Qualitative research to monitor the impact of UK services sanctions on businesses and the Russian economy

The Department for Business and Trade is seeking to commission a project to an organisation with in-depth operational knowledge of sanctions and expertise in qualitative research methods.

We are seeking expert advice in identifying and assessing the impact of UK professional and business services (PBS) sanctions on UK businesses and the Russian economy, with a particular focus on understanding the risks businesses face and the patterns of continued trade with Russia.

Given the novel nature of PBS sanctions, we are seeking this information to highlight and tighten any gaps in existing measures, identify ways to prevent circumvention, improve sanctions awareness and compliance, enhance policy development, and support services sanctions implementation and enforcement.

We require the organisation to convene and facilitate a series of roundtable discussions and select interviews with senior leaders from key PBS industries who can provide authoritative insights on the core research questions (as outlined below).

The organisation will then be required to analyse and distil the findings from roundtables/interviews into a detailed report on the following core research questions: - The impact of UK PBS sanctions on UK businesses that are still operating or have already withdrawn from the Russian market; - The way the Russian services market has adapted to the UK's PBS sanctions; - The process and obstacles to divestment from the Russian market; - How services businesses approach sanctions compliance; - The role of services in facilitating the movement of goods for end use in Russia.

The successful organisation will be required to have: - Detailed, specialist knowledge of services trade and PBS sanctions, as well as the Russian market and the role of services trade within it; - Well established networks across UK and international PBS sectors; - Extensive experience of qualitative research methods, in particular convening and facilitating roundtables and interviews with senior stakeholders on sensitive subjects, and drafting detailed reports.