Welcome
Thank you for your interest in becoming a corporate member of the IPA, one of the world’s pre-eminent trade bodies for marketing communications agencies.
Our mission is straightforward: to promote the value of our agencies in membership. We do this in two ways: firstly, by acting as a spokesman and representing our members on issues of common concern; and secondly, by contributing to their professional operation via our range of advisory, information and training services.
Currently, we have over 270 of the UK’s brightest and best agencies in membership, who between them handle an estimated 85 per cent of all UK advertising spend.
Gaining membership is no easy task and we have exacting criteria in place to ensure we admit only agencies that are suitably qualified to wear our badge (please see below for more details on our entry criteria).
Accordingly, the application process is detailed and thorough but please don’t let this deter you from applying. The extensive benefits of membership make the effort well worthwhile.
Who can become a member?
Agencies
The IPA represents agencies and only agencies, not clients, advertisers or media owners. So our focus is absolutely single-minded when it comes to promoting the best interests of our members.
To qualify for corporate membership, an agency must satisfy the following criteria:
1. The agency must be a company that is primarily concerned with the provision of branding services to clients, designed to create, maintain and enhance the value of their brands through advertising, design, media planning and buying and marketing communications.
2. The agency applying for admission to IPA membership must give an undertaking to observe, in the event of admission, the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the IPA. Such undertaking shall be included in the form of an application for admission and shall be signed by the agency’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or equivalent authorised person.
3. The agency shall only be considered for membership of the IPA (and be permitted to remain in membership) if it can prove to Council and the IPA Secretariat that it:
a) Complies with the definition of an agency set out in 1 above;
b) Has and maintains a gross income of at least £460,000 per annum, or such
other figure as Council shall from time to time decide;
c) Is solvent and has been trading continuously for at least two years;
d) Has no recent history of insolvency or other voluntary financial arrangements
or Director’s disqualifications;
e) Supports self¬regulation and complies with ASA adjudications;
f) Commits to achieving Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
accreditation by the end of its first full calendar year in membership;
g) Is based in the European Union; and
h) Passes a resolution at a Board meeting approving membership.
Individuals
Although predominantly a corporate membership body, the IPA also has a sizeable number of Personal Members (‘MIPAs’) and Fellows (‘FIPAs’).
View the criteria to become a MIPA.
Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships are in the gift of the IPA, to recognize the significant, long-term contribution particular individuals have made to the Institute.
Who is in membership currently?
Agencies
Our list of current members can be viewed in the Agency PROFILE section of this sitebr>
Why become a member? What are the benefits?
Corporate membership
The benefits available to member agencies are numerous and varied. Here is a list of the ten main ones.
Personal membership
View a summary of the benefits open to Personal Members.
Benefits of being a Fellow of the IPA.
How would I go about becoming a member?
Corporate membership
The first step is to complete and return the application form. You can prepare this online, or manually by printing the form, filling it in by hand and then posting it to Membership Applications, IPA, 44 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8QS.
It is a requirement of membership for all applicant agencies to pay a Registration Fee of £400 plus VAT (£470). An application will only be processed once payment has been received. Please note that this fee is non¬refundable in the event of an application being rejected. To request an invoice for this fee, please contact Alex Jenkins in the IPA Membership Applications Department (tel: 020 7235 7020). Payment can be made via cheque or BACS (HSBC, sorting code: 40¬03¬17 / account number: 40476285).
Once the IPA has received your completed form and Registration Fee, your application will be processed internally to ensure it complies with the criteria for membership set out above. A scoring system is in place to assist in this process. A visit to your agency by a representative of the IPA Membership Committee will be arranged, after which your application will be tabled for approval by both the full Committee and, subsequently, the IPA Council, both of which meet every quarter. If your application is successful your membership will be confirmed thereafter and you will receive a certificate.
Personal membership
You can download the personal application form, which you should complete, sign and then return to Membership Applications, IPA, 44 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8QS.
Your application will be tabled for approval by both the Membership Committee and, subsequently, the IPA Council, both of which meet every quarter. If your application is successful your membership will be confirmed thereafter and you will receive a certificate.
How much does membership cost?
Corporate membership
Each member agency pays an annual subscription for corporate membership based on its gross income (i.e. turnover less direct cost of sales) for the previous year. The subscriptions are calculated as a percentage of gross income. To find out how much your subscription would be, you can use one of our three online subscription calculators:
Subs-5 is for agencies that pay in full on or before the 31st January deadline and benefit from a 5% prompt payment discount;
Subs is for agencies that pay in full after the deadline and thus don't get a prompt payment discount, and
Subsqtr is for those agencies that elect to pay in quarterly installments and pay an additional 5% on top of the 'Subs' rate.
Each agency will be sent its subscription invoice for the following year in November. If payment in full is received by the IPA on or before 31st January, you will receive a discount of approximately 5%.
Then, in April, you will receive a reconciliation form which you should complete and return to us once your gross income figure for the previous year has been finalised and audited. This will enable us to calculate any adjustment that needs to be made to your account.
Importantly, in the event that your agency should wish to resign from membership at the end of any year, the IPA must be notified in writing prior to 1st November to avoid subscriptions becoming due for the whole of the following year.
Personal membership
For personal members who are in the employment of a member agency there is no fee to pay. However, for individuals not employed by an IPA agency there is an annual charge of £150 (inclusive of VAT).
There is no charge for Fellowships unless a Fellow is not with a member agency and wants access to the IPA's Partner Deals and its member rates for publications and events, in which case they would be required to pay an annual fee of £150 (inclusive of VAT).
What are the obligations of membership?
Corporate membership
All member agencies are bound to:
• observe the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the IPA;
• pay their annual subscriptions at least six working days before the IPA’s AGM in April (failure to do so will result in the immediate suspension of services, the commencement of legal proceedings to recover the debt and the automatic termination of membership at the end of the year);
• commit to achieving CPD accreditation by the end of their first full calendar year in membership and to maintain annual accreditation thereafter (an agency can only fail to be accredited once in any five year period).
Should your agency wish to resign from membership at the end of any year, the IPA must be notified in writing prior to 1st November to avoid subscriptions becoming due for the whole of the following year.
In the event of you wishing to make a complaint against a member agency, you should address your complaint in the first place to the IPA Membership Director.
Personal membership
All personal members (MIPAs and FIPAs) are bound to observe the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the IPA, as well as to pay any subscriptions due at least six working days before the IPA’s AGM in April.
Why should clients favour IPA agencies?
We have identified ten main reasons why clients should only employ an IPA agency.
Some common misconceptions about membership
IPA membership is mandatory for any agency wishing to trade
Incorrect: IPA membership is entirely optional for agencies and has no bearing on their legal right to trade. Nor is membership mandatory for individuals wishing to work in an agency.
IPA membership will secure accreditation from media owners
Incorrect: IPA recognition may help in the accreditation procedure, but it will not, of itself, grant recognition - this right stays with the media owner who will carry out his own checks on the credit worthiness and appropriateness of the applicant.
The IPA acts as a new business intermediary
Incorrect: the IPA is not a new business consultancy and does not act directly as a matchmaker between clients and agencies. That said, each member agency has its own page on the Agency PROFILE section of the IPA website, which is a popular hunting ground for clients looking to recruit an agency.
The IPA acts as a recruitment consultancy
Incorrect: the IPA does not act directly as a recruitment consultancy, although members are entitled to advertise vacancies free of charge on IPA Jobs Online