Government brings forward the deadline for its ban on sales of Petrol, Diesel and Hybrid cars to 2035 after it was advised that 2040 was too late if the government was to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. One-third of carbon emissions in the UK currently come from transport.

We also heard this week from the chief executive of Heathrow Airport that the failure to expand Heathrow airport has lead to an unnecessary increase in carbon emissions from aviation as passengers have been forced to make additional stops on their journeys to the UK.

The 2019 Coronavirus is starting to cause ripples across the manufacturing sector and could cause disruption to the UK manufacturing industry for suppliers who depend on parts.

Despite this, and in more positive news, the PMI (Purchasing Manager’s Index) for the in the UK Manufacturing industry has beaten estimates to see its best performance in 9 months as confidence in the industry recovered since is decline starting in May 2019.

French-owned electricity supplier Schneider Electric this week announced that it intends to invest millions of pounds by expanding its manufacturing facilities in the UK. Both its Leeds and Scarborough manufacturing facilities will see investments made to boost the capacity and productivity of its manufacturing operations and facilitate the production of new technologies for the renewables industry.

Michelin Tyre Company also announced that it hopes to create 850 jobs at a new innovation centre, replacing the jobs that will be lost when it closes its factory in the area later this summer.