News

A seaside building which in a former life was a public toilet has been sold for more than twice the guide price. The block at Norfolk resort Sheringham is more than 100 years old and was sold this week with planning permission to be used as a holiday home. The building, which had a guide price of between £30,000 and £50,000, had its value improved due to coverage in the national media that drew interest from around the country. Tensor's turnstiles fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around your site. Included in this array are coin operated toilet turnstiles which help pay for the upkeep of the toilet block via the revenue streams the turnstiles create. Available as single or double half height turnstiles, the turnstiles cope with high traffic volumes and prestige access points. For more information on a Tensor turnstile, barrier or gate, please contact our sales team.

Home Secretary Teresa May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that the findings of a review on police pay were going through the negotiating process. The review of pay and conditions has recommended a range of allowances and special payments be scrapped to save £485 million over three years. Mrs May said when pay made up 80% of police expenditure, and cuts were being made to tackle the deficit, it was "right to look at pay, terms and conditions". Comprehensive user-definable working patterns and rosters are featured in Tensor’s all-in-one Time and Attendance WinTA clocking system. From simple determination of overtime by the number of daily hours worked to the more complex payment of overtime hours adjusted when periodic targets are not met, WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. Night shifts are simple to define, and both paid and unpaid breaks are easy to define and calculate.  

A new report says public sector wages have been rising while many in the private sector were seeing wage cuts. The Policy Exchange said the gap between equivalent workers in both sectors was more than 30 per cent when based on hourly pay. The report said the gap, or pay premium, between what a typical public sector worker earns above their equivalent in the private sector has increased to 16.5% over the past two years for salaried workers. A Tensor time and attendance system allows your firm to create a myriad of different wage bands and shifts for your payroll. Among the numerous extra features that can be implemented on your system to take into account diversity with working rules between different organisations is Secondary Pay Bands. With this function certain pay bands pay into other bands either on a 1:1 basis or by using a multiplier. Using Shift Premiums, complex payment schemes can be used, based on factors such as the time of working to the grade of employee.  

The Police Federation has claimed officers feel they are being "hit from all sides" by spending cuts. The body, which represents all police constables, sergeants and inspectors, has published its own survey of 42,000 police officers in England and Wales. It showed 85 per cent of respondents felt cutting police numbers would have an impact on crime levels. The recent coalition Spending Review slashed central government funding to police in England and Wales by 20% over five years. Tensor Access Control technology serves companies worried about crime impacting upon their site. Our Tensor Access Enterprise system can operate up to 31 T32xx clocking stations. Door access can be limited depending on the person's roll call status. Sensitive or dangerous areas can easily be denied to those who do not have the appropriate security clearance. Your clocking station network can consist of one or more clocks, and is connected to a main server PC either via the PC's standard serial port or an ethernet network adapter.  

Ongoing talks are being held between London Underground and the unions over pay covering next summer’s Olympic Games, and a deal similar to one previously agreed with railway workers is set to be struck. Underground representatives are likely to ask for at least £500 for workers during the event. London Mayor Boris Johnson said Tube strikes during the games will be “very unlikely,” adding: "We are having our pay rounds now which are progressing well and we need to get that right.” The time and attendance software for all Tensor systems gives your organisation total control over pay, hours and clocking issues. Many daily working patterns (shifts) can be created, with either fixed or flexitime rules. These can run past midnight, making night shifts simple to define. Overtime is easily monitored, as our software has lots of standard analysis and viewing screens which enable you to approve and audit clocking transaction made by employees. Hours worked by employee, shift or department can be instantly checked; as can core-time violations.  

Eight fire crews are today (Thursday, May 19) attending a massive blaze at a scrapyard on Tyneside. Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade confirmed that surrounding buildings were evacuated after the fire was reported at lunchtime. Smoke from the incident at Byker could be seen as far away as Hartlepool, about 30 miles away. Experts were still trying to ascertain if there are any dangerous chemicals involved, or likely to be reached by the flames. Contactless smart cards are used to operate Tensor’s time and attendance, access control and visitor monitoring systems which ensure safety at your premises with a range of fire and emergency options. The T3510 is the ultimate Smart Card Access Control system for doors and barriers. It enables one to four-door access control; and linked together it can control up to 128 doors from one PC. The T3510 has a volt-free input that can be wired directly into your fire alarm system. When the alarm is activated, all doors immediately open for a quick and safe evacuation of personnel.  

