NEWS
Portlaoise-based Powerpoint Engineering is dedicating its 5th Annual Charity Cycle in memory of friend and colleague Emlyn O’Reilly, who sadly passed away on July 26 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. A much-loved member of the team, Emlyn is remembered by his colleagues as kind, positive and a true gentleman. The Charity Cycle for Friends of the Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore with be held over September 19-22, with Johan, David, Gavin and Conor taking on the four- day cycle from Lovinac to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Covering 635km, the cycle will honour Emlyn’s wishes by raising funds for the chosen charity, a 100% voluntary organisation that provides special care rooms and gardens for patients and families. Emlyn spent his final two weeks in one of these rooms, surrounded by love, dignity and peace. Separate to this fundraiser, Powerpoint Engineering will make a separate donation of €40,000 to Down Syndrome Centre Midlands, a charity supported in previous charity cycles. Since 2021, its annual charity cycles have raised €130,375. To donate, email mary.keegan@powerpoint.ie or visit https://gofund.me/ca7c7acf POWERPOINT ENGINEERING TO HOLD CHARITY CYCLE IN MEMORY OF COLLEAGUE
L-R: Stephen Clarke, SCC Ltd, Joan McCoy, Employee Ownership Ireland, and Laura Buckley, SCC Ltd.
CO DOWN MEP ENGINEERING FIRM ADOPTS EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP MODEL
Holywood engineering firm SCC Ltd has become the most recent Northern Ireland company to move to an employee ownership trust (EOT) model. The MEP consultancy has made the transition, which offers workers a share in the profits of the business and encourages them to be more actively involved in the decision-making process of the company. The decision was taken as founder and Managing Director Stephen Clarke was approaching retirement and, with no succession plans in place, he was hesitant to put the company on the market. Currently there are 18 EOTs operating in Northern Ireland including Gilbert Ash and White Ink Architects. Employee Ownership Ireland, which was set up earlier this year with a view to create 10,000 employee owners by 2030, provided support to SCC Ltd throughout each stage of the transition process and worked with the organisation to undertake a funded feasibility study. SCC was founded in 2003 by Stephen and his wife Jane as an M&E consultancy, providing M&E design services, M&E surveys and commissioning management. www.employeeownershipireland.com
SOLAR FIRM FINED €100,000 FOLLOWING FATALITY AT CO LOUTH FARM
Solar Power BK Limited Director Brian Kelly has been fined, and given a suspended jail sentence, following the death of an employee in a workplace incident. Solar Power BK Limited was fined a total of €100,000 by Judge Dara Hayes at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court on July 8, following the fatality at Bellingham Farms in Castlebellingham, Co Louth on August 14, 2023. The company director was also fined a total of €10,000 and handed two eight- month suspended sentences running concurrently. The accident resulted in an
employee falling through a skylight on the roof of an agricultural building, landing on the concrete floor below. Solar Power BK Limited had earlier pleaded guilty to four charges in breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. The charges included failure to ensure that work being carried out at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, carried out in a safe manner or that measures had been taken to prevent employees from being exposed to falls from height. www.hsa.ie
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IRELAND’S ELECTRICAL MAGAZINE | 23
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