Welcome to this week’s packed edition of the MTA Friday Brief – please take a few minutes to check through our stories this week as, given the wide range of items, there is bound to be something of interest to you, even if it is only to find out who you can meet and where over Christmas.
In a week that has generated a number of headlines, we lead this week with information on the new tier structure which will apply in England from next Wednesday and there are links to guide you to the official advice on what you can do and where you can do it as well as the arrangements for the easing of restrictions over Christmas. In a separate Coronavirus article, there is information about making deferred VAT payments.
We also have a couple of items on Brexit this week with a general article covering new and updated guidance items including notes on product safety and intellectual property, with the other article being some specific information around the use of pallets which will affect some members. On the subject of Brexit, MTA has a two webinars over the next couple of weeks on the new immigration system and trading with the EU - you can find details of these on the MTA events page at https://www.mta.org.uk/events.
This leads us neatly into news of a webinar from CELIMO next Friday (4th December) - this will look at the current economic and industrial situation in Europe and the link to join the meeting is in the article below. This is one of a range of webinars and on-line presentations that we are covering this week which include the CECIMO Additive Manufacturing European Conference, a demonstration day being run by the MTC for their POWDERCLEANSE technology in Additive Manufacturing and an EU Exit Event being run by Make UK.
We had a technical glitch with the link on our item last week about the webinar on dealing with work-related stress being organised by the Safety and Health in Engineering Partnership (SHEP); we have now fixed this and it can be accessed via the article which we have included again this week.
The other major national news topic this week was, of course, the Government’s Spending Review. We have summarised the main topics that will affect business but there were a wide range of announcements so we have also included some notes prepared by EAMA and between us we think that this covers everything of relevance to readers from industry.
The other economic news this week was limited to the latest results of the CBI Industrial Trends Survey and the final data on UK R&D spending in 2019 which is led by the pharmaceutical and engineering industries.
We have updated the MTA Standards Booklet - this gives pointers to the BSI committees that MTA is represented on and the work that is going on across the standards field. Also on the technical theme, there is news this week of an ESPRC Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Proposal for research into how we maximise the value of manufacturing and manufactured assets through their entire life.
Finally, we also have details of the new EU Trade Portal that will take on extra importance for UK companies when the transition period has ended, information about the Substances of Concern (SCIP) database which the EU is adopting in the new year and which will affect some members companies exporting there and we highlight the new Made Smarter Adoption Report.
So, until we return next month (next Friday of course!), we hope you stay safe as England emerges from its month long lockdown - have a good weekend.
