The Collection aims to purchase innovative work by artists living in Britain with a focus on the work of younger emerging artists. While funding occasionally enables the purchase of work by more established artists, more expensive purchases are augmented by organisations such as the National Art Collections Fund and the Henry Moore Foundation.

The Collection also, on occasion, accepts gifts. Recent gifts have included the generous donation of sculpture and paintings from the Arnolfini Collection Trust, and two spectacular gifts from Charles Saatchi: 100 works in 1999 and 34 sculptures in 2002.