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Three workers at a warehouse in Lancashire were tied up by a gang of robbers who stole cigarettes. The staff were loading them into a vehicle at the depot in Blackburn for a morning delivery when a white Mercedes Sprinter van pulled up. Police said six to eight men masked men with Liverpool accents grabbed and tied up the men inside the warehouse. Detectives added the trio have been left incredibly shaken by the incident. Tensor Access Enterprise is a multi-user version, intended for implementing door security at larger companies and is a companion to our WinTA Enterprise time and attendance application. It includes extra software to enable you to easily add and edit profile settings to all registered hardware equipment attached to your company's network of Tensor equipment. Tensor Access Enterprise can operate a maximum of 372 scanners and record an unlimited number of employee details. This edition can also link to your Tensor Personnel Enterprise application, where it is able to share employee data.  

Following a swoop involving uniformed and CID officers, police in north England found no evidence that any of the sites they investigated were involved in processing stolen scrap metal. Sergeant John McIntosh commented: “There have been 20 thefts of metal, mainly lead and copper, over the last 30 days in South Cumbria. We visited three sites in Barrow and we went through their records. This is a good result as it shows local firms are doing things correctly.” Automatic car park barriers, bollards and gates from Tensor are ideal security additions if your site or office has extensive outdoor space. Automatic barriers are the default choice for controlling your site's car park and road entry points. The barriers can also double up as a way of monitoring the number of vehicles passing through the control point. Suitable for both large and small premises, they can work in any weather, and are able to immediately recognise authorised personnel. Optional extras include a folding arm mechanism and an impact release mechanism.  

A 12-month community order and the completion of 60 hours of unpaid work was the punishment for a man in his 60s who defaced a public toilet. James Allen admitted in court causing the damage to the building. On seven different occasions between April 23 and June 7, staff at a Yorkshire railway station found the graffiti scrawled on the back of doors in the male toilets. Mr Allen was also ordered to pay compensation of £100 and £85 towards costs. Public and private companies can improve security at their toilet facilities by installing a Tensor toilet turnstile which features reliable, safe and efficient access control technology. The sturdy coin operated turnstiles deter potential criminals from wandering into the toilets since people now have to pay for the privilege. The turnstile bodies have lockable lids to prevent unwanted access and are securely mounted to the floor plate. Tensor’s turnstiles offer improved security and are available in a number of styles to suit the needs of your business and building.  

Member of Parliament Lyn Brown, who has campaigned for the living wage, has been criticised for recruiting an unpaid worker for her House of Commons office. She is looking for a voluntary worker to do jobs like conducting research. The living wage is an hourly salary rate which is higher than the minimum wage and that campaigners say is needed to allow a family to meet their basic needs. In London, where Ms Brown's constituency is, it is currently £8.30. Tensor’s Time & Attendance management systems meet all the personnel and payroll requirements at your workplace. WinTA handles all major hours calculation methods and contains special rules to accommodate flexitime and annual contracts. Settings are included to deal with different overtime rates. The system allows you to create a series of shift premium rules that enable employees to earn bonus payments under special circumstances. Standard reports show the average hours worked during any period by an employee and when night workers are due a health assessment.  

A fire which started near a supermarket is being treated by the authorities as arson. Four fire crews were needed to attend in East Anglia town King’s Lynn after two domestic outbuildings were set ablaze. The buildings were situated just 15 feet away from the store. A fire service spokesperson said the four crews were required because the fire threatened to spread to the supermarket. Police and a fire investigation officer were also called to the scene. Tensor's security and time clocking products can help your shop or business improve its emergency protocol since they can be integrated with fire roll call software that will automatically produce a report in the event of a fire. In such a situation, your immediate fire roll call reports are generated containing the crucial information concerning who of your employees are on site. Employees simply log themselves on and off site using either a smart card or key fob. An evacuation list is then printed at a safe pre-determined remote point.

Unions and government disputed the turnout of public sector workers who went on strike this week. The government said the public sector pension plans were "fair to taxpayers" and the other 25 public sector unions not on strike on Thursday (June 30) were continuing with negotiations. It said figures gathered "from every government department" indicated that just fewer than 100,000 civil servants went on strike. The Public and Commercial Services union suggested about 210,000 of its members participated in the action. Accurate information about absenteeism and lateness is crucial for many businesses. Tensor’s top of the range Time and Attendance WinTAnet system provides this information through warning email notifications, SMS messaging direct to a supervisor's mobile or via hard copy reports. The system quickly identifies missing employees that are expected to be at work and then informs you via automatic email reporting. A separate module is available for rostering and manpower scheduling. Shift pattern rules can be modified to suit your company's Working Time (WTR) agreements.  

