Manufacturing Automation UK
Over the years, there has been much debate with regard to automation and the impact it has on employment in the UK manufacturing industry. Much of this has been brought about by the promotion of Industry 4.0. In reality, it has been with us for years. Automation will take manufacturing jobs, but new types of jobs are evolving through automation, in just the same way that industries such as farming evolved to increase production through automation by using tractors, automated milking etc.
Accredited Living Wage employer, Mage Control Systems have been telling us how they have prioritised their staff’s mental health during the coronavirus crisis #InThisTogether
Just before lockdown Janet Menzies the owner and operations director of Mage Control Systems, attended the Scottish Mental Health First Aid Course. The course provides an understanding of a range of mental health issues and how people are affected by them. With most staff working from home and some on furlough, Janet realised that their mental health could be affected, especially if they were living alone.
Cyber Security: Time to Change
In a period of accelerated change where security experts predict a 40% increase in cyber-attacks, there has never been a greater need to protect your business and develop your cyber security capability.
A centre focused on carbon innovation is seeking entrepreneurs to join a programme that aims to get low carbon start-ups investment ready.
The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI) is recruiting for its EIT Climate-KIC Accelerator and ClimateLaunchpad programmes. The Accelerator programme gives low carbon start-ups the funding, tools and coaching they need to grow into great businesses. The deadline for submissions is Friday 29 May 2020.
Millions of people across the UK were furloughed on 80% pay
The number of UK firms going bust tumbled by a third last month thanks to Government life-support measures but companies may face greater risks as the economy emerges from coronavirus, according to a report. The steep drop comes after the Government launched its mammoth job retention scheme that has seen millions of people furloughed on 80% pay, as well as a raft of loan and finance support schemes.
The Scottish Government has today (5 May) published further information, following the original publication COVID-19: A Framework for Decision Making. This update sets out further information about the challenges Scotland faces and provides illustrative examples of the steps that might form part of the initial changes to the current lockdown restrictions. The document can be found
A face mask prototype that is aimed to help prevent the spread of coronavirus is being developed by a company in partnership with University of the West of Scotland academics.
Fabric engineering company tensARC is creating the product Face Gaiter for use by members of the public, particularly in work environments where social distancing is more difficult.
The aim is to carry out the project without interfering with supplies of PPE for frontline workers.
The coronavirus lockdown is leading to lasting changes in the way UK companies operate, according to new figures from the Institute of Directors.
In a survey of hundreds of business leaders, four out of ten said their organisation had made adjustments that they intend to keep in place after lockdown.
A £100 million package of additional grant support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and newly self-employed people opens for applications later today.
The three separate funds will be administered by local authorities and Scotland’s enterprise agencies and will begin to pay out grants in early May.
They include a £34 million hardship fund for the newly self-employed, a £20 million fund for small and micro enterprises in the creative, tourism and hospitality sectors and £45 million for viable SMEs crucial to the Scottish economy which are vulnerable.
Scottish SMEs are missing out on thousands of pounds of unclaimed research and development tax credits, it has been claimed.
Many businesses are unaware that they are eligible for this funding, which can be claimed against spending on research and development in a wide range of areas. In particular, companies that have repurposed their manufacturing lines to produce face masks, hand sanitiser and ventilators to support the Covid-19 relief efforts will be eligible to claim back money against the cost of staffing, consumables and the reworking of supply chains.
In an exclusive column for The Courier, Scottish Enterprise chief executive Steve Dunlop outlines his vision for economic recovery
Scottish Enterprise has welcomed Tuesday 21st April statement from Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop that an extra £100m will be made available to the newly self-employed and firms suffering hardship.
With a mission to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet.
Air navigation service providers across Europe will share a £1.1 billion support package to maintain services, as the fall in air traffic has led to a dramatic reduction in their income.
The UK, along with other European states, has supported the intergovernmental organisation, EUROCONTROL, which manages charging for air navigation services across Europe, in securing a loan of £1.1 billion to maintain critical air navigation services, which have been affected by the fall in air traffic from coronavirus.
A Fife firm has revealed it is working to supply more than 10 million temperature measuring chips, along with other technical supplies, to help in the global fight against coronavirus.
The Courier revealed last month how Semefab in Glenrothes received enquiries from four customers in China for 2.5 million non-contact thermostat measuring chips in the space of just 10 days in the early days of the pandemic.
15 Apr 2020
Part of: Coronavirus in Scotland, Business, industry and innovation
Dundee & Angus College and Dundee-based Coast Renewables have entered into a partnership to deliver training for the wind turbine sector.
The organisations are hoping to help develop a workforce that will be required for several major upcoming renewables projects.
D&A College will offer the Global Wind Organisations (GWO) basic technical training course which has been designed to greatly increase the number of skilled technicians around the world.
