Friday Brief Intro 09/12/22

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! Any Festive plans this weekend? It’s been a busy week so why not enjoy a mulled wine and a wonderful Christmas Market.

First up today we would like to thank everyone who attended the MTA’s AGM yesterday. We hope you all enjoyed the networking lunch and presentations from Neil Trivedi and Lieutenant General Richard Nugee.

I am delighted to informed you that the MTA Annual Dinner 2023 returns to London as a black-tie event. The evening will be hosted by comedian Ian Moore and, fresh from his time in the jungle, there will be after dinner entertainment from Seann Walsh. To book your tickets and check out more details in the story below.

Our Associate Member Mitigo has released a new article on how technology is attacked, why today’s cyber solutions might not provide protection tomorrow, and how to keep one step ahead of the bad guys. Take a look at the full article in their story below.

We supported the Future of Manufacturing campaign that launched on December 9th within the Guardian. Find out what’s been going on in the story below and in the article online through the link in their story.

In October 2022, 134 organisations reported cybercrimes to Action Fraud. Organisations with less than a £1.5 million turnover continue to be the most targeted by threat actors, accounting for 54% of reporting, with 58 of the reports coming from ‘Micro’ businesses (Sole Traders, and businesses with 1-9 employees). NCSC have more information that could help if your business has had a cyber-attack. Make sure to check out the details in their story.

Jack Semple, Secretary of EAMA, has compiled an update on some employment issues and is also looking for feedback from members on the issue of skills shortages and, in particular whether changes are needed to the Shortage Occupation List to meet specific skills shortages in the manufacturing sector by allowing people from overseas to access visas to work in the UK. If this is an issue for you, please take a look at the article and let us have your feedback so we can pass this on through our contacts at BEIS.

This week a couple of new BSI standards are awaiting your comments. Please have a read of the scopes and purposes in the story below.

Associate member Citation has released a handy free business continuity plan checklist to help you get prepared for any unexpected emergencies that may come your businesses way. Go to the story to download it today and find out more.

It is a quiet week for economic news with the main item being the latest GDP data for the EU covering the 3rd quarter. Eurostat has edged up its estimate of growth compared to the previous release of this data. Only one European country is in recession with Estonia having had a negative in both Q2 and Q3 but a number of others are at risk of joining them if they have a downturn in the 4th quarter. We also have some summary data from the recent CECIMO meeting (which we covered last week) with details of how to get the more detailed files if you need them.

Our colleagues at the European Cutting Tool Association (ECTA) have announced details of their conference which is being held in San Sebastian next May (25th to 27th). This is relevant to companies in the cutting tool and clamping parts of the manufacturing technology spectrum so if this includes you, please take a look at the article which contains the links to the conference details.

Finally, a reminder that the November edition of the MTA Business Survey is underway; you can access the questionnaire at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-nov22 and, with thanks to those who have responded already, we hope you can spare a couple of minutes to let us have your input to this – we would love to hear from you.

That concludes our Friday Brief for this week! Have a great weekend and we’ll ‘see’ you all again next week for some more great stories!

MTA Annual Dinner Entertainment Confirmed!

I am delighted to informed you that the MTA Annual Dinner 2023 returns to London as a black-tie event. The evening will be hosted by comedian Ian Moore and, fresh from his time in the jungle, there will be after dinner entertainment from Seann Walsh. The event will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2023 and will be […]

Business Continuity Planning: A free checklist for your members

Planning for emergencies: your business continuity plan checklist Do you have a plan in place for emergencies? Planning for the unexpected can be a difficult task but when the unexpected happens, it can have devasting effects. That’s why employers are legally obliged to take emergencies into account, but do you know where to start? The […]

EUROPEAN CUTTING TOOL CONFERENCE

The European Cutting Tool Association (ECTA – of which MTA is a member) is holding its next annual conference from Thursday 25th May to Saturday 27th May 2023 in the Spanish city of San Sebastian. The European Cutting Tool Conference provides the European forum and networking event for manufacturers of cutting tools and clamping technology. […]

ECONOMIC NEWS

European GDP, 3rd Quarter 2022: In its latest release of GDP data, Eurostat has upgraded its estimate of growth in the 3rd quarter to +0.4% for the EU and +0.3% for the Euro-zone – both were previously estimated to have grown by +0.2% compared to the previous quarter. This also means that the growth rate […]

New BSI Standards

Standard 1 Please be advised that a New Work Item Proposal has been loaded to the BSI Standards Development Portal for comment. Any comments received will be submitted to the national committee AMT/4 “Industrial Data and manufacturing interfaces” for consideration when deciding the UK response to the associated Standards Development Organisation. Proposal: ISO/NP 16400-5 Automation […]

Flexible working + employing migrants + freedom of movement

Shortage occupation list – additions needed?: The government is under pressure from business organisations to widen the scope of the Home Office’s Shortage Occupation List (SOL), so that a broader range of workers can be brought in from overseas. We are keen to hear from members, in confidence, as to categories where they believe the […]

NCSC Small Organisations Newsletter – December 2022

In October 2022, 134 organisations reported cyber crimes to Action Fraud. Organisations with less than a £1.5 million turnover continue to be the most targeted by threat actors, accounting for 54% of reporting, with 58 of the reports coming from ‘Micro’ businesses (Sole Traders, and businesses with 1-9 employees). During October Action Fraud received 57 […]

Technology adoption creates greater cyber risk for manufacturing businesses

Technology makes life easier and more efficient. But as our reliance grows, so does cyber risk. Understanding and controlling this risk is vital, as is understanding that as our technologies and behaviours develop, the criminals evolve to take advantage. Failure to identify new threats could be catastrophic. This article will explore how technology is attacked, […]

Future of Manufacturing Campaign | Roundtable

We supported the Future of Manufacturing campaign that launched on December 9th within the Guardian and online at https://bit.ly/3Glu0SU Future of Manufacturing looked at the continued importance for the manufacturing sector, examining the key challenges in the industry such as skills shortages, sustainability and supply chain resilience and featured insightful content from Oliver Wight, Board International, […]

Friday Brief