Police are hunting a masked man who tried to raid a petrol station. The incident happened on Sunday (July 3) at a Shell garage in Midlothian, Scotland. The man entered the shop with a knife and tried to snatch cash from the till. A police spokesman said: "We want anyone who was in the area of the Shell petrol station around the time of the incident, who noticed the suspect there, to contact us immediately." The Tensor T3512 Low Cost 1 Scanner Controller system is a one door Smart Card Access Control system that has everything you need for controlling access through a single door at your premises or business. A single smart card reader can be used to gain entry to a door and a push button is used to exit. A Tensor biometric fingerprint reader can replace a Smart Card reader. Installing this system is just the beginning to providing your organisation with a platform and route for installing other Tensor security products such as Visitor Monitoring.  

It is uncertain what will happen to 750 employees of troubled home retail chain Habitat outside of its London stores and brand support department. Shops in the capital are being sold to competitor HRG which is also planning to sell Habitat-branded goods online. Habitat said that the unsold stores would continue trading as normal for about six months while the administrator from financial advisors Zolfo Cooper conducted talks. It promised to fulfil all existing orders and protect customer deposits. Tensor’s fast, accurate and easy-to-use WinTA system to record employees' hours of working will make your organisation more efficient and save it money. Tensor’s contactless smart cards, key fobs, or fingerprint biometrics provide the fastest and safest method of recording attendance. The large colour display on the user friendly T32xx clocking station makes it simple for employees to confirm their clockings. The cards do not have to be removed from a wallet or purse to be used, drastically reducing the everyday wear and tear associated with dated swipe card systems.  

A judge summed up a case where a gang was jailed for robbing shops as “a professional, planned conspiracy” targeting small and vulnerable businesses. Judge Niclas Parry said the robberies involved staff being distracted, while the gang took tools to enable them to break into storerooms. He said the offences not only affected the businesses but the communities they served. CCTV evidence identified the trio at several premises in Wales and they were charged with conspiracy to steal. Both small and large businesses can benefit from Tensor’s access control, visitor control and CCTV security devices and systems. A Tensor Digital CCTV system works extremely well as a standalone system, and can also be fully integrated with any previously installed Tensor access control or visitor monitoring equipment to provide a surveillance and security network that is second to none. Digital CCTV consists of a PC based, multi channel video surveillance system that utilises the most advanced compression technologies to bring you the highest picture quality and video performance.  

The only remaining train builder in Britain has had to lay off hundreds of workers based in the Midlands because it says all its contracts, except for some work with London Underground, would be complete by the end of September. Business Secretary Vince Cable said he believed Bombardier had planned to cut jobs in the UK anyway, whether it won the contract or not. Mr Cable told the BBC: "We can't reopen that whole process (tender)." Take control of shifts, manning levels and working patterns at your small or large business using Tensor's Smart Card based payroll and Time & Attendance systems. For example, manning levels in our WinTAnet application are based upon employee skills required during the working week. Any shortfalls to the expected requirement, due to absenteeism for instance, can trigger a system email or SMS alerts. A separate module is available for rostering and manpower scheduling. You are pre-warned when applying a shift pattern that will result in a Working Time Regulations infringement.  

Police say all manner of public buildings, businesses and even road signs are being targeted for thefts and the problem will get worse if metal prices continue their startling rise. British Transport Police told the BBC website metal theft was on the increase. A BTP spokesman said: "It can be very difficult for businesses to be totally secure from theft, which can often involve copper piping bringing in gas to their premises or cables bringing in electricity." Businesses can fight back against the criminals by installing Tensor's security and Access Control products for both large and small companies. A Windows™ based system, Tensor Access is modular in design, thus allowing you to build your access control system to match your specific requirements. Using smart card technology, access readers can be located out of sight – even hidden behind brick walls – yet they provide secure entry for authorised personnel. The systems include real-time monitoring of doors left open, diagrammatically illustrated on an overlay plan of your actual site.  

The new BBC annual report has revealed an overall fall in pay to its star attractions. The corporation says that 19 individuals were paid more than a £500,000 salary in the year to March 2011, two fewer than the year before. Overall spending on talent went down 4 per cent, and executive salaries were also down. Part of the reason for the former was the BBC lost two of its most expensive stars when Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley moved to ITV. There is no better Time & Attendance and payroll software in handling all major hours calculation methods than Tensor's WinTAnet system for businesses. WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexi-time contracts worked by many public sector employees. Workers paid on an annual contract basis can be handled by the annualised hours procedures and reports. You can also enable breaks to activate between set times, and/or after a minimum number of hours have been worked.