SPAR (Speech-Pattern Algorithms and Representations) is the name given to the consortium of University College London, Imperial College, GEC Hirst Research Centre, Plessey Research and Leeds University funded under Alvey Project MMI-09. The project is concerned with advanced speech analysis algorithms, and from the outset saw the need for a system for speech data management. The SPAR Speech Filing System (SFS) was developed to support the design and comparison of analysis algorithms, and to manage many different parametric representations of the speech signal. This paper describes the motivation behind SFS, the structure of SFS speech files, the support it provides for both the programmer and the user, and also an associated statistical tool that analyses SFS files. The paper concludes with a short justification for some of the design decisions.