Friday Brief Intro (17/03/2023)

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! It’s been a busy week for the media so please enjoy the many stories we have for you today!

First up this week, one of the MTA’s Associate Members, ForrestBrown have an upcoming webinar that you won’t want to miss. By the very nature of the manufacturing technologies sector, MTA members invariably operate at the cutting edge of industry – automation, robotics and digitalisation. Patent Box works in conjunction with R&D tax relief, incentivising the full innovation life cycle. That means more funds for you to invest back into your business, powering the next product or process breakthrough. Find out more information in the story below.

The Innovate UK Materials and Manufacturing Vision 2050 sets out some thought-provoking considerations. It is aimed at stimulating interest, focus and action to make the UK a leading, world-class destination for advanced low carbon manufacturing. A link to the full publication can be found through a link in the story.

The government is introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme and will apply to those passengers visiting the UK or transiting the UK who do not need a visa for short stays of up to six months. Qatari visitors will be the first to apply for an ETA in October 2023 and the rest of the Gulf Corporation Council States and Jordan from February 2024. The new scheme will replace the Electronic Visa Waiver currently in place for the GCC states. Take a look at the story below for more information with a link to a Youtube video.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the UK’s technical authority on cyber security. The organisation’s core mission is to make the UK the safest place to live and work online. It has recently launched the latest phase of the Cyber Aware campaign, aiming to help sole traders, micro businesses and small organisations stay safe online. Each year millions of small businesses and organisations fall victim to unscrupulous cyber criminals, whether through hacking, ransomware or other cyber threats. More details can be found below.

Next up the MTA has two events coming up so make sure to get them in your diary’s. Our Spring Economic Update will be taking place at The MTC this year on the 20th April. The second event is a webinar with ForrestBrown mentioned at the beginning of the newsletter’s intro. This will be taking place on 29th March. Check out the story below to register.

Reform of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) is out for consultation. Questions include which occupations currently on the list should remain, which should be removed and which should be added at various Regulated Qualifications Framework levels (RQFs). There is a focus on occupations at RQF level 3 (A-levels or equivalent training or qualification) and above that are currently eligible for a Skilled Worker visa; and occupations below RQF3 that require substantial training/qualifications and prior experience and are facing severe and unexpected shortages. The consultation excludes jobs that have a salary above the general threshold rate, currently £25,600. Go to the story below to read more by Jack Semple.

The main economic event this week was, of course, the Budget Speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From a manufacturing perspective, there were things to admire, such as the introduction of full capital expensing to replace the super-deduction scheme which closes at the end of this month, but also disappointments such as nothing on the skills front and no movement in supporting R&D (other than for firms whose main business is in this field). We take a look at the highlights and lowlights in a special article this week.

Other than that, it has been a quiet week for economic news with just the European industrial production data to report – this showed an improvement in January but not by enough to outweigh the fall in December at the overall continental level at least.

We have a couple of European event announcements this week. Next Friday, CELIMO will present a webinar on the economic situation in Europe from the perspective of the manufacturing technology sector. We also have a reminder for those in the tooling side of our industry (not just manufacturers) about the ECTA (European Cutting Tool Association) annual conference which is being held in San Sebastian on Friday 26th May with a supporting programme running from Thursday to Saturday.

Finally, the MTA Business Survey for February will be closing early next week so, with thanks to those who have already replied, there is still time to get your input to us – you can do this using the online form at https://www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-feb23 and we hope you can spare a couple of minutes to give us your feedback.

That concludes the Friday Brief for this week! We hope you enjoy the stories and have a great weekend!

CELIMO ECONOMIC PRESENTATION

Next Friday, 24th March, CELIMO will present a webinar looking at the economic situation in Europe and the prospects for key end-user industries. The presentation starts at 0930. CELIMO is the group of Trade Associations representing importers and distributors in the manufacturing technology industry and the Secretariat is provided by MTA; our Statistician, Geoff Noon, […]

ECTA CONFERENCE 2023

A reminder that ECTA – the European Cutting Tool Association – is holding its annual conference in San Sebastian (Spain) on Friday 26th May with an associated programme running from Thursday to Saturday. Although ECTA represents manufacturers of cutting tools, the conference is open to all companies in and associated with this part of our […]

ECONOMIC NEWS

European Industrial Production, January 2023: The data on Industrial Production (IP) released by Eurostat this week showed an incomplete reversal of the fall in December with growth of +0.3% for the EU and +0.7% for the Euro-zone. Compared with January 2022, total IP increased by +1.0% in the EU and by +0.9% for the Euro-zone. […]

REVIEW OF THE UK BUDGET & OBR REPORT

The lead story this week, at least in economic terms, was the Chancellor’s Budget speech and the associated report from the OBR based on the various announcements. Jack Semple, Secretary of EAMA, has written a comprehensive review of the Budget, focusing largely on the consequences for Engineering companies, and this is attached below for you […]

Recruiting from abroad

Upcoming MTA Events

Webinar: Unwrapping the Patent Box for manufacturing technology businesses Wednesday 29th March 12.00-12.45 By the very nature of the manufacturing technologies sector, MTA members invariably operate at the cutting edge of industry – automation, robotics and digitalisation. As the businesses behind the advanced machinery that enables the creation of the products powering our economy, your […]

NCSC Cyber Aware Campaign

Who are the NCSC? The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the UK’s technical authority on cyber security. The organisation’s core mission is to make the UK the safest place to live and work online. It has recently launched the latest phase of the Cyber Aware campaign, aiming to help sole traders, micro businesses and […]

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) Rules laid in Parliament – Thursday 9 March

INNOVATE – UK MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING VISION 2050

The UK continues to be an important global player in both materials and manufacturing and sectors now face radical change, as the real impact of climate change and the practical actions needed to deal with it become more significant. This will give opportunities and challenges for the UK and will require research, innovation and new […]

ForrestBrown / Manufacturing Technologies Association Webinar

Unwrapping the Patent Box for manufacturing technology businesses: why changes to Corporation Tax mean you won’t want to miss out By the very nature of the manufacturing technologies sector, MTA members invariably operate at the cutting edge of industry – automation, robotics and digitalisation. As the businesses behind the advanced machinery that enables the creation […]

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