Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
Firstly we would like to thank everyone who exhibited at or visited MACH 2016 last week in Birmingham. The event was a great celebration of the UK manufacturing sector and we’re pleased to report that visitor numbers were up 10% on the 2014 edition of the show.
We’ve had some great feedback on the show particularly on the Learning & Development Zone and would like all the companies who provided apprentices to staff it and provide tours. A special thank you goes out to the headline sponsors of the L&D Zone, Sandvik, and all the companies who provided additional support - it wouldn’t have been able to happen without all of your support. During the week over 3,000 engineers of the future passed through the Zone.
Following MACH 2016 our next event is only a few weeks away. The Members’ Forum and Spring Economic Update will be held on 4th May at the MTC, Coventry. The half day is free to attend but we ask that you register your attendance at
http://www.mta.org.uk/spring-economic-update-members-forum-4-may-2016
It is that time of year again when our annual Technology, Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge for students aged 14-19 years is open for submissions. The competition helps teachers and lecturers to showcase the great work of their D&T and Engineering students. It is a fantastic way to celebrate the creativity and innovation taking place inside the curriculum. Find out more details on how a school close to you could apply below.
As part of Exporting is GREAT, the government's initiative to inspire and support 100,000 additional exporters, UKTI will be hosting Exporting is GREAT week this April. Previously called Export Week, the week will run from 18-22 April and will see every region host a series of events, aimed at encouraging both new and experienced exporters to explore fresh opportunities. Details of events in your region can be found within the Brief.
A two day introduction to the basic concepts for producing CAD 3D models and orthographic projection drawings, 3rd - 4th May 2016, AMRC Training Centre
The latest outlook from the Bank of England’s Agents’ shows that manufacturing’s recent flat trend is continuing, something that is reflected in the European data which was published last week, although this also highlights that the Capital Goods sub-sector is generally the best (or least worst) performing. Also this week, the continued weakness of the US manufacturing sector, despite them having the fastest growing G7 economy, is highlighted by the latest data from AMT.
Thank you for reading and we’ll be back next week with more industry news. Until then have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA.