Sky News has learnt that one of EY's top British-based executives, Alison Kay, is to move to a European role, potentially removing her from the running to become the UK operation's next boss.

In a memo circulated to partners late last week, the audit giant said it was slashing the size of its executive committee from 13 members to eight, and would no longer have a chief operating officer.

Ms Kay, who took the role of managing partner for client services in 2020, will shift to work across the firm's European regions, according to the memo.

She had been presumed by many insiders to be the likeliest contender to replace Hywel Ball, EY UK's managing partner.

The reorganisation comes shortly after EY scrapped a radical plan to break up its global operations in a move which would have separated its audit and consulting businesses.

The blueprint, which required partner votes across each of its markets around the world, attracted fierce internal criticism from staff on both sides of the divide.

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EY said the overhaul of its UK leadership was unrelated to the global break-up plot - codenamed Project Everest.

An EY UK spokesperson said: "EY has reshaped two of its internal UK management teams.

"These changes will allow more EY partners to be focussed on serving our clients and stakeholders.

The firm added: "EY's UK LLP board is the ultimate governance and decision-making body for the UK firm and remains unchanged."