The Engineer

January's top 10 engineering business stories

News

Each month, The Engineer picks 10 of the most notable news stories from our Business Briefs archive. It seems 2012 got off to a ’defensive’ start, with the majority of our most-read briefs concerning significant military contracts. Large orders were made for aircraft, while other organisations signed agreements aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

First, though, we turn to an article that held some good news for the UK manufacturing sector — the launch of a national programme to help small and medium manufacturing businesses grow. Business minister Mark Prisk and the Manufacturing Advisory Consortium (MAC) announced that the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is now available to all manufacturing businesses across England.

It was estimated that the MAS will help generate £1.5bn in economic growth, create 23,000 jobs and safeguard 50,000 existing jobs. Prisk said: ‘Manufacturing contributes half of Britain’s exports and has much higher productivity than the rest of the economy, so it is essential to our plans for growth. That is why we are taking steps to ensure that our industrial base is thriving as part of a strong and balanced UK economy. The MAS will play a key role, providing tailored advice to businesses, helping them to grow and thrive, with a specific focus on helping SMEs to improve competitiveness and unlock their growth potential.’

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