Engineering is all about solving problems – at least it used to be. With our planet in rapid decline, engineers have a new role to play. Today, expectations go beyond problem-solving to delivering solutions that could quite literally save our planet.

The 2021 Budget prompted a mixed response as usual but putting restart and recovery at its core gave it a better chance of more businesses backing it.

Cultural heritage is central to our sense of identity. It forms a consistent, reassuring backdrop in a rapidly changing world, reminding us of our roots and retelling the story to future generations. And our heritage buildings and sites connect communities through housing, education, and engagement.

The reality is that in the not-so-distant future, we'll be operating in a resource and carbon-constrained world, be that physically, economically, politically, or environmentally. It'll be game-changing. How manufacturing businesses behave now will likely determine the success or otherwise of their organisation and certainly dictate our planet's future.

Prioritising sustainability-driven innovation protects the planet, improves profitability, and opens up tax relief opportunities to innovate further. So why wouldn’t you? Smart organisations are increasingly realising that using their core business to deliver financial returns and ease the pressure on society’s most pressing problems positively impacts their short and longer-term value.

With plenty of changes being rolled out to government loans and funding streams, HMRC have announced that the R&D scheme is being updated too. As we start 2021 with the wind in our sail, we look ahead to how these changes will be affecting the world of R&D.

With the government recently announcing changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan and Bounce Back Loan Schemes to reflect the ever-changing business landscape, we look at how these amendments impact a would-be R&D claim in 2021.

When we look back at 2020, it’s easy to see no further than the disruption and anguish that has been caused to many businesses and families, not just in the UK, but around the world too. However, it is out of these most testing of times where people are forced to rethink and reimagine the future, which is where new paths of discovery are found. The reality is, many of history’s greatest innovations came out of the most disruptive of times, after all, there is no rainbow without the rain.

The UK has planted its flag firmly on the renewable energy technology scene – and it’s not just blowing hot air. Right now, close to a third of the country’s energy comes from renewable sources. Of that, over half comes in the form of wind power.