Last week’s poll: Has the weak pound been good or bad for your business?
17th October 2017 10:20 am
A relatively low turnout for last week’s poll (280) didn’t hinder the debate that accompanied our question about the weak pound and its impact on business.
Monthly indicators from the Purchasing Managers’ Index show that a drop in sterling has helped businesses exploit export opportunities, but it has also had a negative impact on input costs.
A third of respondents said that the fall in the pound has been detrimental, followed by 28 per cent who thought it had no effect.
Of the remaining 39 per cent, just under a quarter (23 per cent) thought it mildly beneficial, whilst 16 per cent agreed that the weak pound has been markedly beneficial.
In the debate that followed, David Mawdsley said: ‘An increase in export orders due to lower sterling and more competitive pricing has simply not happened, maybe due to general slowdown in manufacturing industry in other advanced countries.’
A certain John Sally Swigglebottom added: ‘Our suppliers work in Euros and Dollars. This has a direct effect on the company’s bottom line. The argument that a weaker Pound would automatically translate into bigger export orders is pure fantasy. Essentially our profits are down by 17%. Cheers Brexiters’.
Edward provided the following insight: ‘My company manufactures in the UK and the US and exports ~98% of our UK output to EMEA, AsiaPac and the US. We import some raw materials and some components from Asia (mainly Japan) and build some sub-assemblies in Asia and Europe.
‘Our markets are very competitive and our products have to be competitive in terms of performance, quality and cost or our customers will buy products from our competitors (mainly US or Japanese).
‘So, has the weak pound boosted demand or caused us problems with imported materials costs? The answer is no to both. What we try to do is balance the revenues and costs in particular currencies (where possible) and hedge currencies where it is not possible.’
The debate remains open and your comments are welcome below.
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Brexit related sterling fall fails to deliver UK manufacturing boost
9th October 2017 10:46 am
The output of the UK manufacturing sector is continuing to slow down, according to the latest Business Trends Report by accountants and business advisers BDO LLP.
Despite a slowdown some manufacturers remain optimistic
The latest BDO Manufacturing Output Index, which indicates how manufacturing businesses expect their order books to develop over the next three months, details a steep fall in confidence, with the index dropping by 5.6 points from July to August and a further 2.7 points in the following month.
According to the report the drop in manufacturing confidence is at the sharp end of a broader slowdown for the UK economy. BDO’s Output Index, which looks at all areas of business, declined to 99.9 from 100.3 in August, marking the first time that the index has been below its long-term growth trend of 100 since June of last year.
The report suggest that UK manufacturers still feel confident despite the decline in output growth. BDO’s Manufacturing Optimism Index – which indicates how optimistic firms within the sector are about their future order books – remains high at 108.7, only dropping 0.2 from August.
According to BDO, the difference between output and optimism suggests that businesses expect growth in their order books to increase towards the end of the year. This is despite BDO’s Inflation Index, which is now at its highest level since December 2012 standing at 101.4, indicates that manufacturers’ input prices will continue to increase.
Commenting on the findings, Tom Lawton, Partner and Head of Manufacturing, BDO LLP, said the boost from the Brexit-related fall in sterling that some had predicted has failed to materialise. “It seems clear that modern manufacturing supply chains are inherently transactional ...
