Scottish Engineering

And with that, our 2024 season comes to an end. A huge thank you to all our members for another fantastic year, from everyone at Scottish Engineering, we hope you enjoy the festive period and we wish you a happy new year when it comes. We'll see you in 2025 🎉

As the festive season approaches, many businesses opt for shutdown periods to allow employees to enjoy time off. While these breaks can be beneficial for both employers and employees, it is essential to ensure that they are managed in line with employment law and clearly communicated to staff. Our legal team have put together this helpful guide to answer some common questions that may pop up over this period. https://lnkd.in/exu23ha4

Our latest blog is here! Penned by Leyton's Head of Consulting, Elena Karadzhova, this latest addition to our knowledge bank takes a look at the government's Corporate Tax Roadmap. Released as part of their Autumn Budget, the roadmap outline plans for Corporation Tax (CT) over the next five years. While the plans detail some commitments, they also outline a framework for where the government is looking to explore making changes in the future. The aim is to provide a ‘stable and predictable tax environment for businesses’, many of whom are still reeling from rises in employer contributions to National Insurance – including many entrepreneurial companies across Scotland. In this article, Karadzhova explores the Corporate Tax Roadmap to highlight where the government has made firm commitments and where they have suggested potential changes that may affect innovative businesses, including R&D Tax Credits, Patent Box (and other intangible assets), Capital Allowances and Land Remediation Relief. https://lnkd.in/eXtC3GWA

Is there an engineering apprentice in your team who stands out, and is deserving of recognition? We are inviting managers and supervisors to submit an application on their behalf for the Scottish Engineering Apprentice of the Year Award! This award recognises the enthusiasm, innovation and imagination of these up-and-coming engineers and manufacturers. Our winner will receive our award trophy and £500, presented at our annual awards dinner on Thursday 15th May in Glasgow. Full details of this competition can be found on our Apprentice of the Year homepage. Follow the link below. https://lnkd.in/ezc8SMHY

Paul Sheerin's final article of 2024 for The Herald Scotland is here!   This month, our Chief Exec reflects on his recent visit to Port Glasgow for a tour of the MV Glen Sannox, just a day before the Marine and Coastguard Agency announced that it had achieved full regulatory approval including its passenger certification.   Its completion rightly raises the question of 'what's next’ for Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited? There are lots of good reasons why ensuring that shipbuilding work continues here, perhaps most obviously because organisations like Ferguson Marine are a major employer - and trainer - of highly skilled jobs in an area where that quality of employment is prized. Employees who live locally to the shipyard make up an impressive 85% of the staff who work there.    Continuing that valuable situation is dependent on the shipyard being fairly appraised for the upcoming opportunities that they are bidding on. Ultimately, we have one last non-naval shipyard in Scotland, one last commercial shipyard on the Clyde. If we want to keep it, then we best make decisions that support that.   Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eXWCMiR6

What a year 2024 has been for Scottish Engineering! As we begin to wrap up for Christmas, we took the time to reflect on all that we got up to and achieved over the last 12 months. We would like to extend a huge thank you to our members and network for making this year such a special one. Watch the video below to discover our 2024, year in review.

We are delighted to welcome into membership Aeron Automation Ltd.! Founded in 1984 and based in East Kilbride, Aeron Automation specialises in precision engineering with expertise in CNC turning and CNC milling of complex, tight-tolerance components. They are ISO 9001:2015 certified, demonstrating our commitment to rigorous quality standards. Their team handles diverse materials, including Stainless Steel, Nylon, Duplex, and Titanium, for industries such as aerospace, automotive, oil & gas and defence. Leveraging 2D/3D CAD/CAM software, they deliver swift, cost-effective solutions without compromising quality. From one-off prototypes to large-scale production, Aeron Automation is your trusted partner for precision-engineered components.

Huge thank you to Scott Wilson, Derek Muir, Andrew Allan and the rest of the team at Clansman Dynamics Ltd for hosting our final member networking and best practice meeting of the year yesterday.  It was fascinating to learn about their uniqueness as a manufacturer of specialised foundry and forge material handling and processing equipment. Also interesting to hear about their journey to become an employee owned company and understand how it has worked for them. With employees having a stake in the company's success, it has enhanced their commitment to drive innovation and customer service in their business.

Is there a young member of your team who has shown excellence, innovation, and imagination within your industry? We are delighted to announce that applications for our 2025 Young Engineer of the Year Award (YEYA) are now open! This award has recognised and celebrated the best young engineers in Scotland for nearly 30 years. If you feel that you know a young engineer that fits the bill, encourage them to submit an application for the Young Engineer of the Year Award, giving them the opportunity to be recognised for their work, be presented with the “Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow Award” trophy, and receive a £1000 and £500 prize for our winner and runner-up. Follow the link below to discover all the details. https://lnkd.in/ePQkweFP

Our final scorecard of the year is now live, click below to read our Q4 Quarterly review. Our sector will draw little comfort from this quarters report as across the board, key indices have fallen. This quarter paints a rather bleak picture as the long run of positive optimism our industry has displayed for several years has evaporated, with overall order intake – and especially exports - falling further negative, along with output volume. The four-year run of a positive intent to increase staffing also came to a halt this quarter. Industry has repeatedly stated that for the necessary actions to address the UK’s debt crisis, we can’t shift that burden to employers without that impacting on their employees, and here the recent budget increases for National Insurance, National Living Wage and an absence of broader incentives to build business growth have two impacts. The first is that we place companies in recovery mode as they look for the savings that will protect their business from these increases, rarely a tactic that enables growth to be at the centre of the organisations focus. The second is that they impact that most critical but fragile of commodities – confidence. https://lnkd.in/eBusxhqa