Good morning from everyone in the MTA team.  Unusually for recent months, there is not much news around Coronavirus to bring you other than to note that different regions of the country are being affected by local lockdowns but which all seem to have slightly different rules.  There have also been some changes in the countries both in and out of the quarantine-free travel list - you can find the list for England at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors?utm_source=b927aabc-5651-4b13-a899-9b5de8fa7b25&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate.

However, we still have a wide variety of stories to keep you up to date with news and events in a number of areas and this is led by the other hot topic at the moment which is, of course, Brexit where we have an update on the status of various trade deals;  the agreement with Japan is awaiting ratification by their parliament but should be in place by the end of this year when we leave the EU-Japan Partnership.  There is also news about the UK wanting to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the importance for the European automotive industry of a UK-EU trade deal being concluded.

The UK Government is working on a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) which should be announced in the budget later in the Autumn and MTA wrote to the Chancellor this week setting out the need to support the manufacturing sector as it recovers from the Coronavirus outbreak and faces the end of the Brexit transition period.

We have details of webinars being put on by MTA members:

• Atlantic Technologies have an event on 24^th September to demonstrate their Salesforce and Tableau products.
• GOM UK have two webinars on 22^nd and 29^th September looking at how industrial 3D metrology helps to ensure quality and identify potential advancements in plastics technology.
• Cranfield University is launching a Manufacturing Technology and Management MSc course in January 2021 and is holding a webinar about the course on 19^th October.

Also this week, Cranfield University has announced their Manufacturing and Materials Week event which kicks off on Monday 30^th November;  this will be a mix of live debates, lectures, workshops and pre-recorded videos, looking at the challenges the industry faces right now, as well as how we must adapt and innovate to support future global challenges.

There is a reminder that UK companies can still access funding in EU projects and, specifically, the SME Instruments scheme to provide pan-European advanced manufacturing assistance and training for SMEs.

The economic news this week is led by the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to hold interest rates at 0.1% and the report from the Bank’s Agents that highlights the problems in the automotive, aerospace and oil & gas extraction sectors as we go through the recovery.  We also take a look at the European industrial production numbers for July which continue to show a recovery which still has a long way to run before pre-Coronavirus levels are reached and the latest numbers on the US market for manufacturing technology and cutting tools.  There is also a note about the regional grants scheme that still operates in Scotland.

Finally this week, we report that MTA was a signatory on a recent letter sent to the Secretary of State by BSI proposing the creation of a government expert advisory group on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).  We also highlight the new EAMA (Engineering and Machinery Alliance) web-site.

We will be back next Friday with more news for the manufacturing technology industry and its customers.  Have a great weekend and stay safe.