The UK's Top 60 accountancy firms have seen a second year of inflation-busting growth.

A survey by trade magazine Accountancy, said average fee income grew by 13.8 per cent in 2007, a rate similar to the previous 12 months' 14.1 per cent.

The two boom years follow a period of stagnating fee income. In the West Midlands one of the highlights was Birmingham-based accountancy firm Wenham Major reporting a 124 per cent increase in fee income during the year, which coincides with the firm's 140th anniversary.

It takes the firm up from 44th position to 24.

Almost all the firms in the survey reported positive fee income growth, with a handful seeing increases of more than 25 per cent.

Some of the growth was driven by acquisition activity, which has changed the appearance of parts of the table, particularly among mid tier firms. RSM Robson Rhodes has disappeared, swallowed up by Grant Thornton.

The move consolidates Grant Thornton's position as the country's fifth largest firm, putting it comfortably ahead of rival BDO Stoy Hayward.

The takeover of Moores Rowland has allowed Mazars to move up into 12th place from 14th.

But the Big Four firms - PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young - continue to dominate.

The survey shows their combined fee income is £6.35 billion out of a total Top 60 firm fee income of £8.79 billion - nearly three times as much as the total fee income produced by the rest.

Only a minority of firms chose to provide profitability information, but the average profit per partner enjoyed by those that did was £324,610, an increase of about ten per cent on last year.

For the Big Four the profit per partner figures were Deloitte, £765,000 (prior year's figure); PricewaterhouseCoopers, £727,616; Ernst & Young, £685,057; and KPMG, £670,863.

The proportion of female partners remains low at 11 per cent.

Accountancy claims to be the leading monthly UK magazine for accountants.

The survey will appear in its July issue, out next week.

Chris Quick, editor, said: "It has been another boom year for Britain's accountancy firms, driven by a healthy economy and a lively acquisitions market.

"There have been fears of a tapering off in Sarbanes Oxley and International Financial Reporting Standards work, but this has not started to bite so far.

Any dent to corporate confidence, such as rising interest rates and concerns over the US economy could have a knock-on impact for accountancy firms.

"Another sign of confidence among firms is an outbreak of merger activity among the middle-tier.

"There has been much recent discussion about the Big Four firms' domination of the audit market. The survey underlines how completely the four dominate the marketplace.

"The job situation is good for accountants at the moment. There is a shortage of skills so the firms are fighting over good people."