Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
As time passes and we are still without an agreement on a Brexit Deal between the UK and the EU, the risk of the UK leaving without a Deal in place, which almost no one says they want, is growing. The MTA strongly believes that a Deal would be advantageous not least in that it would offer a transition period for Businesses to adapt while the final status is hammered out. But the risk is growing so this week we wrote to all members with information and signposted links to help with your No Deal planning and we have reproduced that information below.
We have an update from EMO Hannover, where two Astrophysicists are looking to optimise milling. The pair have developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that makes use of the latest statistical analysis methods developed for astrophysics. They have successfully deployed the software for door assembly by a German premium car manufacturer, but are now looking to conquer the metalworking market as well. They are hoping to discover potential applications in Hanover in September.
Turning to Turkey, Bursa’s aerospace and defence companies, are arranging a fully funded inward mission to Bursa’s innovative cluster to develop UK-Turkey partnerships in defence, automotive and machining, civil aerospace and interior design. They are looking to find new UK partners and would like to meet UK companies with their members and get exposure to the capability and incentives in the region. Details on how to get involved can be found within the Brief.
We have an update from CECIMO, who held a stakeholder session during the EU Industry Days 2019 on Manufacturing and 4.0 Skills, find out what was discussed in the story below.
The National Apprenticeship Service are planning their next webinar for employers and employer-providers on the subject of Recruit an Apprentice: how employers can advertise and manage their own apprenticeship vacancies through the apprenticeship service. The webinar is taking place on Wednesday, 20 February 2019 12:00pm. Information on how to register is available in the story below.
The manufacturing output data released at the start of this week by the ONS made dismal reading, made slightly worse by the fact that it reflected a weak end to a year that had started promisingly. The final quarter of 2018 saw a fall in output for total manufacturing, the capital goods sub-sector and all four of the key user industries that we track; the only bright spot was the residual strength of the transport equipment industry (mainly railway equipment and motor cycles) which did see strong growth throughout 2018. With the construction sector also in negative territory at the end of 2018 and weakness in some parts of the service sector, the pace of growth for the UK economy slowed in Q4 and the year as a whole came out at +1.4% - this is the same level as in 2012 and the joint slowest since the depths of the recession in 2009. There are more details on both datasets in the article this week.
That’s all for this week we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news and views, until then have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA.
