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Arc Locksmiths : Held at gunpoint but still a locksmith
» WE CAUGHT UP WITH ROBERT Carney of Arc Locksmiths in Manchester , whom has been a locksmith since 1988 and is in his 35th year of business . Bob ( for short ) has worked in the industry his entire career since leaving school , he ’ s seen it all ( the good , the bad and the ugly ) and even had a gun put to his head !
How did you get into locksmithing ?
I got into locksmithing from leaving school , securing my first job with a local locksmith in Manchester . I worked for him for six years before setting up my own business at the end of 22 . It was a mad year when I got married , had my first child and set up a business in the same year .
My first premises I rented in an industrial unit and when I outgrew this , I then found a shop , I later bought my own premises so I own both the building and the business . And so , Arc Locksmiths was born – RC represents by initials and A in front to get to the top of the listing in the Yellow Pages ( it was important back in 1988 ).
I started off doing warrant work , but then got regular customers working for councils etc . Nowadays , I mainly I do a mix of all sorts – public , letting agents , council and legal work . We ’ ve upsized and downsized over the years , with a maximum of four employees , but now there ’ s just the two of us – John Christian and myself who work in the shop .
Where did you train ?
I did some training with a Manchester locksmith , then I did the MLA course and exams . I ’ m still a member of the MLA now , it ’ s been a fair few years now , I might be there ’ s longest member ! The most recent course I did was on car keys , however I decided it was too expensive to invest in at my time of life .
My future plans
I ’ m planning to retire in the next couple of years , I own the shop and the business so need to look into my options . One of my son ’ s used to work with us , but now he lives in America , so no-one in the family to take over the reins . When I retire , I plan to visit all the other baseball stadiums in the USA I haven ’ t got to yet ; I ’ ve been to exactly half of them so far !
Likes and dislikes of locksmithing ?
What I love the most if every day being different , there ’ s just never a dull moment in locksmithing . You just don ’ t know who is going to walk through my door next with a different challenge . I used to love going out and about , but now I ’ m happy to do less of this .
I had a gun pulled out on me when I was accompanied by bailiffs on a
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NOVEMBER 2024
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