Friday Brief (1/12/2023) W48

Good afternoon and welcome to the first Friday Brief of December! Who’s putting up the Christmas decorations this weekend? A couple of mince pies won’t go amiss!

Let’s begin today with some exciting news! The early bird rate for our MTA Annual Dinner 2024 has now been extended until the end of December. Make sure to book your tickets before the standard price comes along in the new year. More details on the event can be found in the story below along with a link to book.

Croner have released a new guide that will walk you through some key points on apprenticeships and how they can benefit your business. Apprenticeships could be the solution to ensure you’re educating your existing or new staff. They are a brilliant way of bringing new skills and talent to your business. Through this process, you are able to help fill skills gaps within your business, offer training and provide hands-on experience for young people in your industry. With apprenticeship participation rates increasing by 1.6% in the last 12 months, now is a great time to invest in the next generation of workforce. Read the full guide in the story below.

The MTA attended the UK Trade & Export Finance Forum in London, hosted by UK Export Finance (UKEF), where attendees learned about the introduction of more flexible, fast-track funding for small businesses. The maximum support for SME exporters under the scheme was doubling from £5m to £10m, allowing firms easier access to financing, to begin or expand their international sales with more flexible repayment terms. Take a look at the story below to find out more.

Get ready to unwrap the joy of the season with the Croner Christmas Giveaway Event! As part of The MTA’s ongoing partnership with Croner, we’re thrilled to invite you to participate in this exciting contest exclusively for association members. Register for the Croner Christmas Giveaway Event for a chance to win practical gifts like Free Business Health Checks, Goody Bags, Free Document Reviews, and much more! Each registration grants you an entry for each day of the event, increasing your chances of winning big. Check it out below and get involved!

BSI have a new Standards Update Booklet which provides information on BSI committees the MTA attends, the standards under revision in each committee and the development stage of each standard under revision. Find a link to the booklet in the story below.

We know it can be difficult to stay on top of all the recent changes, trends and legislation updates in the HR and Health & Safety world. Our Associate Member Citation have made things simpler for you! Join their free 60-minute webinar on the 5th of December 2023 at 2pm for a complete run down of all the key HR and Health & Safety legislation you need to know. Secure your spot through a link in the story.

We are excited to announce our involvement in a news-style programme Sustainable Solutions Towards Net Zero, produced by ITN Business. The online programme features James Selka, CEO of the MTA and The AMRC as part of it. Take a look at the story below to watch the video.

Last weekend, the Government published its Advanced Manufacturing Plan which followed up ion the announcements made the previous weekend and as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. It gives some more details on a range of announcements, including the £4.5 billion for various manufacturing sectors, extending the Made Smarter programme across England and £50 million to explore ways to stimulate training in these key engineering industries. It also announces the establishment of an Industry Forum on access to finance for manufacturers and the extension of tax incentives in freeports and investment zones which will focus on advanced manufacturing industries. This is the most significant set of announcements for our industry in many years and it is worth taking a look at this in detail – Jack Semple, Secretary of EAMA has prepared a summary of the document and which forms the basis of our article below.

As this is the first day of the month, it sees the release of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing. Our publishing schedule means that we won’t get the global average or the figures for the Americas until later but the general story in the data that has been published so far is that, while still mostly below the crucial 50 level, there has been an improvement compared to October. This was certainly true for the UK which came out above the flash estimate that we reported last week but the index is still pointing to a contraction in activity in the manufacturing sector. Take a look at the article below for more details on the situation in Europe and Asia.

Our Economic News article this week covers the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Index which improved slightly this month while remaining below its long-run average; m this came despite a broadly flat trend for the industry sector. The survey also included the latest results of the EC’s investment survey which mostly pointed to a weakening of the outlook for 2023 with the initial view of 2024 suggesting a mixed picture by country that results in a flat trend overall.

Finally, the November edition of the MTA Business Survey will be launched today – the email is sent to all full MTA members, so please look out for that later – alternatively, you can access the form at https://www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-nov23. We hope that you can spare a couple of minutes to participate in this survey which is designed to give a quick overview of the latest situation for the manufacturing technology spectrum in the UK against which you can compare your own situation.

Thank you for keeping up to date with us this week. We hope you have wonderful weekends!

ECONOMIC NEWS

European Commission Economic Sentiment Indicator, November 2023: The European Commission (EC) draws from a range of surveys to construct confidence indicators for five sectors of the economy and then uses these to calculate up its Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) which is converted to an index based on the long-run average. The November* reading showed a […]

PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX FOR MANUFACTURING

The November data for the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for manufacturing is, so far, generally moving in an upward direction but mostly still indicating that activity in the sector is contracting. Because the data is published today, our publishing schedules mean that we don’t yet have the data for any of the countries on […]

Advanced Manufacturing Plan 2023

The government has, at last, published its long-awaited Advanced Manufacturing Plan, which sets out the actions it is taking for the UK “to be the best place in the world to start and grow a manufacturing business”.The Plan, from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), made the Sunday newspapers on November 26th, four days […]

ITN Sustainability Programme

We are excited to announce our involvement in a news-style programme Sustainable Solutions Towards Net Zero, produced by ITN Business. The programme delves into the collective commitment of organisations to combat climate change through innovation, collaboration, and a unified vision and highlights how businesses are championing sustainability, propelling transformative change, and spearheading the journey towards […]

Citation Webinar: 2023 in review – How to prepare your business for 2024

Are you set for 2024? We know it can be difficult to stay on top of all the recent changes, trends and legislation updates in the HR and Health & Safety world. But with Christmas coming up, have you made time to review these before the new year? If not, no need to worry! Our […]

Update on Governments UK Export Finance

BSI Standards Booklet – November 2023

Please find a link below to Standards Update Booklet which provides the following information: · The BSI committees the MTA attends · The standards under revision in each committee · The development stage of each standard under revision. This document is updated and distributed every 3 months. It is available via the MTA’s Friday Brief […]

Croner Christmas Giveaway Event – A Chance to Win Daily Prizes!

Croner – Apprenticeships – A solution to the increasing skills gap?

A report from the Oxford Learning College suggests that around 40% of current workers in the UK don’t have the right qualifications for their job, either being underqualified or overqualified. It is estimated that by 2030, 20% of the UK workforce will be significantly under skilled for their jobs. Rishi Sunak acknowledged this matter during […]

The MTA’s Annual Dinner 2024

Have you booked your ticket to the MTA Annual Dinner 2024? If not you’re in luck! The early bird rate has now been extended until the end of December! The dinner will be held on Thursday 18th April at the Vox centre onsite at the NEC. The event will be business attire – no black […]

Friday Brief