Virtual organisations (VOs) are composed of a number of individuals, de- partments or organisations each of which has a range of capabilities and resources at their disposal. These VOs are formed so that resources may be pooled and services combined with a view to the exploitation of a per- ceived market niche. However, in the modern commercial environment it is essential to respond rapidly to changes in the market to remain com- petitive. Thus, there is a need for robust, exible systems to support the process of VO management. Within the CONOISE (www.conoise.org) project, agent-based models and techniques are being developed for the automated formation and maintenance of virtual organisations. In this paper we focus on a critical element of VO management: how an eective VO may be formed rapidly for a specied purpose.