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From Redundancy to Resilience: Hames & Sons
» ROSS HAMES WAS MADE redundant from his in-house locksmithing job when his son was just three months old, prompting him and his wife to make the leap into self-employment.
With nothing but determination, research, and a leaflet-loaded buggy, Ross and his wife Ghislane built a family-run locksmith business that’ s now become a trusted name across Kent. For them, success means never standing still, especially when it comes to navigating the ever-changing landscape of SEO and AI.
Ghislane told us:
Redundancy, a Baby, and a Big Decision
When Ross lost his job at Howfields, a local locksmith firm that eventually closed, we were faced with a difficult choice: find another job in security or caretaking or try to go it alone. Harvey, our eldest, was only three months old. There wasn’ t much certainty in any direction, but we knew one thing, we didn’ t want Ross’ s skills to go to waste.
He’ d been trained in-house and had a passion for helping people, so we began researching whether locksmithing could work as a selfemployed trade. What surprised us was just how many locksmiths were sole traders. Everyone we spoke to, through forums, agency contacts, and even a few cold calls, said the same thing:“ If you want to make it, you have to work hard.”
So, that’ s what we did …
The Leaflet Years: VistaPrint, Prams, & Persistence
In the early days, we weren’ t working for ourselves directly. We subcontracted under a national company, who took 60 % of the job fee and passed 40 % to us. It wasn’ t glamorous, but it gave us enough
income to get by, and more importantly, to get used to self-employment and tax returns.
By 2009 / 2010, we started advertising ourselves. I designed the first leaflets using VistaPrint. Our second son, Logan, came along around that time too, and we just carried on. Ross would push the pram; I’ d push the buggy, and together we’ d post thousands of flyers across housing estates.
Building the Business Brick by Brick
We didn’ t have a huge budget for marketing, so I took the professional marketing qualification awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing( CIM) to learn the essentials and theory. I then contacted every letting agent, double glazing firm, and property company I could find. We studied our competitors and created an online presence for ourselves. We learnt about SEO and gained a ranking on Google and, not before long, the phone started to ring.
Slowly, our client base grew. Day by day, leaflet by leaflet, we started getting our own regular work, no agency middlemen needed.
10
JULY 2025
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