Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
We’re looking forward to MACH 2020 as it is now only a few short months away. We take a closer look at the Metrology Zone at the exhibition to give to a feel of what will be on show there.
Our biennial survey of charges made by members for service engineer visits is still open for replies; we only sent this to the type of companies likely to have this service, but we may have missed someone who would like to participate in this survey. If you need a copy of the form, please e-mail Geoff Noon at MTA (e-mail: gnoon@mta.org.uk).
The Chancellor announces new plans to help businesses that trade with Europe prepare for October 31. HMRC is stepping up efforts to ensure businesses are ready to trade post-Brexit by automatically enrolling companies in an important customs system and doubling the numbers registered, the Chancellor announces this week (Wednesday, 21 August). For more details please see below.
EMO Hannover 2019 is just a few short weeks away now. At the exhibition they will be showcasing a wide range of additively manufactured workpieces in the additive manufacturing circle. See within the Brief for more details on this. We have free tickets to give away for the exhibition, so if you’re interested email events@mta.org.uk for more details.
The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has scaled new heights, playing a key role in a new world record for the number of people playing the same piano at the same time. Find out how they managed to do it below.
A free workshop, led by MTA members, 4CM Ltd, will guide you through the complexities of inbound and account-based marketing and provide fresh guidance to support the business development activities of MTA members. The Inbound Marketing for Manufacturers Workshop will be held in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 18th September. if you would like to attend see within the Brief for more details.
Croner, our trusted HR and employment law partner, have provided us with a blog piece for this week explaining ‘What is new in employment law’ outlining some of the main changes to have recently taken place for businesses to note.
Although still relatively weak, there was a small improvement in the CBI Industrial Trends Survey published this week; output was broadly flat and although orders were “below normal”, this was much less so than in the previous survey. The other news this week comes from the USA where the demand for machinery continues to slow with a fall of -13% in the first half of the year; this is expected to accelerate in the second half with last August and September having been record high levels. The cutting tool market is still growing - up by +3% in the first half of the year - but a much slower pace than we have seen over the past 12-18 months.
That’s all for this week, we would like to wish you a relaxing bank holiday weekend, we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news and views.
