Lockforce Directors Race The Sun!

The directors of Lockforce raised a staggering £3000 for the children's medical research charity Action with the Race The Sun Charity Challenge!

Sean Taylor (Managing Director) and Paul Smith (Commercial Director) were amongst the 200 plus participants competing in the Lake District based event on August 29th, which started with a lengthy bike ride at 06:19AM before sunrise, followed by a testing hike up Britains second highest mountain- Helvellyn at 3,116ft (950m). It didn't finish there...

The race against time continued with a further bike ride before a 3km canoe course within the Lake Thirlmere, concluding with another bike riding which totalled 50km on wheels!

The challenging course took Sean and Paul 10hrs 55mins against the sunset, finishing a respectable 26th.

For more information about the Race The Sun event, click here.

Home Security Expert: 5 Top Home Security Tips and How To Keep Your Home Safe

Hi and welcome to the Home Security Expert site aimed at helping you and your family to feel safer and be safer in and around your home.

This site is sponsored by Lockforce a commercial locksmith business that has an establishing and expanding network of local expert locksmiths with a passion for “keeping you safe”. As a commercial business the local Lockforce technicians earn a living as a result of poor home security, however, the success is not simply based not just on their expert capability but also their desire to help the local communities that they serve.

You see, on a day to day basis, these local teams see the distress and upset caused through break in, lock outs, thefts, damage to property and the like. And, while they are Locksmiths, if you ask any of them what they dislike about their job they will tell you it is witnessing this distress and upset, particularly when in many instances it could have been avoided.

The aim of the site is to give you valuable tips and security knowledge to help protect your home and family to reduce or avoid the chance of any problems. From discussion on the best burglary deterrents, to information on how to keep your locks maintained so they last longer or information from Police or the local Neighbourhood Watch we simply want to help.

One of the most common questions that get asked on a day-to-day basis is ‘what can I do to better protect my home’. It’s a really important subject, for if any of you have had the misfortune of being burgled in the past, the hindsight that only a few little lifestyle changes could have kept your protected is a real kick in the teeth!

So we thought it best to compile a list of the top 5 security tips that you and your family can implement around the home to better protect yourselves from theft…

1. Take your key out of the door! Many people will often leave a key sticking on the inside of their door, in case they need to vacate their property in a hurry (such as in a powercut or fire). However, leaving your lock in the door can likewise leave you dangerously exposed to burglary. Remember…a door is much harder to break than a window, and if a criminal can see a key wedged in a lock, they may decide to break a nearby window (or the window within the door) to reach the key and open the lock from the other side. If they entered your property via another door, the key in the lock moreover provides the burglar with an easy escape route.


2. Fit Blinds to your windows, as these will act as a significant (not to mention noisy!) obstacle for people attempting to enter through the windows.


3. Install a light time in your home to come and certain times of day or night. Potential burglars will often approach a home if they suspect no body is in…


4. Fit light censors to the front porch and patio. Installing a light censor which illuminates when somebody is within your property perimeter is an excellent way of deterring burglars. Likewise, think about adding gravel to your front drive which will alert you if a potential intruder is approaching the property.


5. And finally, make sure you have adequately functioning locks that are made to British Standard of Security Excellence. You can identify these locks by looking at the kite mark that will be imprinted on the lock casement. These locks offer protection from the core burglary techniques; such as lock picking, bumping and snapping.

However please take note that even though most high-tech locks won’t protect you 100%. If a thief sees the opportunity to enter your property, they will take advantage, so make sure you protect yourself with adequate security measures. We hope you have taken some valuable insights from the first Home Security Expert article, be sure to like us on Facebook (click here) for the latest updates!

Lockforce welcomes a new Locksmith in Wakefield

Lockforce welcomes a new technician into the fold of Lockforce, Wakefield-based technician Simon Coward!

Before joining the Forces group, Simon was involved in a very different type of force - fighting on behalf of her Majesty as a Royal Marine. Having fought tirelessly for his country on campaigns across the world, Simon's most recent endeavour has been working as a security consultant in some of the world's most dangerous places - including the oilfields of Iraq. Amassing an expert understanding in the method and importance of good security, Simon has now decided to use his skills to help protect people a little closer to home!

Having passed his training with flying colours, Simon's has already established himself as a fantastic locksmith in the month he's been with us, leaving many a happy customer whose experiences you can read more about under the Recent Jobs' section of his webpage.

If you have a problem with your locks, and are need of a true locksmith security professional, call the number one locksmith in Wakefield, Simon Coward today on 07515911851.

Lockforce Goes Green!

