CNC Training Academy scoops top MTA Award for best Industry Training Provider.

The CNC Training Academy, the independent training arm of Mills CNC, has won the coveted MTA Manufacturing Industry Award for the best Industry Training Provider.

The announcement was made at the MTA Annual Gala Dinner (held at the ICC in Birmingham on 27^th March 2013) and the award was presented to Jeff Hart (CNC Training Academy Manager) and Karen Early (CNC Academy Trainer) by Sky News’ Charlotte Hawkins who hosted the event and awards presenter Professor Alan Myers, University of Huddersfield..

The award for best Industry Training Provider, unlike some awards where entries are judged by a panel of experts, was decided by a public vote and relied on previous course attendees from all shortlisted training provider companies to cast their votes online.

Says Jeff Hart:

“I am delighted to have received the award on behalf of the CNC Training Academy team.

“What’s more gratifying however is that previous Academy course attendees took the time and were motivated to vote for us. I think that demonstrates the positive experience they had from attending our courses, and that they valued the training that was delivered.

“I’d like to thank everyone who voted for us and for their continuing support.”

Established in 2010, the CNC Training Academy provides high-quality, professionally-delivered and cost-competitive CNC Programmer and Operator training to precision manufacturers in the UK and Ireland and, increasingly, to unemployed adults looking to retrain and find employment in the manufacturing sector.

Over the last three years the CNC Training Academy has seen interest and take-up of its basic and advanced Fanuc, Heidenhain and Siemens CNC Programmer courses and its range of specialist courses soar.

In 2012 demand for its courses hit an all-time high with over 425 people from some 170 different companies being trained at the Academy’s modern, state-of-the-art facility in Leamington or off-site at customers’ premises).

The figures represent a 25% increase in the total number of customers trained during the same period in 2011 and a 30% increase in the number of companies using the Academy for their CNC training requirements.

All indications suggest that 2013 is well on its way to being the best year ever for the Academy.

Comments Jeff Hart, CNC Training Academy Manager:

“There has been an increase in demand for all of our courses (from basic right through to our advanced and specialist courses), and our new, short introductory Milling and Turning Programmer and Operator training courses are proving very popular.

‘Reading between the lines it would appear that many UK and Irish manufacturing companies have invested in training to improve the skills of their people and to help them cope with and capitalise on the continuing economic upturn being experienced in manufacturing.

Their need for professionally-delivered, high-added value training is leading them to select the CNC Training Academy as their training provider.’

‘The UK Tax System Explained In Beer’ by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D

I recently saw the following piece from David R. Kamerschen and certainly feel the spirit of this story highlights how those with the broadest shoulders are already bearing the greatest burden within our tax system with the pips in danger of being squeezed too hard.......

“One of our team in Europe shared this with me so I felt compelled to re-post as its relevance here in the US, and people enjoy a good real-world demonstration of economics.

THE UK TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten

comes to £100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something

like this: -

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay £1.

The sixth would pay £3.

The seventh would pay £7.

The eighth would pay £12.

The ninth would pay £18.

And the tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the

arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. “Since

you are all such good customers”, he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost

of your weekly beer by £20. Drinks for the ten men would now cost just

£80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the

first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what

about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the

£20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that

£20 divided by six is £3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody’s

share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free

but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his

beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man’s

bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the

tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he

suggested that each should now pay.

And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100%

saving).

The sixth man now paid £2 instead of £3 (a 33% saving).

The seventh man now paid £5 instead of £7 (a 28% saving).

The eighth man now paid £9 instead of £12 (a 25% saving).

The ninth man now paid £14 instead of £18 (a 22% saving).

And the tenth man now paid £49 instead of £59 (a 16% saving).

Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four

continuing to drink for free.

But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. “I only

got £1 out of the £20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the

tenth man, “but he got £10″

“Yes, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved £1 too. It’s

unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me”

“That’s true” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get £10 back when I

only got £2? The wealthy get all the breaks”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get

anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor”. The nine men

surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next week the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat

down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the

bill, they discovered something important –they didn’t have enough money

between all of them to pay for even half of the bill.

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our

tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will

naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much,

attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In

fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat

friendlier."

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics

CIMA NW Midlands Event, 6.30pm Thursday 24th January 2013 – ‘Excel and Access Update for Accountants’

Location: Mercure Stafford South Hatherton House Hotel, Penkridge, Staffordshire ST19 5QP

Price: No Charge – Buffet Served on Arrival (Guests Welcome)

This event will show how accountants can make best use of these two powerful products. The presentation will cover:

- retrieving data from other systems such as general ledgers

- avoiding common pitfalls and building robust, documented applications

- automating processes

- recognising the limitations of Excel and Access and end-user development

- looking to the future: SQL server, SharePoint and access web services.

