The Information and Records Management Society (IRMS) and the Archives and Records Association (ARA) have signed a historic Mutual Partnership Agreement, formalising their collaborative efforts in areas such as joint training, national projects, and event promotion. The agreement aims to enhance opportunities for members by sharing resources, avoiding duplication, and jointly addressing topics like AI literacy, digital preservation, and sustainability, thereby strengthening both organisations’ offerings to their professional communities.
In November 2025 the Information and Records Management Society (IRMS) and the Archives and Records Association (ARA) signed an historic Mutual Partnership Agreement.
Both organisations firmly believe in the power of collaboration and collective effort and had already worked together on the Campaign for Records as well as developing closer links for joint training events.
The Mutual Partnership Agreement formalises some of the aspects of the informal collaborations that have taken place over the last few years.
Each organisation will help to promote the other ’s conference and provide discounts to their membership on respective IRMS and ARA events going forward.
They will also continue to work together on national level projects of mutual interest to their members and professional communities and also establish a working party to discuss content and training resources that would be of mutual benefit. This will include sharing forward planning of training events in order to avoid duplication and open opportunities for our members to access specialist training the other is unlikely to provide , for example, palaeography and CoPilot.
In addition to this they will look to jointly commission national training on areas of mutual interest such as AI literacy, digital preservation, sustainability etc.
The two organisations will also hold quarterly horizon scanning meetings to discuss areas of co-operation to mutual advantage and the benefit of their memberships, such as forthcoming consultations and legislative changes .
Jaana Pinnick, Chair of IRMS said:
“IRMS are delighted to announce our formalised collaboration with ARA. The two professional organisations share many interests, such as training, long-term preservation and environmental sustainability. By joining forces more closely I hope we will benefit from an extended network and wider knowledge to support our members.”
John Chambers, Chief Executive of the Archives and Records Association said:
“Having worked successfully with IRMS over the last couple of years on an informal basis it is great to see this agreement formalised in this way. I very much look forward to seeing the benefits it brings to our members.”
