Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
First up the MTA have been hosting a UK pavilion in Russia this week. This is the first time the MTA has hosted a pavilion at Metalloobrabotka alongside member companies Colchester Machine Tools Solutions, CGTech, Lapmaster Wolters, Matrix Machine Tools (Coventry) Ltd, PTG Holroyd and Renishaw. Read more in the story below.
Staying with international trade we have been in talks with the organisers of IMTEX 2019 with a view to having a UK pavilion in Bangalore, India next January. Please contact James Fudge for further details.
The European Union activated a blocking statute - a trade defence mechanism in response to the US sanctions against Iran. This mechanism bans the European companies, under threat of punishment, from complying with the US sanctions against Iran. The measure aims to neutralise the US (secondary) sanctions on European companies.
The MTA is an intermediary partner of the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), who have circulated the important information below with regards to the Apprenticeship Levy. Employers who pay the apprenticeship levy can now make a transfer to fund apprenticeships in another organisation.
DIT Mexico and The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) are hosting a Webinar on the Automotive Industry, export opportunities and a trade mission to Mexico this October.
Engineers at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) are leading the way in Collaborative Robotics research in a drive to help SMEs integrate the technology onto factory floors. Find out about the work they are doing below.
Most of our reports this week are international, but we do have the Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions – this continues to paint a positive picture for manufacturing, with export activity, either direct or indirect, as the main driver. In Europe, industrial production recovered in March but, in contrast to the UK, the capital goods sub-sector appears to be one of the weakest elements in this picture. What is true, however, is that overall economic growth is stronger in most of Europe than it is in the UK where, apart from Denmark, the UK is the slowest growing economy in the European Union. Completing the international picture, the latest data from the US shows strong growth in their market for both manufacturing technology (mostly machine tools) and for cutting tools.
GDPR covers the protection of both members and former members regarding the processing of their personal data. The MTA takes the view that as a member of the MTA we will keep you updated of our events and will send you information concerning MTA activities and that receiving our weekly e-newsletter and MTA materials are listed as benefits of membership. We are committed to the safe guarding of your personal data. Read below for more details.
That’s all for this week, have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA and we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news.
