The Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists (IPMS) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing managers and other people with professional qualifications in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, with a majority of members working in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

History

The union was founded in 1919 as the Institution of Professional Civil Servants (IPCS), bringing together seventeen associations based in individual departments of the civil service. The spur for its formation was the creation of the

Whitley Council Whitley may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Whitley, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading *Whitley, Cheshire, a village near Warrington *Whitley, Coventry, a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands *Whitley, Essex, near Birdbrook * Whitley, Wigan, Greater M ...

system, on which the new union qualified for two seats. Membership grew rapidly, from 1,534 on formation, to 2,917 the following year, reaching 99,000 by 1980.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.1, p.108 The union initially operated only as a loose confederation, but in 1946 it established its own National Executive Committee and headquarters, and in 1951, the remaining constituents became branches of the union. At this point, it had strong representation in the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, and it worked as part of the Council of Post Office Unions from 1969 until 1977. IPCS banner

The union absorbed the

Society of Technical Civil Servants {{short description, Former trade union of the United Kingdom The Society of Technical Civil Servants (STCS) was a trade union representing draughtspeople in the civil service of the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1907 as the Admiralty ...

in 1969. In 1976, after many attempts to get its members to agree, it joined the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. In 1984, the

Association of Government Supervisors and Radio Operators The Association of Government Supervisors and Radio Officers (AGSRO) was a trade union representing supervisors in the British civil service. The union was founded in 1955, when the Association of Government Foremen and Technical Supervisors merge ...

(AGSRO) joined IPCS. Following

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of the jobs of many of its members, IPCS changed its name to the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists, in 1989. In 2001, it merged with the

Engineers' and Managers' Association The Engineers' and Managers' Association (EMA) was a trade union representing managers in the United Kingdom, principally those in the engineering industry. The union was founded in 1913 as the Association of Electrical Station Engineers, and befo ...

to form Prospect.Neela Bettridge and Philip Whiteley, ''New Normal, Radical Shift'', p.51

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1945: Leslie Herbert :1948: Stanley Mayne :1961: Richard Nunn :1963: Bill McCall :1989: Bill Brett :1999:

Paul Noon Paul Thomas Noon OBE (born 1 December 1952) is a former British trade unionist. Noon left school at the age of eighteen, and joined the civil service. He became active in the Institution of Professional Civil Servants (IPCS), serving as a negot ...

Honorary Secretaries

:1919: R. C. Bristow{{cite book , last1=Mortimer , first1=James E. , last2=Ellis , first2=Valerie A. , title=A Professional Union , url=https://archive.org/details/professionalunio00mort , url-access=registration , date=1980 , publisher=George Allen and Union , location=London , pag
434
} :1920: J. H. Salmon :1925: Frederick A. A. Menzler :1928: S. H. Bales and H. W. Monroe :1929: S. H. Bales, A. O. Gibbon and H. W. Monroe :1930: S. H. Bales and H. W. Monroe :1935: S. H. Bales :1936: S. H. Bales and H. R. Lintern :1938: Ivor Bowen :1938: H. Whittaker :1939: O. C. Watson :1941: L. Lanham :1942: J. Fraser :1943: G. C. Allfrey :1945: J. A. Nicol :1947: ''Position abolished''

Honorary Presidents

:1921:

Richard Redmayne Sir Richard Augustine Studdert Redmayne (22 July 1865 – 27 December 1955) was a British civil and mining engineer. Redmayne worked as manager of several mines in Britain and South Africa before becoming a professor at the University of Birmi ...

:1957:

Graham Sutton Sir Oliver Graham Sutton CBE FRS (4 February 1903 – 26 May 1977) was a Welsh mathematician and meteorologist, notable particularly for theoretical work on atmospheric diffusion, boundary layer turbulence, and for his direction of the UK Mete ...

:1961: Verney Stott :1963: ''Position abolished''

References

External links

Catalogue of the IPMS archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

Trade unions established in 1919 1919 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions disestablished in 2001