Friday Brief 03/02/2023

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! It’s the first newsletter of the month and we’ve got some great stories for you.

First up today we’d like to remind you that next week is National Apprentice week. Take a look at the story below to find out how the MTA will be celebrating.

There is a good reason why manufacturing companies are seen as a prime target by cyber attackers: they are heavily reliant on information and operational technologies. You’re invited to Lloyds Bank’s seminar at the Crowne Plaza NEC, where they will share information on the latest fraud threats faced by businesses in the Midlands and what you can do to help keep your business safe. More details can be found below.

EAMA has called on the chancellor to use his Budget next month to identify an ambitious expansion of manufacturing as a priority for government. In a pre-Budget submission, EAMA calls for a coherent, national, long-term programme to support innovation and the adoption of new processes and technology by SMEs. Go to the story below to read more.

Cybercrime is a dynamic landscape, with not only the types of attacks but the nature of the operators or gangs involved becoming ever-more sophisticated. Understanding the ecosystem in which cyber criminals operate is the first step in understanding and managing the risks involved. In their latest article, our cybersecurity partner Mitigo delve into the evolving methods of extortion, referencing an interesting study which compares cocaine trafficking in the 1990s with modern day ransomware. Check out the full article in the story below.

We have received a couple of announcements from Innovate UK about projects that are being launched next week in partnership with Germany and Singapore – please see the article below for more details.

The latest data from the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) generally showed a modest improvement compared to the December reading but most countries/regions that we monitor are still in negative territory. The UK certainly fitted this model with its best reading since September, but this is still firmly in negative territory. Our article this week looks at the trends globally and includes our usual chart report summarising this data.

Again this week, we have split the economic news into the UK and Europe. The UK section is headlined by the MPC announcement of another increase in interest rates, although it looks like this might be the last increase we will see in the current cycle. We also look at the latest productivity data for the UK, along with some international comparisons.

In the Europe article we cover the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Index, which includes the latest capacity utilisation data. In line with the general improvement in the PMI’s, this is also suggesting that the worst may have past, with the ESI improving again but still below the long-run average. This section also covers the first estimate of European GDP for Q4-22.

Finally, the January edition of the MTA Business Survey is underway and you can access the questionnaire at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-jan23 – we hope that all members can spare a couple of minutes to participate – we would love to hear from you.

That concludes the Friday Brief of this week! We hope you have a great weekend and we’ll ‘see’ you again next week!

MITIGO – The Cybercriminal Ecosystem: Evolution and Extortion

There is a good reason why manufacturing companies are seen as a prime target by cyber attackers: they are heavily reliant on information and operational technologies. Disruption and downtime can bring their business to a complete standstill and threaten its very existence. Which is why, once inside your business systems, the attackers’ blackmail demands can […]

Budget must prioritise manufacturing, says EAMA

EAMA has called on the chancellor to use his Budget next month to identify an ambitious expansion of manufacturing as a priority for government. The term advanced manufacturing should be used to define how a product is made, rather than products or sectors, it says. In a pre-Budget submission, EAMA calls for a coherent, national, […]

National Apprenticeship week 6th – 12th February 2023

The MTA will be joining this years National Apprenticeship week by celebrating some of the fantastic apprentices that are employed by you. We will be running a feature on some apprentices on our Social Media Channels. If you would like to be involved, please contact Danny Reed [email protected] 07926 581669

Midlands Fraud & Cyber Seminar – 2nd March 2023

Fraud offences have risen by 25% and computer misuse by 89% in the year ending March 2022. These were the ﬁndings of an Ofﬁce for National Statistics survey when comparing with the year to March 2020. You’re invited to Lloyds Bank’s seminar at the Crowne Plaza NEC, where they will share information on the latest […]

ECONOMIC NEWS – EUROPE

European Commission Economic Sentiment Indicator and Capacity Utilisation, January 2023: The European Commission (EC) draws from a range of surveys to construct confidence indicators for six sectors of the economy and then uses five of these (financial services is not used) make up its Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI). The other point to note is that […]

ECONOMIC NEWS – UK

UK Interest Rate Increase and Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Report: At its meeting this week, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to increase the Bank Rate by 50 points to 4%, the highest rate for 14 years. This comes int eh context of the US Federal Reserve raising its benchmark […]

PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX FOR MANUFACTURING

The Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing produced by J P Morgan using the data from S&P Global improved slightly from the December reading but at 49.1 this only means a slower rate of contraction in activity. The rate of contraction in output and new orders both slowed and there was a slight increase […]

Innovate – R&D with Germany

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is inviting bids for funding for innovation projects involving at least one German SME. There is no limit to the size of the UK company. The project is for innovation in commercial products, processes or technical services and has a maximum grant of £400,000. Innovate’s budget for […]

Friday Brief