of the business. It’s also a pattern reflected in client relationship surveys, where firms often score highly for responsiveness, but clients still want more proactive, forward-looking advice.

In short, most accounting firms are technically strong, but don’t always connect the dots across their relationships to open up new revenue opportunities. 

The strategy: fostering curiosity and deepening engagement

When the conversation turned toward what “better” looks like, the most practical advice wasn’t about selling more; it was about listening more. Leaders repeatedly underscored the importance of focusing on fewer clients deeply, rather than more clients superficially, taking time to truly understand their world, their sector, and their goals.

As Adam pointed out, that level of engagement really begins with curiosity: the willingness to ask questions outside one’s technical lane, to sit in during meetings, and to learn from colleagues across disciplines. One firm leader brought that idea to life through their “spare chair” approach, encouraging people to attend client meetings outside their areas of expertise to observe, learn, and build confidence through exposure.

By encouraging this behaviour early in careers and reinforcing it through collaboration, firms can build the kind of client relationships in accounting that drive retention, referrals, and long-term relevance. Deep relationships not only help protect revenue, but also strengthen accounting firm culture, connecting people, purpose, and performance in ways that last well beyond any single engagement.

Insight #3: the future of growth is a nurtured environment

If the first two insights were about culture and relationships, this one is about keeping momentum. The discussion surfaced a shared concern about the future: how can firms maintain momentum as experienced partners retire and the next generation takes the lead? Many UK accounting firms are thinking more intentionally about how to close the gap between today’s rainmakers and tomorrow’s leaders – a critical element of any accounting firm growth strategy focused on long-term sustainability.

The challenge: the “rainmaker gap” and knowledge loss

As senior partners step back, firms risk losing more than revenue. They lose the relationships and know-how that made them successful in the first place. Without a deliberate plan to capture and transfer those relationships, sustaining growth gets harder every year.

That’s why succession planning in accounting firms needs to focus as much on relationships and mindset as on titles and roles. The real challenge is ensuring that the next generation inherits not just client lists, but the confidence, curiosity, and commercial instincts that drive sustainable growth.

The strategy: create a growth-oriented culture from day one

The firms thinking long term are investing early. They’re building a growth-oriented accounting firm culture where learning, collaboration, and opportunity-spotting are embedded from the start.

That means showing younger team members how growth connects to purpose, and making business development something everyone can do, not just a few. As Adam noted, real progress starts when training extends beyond technical expertise to build commercial awareness, curiosity, and confidence in relationship-building.

Several spoke about starting growth conversations earlier in careers by giving younger staff a clearer line of sight between their work and the firm’s success. Others emphasised the value of cross-practice exposure, encouraging younger team members to observe client meetings or collaborate across service lines to understand how commercial conversations unfold in practice. Small steps like this build understanding, strengthen collaboration, and prepare future leaders to drive both relationships and revenue.

Nurturing curiosity and a growth mindset is where firms will see the biggest gains as they work to close the rainmaker gap and future-proof their accounting firm growth strategy for the next generation.

The bottom line: growth starts within

The firms achieving the most meaningful growth are creating a culture that enables their professionals to be the type of strategic advisor their clients are truly looking for. 

One message came through clearly: growth starts with behaviour. When people share ownership and treat growth as part of everyday work, it stops being a slogan and becomes a habit. That consistency is what drives stronger client relationships, attracts talent, and ensures the business can adapt over time.

To see how these ideas work in practice, discover how Introhive helps firms build a growth mindset across their teams. Book a demo to learn how we help leading accounting firms worldwide strengthen relationships, unlock opportunities, and future-proof their accounting firm growth strategy.

About Introhive’s UK Breakfast Series

The Breakfast Series is a series of invite-only events from Introhive, bringing together senior professionals across the professional services landscape for candid conversations, peer networking, and practical insights on the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry.

Attendance is by invitation, but if you’re interested in joining a future session, let us know.