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Basingstoke Reading Newbury mechanism to fit the entrance door to the Abbey Gateway. English Heritage wouldn’ t allow any new holes to be drilled into the historic door, so we had to get creative. We placed thin lining paper over the face of the door and used a crayon to trace all the original fixing holes and the keyhole; this became our template for the new lock. It took nearly a week to complete a solution that was acceptable to English Heritage, provided single-action exit compliance for the Fire Brigade, and used a small Yale-type key that was practical for museum staff to carry.
The Abbeygate Team &“ The Brainwashing Room”
Fast-forward to today. I’ ve built a team I’ m proud of. My partner Elaine does all our bookkeeping, invoicing, and debt collection- she’ s brilliant. My son Alex manages the office and keeps our website and SEO ticking along. We’ ve got three vans on the road, plus two engineers: Ben Prozzo who came to us as a fully qualified carpenter and is now our senior locksmith, and Perry Knight who was a complete novice and, is now fully trained. It’ s great seeing how all my lads have developed into a fine locksmiths.
At our trade counter on Prospect Street, we’ ve got a reception that looks more like a showroom. Behind it is the infamous“ brainwashing room”- a hands-on display of safes, fire doors, and hardware where we educate clients and housing associations. Beyond that, there’ s our workshop, where we restore and rebuild safes, master key systems, and cut keys. We’ re not just a locksmith service; we’ re a hub for lock knowledge.
Locksmithing Royalty & Football Stars
I’ ve had the pleasure( and pressure) of working for some incredible clients over the years- Windsor Castle, the American Embassy, and the Greenham Common missile base, where we handled all the security.
One day, I’ ll be doing a grim repossession with a housing association, the next, fitting locks for a Premier League footballer. That variety is what I love. No two days are the same and every job matters.
LockFest – My Way of Giving Back
In 2023, I had an idea. Locksmith events were too expensive for most to attend, often £ 500 + for travel and accommodation. I was doing a fire door inspection at a YMCA in the woods and thought,“ What if we did a festival for locksmiths here?”
With the help of Mark Santi, we launched LockFest, now in its second year with 50 + locksmiths attending. We focus on practical, hands-on learning: safe opening, welding, fire door prep, even repairing broken picks. Stuart Game and I taught mechanical to digital lock conversions and safe handling using rollers and ramps – these are the real skills you can’ t learn online.
It’ s inclusive, affordable, and welcoming to everyone in the trade- camper vans, tents, dorms, or hotels, whatever suits. We’ ve already booked for 2026, and we’ re planning a LockFest Midlands event too. Watch this space!
Say‘ Yes’ to Everything If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone in the trade: just don’ t say no.
That’ s been the cornerstone of our success. It all starts with doing something new for the first time, don’ t be afraid, give it a go! Vault doors? We’ ve done nine, after starting with one. Van locks? We’ ll fit them. Fire doors? We’ ll prep them properly.
Scotland? If the customer insists on us, we’ ll pack the van and go!
Being open to everything keeps the business thriving. We’ re never short of work because we’ re always open to work. There’ s no such thing as“ we don’ t do that.”
So Many Funny Stories to Tell We’ ve moved three-tonne vault doors out of decommissioned banks. We’ ve even opened safes in the back of police vans – unfortunately once the door was open all you could see was the white floor of the police transit van. What the police sergeant didn’ t know was the safe had been burgled and the back cut out and dumped. The police picked the safe up, put it in the back of their van but hadn’ t told the sergeant the back had been cut out. So, we were called in to open the safe.
No Regrets, Just Locks
Now 67, people ask me if I’ d do it all again. Absolutely. I wouldn’ t change a thing. Every day teaches me something new, whether it’ s a new product, technique, or challenge.
This trade has given me a life full of stories, challenges, laughs, and learning. It’ s given me a family business, a great team, and the respect of the community. I might eventually scale back to three days a week, but for now, the work keeps coming. Why? Because we don’ t say no. That’ s the real key to success.
www. abbeygatelocksmiths. co. uk 01183 275 822 Prospect Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7YJ
JULY 2025
17
Issue Takeover locksmithjournal. co. uk