Notice Board
Female Locksmith of the Year 2025: Hazel Oakley, Gloucester Locksmiths
When‘ The Locksmith Awards’ announced its 2025 shortlist, Hazel Oakley of Gloucester Locksmiths was elated to be nominated, without knowing who had put her forward for the prestigious award.
» UNLIKE MANY LOCKSMITHS IN THE trade, Hazel isn’ t out on emergency call-outs or fitting locks on site. She works in the workshop, building and pinning cylinders, assembling master key systems and handling the detailed work that underpins commercial contracts. Her role might be behind the scenes, but it’ s central to how a professional locksmithing business operates.
Winning the award did not come as a surprise however to Hazel’ s colleagues, who championed her and are incredibly proud of her success.
Falling Into the Trade
“ I never planned to become a locksmith. It wasn’ t something I’ d thought about at all. I’ d just moved to the area and was looking for a new career path. My friend’ s dad is Gary John, Managing Director of Gloucester Locksmiths, and my friend works there too- it’ s a family business. I was offered the opportunity, took it, and that was nearly ten years ago.
“ What started as just a job quickly turned into something I genuinely love. There’ s something about locksmithing that gets under your skin; the detail, the problem-solving, the fact that no two days are ever quite the same.”
Life at the Pinning Bench
“ I work in the pinning department, and I spend most of my day building locks. That can mean anything from complex master key suites for universities to large telecoms contracts- locks and keys for companies like MBNL and EE and other major infrastructure providers. Some days it’ s high-volume cylinder builds; other days its bespoke
systems tailored to a customer’ s exact requirements.
“ We handle everything from commercial properties to large institutional setups. Colleges and universities often need extensive master key systems with strict hierarchy control. Telecom contracts demand consistency, accuracy and scalability. I would describe the work as varied, technical and detailed, and I love that diversity.
“ One minute I’ m building a multi-level master key suite with carefully calculated differ changes. The next I’ m working on a completely different system with its own specification and tolerances. Systems are always evolving, customers’ needs change and there’ s always something new to learn, and is what keeps it interesting.”
Training the Gloucester Way: In-House Expertise & MLA Standards
“ All of my training has been done inhouse at Gloucester Locksmiths. We’ re an MLA-approved company, and that matters. Many of the team passed their exams and formal qualifications years ago, and most have been here 20 or 30 years. That depth of experience is
invaluable. The knowledge transfer is constant.
“ I’ ve had supplier training too. Representatives come in to show us new products, new systems, updates to existing ranges. We stay current because the industry never stands still.
“ Being part of a company that invests in training makes a difference. You’ re not left to figure things out alone. You’ re shown, guided, corrected. Standards are always high and that is the way it should be. It’ s hands-on learning, grounded in real jobs and real contracts- that’ s how you build confidence.”
An Award I Didn’ t See Coming
“ Midway through 2025, I received a call directly from The Locksmith Awards who told me I had been nominated for Female Locksmith Of The Year. It was exciting, albeit a bit surreal, and to this day, I don’ t know who nominated me. Although I deal with a lot of customer work indirectly, I’ m not customer-facing. I’ m in the workshop, behind the scenes, and, to know that people out there had recognised my efforts meant a lot.“ The award ceremony was in November. Unfortunately, I was on holiday in Lanzarote at the time, so I
10
MARCH 2026
locksmithjournal. co. uk Issue Takeover