Author Archives: tensor_tandauk

  1. Merger to create law firm with more than 300 staff

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    Two law firms with bases across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset are set to merge to create a combined organisation with 12 offices and in excess of 300 members of staff.

    WBW Solicitors and Beviss & Beckingsale, which both undertake property, private client, dispute resolution, family and personal injury work, are to merge on 1 September 2021. 

    Both firms have been established for many years and are committed to the locations in which they have offices. 

    Mark Ollier and Mark Carlisle, partners of Beviss & Beckingsale, said: “We are delighted for Beviss & Beckingsale, our staff and clients, that an agreement has been reached to merge our practice with WBW Solicitors.  

    “We feel sure that the merger will be advantageous to all of our clients who will now be able to access a wider and larger range of expertise and resources through the new firm.  The partners of both firms have worked tirelessly to reach an agreement to merge which is a significant achievement, particularly given the challenges presented by the pandemic.” 

    WBW Solicitors managing partner Steve Bulman said: “The partners of WBW Solicitors are pleased to be able to announce this merger which will extend the firm’s presence in East Devon and into Somerset.  

    “The two firms are very complementary and the merger will undoubtedly enhance the services that we can provide to all of our clients old and new.

    He added: “This very much a meeting of minds as the ethos of the two firms are very similar.  We are therefore very optimistic for the future and we look forward to working successfully with our new partners.”

    The new firm will be called WBW incorporating Beviss & Beckingsale.

    Time and Attendance Southwest – The best solution to an expanding workforce 

    The expansion of a workforce has many more pros than cons. In fact, the only con to employing more staff and expanding your businesses is dealing with all of the paperwork and HR matters that come with it. 

    This is where Time and Attendance Southwest come in. Our workforce management solutions mean that you’ll never have to use paperwork again. 

    Our all-in-one, Smart Card Time & Attendance recording workstation incorporates; job booking, job costing, labour hours analysis and security management including quality CCTV playback, meaning you can ditch the filing cabinets full of HR paperwork and save yourselves time and effort. The state of the art system will dramatically improve your HR and security management with features that give you irrefutable control over Time & Attendance.

    Not only this, but our Self Service Module (SSM) offers your staff a fast and reliable way of clocking into work and much more. SSM  is a web-based application that allows enrolled employees to Clock in or out, for Time and Attendance purposes, and book themselves on or off the fire evacuation list.

    SSM may also be used by employees to book on or off production jobs via their internet browser. A person can use SSM to request new periods of absence, cancel pending absence requests or cancel approved absence requests that have not yet occurred. Requests can also be made to add missed clockings, amend or delete clockings made in error. 

    Our software is available for all sizes of companies. It can range from 20 employees (Start Edition) to companies that employ 10,000+ staff. 

    If you would like more information on any of our products, or if you would like a quote, please get in touch with a member of our sales team today. 

  2. Loungers confident of emerging strongly from pandemic

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    Café, bar and restaurant operator Loungers has said it is encouraged by the initial strength of its trading performance following the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions and remains confident it will emerge strongly from the pandemic.

    The business, which is behind the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, finished the financial year to 18 April 2021 with 168 sites, having opened three new sites during the year. 

    In the period from 19 April 2021 to 13 June 2021 a further five Lounge sites were opened in Wolverhampton, St. Ives, Stourbridge, Welwyn Garden City and Blackpool.

    In the period following the initial relaxation of Covid-19 related restrictions on 12 April 2021, Loungers opened 88 sites to trade outdoors only and reopened all its sites from 17 May 2021 when indoor trading was permitted. 

    Chief executive Nick Collins said: “I am really pleased with how the business has re-opened and our trading performance has once again demonstrated the resilience of both the Lounge and Cosy Club brands. Customers have returned with confidence and our team has performed amazingly.

    “Whilst the government’s recently announced decision to leave the remaining restrictions in place for a further four weeks is disappointing for the hospitality sector as a whole, we look forward to a return to normality on 19 July.

    Time and Attendance South West – Your returning workforce management solution 

    The covid-19 social restrictions had a huge impact on the retail workforce across the entire country. It meant that the majority of them, frustratingly, had to stay off work until the government gave the go ahead to return. 

    For a café, bar and restaurant operator such as Loungers, welcoming back their staff couldn’t come soon enough. 

    However, welcoming back staff to a total of 168 sites can prove quite the challenge if a sufficient system is not in place to manage the workforce when they return. 