Union representatives paid tribute to a new chief executive who they said was a factor in negotiating a pay deal following a stand-off. Recent changes of leadership at British Airways and Unite was seen to renew a desire to reach agreement. Union members voted that the latest offer should be put to a full ballot. One member at the meeting who had been sacked during the dispute, Duncan Holley, said there had been a "wind of change" at BA under new chief Keith Williams. Tensor's payroll and attendance software handles all major hours calculation methods. WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result by creating all manner of rosters and shifts. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. The system allows you to create a series of shift premium rules that enable employees to earn bonus payments under special circumstances. The bonus is calculated either as extra hours or monetary amounts and can be included in the export to payroll.  

Incidents of thefts of copper and other cable from sites have gone up so much that more than 400 people alone have been arrested across the UK for stealing from British Telecom’s (BT) network in the past year. BT's security unit has had to set up a nationwide intelligence-led task force whose strategy includes attending crime scenes, liaising closely with police and visiting scrap metal dealers. Both Virgin and BT have reported thousands of pounds worth of damage. Tensor have a proven range of Windows™ based Access Control products, beginning from simple door and registration point control up to a multi-site network, for protecting offices and depots. The T8424 scanner controller is the unit to which all Access Control equipment within your Tensor network is connected. Each T8424 scanner controller on the network can have combinations of up to two T149x access point scanners or fingerprint readers giving you full control over who is allowed access through any controlled point at any time of day.  

A city council is accepting sealed offers for a single-storey former toilet building which it says could be developed for a variety of uses, subject to planning permission. The toilet block has gone up for sale in the centre of Leicester, and the council said it no longer needs it. Council investment and development manager Neil Evans said: "We've found in the past that there's interest in these quirky old buildings." Tensor’s toilet turnstiles are a vital access control and time and attendance tool for public conveniences as they help to raise revenue, prevent anti-social behaviour and serve as an audit trail. Tensor’s gates, barriers, and turnstiles fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around your site. Half height turnstiles are ideal for toilet blocks as they cope with high traffic volumes. Double half height turnstiles are also available, so your throughput can be doubled while keeping the amount of space down to a minimum.  

British Transport Police (BTP) has implemented extra protection for railway sites, including helicopter surveillance and CCTV. The increase is due to a rise in thefts of copper and other metals. The BTP has set up a dedicated task force with increased patrols, working in partnership with other interested bodies. Assistant Chief Constable Alan Pacey said: "We are working to tackle the issue and in the past few months have seen significant jail sentences handed down to cable thieves put before the courts.” Tensor has security products for any office or depot, whether manned or remote, and CCTV is ideal for monitoring out-of-the-way sites. One of the main features of our CCTV systems is that they are integrated to work with a standard PC monitor. This has been achieved through the development of sophisticated CCTV software. Remote management of your CCTV network via LAN, WAN, or the internet is also possible through the CCTV software. Historical footage can be viewed remotely, and DVR set-up parameters can be configured.  

Twelve fire crews were required to tackle a huge blaze which caused a major road to close in North Yorkshire. The firefighters were called to a waste management depot on Thirsk Industrial Park where the fire caused thick black smoke which could be seen for miles. Both the A170 flyover and roads leading into the estate were closed. Emergency services asked people to detour the scene to prevent congestion and let them deal with the fire. Tensor’s first class smart card Access Control and Time & Attendance .NET equipment comes with highly configurable fire roll call for your office or depot. Safety is ensured when Tensor clocks and access control units are linked into your company's fire alarm system to trigger a fast, automated fire evacuation list. Employees use their cards or key fobs to record their presence. From the most basic ‘on site’ reporting, to the individual tracking of employees’ movement between fire zone/fire assembly points, Tensor's Fire Roll Call can be tailored to meet your safety requirements.

"Great news" was the verdict of Network Rail, and unions said it was a "good deal". Both parties were talking about a special arrangement in working conditions that ensured no disruption for people commuting to next summer’s UK Olympics. "At this time of austerity we think that £500 extra payments and 10% on the basic represents a good deal and proves that strong union organisation can deliver for the members," said rail union RMT after negotiations ended. Tensor's world-class web enabled Time and Attendance management systems are a great deal for your organisation in calculating pay and hours, whether basic or overtime. WinTA Net is the best there is for working out shift patterns, absence planning and entitlement management, and Working Time Regulations. Workers paid on an annual contract basis can be handled by the annualised hours procedures and reports within WinTAnet. Each type of work pattern can be set up to override the normal pattern and use a specific shift on public holidays.