Business & Technology
Only 6% of UK firms would use AI time for advisory
Ravical has published research showing that only 6% of UK accounting firms would use time freed up by AI and automation to generate new advisory revenue, highlighting a gap between firms’ growth ambitions and their ability to deliver advisory work at scale.
The findings are based on responses from 500 senior decision-makers at accounting firms with more than 50 employees. They challenge the assumption that greater efficiency in compliance work will naturally lead firms to expand higher-margin advisory services.
In practice, most respondents said it would not. The data shows that 94% of firms would not use additional time created by AI or automation to grow advisory revenue.
Instead, firms pointed to structural barriers within their organisations, including skills gaps, inadequate preparation infrastructure and a lack of repeatable processes for turning advisory opportunities into income.
Half said the main obstacle was a mismatch between compliance and advisory capabilities. The research found that firms are generally well set up for process-led compliance work, but are less prepared to identify, develop and convert advisory opportunities consistently.
That matters because advisory work is widely seen as the next source of margin growth. The survey found that 89% of firms believe advisory services will drive future margin expansion, while 48% said expanding advisory is their main strategic focus over the next three years.
Yet many appear unable to match that ambition with delivery. Compliance work is predictable and process-driven, making it easier to standardise and automate, while advisory work depends more on judgement, context and commercial understanding.
Respondents recognised that distinction, with 89% agreeing that compliance scales through automation while advisory relies on individual expertise.
In practice, many firms still depend on systems and workflows built for compliance. As a result, advisory work remains tied to individual effort rather than a repeatable model that can be rolled out across teams and clients.
Ravical’s data suggests the problem is not identifying advisory openings in the first place. Almost all respondents, 96%, said they were confident they could spot advisory opportunities across their client base.
But firms also said they were losing business. On average, respondents estimated that 33% of their clients’ potential advisory spend still goes to competing providers.
That gap between identification and conversion appears central to the report’s conclusions. Firms may believe they can see the opportunities, but many lack the internal structure needed to capture the revenue consistently.
When asked how they would use time freed up by automation, respondents gave answers that underlined the pressure on existing operating models. They were as likely to put that time into clearing compliance backlogs, cutting working hours or reducing headcount as they were to direct it towards advisory services.
The research found that 28% would use extra time for compliance backlogs, 26% for reduced working hours and 17% for headcount reduction. Those choices suggest efficiency gains may be absorbed by operational demands rather than redirected into new services.
Joris Van der Gucht, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ravical, said the results point to a deeper issue in the profession.
“There’s a clear assumption in the market that if firms free up time, advisory growth will follow.
“What our data shows is that the constraint isn’t time, but whether firms are equipped to use that time differently.”
Advisory gap
The figures also come at a time when many firms report strong underlying performance, with respondents pointing to growing revenue per client and solid compliance margins.
Even so, the report argues that those conditions may not last. If growth continues to depend mainly on compliance work and existing pricing strength, firms could struggle over time to build a broader service mix.
Van der Gucht said the profession has spent years making compliance work more efficient, but advisory services require a different operating model.
“The industry has spent years optimising compliance delivery.
“The next phase is different. It’s about building the systems that allow advisory services to be delivered consistently, rather than relying on individual capacity.”
An application for the homes, off Warwick Road in Banbury, were submitted to Cherwell District Council by Savills on behalf of the applicant, Trinity College, Oxford.
The site comprises an area of approximately 11.12ha, west of the B4100 and approximately 3.5km north-west of Banbury town centre.
The college secured outline planning permission for 320 dwellings at site known as ‘Roman Field’ to the south, which is currently under construction.
Land to the east has planning permission for 170 dwellings, which was allowed at appeal in 2024. A reserved matters application was submitted in September 2025 and is currently awaiting determination.
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For the newest 200 dwelling proposal, at least 30 per cent will be affordable housing, of which 70 per cent will be affordable rent and 30 per cent shared ownership.
There will be new vehicular access with a priority junction along Warwick Road, which will include a 3m shared foot- and cycleway on the southern side, as well as a new connection to the public right of way network.
There is provision for at least 10 per cent biodiversity net gain, with around 3.5ha of open public space. This will includes three play areas, allotments and a community garden or orchard, linking existing green infrastructure to the site.
Comments are due on the planning portal by May 15 and the council is expected to make a decision by June 25.
RobCo has introduced Autonomous Alfie, a new industrial robot for variable manufacturing tasks, marking the company’s move into robots built for more complex, less predictable work.
The Munich-based robotics company says Alfie is designed for jobs that have been difficult to automate because they involve changing inputs, delicate handling or inconsistent conditions on factory floors and in warehouses.
Instead of relying on fixed routines in tightly controlled settings, the robot combines two-arm manipulation with AI-based perception and execution. This enables it to adapt in real time and work across a range of industrial processes.