    This is where Time and Attendance South West come in. We have workforce management systems that will improve the quality of your employees’ timekeeping and make your lives easier… leaving more time for you to deal with the important stuff. 

    Our all-in-one, Smart Card Time & Attendance recording workstation incorporates; job booking, job costing, labour hours analysis and security management including quality CCTV playback. The state of the art system will dramatically improve your HR and security management with features that give you irrefutable control over Time & Attendance, working patterns rules.

    In addition to this, our Self Service Module (SSM) is a web-based application that allows enrolled employees to Clock in or out, for Time and Attendance purposes, and book themselves on or off the fire evacuation list.

    SSM may also be used by employees to book on or off production jobs via their internet browser. A person can use SSM to request new periods of absence, cancel pending absence requests or cancel approved absence requests that have not yet occurred. Requests can also be made to add missed clockings, amend or delete clockings made in error. 

    If you would like more information on any of our products, please get in touch with a member of our sales team who will be happy to help.

  3. Bobby’s of Bournemouth to create 260 jobs

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    The iconic Bobby’s of Bournemouth is set to create 260 jobs when it reopens, developer Verve Properties has announced.

    Across the venue’s various features – including the beauty hall, ice cream parlour, food and beverage outlets and loading dock – the headcount is expected to continue to grow as more elements open up through to 2022.

    Former Debenham’s staff who worked at the central Bournemouth location are being given priority consideration to potentially be employed by Bobby’s.

    Ashley Nicholson, director of Verve Properties, said: “Bobby’s has historically always been at the heart of the town centre and the community and so we’re truly delighted to be able to bring a good news story of job creation to our high street when so many retail areas across the UK are in decline.

    “We can’t wait to recruit a crew who will help us make Bobby’s part of a town centre that really does serve the local community.”

    Time and Attendance South West – Your Workforce Management Experts

    When a company is planning to reopen its doors and create 260 new jobs for local people, it should seriously consider reviewing its time and attendance provision.

    Time and Attendance South West offers a contactless smartcard and biometric clocking terminal. The clocking options range from smartcard only right up to 3-factor authentication of smartcard, PIN and biometrics. This hardware registers staff entrances and exits as they present their identification, and delivers the information to the central software in real-time. It is a quick and user-friendly process.

    Our Biometric Fingerprint Reader is designed to give absolute peace of mind that the correct person was present when scanning. The Hand Scanner Terminal provides the accuracy and convenience of biometric technology. The advantages of this are no one can punch in or out for your employees, the system reduces time theft and improves payroll accuracy.

    To learn more about Time and Attendance South West’s secure and affordable biometric time and attendance systems, please get in contact with a member of our sales team and they will be happy to help you with any queries.

  4. Water supplier to go on recruitment spree after securing funding commitment

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    A water supplier for the South West of England plans to create 500 jobs after securing an £81m funding commitment, a recent news report in the local media has been able to suggest.

    South West Water developed its Green Recovery Initiative with customers and stakeholders. Following a detailed assessment by regulators, Ofwat has now published its draft green economic recovery decisions and outlined £81m of additional environmental investment for South West Water’s Green Recovery Initiative over the period to 2025.

    The decisions will allow the group “to take extra action on the most pressing environmental issues”.

    Susan Davy, chief executive of Pennon, said: “Our Green Recovery Initiative is focused on opportunities to make an even bigger environmental and societal contribution to the South West for the longer term than we already do today.

    “We are confident South West Water can step up to the challenge, deliver for our customers and communities, and play our part in the Green Recovery.”

    Time and Attendance South West – Your Workforce Management Experts

    When a company is planning to go on a hiring spree it should also seriously review its time and attendance provision.

    Time and Attendance South West offers a contactless smartcard and biometric clocking terminal with clocking options ranging from smartcard only right up to 3 factor authentication of smartcard, PIN and biometrics. This hardware registers staff entrances and exits as they present their identification, and delivers the information to the central software in real-time. It is a quick and user-friendly process.

    Our Biometric Fingerprint Reader is designed to give absolute peace of mind that the correct person was present when scanning. Once registered on the fingerprint scanner, the image of the patterns usually found on the fingertip is converted into a code through a secure algorithm, which is then stored on the time and attendance system database for future comparison and authentication.

