THE old boys' network that once dominated some of the top jobs in the world of finance has been replaced by a "preponderance of provincial university graduates", according to new research.

Partners in the "Big Four" accountancy firms —Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG — are no longer only from elite backgrounds, with the study involving a Scottish academic finding the companies are instead acting as a "conduit for social mobility".

Such jobs can command £1 million salaries and partners mix with politicians and celebrities.

The new study in the Contemporary Accounting Research publication said some law firms, however, still recruit only from the elite.

The study called Being a Successful Professional came alongside related research that appeared in Work, Employment and Society.

Joint researchers Professor Chris Carter, of Edinburgh University, and Professor Crawford Spence, of Warwick Business School, interviewed 32 partners, aspiring partners, retired partners and those who had failed to make partner in the Big Four firms.

Professor Spence said: "Social ties and family background are less important than simply what you can do for the firm.

"Partners in elite law firms tend to come from privileged backgrounds and elite universities.

"This is not the case with partners from the Big Four accountancy firms.

"Instead there was a preponderance of provincial university graduates from relatively modest backgrounds — aspirational working or lower middle class."