UKMA was founded by Chris Keenan in 1999 and formally associated in 2002 as an independent, non-party political, single-issue organisation.

[5][6] In the foreward, its patron Geoffrey Howe confesses that "I didn’t challenge the decision to abolish the Metrication Board, when I was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"[7] In February 2006, UKMA called for the Government to set a date for the conversion of road signs from imperial to metric units.

[8][9] The aims of UKMA contrast with those of the British Weights and Measures Association (BWMA), which opposes what it describes as "compulsory use of the metric system".

[11] It claims that "hundreds of unlawful metric signs have been converted back to imperial, following letters of complaint by BWMA and its supporters".