    To learn more about Time and Attendance South West’s secure and affordable biometric time and attendance systems, please give our dedicated team a ring and they will be happy to help you with any queries.

  5. Business confidence records fastest growth among South-West businesses, report suggests

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    Business confidence in the South West rose by 22 percentage points during April, the highest increase across all UK regions and nations, a recent market research report has been able to suggest.

    The Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking found companies in the South West reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 27 points at 26 per cent.  When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up 17 points to 34 per cent, this gave a headline confidence reading of 30 per cent.

    When it comes to jobs, a net balance of 1 per cent of businesses in the region expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up 9 points on last month, the first net-positive reading since March 2020.

    Overall UK business confidence surged 14 points in April to 29 per cent, the highest reading since September 2018. The result follows the reopening of outdoor hospitality venues and non-essential retail and personal services providers in England and comes ahead of further lockdown restrictions easing in Wales and Scotland.

    Time & Attendance South West – Your Workforce Management Experts

    Every company that plans to take on more staff in a solid and sustainable manner should also consider the implementation of a solid and reliable workforce management system, and this is exactly where Time & Attendance South West can help.

    Whether we’re talking about simple access control solutions or more complex systems, also including extensive Time and Attendance features, Time & Attendance South West has the necessary expertise to provide customers with a complete and comprehensive bespoke solution, that will perfectly fit their requirements.

    Our advanced smart card time and attendance system includes European Working Time Directive checking and reporting, ensuring that your company remains compliant with both regional and national legislation.

    Furthermore, the system also offers a series of additional features employers would certainly find handy, such as Weekly Clock Card, Payroll Summary, Absence Summary, Fire Roll Call or Shift Swapping.

    If you’d like to find out more about the extensive range of solutions supplied by Time & Attendance South West, just get in touch with our dedicated product team, they’ll be more than happy to answer any and all queries you might have.

  6. Specialist security provide goes on recruitment drive

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    A specialist security provider involved in the mass mobilisation of former military personnel to support the national roll-out of Covid-19 testing centres has launched a new initiative to provide temporary labour and recruitment services to businesses.

    Swindon-based SSGC has launched WLTS, a start-up business which has already secured a £40m contract to provide personnel to Comensura, a firm specialising in managing supplies of temporary, permanent and contract labour.

    WLTS focuses on handling complex vetting requirements such as DBS checks, BPSS, the government baseline security standard, and BS7858, the security benchmark approved by the British Standards Institute (BSI), through its own bespoke automated service.

    David Stubbs, managing director of SSGC, said: “As the national requirements have changed, so has our offering, which is why the services provided by WLTS are focussed on helping Britain get back to work.

    “It specialises in trusted and rapid mobilisation of personnel that goes beyond testing for Covid-19 to the heart of what the nation needs to return to a form of normality.”

    Time and Attendance South West – Your Workforce Management Experts

    When a company is planning to go on a hiring spree it should also seriously review its time and attendance provision.

    Time and Attendance South West offers a contactless smartcard and biometric clocking terminal with clocking options ranging from smartcard only right up to 3 factor authentication of smartcard, PIN and biometrics. This hardware registers staff entrances and exits as they present their identification, and delivers the information to the central software in real-time. It is a quick and user-friendly process.

    Our Biometric Fingerprint Reader is designed to give absolute peace of mind that the correct person was present when scanning. Once registered on the fingerprint scanner, the image of the patterns usually found on the fingertip is converted into a code through a secure algorithm, which is then stored on the time and attendance system database for future comparison and authentication.

    To learn more about Time and Attendance South West’s secure and affordable biometric time and attendance systems, please give our dedicated team a ring and they will be happy to help you with any queries.

  7. New Torquay hotel started

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    A new Premier Inn is being built in Torquay on part of the Terrace Car Park site.

    The foundation has been prepared over the last few weeks, along with prep for a new power substation, a crane base and lift shaft excavation. The £11m development is aimed for completion in early 2022.

    Councillor Swithin Long, Torbay Council cabinet member for economic regeneration, tourism and housing, said: “This is more great news for Torquay as we start the economic recovery process from Covid-19. The hotel will generate new employment of around 30 permanent jobs and over 150 jobs during construction.

    “It will attract thousands of guests each year and bring in an additional £3.3M of tourism spend. Torbay Council worked hard to ensure that the construction contract with Midas includes requirements to employ local people and contractors, provide training for apprentices and support entrant trainees in key professions.

