Notice Board
Higher Education to Locksmithing : Samson Locksmiths
Learning a new trade often begins with education , and fortunately , the locksmithing community is full of supportive professionals willing to share their knowledge .
» JOHN FROM SOLID AS A LOCK guided newbie Sam Thorpe , from Samson Locksmiths in Leeds , through the fundamentals of bench locksmithing .
What ’ s it like being new to the trade ?
Well , I ’ ve been a bit delayed in starting due to having an emergency surgery on my hand due to an injury . I was signed-up to do the Master Locksmith Association ( MLA ) Master Locksmith Certification Level 1 Foundation in December , but there ’ s not much you can do with an injured hand . They kindly moved my course booking to the end of January , so not long for me to wait now . I ’ m ready and raring to go !
What ’ s been refreshing so far is the amount of good people in the trade who are happy to help you get started . I wanted to do things properly so joined the MLA as a registered member . It was Tony , the Chairman of the Northern MLA , who recommended John at Solid as a Lock as someone who could help me learn how to non-destructively open a mortice lock . John has been great , he was happy to answer all my questions - no question is ever stupid - and he even put me in touch with the Locksmith Journal to get take part in this story ; it ’ s all great publicity to help get my name out there so why not !
Why Locksmithing ?
I spent a decade working in higher education in marketing recruiting international students for The University of York and took a severance package because I had the desire to become self-employed and be my own boss . I then needed to find a trade that suited me , I wanted something that had low setup costs and didn ’ t involve too many hoops to jump through and red tape . I considered many possible trades and , through the process of elimination , found locksmithing which looked interesting because it is non-regulated . Initially , I wanted to become an auto locksmith , but through research I found the setup costs to be quite high , so decided to stick with domestic locksmithing at first anyway . There ’ s always time to expand my service offering later .
Getting Started : Marketing
With a background in marketing , I had some graphic design experience , which proved useful when building my own website using Wix and creating my
branding . I also set up basic SEO to ensure my business appeared on Google , helping me to start collecting reviews and building an online presence . I ’ ve already started to receive enquiries through my website .
I got myself a van which I haven ’ t yet branded . With my newly created logo I was able to order branded clothing and start to network with other locksmiths and start doing a few small local jobs .
Keen to Network with Other Locksmiths
I am keen to learn everything there is to know about locksmithing . I don ’ t want to drill out cylinders , I want to take pride in my work and learn how to pick them nondestructively like a professional . I would like any training organisations or other
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JANUARY 2025
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