Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
Some of you might have noticed a slight error with the intro text in last week’s edition, we had a few technical issues at MTA towers but that’s all been fixed now.
First up we would like to remind you about or membership loans and grants which many members will be eligible to apply for. We have a range of options open to upskill your current work force or help you invest in taking on an apprentice. To find out more see the below story.
We have learnt of a scam that is affecting engineering companies in Yorkshire and the east of England. Be very suspicious of anyone arriving at your premises and offering a tool sharpening service, particularly from a company called P.S.J. Tooling, full details below.
Based on solid booking numbers, the European production of machine tools is set to grow by almost 4% in 2017 and surpass a volume of 25 billion euro, according to CECIMO. In the story below there is also information on the recent General Assembly that took place in Rotterdam.
The Institute of Export and International Trade are holding a one day Advanced Financing of International Trade course which examines in detail the instruments of trade and payment performance. Topics covered during the course will include - Letters of Credit and Bonds & Guarantees, and how businesses can use these instruments as part of a Trade Finance suite to maximise business profitability and working capital. Find out how you can attend below.
If you are aware of any young people considering a manufacturing and engineering apprenticeship the EEF are holding one of their regular open days at Technology Hub in Birmingham. The next event takes place on 29th June 3pm – 7pm, email asevents@eef.org.uk to confirm your place.
The economic data this week covers a couple of structural data sets that have been released recently. The ONS analysis of exports and imports by industry shows good levels of growth in exports for the Machinery, Automotive and Aerospace industries which parallels the positive output data that we reported in last week’s Friday Brief, but although exports grew more strongly than imports in the 1st quarter of 2017, the UK still has a trade deficit in most of our key user industries - the exception being Aerospace. The Annual Business Survey carried out by the ONS gives us some structural data on issues such as employment and investment, but is also the only public data source that has a detailed industry breakdown and we cover a couple of interesting trends in the latest release of this data in the article.
That is all for this week, have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA and we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news.
