This week's Friday Brief has landed, anchoring harpoons have fired and we have plenty of sunlight for our solar panels...
Following last week's news that an Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that overtime should be included in holiday pay; we have a factsheet on what this could mean for you. You can also find details of our Business Support Helpline in case you would like any additional information.
We also have details of a project by The National Physical Laboratory and the Universities of Huddersfield and Bath, who are seeking precision manufacturing suppliers to join the Rapid Machine Tool Calibration and Verification (RMTCV) project. This exciting, four year project, beginning in spring 2015 sets out to enable companies to optimise machine tool performance and achieve significant improvements to productivity, quality, cost and delivery.
If you've never been to the Houses of Parliament in London, the upcoming MTA House of Commons Reception is an opportunity to visit that should not be missed. As well as visiting one of the grandest buildings in the UK and the home of UK Politics, it is an excellent opportunity to meet MPs, Ministers and Government influencers to discuss your needs and the needs of the industry - details are below and there are only a handful of places left.
This week we have TWO open houses to invite you to. Yamazaki Mazak's Open House will run from 18th-21st November at Mazak's European Technology Centre and manufacturing plant in Worcester. It will feature 20 state-of-the-art machine tools. XYZ are also having an Open House on the 19th and 20th November at XYZ Nuneaton. This is their 30th year and you will find great savings on the entire stock of the Nuneaton Showroom.
In this bumper edition of the Friday Brief we also have two business opportunities to share. Kovosvit a Machine Tool Builder from the Czech Republic are seeking a UK Distributor and we have been approached by a manufacturer of grinding and finishing machines who are looking for an agent in the UK (and other European countries).
In economic news the GDP numbers show that growth in Europe is best described as modest, but there is at least growth in most countries; France had its best quarter this year, but only registered growth of +0.3% and perhaps the main concern is the Germany only managed +0.1% (having seen a decline of -0.1% in the 2nd quarter) and, on these figures at least, is threatening to stagnate – this would not be good for the European economy as a whole as Germany is a driver of growth in many other countries.
Enjoy the weekend, and feel free to send any news you would like to share with MTA members to olawson@mta.org.uk