The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency was an executive agency of the Department of Health (DH) in the United Kingdom. It was the purchasing arm of the National Health Service in England and had main offices in Chester and Reading. The Agency was self-funding in that it did not charge either suppliers or customers. None of the Agency's contracts were mandatory, although until mid-2006 there was an increasing tendency to insist on their use; especially for NHS trusts who were in sufficient financial distress to have turn-around teams installed by the DH.