First-class locksmith and unsung eco-hero Richard Colby of Lockforce Coventry & Warwickshire talks about doing his bit for waste management in his local community…

As you’d expect, when going round to people’s houses to fit or repair a lock, I always take great pains to leave the house as I found it (albeit usually with a much better lock fitted to the door through which I entered!) However, when you take the time to clean up after a job, you quickly begin to realise how many waste materials can be built up by a tradesman. Old pieces of wood, loose nails, old locks…the list goes on. While I’m passionate about the community I better protect through my locks and security advice, I began to question how else my business could help bring a positive effect to the people of Warwickshire.

So, as of today, I’m delighted to announce that Lockforce Coventry & Warwickshire has become a zero to landfill company. What does this mean? Well, in essence, when you call on my locksmith service, you can rest assured that all waste generated in the process of the job will be either recycled or have its energy recovered to make heat and electricity. Disposed of through our network of fully licensed disposal companies, you can likewise have peace of mind that your old equipment, packaging and any waste created from installation is disposed of responsibly.

Zero waste, zero guilt! For more information about the actions Lockforce takes to better the communities we serve, get in touch today!

Lockforce Coventry: 'What's my angle?'

What do I mean by being an intelligent locksmith? Well I won’t lie and tell you that my lock shifts consist of pondering long, complicated mathematical equations! Because they don’t (!!) …however there’s one very important aspect of my work in which I guess I’m maths-minded and that’s querying ‘where’s the angle?’ 

But I’m not speaking geometrically! Rather, an intelligent locksmith should always be looking at how to conduct a job, what angle can he take, so a locksmith emergency is as pain-free as possible for his customer. This can come in various forms, such as

1.    picking the back door lock when the front door lock is jammed so a customer can get back in her house quicker

2.    …or maybe advising a client to fit a complete new window rather than replace an old, specialist or out-of-catalogue lock which could in fact have cost the customer considerably more to replace.

Your property is personal and the security solution will be equally as unique, meaning when choosing a locksmith, you need to be confident you’re calling a technician who will be scoping out the best angle to tackle your lock problem. 

Unfortunately, many still see a tradesmen’s angle as being one in which attempts to extort the most money out of an unsuspecting customer. Hopefully, my work – which I like to think as honest, fairly-priced and designed with the best interests of your long-standing security in mind - will prove any reservations wrong!​ Like last week, when I replaced a door handle that was not locking for a client. As the handle had been discontinued by the manufacturer, you could be led to think that a full garage door replacement was in order. However, after careful due diligence and a bit of swatting up on like-on-like lock catalogues,  I was able to source a correct replacement at a fair price which was able to secure the door. 

So as I've talked at length on the subject of angles, it seems fitting to make like an angle and end here, as I guess I've made it to my point!

Lockforce Leeds on 'The Graveyard Shift'

In the locksmith world it’s known as the graveyard shift…the time between 10pm and 6am where dutiful locksmiths stand watch over their hotlines, waiting for the distress call of a local customer to come in. It’s a lonely but absolutely necessary part of being a first-rate locksmith – as when your customer has locked herself out of their house at 3am on a Sunday night, you’re often their only lifeline to getting them back inside their property.

However, unfortunately for customers (…and the standing of the locksmith industry in my opinion!) it’s becoming increasingly rare to find locksmiths willing to work the graveyard shift. One of these reasons is because the advent of call centres (used to process customer enquiries) rarely operate past 6pm, meaning technicians are out of contact when their customers really need them! What’s more, if anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, when my customers have tried other locksmiths in the past, they’ve experienced a uniform unwillingness from technicians to come out to them in unsocial hours (unless of course you’re willing to pay a big fee!)

Fortunately as locksmith who values old-school customer service…albeit one who can be contacted through the latest 21^st century means (from 24hour numbers that call direct to my mobile, to Facebook messenger, twitter and google plus) you’ll never be more than a phone call away when you’re locked out of your property. I’m available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So to book my services now, visit my website and give me a call. ​

Lock Invention of the Week: The VingCard

The first mechanical, recodable key-card lock was invented in 1975 by Norwegian engineer Tor Sornes, who named his invention the VingCard.

A revolution in lock technology, the VingCard exhibited 32 holes in a plastic card, which held the potential for 4.2billion lock combinations – interestingly the precise number of people on earth at the time.

By 1978, the VingCard was being trialled at the world’s tallest hotel at the time, The Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. Plagued by burglaries in the past, the Plaza was keen to test out Sornes new security innovation. The results were a resounding success and implemented across the hotel’s 1068 rooms.

The device and its successors remain the primary method of room security in hotels across the world. Once such evolution was the second VingCard model, which operated off  patented electronic magnet striped across the back of the card. Released in 1992, Tors Sornes’ invention became another worldwide seller and is now part of Sweden’s Assa Abloy, the world’s largest lock manufacturer.

With biometric keys now being pioneered in the corporate space, we wonder whether 21^st century Tor Sornes will rise to the fore.