A hand-held, manual surgical instrument intended to be used during open surgery (including abdominal, gynaecological, paediatric, or thoracic surgery) for the application of surgical staples to approximate internal soft tissues (e.g., two ends of bowel) or for fixation of a surgical mesh to tissue. The device operates by a manual mechanism (e.g., lever, sliding knob) whereby it applies single or multiple linear rows of surgical staples to a portion of tissue; it has no cutting function. The staples may be housed in a single-use loading unit (SULU) which may be included. This is a reusable device intended to be sterilized prior to use.