    “The progress of this project comes at an exciting time for Torbay, with a range of multi-million pound projects coming online to make spaces where people can thrive. These include £21.9m from the government for Torquay Towns Fund, plus £13.36m announced by the government last month for the Future High Streets Fund for Paignton.”

    It is vital for hotels to have an accurate record of who is in the building, since not only do they have guests coming and going constantly but they also have cleaning staff, maintenance staff, kitchen staff, bar staff, and many other staff members.

    Since many of these staff members will be temporary agency staff, they are likely to still rely on old-fashioned paper timesheet to record their weekly hours.

    Getting employees to retrospectively record their hours worked directly onto paper is not only open to fraud and mistakes, it also makes room for human error further up the chain.

    Managers have to collect and approve all the timesheets. A study by BrightHR has shown that this can take more than 15 minutes per employee. Those numbers quickly mount up!

    Thankfully there’s an easy solution. A workforce management system from Time and Attendance South West would bring your attendance systems up to date and reduce workloads considerably.

    Managers would no longer need to approve every single timesheet every single week or month, and accounts staff would no longer need to laboriously type up the timesheets to enter them into the payroll system.

    All the staff would need to do is clock in and out using one of our terminals, with either a smartcard or a biometric measurement such as fingerprints or facial recognition. This clocking data is collected in the centralised software, and it can be exported straight to common payroll systems such as Sagepay.

    Please get in touch for more information about how we can help you.

  8. Marketing company purchases third South West office

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    The Ascot Group, a marketing and media company, has acquired an office block in Worle Park Way, Weston-super-Mare.

    This is the company’s third office purchase in the area, following purchases in 2016 and January 2020, as part of their multimillion-pound investment in marketing, media and tech. The premises are planned to be sustainable, with low-carbon and renewable energy a focus.

    A new TV and recording studio, a data science and machine learning team, and a a training academy are all planned for the new space, making space enough for 100 more members of staff. The group has employed 18 new members of staff since the March lockdown, and hopes to reach 200 employees over the next three years.

    Andrew Scott, Ascot Group chief executive, said: “This is big step with so much uncertainty right now, but the truth is I believe in what we are doing, I believe in my team and I am committed to giving our customers every tool and advantage I can.

    “Worle Park Way is a magnet for people in the region, with easy transport links, plenty of free parking, local amenities and shopping. It is a buzzing, modern estate and makes an ideal HQ for the Ascot Group.

    “The new offices will act as a catalyst for growth, both organically and through acquisition, and we are already in talks with a number of marketing, digital, media and tech companies.

    “It is hard to believe it all started 15 years ago from my dining room table with a telephone and a laptop. Over the years we’ve had so many knock-backs, crisis and challenges to overcome, but I’m fortunate to have so many brilliant people around me and we are now looking to the future.”

    Building your new premises from scratch is the perfect opportunity to install a new time and attendance system, since it enables you to control the wiring and the placements of doors and other useful factors.

    Time and Attendance South West offers a contactless smartcard and biometric clocking terminal with clocking options ranging from smartcard only right up to 3 factor authentication of smartcard, PIN and biometrics. This hardware registers staff entrances and exits as they present their identification, and delivers the information to the central software in real-time. It is a quick and user-friendly process.

    Our Biometric Fingerprint Reader is designed to give absolute peace of mind that the correct person was present when scanning. Once registered on the fingerprint scanner, the image of the patterns usually found on the fingertip is converted into a code through a secure algorithm, which is then stored on the time and attendance system database for future comparison and authentication.

    We also offer a separate facial recognition terminal for clocking in and site security purposes. Following an fast and easy initial enrolment, the reader allows employees to quickly clock in and out by simply looking into the unit. The patented optic engineering allows for uninterrupted face recognition in all possible indoor lighting conditions as well as outdoor installations unless exposed to direct sunlight. The software provides matching speeds of up to 3,000 match/sec and it can accommodate up to 30,000 users.

    The facial recognition time and attendance terminal supports a height range of 145cm ~ 210cm. FaceStation 2 also accommodates users outside of that height range such as wheelchair users thanks to an optional tilt bracket.

    To learn more about Time and Attendance South West’s secure and affordable biometric time and attendance systems, please contact our dedicated team and they will be happy to help you with any queries.

  9. Whistl moves into Bristol Parkway

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    Whistl, a delivery management company, will move 170 members of staff into a new depot in the Bristol Parkway. They will also advertise new vacancies, and reduce their environmental footprint.

