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A day in
the life of…
Mark
Funston
In the last issue, we met Mark
Funston, owner of North West
Emergency Locksmiths based
at Bebington, Wallasey, West
Kirby, in the Wirral, who won a
Yale toolbox in our Locksmith
Lottery competition.
»»As part of our “Day in
the Life of…” series, we are
revisiting Mark to find out
more about some of the more
specialised – and dangerous jobs he regularly tackles.
Mark set up his mobile
business from home in July
2009, after gaining bench
experience with a local
locksmith firm, and while he
handles a lot of straightforward
domestic , business and
auto locksmith jobs, he also
tackles an increasing volume
of specialist jobs for business
customers – in particular
estate agents – and his services
are in regular demand by the
police, plus accompanying
bailiffs on warrant execution
work and assisting major utility
companies such to gain access
to “problem” properties.
“I seem to have become a
bit of a guru for these sort of
jobs- and it can be pretty scary
at times,” he admitted, after
describing to me how he – and
a police officer - almost got
shot during a police operation
to recover illegal firearms
from a gun cabinet and 300
rounds of ammunition from
a safe at a Birkenhead house.
In another incident, he and
police officers narrowly missed
serious injuries during a raid
on a cannabis farm, where the
criminals had not only rigged
up the metal door handle to
the power supply, but also
installed a nasty board with
nails driven into it on a spring
mechanism, so that anyone
breaking in that door would
get it full in the face.
BULLET/STAB PROOF
VESTS ARE A MUST…
“On jobs like this we are
required to wear protective
body clothing, bullet/stab
proof vests , and I am very
risk-assessment conscious,”
he said. “But it is all part of the
job for locksmiths the world
over. We’ve all seen reports
of locksmiths being killed
during warrant work – mostly
in America. It is dangerous
and the bad guys out there
obviously don’t like us, but we
do get some rewarding jobs as
well, such as helping an elderly
person secure their door so
they can go to bed in peace.
People are so grateful for help
in those situations. One lady
had been sleeping in fear on
a mattress on the floor next
to her broken front door for
weeks, so it was really good
to be able to sort that out for
her.”
Intrepid Mark has a
particular concern for elderly
people, for those who have
special needs and for people
who are disabled. “I work with
Age UK on the Wirral and am
now the first port of call for
them, ensuring elderly people
get good discounts on the work
we do. I do believe we should
give something back to the
community.
“It is important to have
good people skills as well as
the technical knowledge,”
Mark explained, “because
customers are of all ages and
come from all walks of life,
and their security issues are
many and varied. It helps
to understand animals too,
because police dogs and guard
dogs often feature in my work!”
he smiled.
locksmithjournal.co.uk | jul/AUG 2015
Mark has featured in a BBC2
documentary series about
warranty work, in this case for
United Utilities in which he
was called in to secure a water
supply. His other claim to fame
was winning the Tradelocks
open-a-lock challenge at the
last MLA show, achieving the
opening in 0.31 of a second
and winning an EPG2 Pick
Gun. Clearly, he must be
lucky - dodging bullets and
booby traps and winning
prizes. He may also be lucky in
love, having recently become
engaged to Sharon!
Given the risks he takes,
does Mark still enjoy his
work?
The answer was a
resounding “Yes”.
“I wouldn’t change it
for the world,” he smiled.
“There are risks, the hours
can be horrendous but the
rewards make it worthwhile.
We are really performing a
very essential service to the
public.”
You can contact Mark on
0151 678 0124