Halberd Tools opens second site in Wexford — 14 May

Halberd Tools has confirmed that its second Irish plant will open in Wexford in September, three months later than originally announced. The company attributed the delay to a shortage of specialist electrical contractors rather than to any change in demand.

The site will initially employ ninety people, rising to about one hundred and forty once the second production line is commissioned in early spring. Roughly a third of the roles are expected to be filled by staff transferring from the existing Cork facility, which will continue to operate at current capacity.

Chief executive Niamh Dolan said the company had considered locations in three counties before choosing Wexford, citing transport links and the availability of trained technicians locally. She declined to comment on reports that a third site is under consideration.

To: Priya Anand, HR · From: Daniel Osei · Subject: Request for unpaid leave

Dear Priya,

I am writing to request four weeks of unpaid leave from 2 September to 27 September. My father is having surgery in Accra in early September and I would like to be there for the operation and the first weeks of his recovery.

I am aware that September is a busy month for the department. I have spoken to Rasheed, who is willing to cover the supplier reviews, and I would complete the quarterly report before I leave rather than delegating it. The only item I cannot move is the audit visit on 11 September, which I understand may need to be rescheduled.

I have twelve days of annual leave remaining. I am requesting unpaid leave instead so that I keep those days for the December shutdown, but I am happy to use them if that makes the request easier to approve.

Daniel

PLANNED MAINTENANCE — Building C, June

All work is scheduled at weekends to limit disruption. Staff needing weekend access on the dates above should contact Facilities at least three working days in advance. Where access cannot be granted, alternative desks are available in Building A.

Kestrel K90 Label Printer — reviewed by a small print shop ★★★☆☆

We bought the K90 to replace an eight-year-old machine that finally gave up. Setup took under an hour and the print quality is genuinely better than we expected at this price — text at four point is still legible, which matters for the ingredient labels we produce.

Where it disappoints is throughput. The specification claims sixty labels a minute. In our experience that figure holds only for the simplest single-colour designs; anything with a barcode drops to around forty. That is not slow, but it is not what was advertised, and we planned our schedule around the higher number.

Support has been good. When the feed jammed repeatedly in the first fortnight, an engineer visited within two days and replaced a roller at no charge. He mentioned that the fault was common on early units, which was reassuring in one sense and less so in another.

Would we buy it again? Probably yes, but we would test the throughput claim before committing.

Change to expense claims — effective 1 July

From 1 July, all expense claims must be submitted through the Meridian app rather than on paper forms. Claims must be filed within thirty days of the expenditure; after that they will not be processed except in exceptional circumstances approved by a director.

Receipts must be photographed and attached at the time of claiming. The app accepts images up to 8MB. Paper receipts no longer need to be posted to Finance, but staff should keep them for six months in case of an audit query.

Mileage claims are unaffected by this change and continue to use the existing rate. Claims for meals now require the names of everyone present where the claim exceeds £40.

Training sessions are not being run, as the app is straightforward, but a two-page guide is on the intranet. Questions to [email protected].