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To All of Our Meaningful-People; Supporting-Producers; Informative-Incliners; Modern-Informants; Supporting-Investigators; Necessary-Officers; Informational-Supporters; Ongoing-Detectors; …:
The interesting- and-or, meaningful-ways, of-quite and ought, of ourselves and such: Supporting-means, and informative-, of-quite conceptions, of ourselves and else, to shall of much, to can thenceforth, to will of-quite and-or, to be among those -means, henceforth and ought, whenceforth and quite, by those -meanings, and instantaneous-, means of-quite, and informative-; and ought of-quite; and supporting-mean (s); henceforth and ought; of our even-selves; and purposeful-way (s); through and quite; whenceforth and much; of-quite and else; whence such and-or; by those -means; through and thence. 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To All of Our Meaningful-People; Supporting-Producers; Informative-Incliners; Modern-Informants; Supporting-Investigators; Necessary-Officers; Informational-Supporters; Ongoing-Detectors; …:
The interesting- and-or, meaningful-ways, of-quite and ought, of ourselves and such: Supporting-means, and informative-, of-quite conceptions, of ourselves and else, to shall of much, to can thenceforth, to will of-quite and-or, to be among those -means, henceforth and ought, whenceforth and quite, by those -meanings, and instantaneous-, means of-quite, and informative-; and ought of-quite; and supporting-mean (s); henceforth and ought; of our even-selves; and purposeful-way (s); through and quite; whenceforth and much; of-quite and else; whence such and-or; by those -means; through and thence. Informative-suppositions; and interesting- else; supports of much; and informative-concept (s); to will of-quite; and of ought thence; of such of-quite; and ought thence; of our supposing-; and informing-means; and provisional-need (s); to continue thence; to inform of much; and support people; reasonably and else; informatively and-or; of our productive-; selves of-quite; and of ought else; and of ourselves; and-or of much whence; by those -ways else; to ourselves and much; of our supporting-; and meaningful-people; of our globalized-; and interested-; measurements of else; and focal-principles; of our globalizing-; henceforth and ought; and conceptual- else; focal-purposes; henceforth and ought; of our informed-; means and else and-or; interesting-measures; and supporting-need (s); and informing-mean (s); and supporting-mode (s); through and ought; of-quite and much; thenceforth and whence; of our conceived and-or; conceptual-principles; and provisional-; henceforth and quite; conceptions of much; and informative-need (s); to continue whence; to inform of-quite; and by those -ways; support ourselves; and each other thus; interestingly whence; of our supporting-; and supposing-mean (s); and needful- measures; of our creative-; and globalized-ways; and informative-; measures of-quite; and supporting-; whenceforth and ought; of our impactful-; and purposeful-mean (s); through and ought; thenceforth and whence; by those -meanings; and of-quite and much; of ourselves and whence; interesting-others; and supporting-people; and productive-mean (s); and necessitated- thus; of-quite and ought; and informative-; whenceforth and thence; of ourselves and-or; supporting-means; and provisional-way (s); through and forth; of our meaningful-; and contemplative-; henceforth and ought; of our informed-; and meaningful-; and interesting-; necessities and quite; informative-modes; whenceforth and ought; of our supposing-; and necessary-; of-quite and ought; of ourselves and-or; meaningful-people; of our globalized-; and informed-means; and supposing-need (s); and rational-means; of-quite and ought; of our purposeful-; thenceforth and ought; of our meaningful-; and interesting-way (s); through and else. The necessary- and-or, meaningful-ways, whenceforth and quite, of ourselves and such, of our -others and-or, provisional-people, of our globalized-, and informed-people, of our necessitated-, henceforth and much, world (s) of -meaning (s), and supporting-mode (s), through and ought, whenceforth and such, in all of our meaningful-, and productive-means; and supporting-way (s); whenceforth and quite; by those -measurements; and informative-mean (s); and informed-means; and conceptual-needs; to continue thence; and to keep informing; and purposing to people; of our globalizing-; and interesting-mean (s); supporting-modes; of-quite and ought; whenceforth and such; of ourselves and ought; informative-people; of our globalized-; world (s) of information (s); and supporting- thence; supports of-quite; and meaningful-way (s); and informational-; thus of-quite and ought; and informed-means; henceforth and ought; of ourselves and such; supporting-people; of our purposed-; of-quite and ought; informed-means; of our supporting-; and necessitating-; world (s) of else; commercial-means; and provisional-; thenceforth and quite. 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Important-measurement (s), and necessitated-meaning (s), to can of-quite and, to will of ought thus, to be of much, to can whence or, to be of such means, of ourselves and-or, to be of-quite and else, to be of ourselves, and forth thence, to be of-quite else, of ourselves and-or, supporting-people, of our globalizing-, world (s) of information (s), and interesting-need (s); to continue thence, to inform and else, purpose people else, to -others of-quite, of our supporting-; and provisional-, needs of much, and by those -meanings, of-quite and ought, thenceforth and such, in our even-meaning (s), and of our provisional-; and measurable-way (s); through and forth; of-quite and thence; and by those -means; of ourselves and such; whenceforth and quite; of our -others; and supporting-people; of our globalizing-; and informing- else; and inclined-means; and professional-way (s); through and forth. 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Informative-support (s), and conceptual-needs; and interesting-mode (s); through and ought; of ourselves and-or; supporting-people; of our globalized-; and informed-means; and provisional-ways; through and else; thenceforth and quite; of supporting-people; and professional-; whenceforth and quite; of ourselves and-or; informative-means; of our productive-; and informing-world (s); of information (s); and of-quite and else; supporting-world (s); of our necessities; and meaningful-way (s); and informed-means; whenceforth and quite; by those -means; of much thence or; of our information (s); and supporting-mode (s); through and thence; of ourselves and such; supporting-people; of our globalized-; and informed-world (s); of informative-right (s)/-rite (s); and supporting-mean (s); of our globalizing-; world (s) of information (s); and necessitated-; whenceforth and quite; supporting-means; of much and else; and by quite thence; of our supporting-principle (s); and provisional-need (s); to continue thence; to inform of-quite; and support ourselves; and informative-others; of meaningful-extremes; of informational-measure (s).
