Research into firm entry, growth and exit in the Public Interest Entity (PIE) audit market and non-PIE audit market

Contract summary

Industry

• Research and development services and related consultancy services - 73000000

Location of contract

EC2Y 5AS

Value of contract

£80,000 to £135,000

Procurement reference

FRC2022-0107

Published date

23 August 2022

Closing date

27 June 2022

Closing time

5pm

Contract start date

10 August 2022

Contract end date

30 April 2023

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

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Description

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE. THIS OPPORTUNITY IS CLOSED.


The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. We seek to promote transparency and integrity in business; our work is aimed at investors and others who rely on company accounts, audit, and high-quality risk management.

A high-quality audit provides investors and other stakeholders with a high level of assurance that the financial statements of an entity give a true and fair view of its performance and financial position, and provide a reliable and trustworthy basis for taking decisions. All companies in the UK are required, under the Companies Act, to have their annual accounts audited externally, unless exempt. There are many firms in the UK that can carry out these statutory audits.


The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is commissioning research to enhance understanding of firm entry, growth and exit in the PIE and non-PIE audit markets. The research should generate insights that will help inform the FRC's future work and regulatory approaches and support the FRC's objective to create a more resilient audit market through greater competition and choice.

The project will be comprised of two parts:
A. PIE audit market
B. Non-PIE audit market

The purpose of the project is to support the FRC in its objective to 'create a more resilient audit market through greater competition and choice'. The research will generate insights into the PIE and non-PIE audit markets to help inform the FRC's future work and regulatory approaches. The overall objective of the research is to enhance understanding of firm entry, growth and exit in the PIE and non-PIE audit markets.

• The objective of Part A is to better understand the appetite of audit and non-audit firms to enter, or expand their presence in, the PIE audit market. This will include understanding any barriers they face in achieving this, and what action(s) may lower these barriers.

• The objective of Part B is to better understand the economics of audit firms in the non-PIE audit market, as well as what has driven the decline in the number of such firms over the last five years. The research in Part B should also produce an analysis of the implications of the declining number of firms, whether positive or negative, for choice, competition and audit quality.

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More information

Previous notice about this procurement

Research into firm entry, growth and exit in the Public Interest Entity (PIE) audit market and non-PIE audit market

• Opportunity
• Published 20 May 2022

Attachments

• 01 ITT Final.pdf
• Technical specifications

• 02 Final Tender Response doc.docx
• Bidding documents

• 03 Research Services Agreement draft.pdf
• Contract draft

Additional text

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE. THIS OPPORTUNITY IS CLOSED.

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Award information

Awarded date

4 August 2022

Contract start date

10 August 2022

Contract end date

30 April 2023

Total value of contract

£133,000

This contract was awarded to 2 suppliers.

Touchstone Renard Ltd

Frontier Economic Ltd

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About the buyer

Contact name

Head of Procurement

Address

8Th Floor,125 London Wall
LONDON
EC2Y5AS
England

Telephone

020 7492 2300

Email

procurement@frc.org.uk