
The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult could make it easier for domestic manufacturers to connect with a new, free to use, UK Supply Chain Directory.
The platform harnesses the power of machine learning to provide up-to-date information on UK manufacturers. It combines publicly accessible data with web scraping to create the single most data-rich source of UK's manufacturers and suppliers. It also allows companies to put up their company profile to update and enrich their content.
HVM keep Companies House as a reference and it joins information coming from companies' websites, CreditSafe, and Dealroom.
This new tool is bringing together hundreds of thousands of businesses across UK industry in one online resource.
The tool is free to sign up for and access, and businesses can use it to:
- find new suppliers and customers; and
- map the UK's capability in their sector or area. Users can search the directory according to company size, location, and specialist areas, with a wide range of other filters. Using data-driven classification, users can also find suppliers or supply chains based on manufacturing capability. See: [uksupplychaindirectory.com](https://uksupplychaindirectory.com/)

New data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that UK businesses are continuing to slow down recruitment, with job vacancies falling by 63,000 between March and May.

Last week, the Chancellor unveiled her Spending Review setting out how government departments will allocate money over the coming years. While much of the focus was on large-scale public services like the NHS and schools, there are some important signals here for businesses to take note of - both in terms of opportunity and outlook.