    The 78,000 sq ft depot will be the premises for their South West business mail and parcel collection and sortation operations.

    New vacancies will be advertised in the office, depot and transport areas.

    The new site will make use of updated heating and power technologies, and improved insulation, compared to their previous depot. Greener transportation will be encouraged through charging points and spaces to park bicycles.

    Whistl chief executive Nick Wells said: “We are looking forward to our move in 2021 to a new site which will provide an enhanced working environment for our colleagues in Bristol.

    “This investment demonstrates our commitment to the South West and to ensuring that we continue to provide efficient and cost-effective service for our customers.”

    Moving into brand new premises is a time to congratulate yourself for your success, but it is also the time, particularly if you intend to expand your staff roster in the future, to double-check that your existing systems can handle the increase.

    Since it’s what we’re good at, we’ll talk about your time and attendance management system – the way that you record employee attendance and hours.

    Obviously this kind of a system is useful in waged roles, and if your premises is production or retail based, you likely already have some kind of system to measure these factors.

    However, we believe passionately that time and attendance systems have their place in an office environment too. You might not need to know office staff hours to the minute, but our software and colourful graphical displays make it easy to record when they are late or ill, and to spot if there are any concerning patterns in their absences.

    The .NET software also sends you useful alerts, such as if your team are exceptionally busy and risk breaching the European Working Time Regulations, or if someone is accidentally violating the minimum wage regulation.

    Having your own purpose-built premises means that you can easily install physical clocking terminals in order to accurately measure your time and attendance. Our clocking terminals work with employee fingerprints, facial recognition, or with contactless radio-frequency smartcards.

    Talk to us today for more information or to get a detailed quote.

  10. World-leading research facility nearing completion

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    Construction company Rydon has formally completed several sections of a complex new research facility for the University of Bath Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the Bristol and Bath Science Park.

    These completed sections will be fitted out with research cells. The cell configurations will handle complete vehicles, individual systems, or single components, utilising the latest measurement equipment. Rydon is working with the institute to install specialist equipment such as bed plates, complex test rigs and dampers.

    The entire facility is almost complete, with only the front of house facilities, offices and atrium left. These are aimed for completion in December. The facility is intended to be a global centre of excellence, leading the development of future generations of ultra-low emission vehicles and attract sector-related businesses to the region, generating jobs and economic growth.

    Paul Barber, head of Rydon’s South West office, said: “It has been a rewarding experience working on a project that will help meet important environmental targets as well as define highly efficient cars and systems in the future. Despite the disruption of coronavirus, which led to some supply issues, we are working hard as a fully socially distanced team together with our partners to deliver the scheme by the end of 2020 as committed.”

    Gavin Edwards, IAAPS operations and IT director, said: “We are delighted to reach this significant milestone in the delivery of the IAAPS facility, which is enabling the installation of our high-precision research equipment ready for opening in mid-2021.”

    Many construction contractors and clients require contractor staff to hold and display Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) smart-cards, which prove their qualifications, before allowing them on site.

    Here at Time and Attendance South West, we are an IT partner of the CSCS through our parent company, Tensor plc. This means that we can provide seamless integration between the CSCS smartcard and our WinTA.NET software, which provides time management, visitor/contractor management and fire/evacuation roll-call systems.

    The integration takes the end-user form of a CSCS “card wizard”. This set of rules allows a company to quickly grant construction contractors recognition by and access to our hardware, such as clocking terminals, turnstiles, and door controllers. The wizard will run one of three scenarios when giving access rights to contractors. These are:

    • Contractors who are completely new to the system.
    • Contractors whose name exists on the system but their CSCS card has not been entered.
    • Contractors who are fully recorded on the system and have used their card at other sites, but are new to this particular site.

    For each different scenario the wizard will guide the user through the enrolment procedure. The result is that:

    • The contractor’s CSCS card is read (using a USB card reader attached to a Tensor.NET Client PC)
    • Details are extracted from the card to update the contractor’s details within the system
    • Options such as a company, site, shift group and department are assigned to the cardholder

    To make it easier to include new contractors in your site’s existing health and safety and security procedures, please contact us today.

    We can handle any size site: our Enterprise software is able to perform for global, multi-site corporations with thousands of employees/users, while our Start edition helps small businesses with less than 50 users.