Notice Board
Involvement with the MLA
As a company we were always heavily involved with the MLA , dad was on the Board for a few years , Dave was chairman of the London Region for many years and , I was treasurer for the Region for the last 30 years only recently handing over the position to our son Matt . I was also President of the MLA for seven years which I thoroughly enjoyed and felt was a great honour to be their first , and so far , only female president .
‘ The computer ’ has helped enormously , we now ask customers to send an image of their lock and the fault and we can ID the lock from that . ‘ In the old days ’ we had no idea what we were going to ! Writing this is starting to make me feel old !
I ’ m completely retired now but the MLA have very kindly started an award in my name for females in the locksmithing industry ( The Val Stokes Award ). The first recipient was Emma Allen from the MLA office last year , and it is to be awarded every two years .
Being Female in a Male Environment
I can honestly say that I think being a female in a predominantly male environment has advantages . We are usually more tolerant with “ awkward ” customers , female customers feel more at ease dealing with another female , we can often carry out the ‘ fiddly bits of locksmithing ’ which male hands can find difficult . There are lots of females working in the manufacturers ’ pinning departments because they are better at the finer workings .
Advice to other Females Considering Locksmithing as a Career
I would encourage any female to join the locksmithing profession whether it is office based or engineer based . The people in locksmithing have always been welcoming , helpful and great fun to be with .
Life Now Retired I love to ride my beautiful horse , River . I enjoy gardening and walking our Collie dog . Doing all that takes up most of my time . As our son and daughter have taken over the company , we often “ talk shop ” - we still get to hear what ’ s going on - and sometimes we are asked for our opinion , which we greatly appreciate .
Locksmithing has been good for all of our family .
JULY 2024
11
Issue Takeover locksmithjournal . co . uk