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THE BEST IDEAS OFTEN come from finding solutions to real situations, which is exactly what happened to Paul Batty, owner of Sutton Locksmiths in Hull.

The idea came after Paul’ s mother-in-law suffered a fall in her own home. Paul had secured the home of his mother-in-law so she felt safe and reassured – but this came at a cost as she had put the sash-jammers on from the inside and sadly she fell while inside her home. As a locksmith, Paul fortunately managed to gain entry and get her to the hospital safely, but he knew there had to be a better way to offer additional security and reassurance to vulnerable occupants, without putting them at risk. So he began working on initial designs, and these have been developed now into the brand of SASHSTOP now in full production.

Development of an idea to an off-the shelf product has not been easy or straightforward, but having identified and begun working with a fantastic factory in the West Midlands, the product has now become a range and has also been

manufactured to what Paul believes is“ a fantastically high-level, Made in Britain product!”

Corners have not been cut, and the result on the product range is seriously impressive – for example, Paul says to compare the SASHSTOP against a sash-jammer made in the Far East – initial tests have indicated that the SASHSTOP is at least four, if not five, times stronger – and is not prone to fatigue or failure from use( sometime only light use).

In the last couple of years Paul has shown his prototypes to a number of people within his growing network of locksmiths as well as wellrespected industry specialists. The product has grown from

a single idea to a range of products, and he is ready to showcase them at the MLA Show in October 2017!

Regular meet-ups with fellow locksmiths highlighted that a clean, easy, reliable and repeatable installation of these product could be a major factor in locksmiths getting on-board with the new product, so an Installation Jig has been created too – simply position and then clamp it on to the door or window frame, check the position again and adjust the grip to be nice and tight. Once secured it is a case of drilling three holes, and depending on the frame construction possibly opening up the middle hole. The SASHSTOP team estimate that installing a pair of SASHSTOP locks on a door could comfortably take under half an hour – making for a quick and easy job, and potentially a very good earner too!

Paul told LS:“ Having received such fantastic support from our installer and locksmith network already, by way of return, we wanted to give them the best care, in the form of product ordering, supply and support. While production of the SASHSTOP is underway, we have also invested heavily

in making a streamlined platform for distribution of our SASHSTOP range which should allow orders to be placed, stock to be allocated accordingly and ultimately our customers can begin to receive our products and get using them, installing them and start reaping the rewards by offering them to their customers, safe in the knowledge that the initial investment in stock will soon be turned into profit- not just on the product, but in the time savings and efficiency of installation.

“ We always say“… work it back to an hourly rate” and I think that any of our installers will be very pleased, very quickly!

“ We look forward to hearing your feedback when using the products, and trade accounts are available when registering on our website: sashstop. co. uk – once registered we will need to approve your account, and apply the better rates and we will aim to do this as quickly as possible so no one is left waiting! For us, we cannot wait for the products to start being used – and we have ideas for future products too, so watch this space, think SASHSTOP and please do get in touch with any feedback at all.

“ If any LS reader would like to get in contact with the SASHSTOP Team then please do not hesitate to do so via our website: sashstop. co. uk, email: info @ sashstop. co. uk or Twitter: @ sashstop

SashStop- designed by a locksmith, for locksmiths!