The 61-year-old veteran, who has dedicated his entire career to the Big Four firm since 1983, was a staunch advocate for Project Everest, a controversial plan to separate EY’s audit and consulting arms. The project was abandoned last year after investment of about $600 million (around £470m).

Mr Ball’s departure now paves the way for a new leader. EY has confirmed that the selection process will commence in the latter half of 2024, with the UK chair and managing partner roles to be split in accordance with regulatory guidelines, Financial Times reports.

Ball received remuneration of £3.6m in 2023, and, during his time as head of EY’s UK business since 2020, revenues have gone rom £2.6 billion in 2020 to £3.76bn in its latest annual results.