The association was founded in 1972 as the UK branch of INTERNET, now the International Project Management Association. Weaver (2007) recalled, that:
"The UK branch of INTERNET (now the APM), was originated by the ‘pioneering seven’ whose meeting at an INTERNET (later IPMA) expert seminar in Zurich in 1971 inspired them to start a UK branch, which held its first meeting in London in May 1972. The first executive meeting on INTERNET(UK) was held in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, Stockholm on 13 May 1972 during the 3rd annual world congress of INTERNET. Jack Grimshaw was the original chairman, others in the founding group included Dr Jim Gordon and Dennis Gower. Annual membership fees were set at £1, and within a month membership had reached 78 (PMI at the time were charging £7).[5]
With the emergence of the Internet in the 1990s, the global project management association INTERNET was renamed International Project Management Association (IPMA) and the UK Branch Association for Project Management (APM).[5]
International Journal of Project Management is published in collaboration with the Association for Project Management (APM) and the International Project Management Association (IPMA).[6]. The Journal was formerly co-owned by APM and Elsevier, but in an act of significant system generosity, APM gifted half of its shares to IPMA to support it with long-term revenue generation.
The Association for Project Management was formerly the certification body in the United Kingdom for the IPMA. However, from 1 March 2025, APM has operated independently alongside the IPMA, rather than as a Member Association and certification body.[7]
It received its Royal Charter on 6 January 2017.[8][9]
