Friday Brief Intro 04/08/2023 (W31)

Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! What a wet beginning to this year’s August! Let’s hope the sun comes back out for the end of Summer!

Despite inflation creating huge challenges for businesses and consumers, and agree or disagree, it appears the UK Government is pushing ahead with their Net Zero agenda for 2050. The Auditel Journey To Net Zero Carbon Programme for the MTA membership enables members to decide which programme is best for their individual needs and initiate a programme at a low cost and with minimal demand on their staff. Take a look at more details in the story below.

This week, the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) announced that it will bring forward legislation to extend indefinitely the recognition of the CE mark on the market in Great Britain on a wide range of goods which are the responsibility of DBT. Note that Northern Ireland retains the use of the CE mark under the Brexit Protocol, so this announcement has no effect there. The goods covered include all types of machinery, including machine tools, measuring instruments and low-voltage electrical equipment but not medical devices or construction products as the latter are covered by other government departments. Find out more in the story.

During the holiday season, managing employees’ requests can be overwhelming and it demands a great deal of patience, strategic planning, and strong management skills to handle requests effectively. Citation has a great FREE guide on managing holiday leave that you can download below.

One of MTA’s Associates Members, Mitigo has a 8-minute Q&A with Mitigo’s Lindsay Hill and Kerrie Machin to discuss why you must get independent assurance to tackle your cyber risk and enable you to sleep at night. Listen through the link in the story.

Paragon’s Manufacturing Finance and Invoice Finance teams have provided Kent-based automotive parts supplier and refurbisher Brands Hatch Performance (BHP) with the support necessary to expand its operations and introduce credit line facilities to enhance services offered to its customers. Recognising the changes to the requirements of customers and the reduced reliability of supply chains brought about by the pandemic, BHP worked with Paragon’s SME Lending division to secure five-figure financing for a fourth-axis machining centre. Check out the full article in the story.

BSI have a new standard awaiting your comments this week. The proposal reads Additive manufacturing — Design — Directed energy deposition of metals. Take a look at the detail below.

After many delays, the government has launched a review of product safety legislation; although this is mainly about products sold to consumers rather than business-to-business sales, members may well have views on at least some of the elements covered by the review. Please take a look at the article, which includes a link to the consultation and let us know if you have any specific points you would want to raise.

We cover the two major economic announcements this week in separate articles. In its own piece, we reflect on the very weak data from the manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for July; the global average remains below the crucial 50 level and only 4 countries/regions are in positive territory this month. The UK reading fell again and now matches the post-pandemic low recorded last December and the Euro-zone index also declined; Asia, with the notable exception of India, is also well below par as are the Americas, although this region saw the most improvements compared to the June readings.

In our Economic News article, we take a look at the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to raise UK interest rates again this week. Perhaps the most significant change is in the signalling that they expect rates to remain at or above 5% at least into 2025. While the Bank now thinks the UK will avoid a recession, it does not expect growth to get above +1% until 2026 – this is noticeably more pessimistic than most other forecasters, although their expectations are still not great. We also have the first look at the GDP figures for the 2nd quarter from the EU – the UK data for this measure will be out next Friday.

Finally, the July edition of the MTA Business Survey is underway and you can access the questionnaire at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-jul23 – we hope that members can spare a couple of minutes to participate – we would love to hear from you.

That concludes the Friday Brief for this week! We hope you enjoy your weekends and we look forward to ‘seeing’ you again next week!

ECONOMIC NEWS

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 to increase the Bank Rate by 25 points to 5.25%. The vote was divided with 6 members in the majority opinion; the 3 who had another view were split between […]

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 was unchanged from the June reading of 48.7 and, therefore, level with the post-pandemic low point of December 2022. Output contracted at an accelerated pace and new orders fell for the 13th consecutive month. This trend […]

Product safety review – consultation

The government has launched a three-month consultation to ensure that regulation on product safety is “fit for the future”. It aims to: It is a lengthy consultation with 23 questions – here is a flavour of them: The consultation has been much delayed, due in part to frequent changes in responsible ministers but its publication […]

BSI Standards

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/8 – “Additive manufacturing” for consideration when deciding the UK response to the associated Standards Development Organisation. Proposal: ISO/ASTM PWI 52922, Additive manufacturing — Design […]

Brands Hatch Performance receives asset and invoice financing from Paragon to boost operations

Paragon’s Manufacturing Finance and Invoice Finance teams have provided Kent-based automotive parts supplier and refurbisher Brands Hatch Performance (BHP) with the support necessary to expand its operations and introduce credit line facilities to enhance services offered to its customers. Brand Hatch Performance, based near the world-famous racing circuit, is a family-run business that provides customers […]

Mitigo Cyber Q&A: The Importance of Independent Assurance

In this 8-minute Q&A, Mitigo’s Lindsay Hill and Kerrie Machin discuss why you must get independent assurance to tackle your cyber risk and enable you to sleep at night. Listen nowhttps://on.soundcloud.com/1mrC6

CE mark recognition & Product Safety

Citation: Holiday season is here!

During the holiday season, managing employees’ requests can be overwhelming and it demands a great deal of patience, strategic planning, and strong management skills to handle requests effectively. To avoid holiday-related stress, Citation has a great FREE guide on managing holiday leave. Prevent holiday request bottlenecks and ensure a smoother year for everyone. Download now: […]

Carbon Programme For MTA Membership

Despite inflation creating huge challenges for businesses and consumers, and agree or disagree, it appears the UK Government is pushing ahead with their Net Zero agenda for 2050. Across much of the world the focus on the ‘carbon agenda’ is continuing to rise, with greenwashing, carbon credits and the overall agenda coming into sharp focus […]

Friday Brief