Essex Business School Professor of Accounting, Prem Sikka, joins the likes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Chancellor, the chairmen of Sainsbury’s and BT and the chairmen and CEOs of many of the big accounting and insurance firms on the Financial Power List 2010.

The list, compiled by the prestigious business magazine Accountancy Age, identifies the 50 individuals in the accountancy and financial services worlds who possess the most influence.

Professor Sikka, who has worked at the University of Essex for 14 years, is a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, as well as conducting academic research and publishing books on accounting issues.

'I am naturally delighted to be in such august company, and especially since I am the only academic on the list. At the Essex Business School we make a point of keeping abreast of current financial and accounting issues and welcome opportunities to work with and influence the British business community' said Professor Sikka.

He is the first living UK academic to receive the Accounting Exemplar award from the American Accounting Association and is the only academic ever to be voted Personality of the Year by the readers of Accountancy Age. In 2008 he was given the Working for Justice Award by the Tax Justice Network and last year received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PQ Magazine, a publication aimed at accounting students, another first for an academic.