Notice Board
A Family Business in Every Sense
Family is very important to me and runs through every part of my story. My son Finley, now five-and-a-half, already talks about becoming a locksmith himself.
Finley always asks to come out on jobs with me. About a year ago an important customer called me and I asked if she minded me bringing him along because I couldn’ t arrange childcare in time. She was absolutely fine with it. I had a job in a communal area of a block of flats and he came along in his own little Instalock uniform with the MLA logo on it. He talks about locksmithing at school all the time now. He already says he wants to follow in my footsteps and become a locksmith.
That pride in family has become one of the biggest motivations behind the business. Locksmithing gives me much more freedom with my family than I ever had before. I can actually be present. My wife Lucy helps massively as well. She handles our social media posting every day which is a huge part of why we’ ve grown the way we have. We’ ve got another little apprentice on the way! We’ ve got another boy due in August.
Helping Customers at Their Time of Need
While I enjoy the technical side of locksmithing, it’ s the interaction with customers that I value the most. I really enjoy the direct-to-customer jobs because you’ re helping people at stressful moments. If someone’ s locked out in the rain, or their back door has failed and they can’ t let the dog out, they’ re genuinely relieved when you sort it quickly. People appreciate it massively when you solve the problem properly. That customer-first mindset also extends to helping victims of rogue traders. I really wish the locksmith trade was regulated properly.
I hear so many nightmare stories from customers who’ ve been massively overcharged or had unnecessary work done. Sometimes people ring me and say they think they’ ve been ripped off. If that happens, I’ ll often go out free of charge and give them a written report to help them recover money through their insurance company. I’ m losing faith a bit that proper regulation will ever happen, but I still hope it does eventually.
Educating Customers About Modern Locksmithing
I believe one of the trade’ s biggest challenges is public understanding of what locksmiths actually do beyond lockouts and key changes. Most people think they only need a locksmith if they’ re locked out or changing locks. They don’ t realise we can repair doors, window mechanisms, handles, letterboxes and all sorts of hardware without replacing the whole unit.
A lot of customers call door companies and get told they need a brand-new door or window when actually almost every part on a PVC door is replaceable apart from the frame itself. That knowledge and honest advice is a huge part of what builds long-term trust with my customers.
Looking Ahead Despite Recent Challenges
Like many locksmith businesses, Instalock has had to adapt to changing workloads and customer patterns. I’ ve had a bit of a knock recently because one of my biggest clients lost one of their major contracts, so a lot of the social housing work dropped off very suddenly. But that just means getting back out there and building more customers again. We’ re pushing Instagram and Facebook hard and I might even look at TikTok in the future.
A lot of locksmiths come from carpentry backgrounds and tend to be older, so social media still isn’ t something everyone fully embraces in the trade. But it’ s massive now.
I will continue to develop my technical skills. I’ ve got my eye on the MLA fire door inspection course because another locksmith I know is doing really well with it. I also do vehicle entry using Lishi picks, although I don’ t do car keys.
For hardware, I like to keep things simple and use trusted brands. For higher security euro cylinders I mainly use APECS AP. On more basic setups I only fit British Standard locks like one-star Doras, and for rim cylinders and night latches, I use genuine Yale products.
Instalock Essex is a Billericay-based locksmith business providing 24 / 7 emergency locksmith services, lock repairs, replacements and security upgrades across Essex.
Instalock is an approved company of the Master Locksmiths Association, fully insured and DBS checked. Adam was awarded the Nigel Rose Award in 2025 for achieving the highest MLA exam results.
www. instalockessex. co. uk 07710 609983
JUNE 2026
9
Issue Takeover locksmithjournal. co. uk