Friday Brief – (06/10/2023) W40

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! Is it really October? With the weather looking very warm this weekend I’m sure there will still be a few Barbecues taking place.

Let’s start off this week with a note regarding an update from the UK government. The skills bootcamps site on gov.uk has been updated, with the latest tranche of courses, including those in engineering and in digital skills. In principle, bootcamps may have much to offer the engineering sector, not least in up-skilling existing employees. Take a look through the links in the story below.

Today we have a story by Croner on the ethnicity pay gap in Great Britain. The statistics, released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that on average, ethnic minorities earn 3.8% less than white ethnic groups. However, it was also found that Chinese and Indian ethnic group workers have higher than average earnings than white British employees. In 2018 specifically, employees from a Chinese background earned 30.9% more than white British employees. More statistics and information on the topic can be found in the story.

Jack Semple from EAMA has some key points and comments on prime minister Rishi Sunak’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, October 4th. The PM appeared strongly Thatcherite, emphasising service, values, work and family, and promising tax cuts but not immediately. He sounded like Barack Obama, when he charted his route to becoming the first non-white PM. And he portrayed himself as a radical, repudiating much of what had gone before. Read more comments below.

The High Value Manufacturing Catapult is promoting a “Manufacturing Energy Toolkit”. A national pilot scheme is being run across their seven centres to help manufacturing SMEs cut their energy usage, cost and emissions. Find out more in the story.

Our Annual Forecast Seminar, once again kindly Sponsored by Marsh Commercial will be held at Cranfield University on the 19th October 2023. Spaces are filling up so make sure to register through the link in the story.

The MTA hosted a webinar this week with Auditel, a carbon consultancy, providing carbon audit, accounting and reduction planning to a wide range of businesses across multiple sectors. The session covered information needed to make an informed decision about journeys to Net Zero. You can watch the recorded webinar on YouTube, just click through to the link in the story. You can also check out the presentation slides.

The economic news this week looks at the September Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figures for the manufacturing sector which paint a gloomy picture. Although the Global average and the UK reading moved up from the August figures, they remain firmly in negative territory (implying a contraction in activity in the sector) and only 3 countries in our report (India, China and Greece) have an index above the crucial 50 level (this is down from 7 in August). Our article below looks at this in more detail and includes a set of charts illustrating the recent trends by country.

It is survey time again this week with the MTA Business Survey for September having been launched at the start of the week; this is one of the slightly longer surveys but, with thanks to those who have already replied, we hope that you will can spare a couple of minutes to participate – if you don’t have the launch email to hand, you can find the form at https://www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-sep23. For EIA members, your latest quarterly survey is also now live with the survey form at https://www.mta.org.uk/eia-quarterly-survey-3rd-quarter-2023.

Thank you for keeping up to date with us this week and we hope you have a wonderful warm weekend!

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 ticked up to 49.1 in September but is below the crucial 50 level for the 13th month in a row (note that India and South Korea were not included in the calculation this month due to […]

Understanding Your Journey to Net Zero

The MTA hosted a webinar this week with Auditel, a carbon consultancy, providing carbon audit, accounting and reduction planning to a wide range of businesses across multiple sectors. The session covered information needed to make an informed decision about journeys to Net Zero. Topics covered included: Details of the above can be viewed via the […]

Mitigo – Cybersecurity awareness month – A guide for ransomware prevention

It’s cybersecurity awareness month and our cybersecurity partner Mitigo are sharing helpful advice and guidance. This week they are helping practices with a strategy to defend against ransomware attacks. This guide highlights the five layers of defence that you should have lined up against this threat to keep your business secure. Download ransomware guide –

MTA Forecast Seminar – 19th October

Our Annual Forecast Seminar, once again kindly Sponsored by Marsh Commercial will be held at Cranfield University on the 19th October 2023. Agenda 09:30 – 10:00 Registration 10.00 – 11:00 Global Macro-Economic Outlook – Ben May, Director of Global Macroeconomic Research, Oxford Economics 11:00 – 11:20 Refreshment Break 11:20 – 12:10 Forecasts for Key Industries […]

Cut your energy costs and Grow your Bottom Line

The High Value Manufacturing Catapult is promoting a “Manufacturing Energy Toolkit” A national pilot scheme is being run across their seven centres to help manufacturing SMEs cut their energy usage, cost and emissions. The Manufacturing Energy Toolkit can help you to protect your business from future shocks and price increases. HVMC experts have the experience and industry know-how […]

CRONER – The Ethnicity Pay Gap in Great Britain

The official figures The statistics, released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that on average, ethnic minorities earn 3.8% less than white ethnic groups. However, it was also found that Chinese and Indian ethnic group workers have higher than average earnings than white British employees. In 2018 specifically, employees from a Chinese background earned 30.9% […]

Rishi Sunak’s speech

Some key points and comments on prime minister Rishi Sunak’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, October 4th. The PM appeared strongly Thatcherite, emphasising service, values, work and family, and promising tax cuts but not immediately. He sounded like Barack Obama, when he charted his route to becoming the first non-white PM. And […]

Bootcamp update on gov.uk

The skills bootcamps site on gov.uk has been updated, with the latest tranche of courses, including those in engineering and in digital skills. Bootcamps are funded courses in England of up to 16 weeks for those looking for a job or for employers wanting to progress existing employees into more senior roles within the business. […]

Friday Brief