Thread: Locksmith courses

A friend of mine has just left the army and is looking to get into the locksmith trade. But neither he nor i know who is the best choice for courses in which he can use his elcas. If there are any locksmiths on here or people in the know, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

You might want to try this?

http://www.gai.org.uk/

anvil locksmiths. There are at www.anvillocksmiths.co.uk

I did see the anvil site and had a look for him, does anybody know if they are the dogs danglies of the locksmith world or are they fly by nights? My friend made a wrong choice using his resettlement for warehouse management and is struggling to find work. I said i would help him out in any way i could.

I did mine with the Master Locksmiths Association, they are the ones that issued the certificates that the companies I applied to wanted to see, plus they keep the register of locksmiths, update courses etc, spent enhanced Learning Credits with them, worth a visit or a call to see what is what with them for course dates

Originally Posted by boelynbulldog

I did mine with the Master Locksmiths Association, they are the ones that issued the certificates that the companies I applied to wanted to see, plus they keep the register of locksmiths, update courses etc, spent enhanced Learning Credits with them, worth a visit or a call to see what is what with them for course dates

Thanks for the reply, ill tell him what you have said. Also is there much business in the locksmith industry now, and what is the typical earnings?

Check out the following post. In short don't touch Anvil with a barge pole.
http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/...c/t=22912.html

you could allways use you tube to find out how to make picks and the gear needed.. theres one "pin hammer" i use oft .. on bike locks.. kids allways leave them on post ect...

Originally Posted by plaster

you could allways use you tube to find out how to make picks and the gear needed.. theres one "pin hammer" i use oft .. on bike locks.. kids allways leave them on post ect...

You don't know how true this is!

Ah well, he signed back on the dotted line.....lasted 4 weeks. Can understand why though in today's current climate.

SICK FUCKER!

Do not go down this route, there are too many "blokes in vans" out there fighting over the small amount of work available. The locksmith trade is dying and unless you have some very good contacts you won't get anything other than late night callouts to pissed up people who won't want to pay you.

The electronics/alarm route is much better.

Originally Posted by bombdr2494

Originally Posted by boelynbulldog

I did mine with the Master Locksmiths Association, they are the ones that issued the certificates that the companies I applied to wanted to see, plus they keep the register of locksmiths, update courses etc, spent enhanced Learning Credits with them, worth a visit or a call to see what is what with them for course dates

Thanks for the reply, ill tell him what you have said. Also is there much business in the locksmith industry now, and what is the typical earnings?

You need to be looking at £60 per hour if you're in the sticks, £80+ in a big city, double it for after hours, it's a judgement call do you need the money or not. The biggest problem will be stock levels, you will need to have £600-£1000 worth of stock at any one time and this won't cover all eventualities, this is a problem at 04:00. The main suppliers to the trade won't be interested in supplying you, so you'll be buying at B&Q and the like, for the more esoteric stuff you'll need to go to an established locksmith (which your client could have done in the first place), he won't do you any favours on price, expect no more than a 10% discount.
You still have to fork out for insurance (public liability/vehicle/trade) pay tax, Tools £2000+, plus a van to keep it all in £6000+ which needs secure parking or emptying every night. Advertising, now you've got all the kit how do people know to phone you? Yellow pages are your enemy, they'll sell you as much space as they can, it's their job. Look at your local yellow pages, it's full of AAAAAAAAAAA11111111111111111fast locksmiths, most of them blokes like you.

Talk to an established locksmith in your area with a view to working for them as an employee or subcontractor, military background is an advantage here, they are always looking out for trustworthy blokes. The trade values a checkable work history. An established locksmith will also have clients who regard a former serviceman as someone they trust to have on the premesis.

Trust is everything in this trade. the money is in the commercial clients.

I worked in the trade for 15 years after I left, if anyone wants to PM me feel free.

Originally Posted by bombdr2494

A friend of mine has just left the army and is looking to get into the locksmith trade. But neither he nor i know who is the best choice for courses in which he can use his elcas. If there are any locksmiths on here or people in the know, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Not a locksmith but a few observations from the septic side of the pond. Business seems good for locksmiths here for a number of reasons. You might want to talk to any solicitor you might know. The reason is:
Divorce w. hubby or wife out - time to change the lock
Court order chucking out spouse/partner etc - time to change the lock
above w. violent spouse/partner - change locks and add stronger ones also window locks
retiree decides to spend lots of time somewhere warmer - needs good locks
Landlord evicts tenant - new locks a must
Bank forecloses - time to change locks

car lockouts - need someone who knows what he/she is doing if side airbags are triggered damage from the airbag plus cost of new airbags is very very pricey. Not sure is side deployed airbags are being used over there.

BTW, I just hired a locksmith for Dec 15th. My mentally ill brother-in-law will be in court for a guardianship appointment. His house (once nice, now a hovel) needs lock change as he is going to a group home. (sad to do it but it has to be done).

Also, very large institutions keep locksmiths on the payroll full time. A facilities engineer at a large university in my city told me his school has 29.000 locks and they will NEVER contract out due to security for the students plus the many layers of mastering, grand-mastering, different parts of the university etc. IIRC they have 3 full time locksmiths and they get a lot of overtime when students locked out, employee terminated with ill feelings etc.

I know none of this may apply on your side of the pond but it is what I see over here.

I certainly agree that the key to breaking into the locksmith business is good training. But job security seems to be a problem as it doesnt seem to be safe employment these days, from some of the posts here at any rate. Anyway, you say your mate has bolted for a safe haven back in the mob now, but thats no bar to getting a job in the idustry later, so no need for him to be alarmed then.
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