Community
Courses teach the method. The community is where members compare notes, test ideas and find out how other organisations handle the same problems.
Events
Our autumn conference brings around 300 members to Birmingham for a day of short talks and workshops. Through the year we also run half-day briefings on new legislation and practical topics, such as late-payment rules or supplier insolvency. Members pay a reduced rate, and Senior members attend the conference free.
See upcoming events at AcademyResearch
Each spring we survey members and their employers on how contracts and suppliers are managed in practice: who owns them, what gets checked and where things go wrong. The anonymised findings feed straight into our courses and the annual review of the Academy standard. Members can read the full results.
Read our research findingsPublications
We publish practice notes, template clauses and short guides written by practitioners and checked by our standards committee. Titles include a plain-language drafting guide and a checklist for onboarding new suppliers. Everything is free to members as a download, and selected guides are open to everyone.
Browse publications in the member librarySponsorship
Organisations can sponsor a conference session, a regional meet-up or a bursary that pays for a learner's course and exam. Sponsors never write or approve course content, and we publish a list of every sponsorship we accept each year. If you would like to discuss an idea, please get in touch.
Ask about sponsorshipTraining
Employers can book any of our courses as a closed group, delivered online or at their own premises. We can add examples from your sector and align the course with your internal procedures, while the assessment stays the same as for everyone else. Groups usually range from eight to 20 people.
Plan training for your teamWebinars
Once a month a panel of members takes one practical question, such as how to manage a contract change or what to do when a supplier stops replying, and works through it live. Webinars run on weekday evenings for one hour, and every recording goes into the member library afterwards.
Watch the latest webinarForums
Members can ask questions and share templates in moderated online forums grouped by topic: contracts, suppliers, procurement, risk and working capital. Our moderators are volunteer Senior members. Posts stay inside the membership, and we remove anything that names a client or breaches a confidentiality agreement.
Go to the forums (members only)Regional networks
Member-led networks meet in person every month or two in Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent, with an online group for members elsewhere. Meetings are informal: a short talk, a case discussion and time to talk. The new Midlands Employers Network links the organisations that train with us.
Read about the employers network