Those include precision assembly, sensitive material handling and intralogistics tasks such as picking, kitting and palletising. The system is intended to keep improving as it encounters new objects, workflows and operating conditions, without extensive manual programming.
Autonomy push
RobCo positioned the launch as part of a broader push toward what it describes as Level 4 autonomy, where robots can learn and carry out tasks with minimal human intervention. In industrial settings, that would extend automation beyond repetitive tasks in highly structured environments into work that changes from one shift, product line or order to the next.
The move follows RobCo’s USD $100 million funding round. The capital is being used to advance its physical AI plans, expand deployments with business customers and strengthen its presence in the US market.
It also reflects a wider race in industrial technology to make robots more useful in environments that are not fully standardised. Manufacturers have long used automation for fixed, repeatable tasks, but many activities still depend on human workers because of variation in product shape, placement, fragility or workflow.
Alfie is in final development, with first customer deployments planned later this year. RobCo offers its systems through a Robotics-as-a-Service model, so customers do not need to make an upfront capital purchase.
Lorenzo Pautasso, Director Product at RobCo, said Alfie is designed to solve a practical production challenge. “The industry often celebrates what looks impressive. We focus on what actually works in production.
“The real challenge is handling variation reliably thousands of times a day, under changing conditions. That’s exactly what Alfie is designed to do.”
Manufacturing focus
Founded in 2020 out of the Technical University of Munich, RobCo develops integrated robotics systems for manufacturing customers. Its technology is aimed at practical deployment challenges including labour shortages, cost pressures, workplace safety and the reshoring of production.
The company operates from Munich, San Francisco and Austin, with robots in use in multiple markets. The latest product expands its position from more structured industrial automation into systems designed to handle messier, more variable settings.
That is a commercially significant step because a large share of industrial work still falls outside the reach of conventional automation. Tasks involving mixed inventory, fragile items, changing layouts or product variation often require repeated human judgement and adjustment.
Chief Executive Officer Roman Hölzl said RobCo sees that gap as the next major opportunity in industrial robotics. “For decades, automation has been limited to predictable environments.
“With Alfie, we’re expanding beyond structured automation into a new class of systems designed to handle variability at scale. This unlocks a significant share of industrial work that has remained out of reach for automation until now.”
Touchload Limited, the company behind Kings Oxford, was put into administration earlier this month under case number CR‑2026‑001318.
A formal notice records that joint administrators were appointed on Thursday, April 9, after the High Court order.
Kings Oxford is an independent, fee‑paying college offering GCSEs, A‑levels, foundation programmes and English language courses.
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It teaches both UK and international students and provides day and boarding places.
The college operates from two campuses in Oxford: St Joseph’s Campus in Temple Road, Cowley, and a city centre site in St Michael’s Street.
A High Court administration order allows licensed insolvency practitioners to take control of an insolvent company, with the aim of protecting assets.
This is while options are explored for either rescuing the business, selling parts of it, or winding it up in an orderly way.
BTG Begbies Traynor (London) LLP is handling the insolvency of Touchload Limited with administrators, Stephen Katz and David Lawrence Birne, appointed.
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Companies House records show that Touchload Limited is a private limited company incorporated on September 11, 1987, with a registered office address in Brighton.
The company’s nature of business is recorded on the public register as general secondary education.
The most recent available filings show that the last set of accounts submitted by Touchload Limited covered the year ending December 31, 2024.
Those filings also state that the company remains listed as active, with its next accounts due by Thursday, October 1, 2026.
Kings Oxford is described in Oxfordshire County Council’s Family Information Service and other directory entries as a modern independent college for ambitious students.
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Those entries say it offers a “supportive learning environment and community” and provides a range of academic and university preparation courses.
Kings Oxford forms part of the wider Kings Education group, which runs international colleges in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Information published by Kings Education sets out detailed tuition and accommodation fee tables for its colleges, including Kings Oxford.
According to Kings’ current official fee table for its UK colleges, A‑level and GCSE tuition at Kings Oxford is priced in the low‑to‑mid £30,000s per year.
For 2026–27, two‑year and one‑year A‑level programmes are listed at £33,120 per year, or £11,040 per term.
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GCSE Year 10 is shown at £31,320 per year (£10,440 per term), while GCSE Year 11 and the Extended GCSE programme are each listed at £33,120 per year (£11,040 per term).
An Ofsted boarding inspection report for Kings Oxford, published in May 2023, rated the overall experiences and progress of children and young people as good.
The same report graded how well children and young people are helped and protected, and the effectiveness of leaders and managers, as good.
Insolvency notices advise anyone seeking further information about the administration of Touchload Limited to contact BTG Begbies Traynor in London.
Kings Oxford has been approached by this newspaper for comment and further information on the situation.
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