Craig's Journey

The beginning

It all started when my family moved house, which happened to be next door to a professional well-established locksmith. I was attending secondary school at the time, working hard towards my GCSE’S in English, Maths, Science, Sports studies. I used to see this large blue long wheelbase transit with yellow sign writing travel up and down the side lane, in between our houses, which piqued my interest into the world of locksmithing, this was in 2002 before YouTube even existed, where you can get an insight into topics of interest.

 

I built up the courage to ask the locksmith one day if I could go out on jobs with him and help carry the tools and tidy up. 

I was lucky enough to get a yes and this is where it all started. I worked with the locksmith in my school holidays and even did my work experience with the locksmith, giving me a wider spectrum into the world of locksmithing and security. The first time I applied myself to locksmithing, the job was very interesting, I was hooked. All the handheld and electric power tools, lock picks and opening equipment, van, and workshop full of locks and security products, key cutting equipment, it was a wow moment for me. It is such a skilful multi-faceted trade. You need to be able to answer the phone effectively, think fast as this is an emergency-based business, quote correctly to ensure you are covering all business associated costs, and understand and convey product knowledge, be able to solve problems fast and efficiently, keep cool under pressure, time management needs to be good, enjoy driving a van, be prepared to work long hours if required as most but not all locksmiths are 24 hours.

The start of my career in Locksmithing

This was where the learning curve really began for me, working hard as a full-time locksmith. Learning more about locksmithing with each day that passed, developing my skills with tools, locks, and product knowledge, learning about lock picks, and opening equipment, key cutting equipment and key blank recognition, understanding my area geographically in depth. Over those months I was able to pass my driving licence and get further lessons to complete pass plus. Pass plus was taken as I knew I would be driving a van in the future, so I needed to be skilled enough to be able to manoeuvre and drive a van.

In the coming years I worked very hard and progressed with the Master Locksmiths Association and became an advanced student and eventually passed the Master Locksmiths Association BLI exam now gaining the title of Master Locksmith, I also believe I was the youngest locksmith ever to Pass the BLI exam and this massive achievement is one of my proudest moments in my life. In this time, I gained a huge understanding of locksmithing and got proficient in answering the phone and dealing with customer enquiries, pricing, on-site problem-solving capabilities, and fitting locks to a massive and diverse range of doors completing thousands of jobs. Now a fully-fledged professional locksmith able to handle anything thrown in my direction.

2009: a big year for me

2009 was the year I set up my own mobile locksmith business AA Lock and Key, the branding and website was completed my next step was to become a Master Locksmiths Association approved company, which was successfully proudly achieved. AA Lock and Key were mentioned in 2009 and featured in the Bristol Evening Post, “love of the job is key to success.” In 2009 I was also put forward for the prestigious HSBC start up stars award. AA Lock and Key unfortunately did not win this, but it was a fantastic experience attending a black-tie event and proudly achieving second place.

At this point I was great at my job and locksmithing, but I was now learning what it took to run a successful locksmithing business at a deeper level, business networking, stock control, making connections throughout the locksmith sector with suppliers, lock wholesalers, and brands, accounting, learning about search engine optimisation and marketing and honing all my locksmith skills further. I also had to grasp learning about tax, financial broadcasting, running my own business.

15 years later AA Lock and Key is an extremely successful locksmith business still trading. Proudly generating 100’s of enquires and WhatsApp messages monthly with customers enquiring about locksmith services and engaging in getting work done and completed. AA Lock and Key is well known in my local area having completed thousands of jobs for residential and commercial customers for the last 15 years plus. Some of our biggest customers include Tesla, Primark, Andrews and Hunters Estate Agents, Argos, Costa coffee and more. AA Lock and Key even proudly get a lot of referrals from other locksmiths, when they are busy, or job requires a certain skill set.

Master Locksmiths Association chronological sequence of awards and business achievements.

  • Registered with the Master Locksmiths Association as a personal member.
  • Student
  • Advanced Student
  • Qualified Master Locksmith
  • Master Locksmiths Association Approved company from 2009 to present, mentioned in Bristol Evening Post “Love of the job is key to success,” HSBC start up stars runner up.
  • 15-year commemorative membership award with the Master Locksmiths Association, “the Board of Directors and Members award you with a lapel badge”.
  • 22-year lifetime achievement award with the Master Locksmiths Association.
  • The Perspicacity Life - 2023

What’s next moving forward?

The Perspicacity Life is my new business moving forward, this is a new and exciting locksmith marketing company founded in 2023. This business encompasses everything I have learnt to date, branding, business, customer intention, marketing, locksmithing, networking. I have listened to what customers require from a locksmith business and brand aspect. I also understand the challenges faced for small to large locksmith businesses looking to get more local work or just purely dominate in their area.

The Perspicacity Life website has been designed and developed from the ground up, to succeed on both sides. Providing great user experience and super-fast website page load speeds for all users and a cutting-edge marketing platform for local independent locksmiths looking to subscribe and generate more local enquires. The website is easy to navigate, we prioritise user experience, and have worked hard on the branding and image of the business hopefully becoming a trusted resource in time. I have spoken and even worked on successful marketing projects for local and national locksmith businesses who require help to exponentially grow their business successfully and have achieved amazing results, I know what it takes to win.

The Perspicacity Life is more than just a locksmith marketing company, it’s a mindset. If you are a locksmith based in the UK and want to generate more local leads, then feel free to have a look at subscribing to our locksmith near me page for just £365 a year and all our other locksmith marketing opportunities. The Perspicacity Life are working hard moving forward on high quality business and locksmith content creation, search engine optimisation, trust, and visibility within the Google search results.

Register your locksmith business on The Perspicacity Life