How to Book: email Julie.witts@cimaglobal.com

Speaker Details: -

Edward Martley FCMA CGMA and CIMA Thames Valley branch chairman, has used these products for many years, building commercial applications for a number of clients as well as using them for analysis and reporting.

Edward has worked for BNFL, the CAP Group software house, British Gas, Barclays, UCB Home Loans (now part of Nationwide) and Scholastic children's publishers. Since 2002 he has worked for his own company, EPM Projects Limited. He has worked in a variety of accounting, risk management and IT roles. He is currently a director of a small web-based company providing data on the international school market. He also works in the EMEA/APAC finance department of RedPrairie, a US-owned logistics and retail systems provider.

Merry Christmas from Intervallum

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


Let's hope 2013 proves to be a great year for business and a better year for the economy.

Chancellor George Osborne Praises ‘Fantastic’ Rolls-Royce Academy in Derby

I was delighted to accept an invitation from Rolls Royce to represent Mills CNC Limited at the official opening of their new training academy in Derby. Mills CNC Limited, the largest independently owned CNC machine tool supplier in the UK, have 2 machines on long term loan at the Rolls Royce Training Academy, a Lynx 220B and a DNM400.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, praised Derby for representing "everything that is right" about the British economy as he opened the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Academy, at the firm's Learning and Career Development Centre, in Wilmore Road, Sinfin.
The centre, which has cost around £6 million to create, will not only train Rolls-Royce apprentices but will also train young people who work for the firm's suppliers and other manufacturing companies across the region. Before the centre was created, Rolls-Royce trained around 200 apprentices a year. The academy, which has been funded jointly by Rolls-Royce and the Government, will double that number.

Mr Osborne hailed the centre as a "fantastic facility" and huge asset to the city and country. He said, "Derby is home to a number of great global companies like Rolls-Royce, Toyota and Bombardier that compete on the world stage. In many ways, Derby represents everything that is right with the British economy. It is a powerhouse for hi-tech engineering. So facilities like the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Academy are so important not only to Derby's future, but to the whole country."
The three-storey, 3,850 square metre academy includes a conference room, meeting rooms, classrooms and workshops, which have been filled with the same equipment found on Rolls-Royce's production line.

The UK Economy Returns to Growth

The UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games.

The economy grew by 1.0%, according to official gross domestic product figures (GDP), which measure the value of everything produced in the country.

The Office for National Statistics said that Olympic ticket sales had added 0.2 percentage points to the figures. 

All Olympic and Paralympic ticket sales counted towards July to September's GDP figure. 

The economy had been in recession for the previous nine months and has still not recovered the levels of output seen before the financial crisis in 2008. 

The ONS said that beyond the effect of ticket sales it was hard to put an exact figure on the Olympic effect, although it cited increased hotel and restaurant activity in London as well as strength from employment agencies. 

The GDP figures were also enhanced by comparison with the previous three months, because the second quarter had an extra public holiday as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, as well as unusually bad weather, which reduced growth. 

"There is still a long way to go, but these figures show we are on the right track," said Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. 

"Yesterday's weak data from the eurozone were a reminder that we still face many economic challenges at home and abroad."

CIMA ‘Habits For a More Productive Finance Team’ Event at Cannock on Thursday 29th November

‘The most important figures in finance - habits for a more productive finance team’ 

Description

Have you ever thought?

•        is it hard to pin down that one single thing that will help you be more productive?

•        are you tempted into overtime every time you are overstretched?

•        do your team struggle to stay motivated beyond month end?

•        Are feedback and atmosphere negative expressions when co-operation, collaboration and celebration wouldn’t go amiss?

If so, then this session is for you, whether you are a manager or team player. Your team are the most important figures in finance so here is the fuel to redress the balance.   

Clare Haynes will introduce you to strategies to address some common issues in – but not exclusive to - the finance function.  

These tactics offer significant yet small changes to kick off more output more easily from your finance team.  

The session will cover:

•        practical management – how to manage and be managed better

•        productivity – ripping through your email and prioritising to produce results

•        positive politics – creating a constructive, fast-flowing communication culture. 

Venue & Date

Roman Way Hotel, Watling Street, Hatherton, Cannock WS11 1SH – www.romanwayhotel.co.uk 

6.30 for 7.00pm 

No charge.   Buffet on arrival 

Speaker details

Clare Haynes from Wildfire (www.wildfireATwork.co.uk ) is a popular CIMA speaker at CPD academies and branch events. Clare has a sparkling style which can enthuse the quietest audience and draw out contributions from all parts of the room.  Her use of practical exercises locks in the learning in a non-confrontational manner.  Clare is a refreshing and dynamic trainer and offers a wide range of areas of expertise.

 

To book your free place, contact Julie Witts at Julie.witts@cimaglobal.com