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Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS)

​The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), until 8 October 2014 the "Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply",[1] is a United Kingdom-based global professional body working for the purchasing and supply professions. With an objective of "leading excellence in procurement and supply", it aims to promote good practice and provides services for the benefit of a procurement community of 118,000 members.[2]

CIPS aims to promote and develop high standards of professional skill, ability, and integrity among all those engaged in purchasing and supply chain management. Its headquarters are located in Easton on the Hill, just inside Northamptonshire, near Stamford, Lincolnshire. The CIPS Fellowship programme created by Shirley Cooper OBE rewards and recognises those in the profession who have been credited for their achievements in the field of procurement and supply and are styled with the FCIPS title rather than MCIPS

Individual members of CIPS are required to uphold the CIPS Code of Conduct.[3] Organisations may choose on a voluntary basis to adopt the CIPS Corporate Code of Ethics.[4] The Code of Conduct requires members to:

Enhance and protect the standing of the profession

Maintain the highest standard of integrity in all business relationships

Promote the eradication of unethical business practices

Enhance the proficiency and stature of the profession

Ensure full compliance with laws and regulations.[3]

Members are represented within CIPS through Congress. In the UK, CIPS seeks to work with the procurement profession in the public sector and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government's Cabinet Office on 28 May 2012 seeking to "[cement] closer working and enhancing Government purchasing capability".[5] CIPS is also partnered with the US Institute of Supply Management (ISM). CIPS works to promote understanding of procurement as a "career of choice" and to help people interested in procurement enter the profession.[6] The CIPS Foundation supports students who struggle to get into and further their development in the profession.[7]