A review by the U.K. Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found large companies will instinctively hire a Big Four firm as auditor every time, despite efforts by the regulator to break their dominance and open up the country’s audit market to smaller competitors.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...