An Aberdeen subsea company has landed a contract to clear the seabed for a major windfarm development.
The team from Oceaneering, based in Dyce, will take on the work for the Moray East Offshore project.
It will clear the seabed route for the scheme in the Moray Firth.
Coronavirus Hardship Funding of £5m for Scottish Students
The Scottish government has announced extra emergency funding for University and College students. A £5m package of emergency financial support is being offered during the Covid-19 crisis. Students will be able to apply to their institutions to access the money, which is being made available straight away. Read more
https://www.gov.scot/news/extra-hardship-payments-for-students/
In true CeeD spirit, our partner and Growth500 content provider, Ethos Consulting have offered up their top tips to help CeeD members while working from home! See attached PDF documents below.
Keep your eyes peeled for a future webinar with Ethos Consulting!
CeeD member TRTL are pledging to donate 10,000 pairs of compression socks to NHS staff across the UK!
With the current global pandemic affecting lives all over the world, they wanted to give back to nurses who are combating COVID-19 at the front-line and are facing some of the toughest weeks and months of their careers.
The company have currently donated a total of 5,000 of their TRTL Compression Socks to acute nurses in six hospitals across Scotland and now pledge to give away an additional 5,000 to nurses in London
British engineering group @RenishawUK ramps up production of vital ventilator components at its factories in Gloucestershire and South Wales as part of a nationwide effort to help the NHS combat coronavirus https://bit.ly/2xWVFrV #UKmfg #GBmfg
JFD, a world leader in breathing apparatus, life support equipment and hyperbaric medical equipment to support life-critical applications and part of James Fisher and Sons plc, today announced that it will bring to market a new patient ventilator system to support global health systems in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
JFD has responded to the UK Government’s Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System call to manufacturers, to support the provision of essential medical equipment to the front-line NHS.
Our Partner/Member SCDI have been listening to members to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on members, business, organisation, sector and community or region and looking to harness a collective voice to inform government action.
Fast Fashion Is Being Left In The Slow Lane: Why The Days Of Cheap Clothes Might Be Over Forever
Andrew Busby Contributor - Retail: I write about consumer and tech trends & the challenges in retail
FAST START FUNDING - INNOVATE UK (Business-led innovation in response to global disruption)
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £20 million to respond to new and urgent needs in UK and global communities during and following the Covid-19 pandemic. Competition opens: Friday 3 April 2020 Competition closes: Friday 17 April 2020 12:00pm
Balhousie Care Group has launched a smartphone app for employees, as care home teams pitch in together during a challenging time.
The app, developed in a record 10 days by Balhousie Care’s in-house IT team, gives the group’s 1400 staff immediate and on-the-go access to company news, tips and guidelines, particularly surrounding Coronavirus.
The app features Coronavirus FAQs, a weekly staff newsletter, and how-to’s on subjects like hand-washing and putting on Personal Protection Equipment. There are also links to the latest news from Balhousie Care’s 26 homes.
This week I am writing to a number of individual businesses that are displaying the worst examples of payment practice by issuing standard communications to their entire supplier base advising that payments are going to be delayed or stopped. At this time of national crisis, every business is facing extraordinary pressure on cashflow. Although I understand the need to make commercial decisions in mitigation, I am concerned that this action will damage the supply chain, the economy and the reputation of their own business.
Foodmek has supported the Food, Drink & Pharmaceutical Industries for 47 years and has a wide experience in design, manufacture, and servicing of equipment used within these industries. In these challenging times, they believe they have capabilities that could be used to help support their critical national infrastructure.
The three Enterprise Agencies in Scotland indicate their role to help the economy alongside the support for the health crisis.
The Ventilator Challenge UK Consortium consists of a group of 14 companies and the manufacturing research centres in the UK.
Over the past week the consortium has been working hard to investigate production of a range of ventilator design options to meet a high-level specification for a Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System (“RMVS”) developed by clinicians and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”).
The consortium has evaluated all requirements to design, manufacture, assemble and test components, as well as finished medical ventilators.
Guidance for businesses in Scotland on social distancing, including the closure of all retailers that sell non-essential goods and other non-essential premises due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Technological innovation alone, however, is not enough to face the complex challenges of today’s disruptive world. Such thinking ignores the real and exciting synergies that can be created between human ¬potential and digital potential. There is choice in the way that technologies are designed and implemented – good choices blend technological ¬potential with human capacity for learning, creativity and innovation. Bad ¬choices remove people from the equation, and you can end up with expensive failures.
Blog by:
Deborah Miller, Partner, MacRoberts LLP
On Friday 20 March, the Government announced further measures to help businesses and employees in these uncertain economic times. The Government announced a new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to provide employers with access to “support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis”.