Environmentalists and industry welcome UK’s Clean Growth Strategy
By Stuart Nathan 12th October 2017 12:54 pm
The government’s strategy for meeting environmental goals while ensuring economic growth has been welcomed as a move in the right direction
Offshore wind costs have fallen sharply in recent years
The government’s long-awaited Clean Growth Strategy, which aims to set out how the country will meet its commitments to reducing the environmental impact of industrial and domestic activities — especially those related to energy usage — while still encouraging economic growth has been greeted warmly by industry and environmental groups as a “very significant shift” and “worth the wait”. The strategy sets out what policies the government aims to use to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 57 per cent over the next 15 years.
The Clean Growth Strategy has had a long and chequered gestation. It began as a carbon plan, which morphed into an emissions reduction plan, and has changed again since the closure of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the rolling of energy policy into the overview of business secretary Greg Clark with the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Now more closely aligned with the government’s overarching industrial strategy, the Clean Growth Strategy and stresses the opportunities presented by environmentally-friendly technologies. “The low-carbon economy could grow at 11 per cent a year between 2015 and 2030, four times faster than the projected growth of the economy as a whole,” Clarke writes in his foreword to the 165-page document BEIS has published setting out the strategy.
The strategy sets out paths to improvements in energy efficiency of business and industry along with homes; accelerating the shift to low-carbon transport; delivering “clean, smart, flexible power”; enhancing the use of natural resources including forestry as a carbon sink and source of materials; and improving
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Building materials made from organic waste could help boost bio-economy
11th October 2017 10:56 am
Organic waste could be used to make building materials and then fed back into the biological cycle at the end of their service life, claims a new report from Arup.
Organic waste at landfill site
Currently managed through landfill, incineration and composting, certain forms of organic waste could be diverted to help the global construction industry reduce its use of raw materials. In the UK alone, WRAP estimates that the construction industry accounts for 60 per cent of all raw materials consumed.
Capturing organic waste streams from cities and the countryside could provide the industry with lower-cost, lower-CO2 building materials including bricks, insulation and partition boards. The report envisages a completely circular system with nutrients returned to the soil when building waste is fed back into the biological cycle.
According to Eurostat Data, over 40 million tonnes of dried organic waste from agriculture and forestry was produced in Europe in 2014, and the amount is growing year on year. A kilogram of waste incinerated for energy recovery has a value of approximately €0.85 but the same material used for interior cladding could sell for up to €6 per kilogram.
The report also points to advances in the development of alternative organic materials, including mushroom bricks grown in five days and waste potatoes used as insulation and acoustic absorbers. Innovative manufacturing processes are a significant enabler, with 3D printing of bio-polymers becoming increasingly widespread.
Guglielmo Carra, European lead for materials consulting at Arup, said: “As one of the world’s largest users of resources we need to move away from our ‘take, use, dispose’ mentality. There are already pockets of activity, with some producers making...
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