Friday Brief Intro 07/01/2022

Good afternoon and welcome to the first Friday Brief of 2022! We hope you all had a relaxing Christmas break.

First up this week we have a note from our MACH team. Next Tuesday (11th January) please join our free session focusing on operations, sponsorship & advertising opportunities and lead generation. This session is great for exhibitors who are new to MACH or just need a bit of a refresher. Find out how to register for the webinar below.

This week we also have a couple of updates from the government. The government has reintroduced the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) and announced an extension to the self-certification period for sickness from seven to 28 days. Both of these are temporary measures to help businesses through the current wave of infections and we have more details, including the relevant links in the 2 stories below.

From 1 January 2021, the UKCA mark became the conformity assessment for newly manufactured goods being sold in the Great Britain (GB) market, replacing the CE mark. To find out what UK companies need to do to continue using the CE marking, to sell into the Europe(EU)and Northern Ireland(NI)markets please read the document attached to the story below.

SHEP (Safety and Health Engineering Partnership) will be hosting a webinar entitled ‘A Closer Look at DSEAR’ on Thursday 27th January from 12.00pm-1.00pm. The webinar is designed to provide attendees with information relating to DSEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations). For details on speakers please read the story below.

The headline data this week is the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data for the manufacturing sector; this remains positive for most countries, including the UK although there is a fairly even split between those countries that saw a lower level than in November and those who reported an acceleration. There are tentative signs from slower growth in suppliers delivery times, an increase in stocks of materials and components and an increase in output that the supply chain crisis may be easing, although it is far from being solved.

Most of our economic news this week is a round-up of data that was published just before Christmas, including the UK national accounts which showed a downgrading of the GDP growth rate for the 3rd quarter to +1.1%. There were also updates on the investment data for the 3rd quarter which showed spending on ICT & Other Equipment accounting for almost one-third of business investment, its highest share since 2014 and a tentative sign of the impact of the super-deduction allowance which mainly applies to this type of capital expenditure.

There is new data for UK car registrations in 2021; this is not something we usually cover but the annual figures highlight the extent to which electric vehicles of various types are capturing increasing parts of the car market. We also have the latest results from the CBI Industrial Trends Survey which follows largely the same pattern as the PMI figures with improving business in the context of supply chain disruption. Finally in this section, the CECIMO Toolbox publication covering the 3rd quarter of 2021 has been published and we have a brief summary and the link to download this.

We have a piece below on the new customs codes for most types of metal forming machinery which have been applied from 1st January and also details of the new codes for additive manufacturing machinery. If you export and/or import these types of equipment, take a look at the article

Finally, the December edition of the MTA Business Survey is underway and you can access the questionnaire at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-dec21. We encourage all MTA members to take a look at the survey and consider if you can spare a couple of minutes to participate – we would love to hear from you.

Thank you for keeping up to date with us this week! Have a great weekend and Happy New Year!

28-day self-certification for sickness

The government has asked that we highlight the new, temporary, self-certification period for sickness, increased from seven to 28 days. Employers cannot ask employees for proof of sickness until they have been off for 28 days or more, effective from December 10th 2021. The 28-day rule expires on January 26th 2022, when the period reverts […]

Note from the Organisers | Exhibitor Information Day

Following on from our online session on marketing your presence at MACH 2022 (which can be viewed Here if you missed it) we are holding our next session focusing on operations at 11.00am on Tuesday 11th January. This hour-long seminar will focus on the following topics: Operations: Official Contractors ‘who’s who’ Key Deadlines Access Schedule Floorplans & Technical Information Sponsorship […]

CHANGES TO CUSTOMS CODES

A reminder that the customs codes for most metal forming machines changed on 1st January. There is also now a specific set of headings for additive manufacturing machinery rather than having to find somewhere general to report these machines. Every 5 years, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) updates the global system of customs codes for […]

ECONOMIC NEWS

UK National Accounts, 3rd Quarter 2021: Just before Christmas, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the national accounts for the 3rd quarter of 2020. At the whole economy level, the main interest in this is the revisions to the GDP data back to the start of 2020 which has meant an upward adjustment to […]

PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX FOR MANUFACTURING

The Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing produced by J P Morgan using the data from IHS Markit was unchanged from the November reading at 54.2. As we will see, most of the countries covered had positive PMI readings (that is, they are above 50) although there is an almost even split of those […]

DSEAR webinar on January 27th

SHEP (Safety and Health Engineering Partnership) will be hosting a webinar entitled ‘A Closer Look at DSEAR’ on Thursday 27th January from 12.00pm-1.00pm. The webinar is designed to provide attendees with information relating to DSEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations). Speakers include Peter Slee-Smith who heads up Dodman DSEAR, a company that specialises in helping […]

CE, UKCAand CE&UKNI Marking

From 1 January 2021, the UKCA mark became the conformity assessment for newly manufactured goods being sold in the Great Britain (GB) market, replacing the CE mark(for second hand goods see paragraph 5.9). This document provides a brief overview of what UK companies need to do to continue using the CE marking, to sell into […]

SSP Rebate Scheme for SMEs

The government is reintroducing the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS). This will be a temporary scheme to support employers facing heightened levels of sickness absence due to COVID-19 and will refund SME employers’ COVID-related SSP costs for up to two weeks per employee. SMEs are defined here as firms with fewer than 250 employees. […]