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» LUCY ROBINSON , OR ‘ Lucy Locksmith ’ in the industry , decided to do a locksmith training course with her mother over 15 years ago . After winning top trader of the year the pair have never looked back . Lucy ’ s career began as a secretary before swiftly moving on to a six-month ski season ; with a longing for flexible working , she turned her hand at locksmithing . Now with over 1,000 reviews as a verified Checkatrade member and a high score of 9.95 , Lucy has had a career gearshift and progression like no other .
Tell us more about how you got into the industry ?
“ A good friend of mine is a locksmith , he offered to take me out on a few jobs to show me the ropes and decide if this was for me . From there , I found a training academy that offered a discount if I signed up with somebody . I turned to my mum and together , we became locksmiths .
“ Once I ’ d completed the course , I called a few different companies to see if they would take me on and they laughed at me . This fuelled me , I thought , ‘ I ’ m going to show you .” My mother ( Jenny Turner ) and I then started our own business and I proved everyone wrong after just one year of trading .
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We actually won Checkatrade ’ s Top Trader of the Year .”
From your previous career , were there any transferable skills that supported you in the trade industry ?
“ Absolutely . Organisation , diary management and personability .” Lucy ’ s mother , Jenny , adds : “ I would say one of our biggest strengths is telling customers exactly how much a job is going to cost and provide an honest , upfront and quick response . In fact , ‘ honesty ’ and ‘ integrity ’ are words that regularly occur in our reviews on Checkatrade .”
What do you love most about your job ?
“ The variety of work , I love visiting new people and seeing different houses , it ’ s rewarding to have very grateful and happy clients and to be my own boss . The flexibility locksmithing provides is a huge added value – I ’ m very lucky to be able to walk my children to school each morning and pick them up every day , as well as work closely with my mum , of course .”
Are people surprised when you tell them what you do ?
“ Definitely . I ’ ve turned up to jobs before and they aren ’ t expecting to see me . I ’ ve had
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customers say , “ Oh , you ’ re a woman .” I ’ m thinking , erm , ‘ Lucky Locksmith ’, kind of gives it away with the name , surely . But overall , I ’ d say people are pleasantly surprised , I ’ ve never experienced any derogatory comments towards me .”
So , what is it like being a woman in a typically maledominated industry ?
“ If I ’ m being completely honest , I don ’ t really notice the difference , but I think that may be partly due to working as a sole trader . It may be different for women on a building site though .”
What advice would you give to other women who are thinking of making a career change to the trade industry ?
“ Absolutely do it – it was the best thing I ever did . You are never out of work ; everyone
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will always need the skills of a tradesperson . You can be flexible with your hours , and you can even move abroad if you wanted too . I just love the fact that more and more women are getting into trades .”
Jenny adds : “ It ’ s never too late to start training for something completely different , it ’ s what I did at the age of 59 . Age is just a number and training to be a locksmith was a shift for me .”
What do you think the industry needs to do to help inspire the next generation of girls into a trade ?
“ I think it needs to be talked about more in schools as a viable career option for both boys and girls . My husband – who has his own trade – and I will definitely be encouraging this type of career for our children .”
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