Welcome to the Friday Brief for the 6th May. Appropriately the first seasonally warm week of the year saw the MTA stage a Spring Update Seminar to our market forecasts. The Association has long published a half yearly update of our Forecast which is published in the Autumn, but this was the first year in a long time in which we have run an event to give members a chance to delve into the revised data a little more deeply. The event coincided with an MTA Member’s Forum at which MACH 2016 was discussed along with the MTA’s portfolio of member services.
One thing which emerged from the Forum was that members really welcomed the early publication of dates for diaries, key events for the next year or so are below:
- National Manufacturing Debate: Cranfield University: 25 June 2016
- 2nd UK Industrial Surface Engineering Conference: Cranfield University: 30 June 2016
- Inter Association Golf Day: Woburn Golf Club: 5 August 2016
- MTA Members Golf Day: Forest of Arden: 1 September 2016
- Forecasting Seminar: Renishaw, Wotton Under Edge, Gloucestershire: 20 October 2016
- AGM and Parliamentary Reception: Westminster: 6 December 2016
- MTA Annual Dinner: Westminster Park Plaza Hotel; 23 March 2017
One service that many MTA members find very useful but others may be unaware of is our contract price adjustment service. Provided by our colleagues at BEAMA, and subscribed to by the MTA, this gives you an independent way to adjust prices which may be susceptible to input costs by giving a monthly track of key indices on labour and materials costs. Of course, you need to get the principle and the relevant formulas included in the contract, but this gives you a way of updating the relevant prices independently. For more information click on the story below or contact Geoff Noon at gnoon@mta.org.uk.
More immediate economic news than our forecast was that this week the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the UK fell to its lowest level since February 2013 in recording its first negative trend for 3 years at 49.2. While no-one was expecting strong growth, this still came as something of a surprise; both production and new orders were lacklustre and the index was turned negative (i.e. below 50) by a fall in both employment and stocks of purchases. From a chart in the report, investment goods looks to be about the same as manufacturing overall, while consumer goods is the weakest of the major sub-sectors. There were also some reports of uncertainty regarding the oil & gas industry, the retail sector and the EU referendum.
The April edition of the MTA Business Survey was launched earlier this week and remains open for Members to respond. This is the first overview of the sector following MACH, so we would encourage all members to participate in this important survey (with thanks to those who have already sent their figures. You can access the on-line form at http://www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-apr16 - we look forward to your participation.
Its happy birthday to the Midland Assembly Network a group of companies, some of them MTA members who collaborate across a range of functions particularly in respect of marketing. MAN which is marking its tenth year focusses on winning new business, not least in export markets. You can find out more below.
The AMRC were celebrating this week with the donation to them by First Group of a Bus. The vehicle will be a refitting project for Apprentices at the training centre and then be used by the Centre to boost their outreach work with schools.
Have a good weekend.